US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3468

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003468 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, NEA/PPD, NEA/PPA, NEA/AGS, INR/IZ, INR/P 
 
E.0. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, KPAO, IZ, Media, Parliament, BAGHDAD 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION; 
BAGHDAD 
 
 
SUMMARY: Discussions on the Constitution was the major 
editorial theme of the daily newspapers on August 24, 2005. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
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A.  "The Second Step" (Al-Bayyan, 8/24) 
B.  "Federalism is the Decision of Our Free Will" (Al- 
Ta'akhi, 8/24) 
C.  "Pending Issues" (Al-Adala, 8/24) 
D.  "The Solution is to Dissolve the National Assembly" (Al- 
Zaman, 8/24) 
E.  "The Uncovered Lie" (Al-Basaer Weekly, 8/24) 
F.  "Constitution Draft is the Middle Compromise" (Al- 
Destour, 8/24) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
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A.  "The Second Step" 
(Al-Bayyan Newspaper (affiliated with the Islamic Dawa Party 
led by Ibrahim Al-Ja'afari) in Arabic P 3 Editorial by Salim 
Rasool) 
 
"At last, the newborn constitution has been submitted to the 
national assembly to give assembly members a chance to have 
a look at it.  The next step is to find out what the Iraqi 
people think of the new constitution . . . This constitution 
was not easy to draft. Indeed, it made the Iraqi politicians 
work very hard and discuss difficult issues in order to 
draft a constitution that guarantees the rights of all 
Iraqis . . . The Iraqi politicians were able to submit the 
constitution draft before the second deadline. Nobody 
thought that the constitution would be submitted on time due 
to the continuous disagreements among the politicians. 
However, the Iraqi government proved that they are 
responsible and that they can reach an agreement despite the 
fact that their members come from different, religions, 
ethnicities and nationalities . . . The Iraqi leaders are 
moving forward wisely to continue the political process.  I 
am optimistic about the next step, which is the National 
Assembly's endorsement of the constitution draft.  After 
that, the Iraqi people will have their final word during 
referendum." 
 
B.  "Federalism is the Decision of Our Free Will" 
(Al-Ta'akhi Newspaper in Arabic (affiliated with the KDP led 
by Masood Al-Barzani) p. 1 Editorial By Dr. Badr Khan Al- 
Sindi) 
 
"Those who oppose federalism in Iraq are either ignorant 
about the true meaning of federalism or they have a 
nationalistic, or religious desire control others.  So, it 
is not very surprising that there have been objections to 
the idea of establishing federalist territories . . . In 
fact federalism is somewhat of a strange concept for the 
majority of Iraqis.  This is due to the media coverage of 
the concept.  The Iraqi media has been responsible for 
educating people about federalism.  It does not seem that 
they have done a good job.  Today, the majority of Iraqis, 
even those who support federalism, do not know that half of 
world's countries live under federal regimes.  The Iraqi 
people do not know that we are not the first country who 
called for the establishment of federalism . . . In 
addition, many of those who oppose federalism do not want to 
admit that federalism means unity and it does not mean 
separation. Iraq has suffered for more than 80 years since 
the establishment of the first Iraqi state.  It was formed 
according to a British plan. However, that plan proved to be 
unsuccessful.  Iraq has experienced disasters, starvation, 
wars and tyranny in the south.  We all know that the Kurds 
and the Arabs are brothers in this country.  But, we must 
not forget that Iraq is made up of two main nations and the 
Kurds have the right to decide their own future . . . 
Without a doubt, those who oppose federalism are the same 
people who condemn dictatorship.  Actually, some of them 
suffered from that dictatorship. We must accept that here in 
Iraq centralized governments are ripe for dictatorships. 
Federalism is the only way that can prevent the creation of 
another dictatorship in Iraq.  Removal of a dictator does 
not mean that the Kurdish people are ready to receive a new 
dictator in the name of nationalism or religion . . . It is 
very important to include federalism in the constitution 
because the Kurds and the Arabs who support this option want 
to establish it in new Iraq.  Federalism is the best way to 
defend the new Iraq and we think that federalism reflects 
our free will." 
 
C.  "Pending Issues" 
(Al-Adala Newspaper affiliated with SCIRI in Arabic P 3 
Editorial by Ali Khalif) 
 
"Iraq's enemies have been shocked by the timely submission 
of the constitution draft to the National Assembly. 
However, there are still some pending issues that made the 
happiness of Iraqi people incomplete.  In fact, these issues 
need to be explained in order for the Iraqi people to 
understand them.  The issue of federalism in the territories 
cannot be described as separation because all Iraqi 
political groups call for Iraq's unity.  In addition, the 
United Iraqi Alliance has demanded to give every province 
the right to establish one or more territories. 
Furthermore, any territory can be merged with other 
territories. Does this sound like separation?  This system 
will unite Iraq according to the will of the territories. 
If those who oppose federalism want to unite Iraq, why don't 
they establish their own federal territories and demand to 
be merged with the south or the north in an attempt to unite 
the country. . ?  Why they want to omit from the 
Constitution the article that speaks about the Ba'ath party? 
We want to mention the Ba'ath party in order to remind 
people with its crimes . . .Concerning the distribution of 
natural resources; if we want to be selfish we would make 
United Iraqi Alliance the big loser.  But, we adhered wanted 
to fairly distribute the revenue among all Iraqis.  However, 
the Iraqi people are waiting for the referendum in order to 
give their final opinion on the merits of the constitution." 
 
D.  "The Solution is to Dissolve the National Assembly" 
(Al-Zaman Newspaper (independent, Anti-Coalition) in Arabic 
last page   Editorial By Fateh Abdul Salam) 
 
"It would be no big sacrifice to dissolve the National 
Assembly and admit the failure of the drafting committee. 
This would ensure safety for the Iraqi people while they are 
witnessing the failure of all of their hopes . . . The best 
choice is to dissolve the TNA, because they won't be able to 
resolve the issues that plague the draft Constitution . . . 
Therefore, The TNA is the best easy sacrifice, because it is 
already a temporary entity . . . full of problems.  The TNA 
was established under exceptional circumstances and the 
Iraqis will not feel sorry for dissolving it.  This 
political body has not benefited the Iraqis at all. 
However, they have learned a good lesson for the upcoming 
elections.  They have learned to keep their eyes wide open 
at the ballot boxes in the future . . . So, feel the comfort 
of dissolving the TNA and stop trying to build this heavy 
Constitution on such a weak base, because it will collapse 
in the end." 
 
E.  "The Uncovered Lie" 
(Al-Basaer Weekly Newspaper (affiliated with the Association 
of Muslim Scholars, Anti-Coalition) in Arabic P. 1 Un- 
attributed Editorial) 
 
"It is a bad situation for any nation when its leader 
becomes a liar and does not fulfill his promises.  The Arab 
and Islamic nations are included in this as well.  Nations 
that have found themselves in this situation have a bad 
destiny in the modern era.  Iraq is one of these nations and 
its people have suffered for three long decades.  We have 
moved from crisis to crisis until now we have reached 
occupied country status . . . We were looking forwarded to 
the time that we could be free of bad leaders.  We were 
looking forward to forgetting about this phenomenon of a 
liar leader.  Unfortunately, the phenomenon has gotten 
bigger than it was before because now we have more than one 
leader.  Sometimes the leaders get along and sometimes they 
are looking out for their own interests.  No matter what 
each of those leaders acts as though he is the main leader 
of our people.  He assures us that he is taking care of the 
nation's interests better than anyone else . . . Those 
leaders talk about the constitution in the name of Iraq and 
they act like unity is the most important thing in the world 
to them.  However, every time those leaders get together 
they behave in the best interests of their own sect or party 
and not in the best interest of Iraq . . . Some of them 
claim that Iraqis are drafting the constitution without any 
external pressure. Not even American pressure.   However, we 
did see the US Ambassador attending sessions of the TNA. 
The government continues to put out statements that are full 
of lies.  They promise, but they do nothing." 
 
F.  "Constitution Draft is the Middle Compromise" 
(Al-Destour Newspaper (Independent) in Arabic P. 1 Editorial 
by Bassem Al-Sheikh) 
 
"The accomplishment of submitting the permanent constitution 
to the Iraqi National Assembly was underscored by the 
challenges of the postponement . . . Every one admired the 
flexibility of the political forces during the negotiations 
over the permanent constitution.  The political leaders were 
able to complete the draft despite the short amount of time 
they had to achieve this victory and the stress involved . . 
. Iraq is anxiously awaiting the results of National 
Assembly's vote process.  They are watching to see how they 
resolve several pending issues between the cross-sections of 
different political forces . . . The Sunni representatives 
still claim that they are being ignored and marginalized by 
the powerful parties in the Constitution Draft Committee.  I 
think this is to be expected because the previous electoral 
process allowed those political parties to dominate the 
political process.  However, the committee members were very 
eager to consider the minority opinions and allow those 
opinions into the constitution draft.  They also took the 
time to consider all disagreement points and reach a 
compromise among all the political involved.  They did this 
because this path benefited all Iraqis. The submitted 
constitution draft is a document that was achieved through 
compromise.  The Iraqi politicians did this to secure safety 
for all Iraqis.