US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3696

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003696 
 
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 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION; 
BAGHDAD 
 
SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution was the major 
editorial theme of the daily newspapers on September 8, 
2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
------------------------------ 
 
A. "Counterfeit Media"  (Al-Ittihad, 9/8) 
B. "The Sect's Constitution" (As-Sabah al-Jadeed, 9/8) 
C. "The Constitution and the Story of Yes and No" (Az-Zaman, 
9/8) 
D. "Advancement and Deception" (Al-Adala, 9/8) 
E. "On Debathification" (Ad-Dawa, 9/8) 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
--------------------------------------- 
 
A. "Counterfeit Media" 
(Al-Ittihad, affiliated with PUK, published this page-four 
editorial by Abdul Mun'im Al-Assam) 
 
"Of recent, Pan-Arab media outlets have started to pay more 
attention to the Iraqi constitution. As an illustration, in 
one day, three Pan-Arab satellite channels reported that a 
state-owned Gulf paper said that the Kurds (in the 
constitution) do not want to be committed to Islam and 
according to one paper, the Kurds oppose Islam as the 
official religion of the government. Newspapers throughout 
the region started to pick up on the story during the last 
week reporting that the Kurds have been causing tensions to 
rise. 
 
"A Jordanian paper wrote that the Kurds have insisted on 
eradicating Arabs while another Gulf state paper claimed 
that the Kurds have demanded eliminating Islam as a religion 
for Iraqis. In addition, a Turkish paper opined that the 
Kurds want to ensure, in the constitution, their right to 
secede . It is bizarre that none of those papers or channels 
referred to Kurdish leaders' confirmations about reaching 
consensus and compromise in the draft constitution. 
 
"These media outlets did not report that President Talabani 
said that the Kurds are committed to establishing a 
pluralist Iraq; in spite of false news reports such as the 
Washington Post's erroneous report that said the Kurds 
kidnap Arabs and Turkmen and send them to prisons in 
northern Iraq. The Pan Arab media keeps attacking Kurds. A 
newspaper in a neighboring country published an article 
saying that all Iraqis, except the Kurds, are determined to 
maintain their country's unity. This newspaper also says 
that all Iraqis, except for the Kurds, want to prevent civil 
war. In addition, the same paper reported that all Iraqis, 
again except for the Kurds, support a consensual and united 
constitution for Iraq. This biased newspaper has turned all 
of the facts upside down but everyone knows that lies are 
very transparent in this paper." 
 
B. "The Sect's Constitution" 
As-Sabah al-Jadeed, independent, published this back page 
editorial by Hassan Al-Ani: 
 
"The Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds together are responsible for 
the complexities and drama that accompanied the drafting of 
the constitution. The problem is that all politicians and 
negotiators regard themselves as representing only their own 
sects and ethnic groups rather than representing the whole 
country. The Sunnis think that they are the only group that 
is insistent about maintaining Iraq's unity. They speak 
about unity as though Iraq was a country only for Sunnis-- 
they think that the Kurds and Shiites do not care about 
unity and are ready to divide the country. 
 
"On the other hand, the Shiites keep saying that they are 
the majority and the Sunnis must be grateful to the Shiites 
for letting them participate in drafting the constitution. 
Thus, the Shiites believe that their majority entitles them 
to draft Iraq's future. The Kurds look at both the Shiites 
and Sunnis as Arabs and think that every Arab reminds them 
of Saddam. At the same time, the Shiites and Sunnis are 
afraid of the Kurds because the Kurds may benefit from the 
current situation and prepare for secession. In the 
meantime, most Iraqis have nothing to do with the obsession 
and fears of those political parties. The Iraqi people are 
united and they will always be unified. Shiites, Sunnis and 
Kurds do not care about ethnic power sharing, majorities, or 
minorities when a disaster afflicts a specific sect. I think 
that our problems are exacerbated by those who are 
responsible for drafting the constitution because they want 
to make it a constitution for Shiites, Kurds or Sunnis 
rather than a constitution for all Iraqis." 
 
C. "The Constitution and the Story of Yes and No" 
(Az-Zaman, independent, recently anti-coalition, published 
this page-four editorial by Hamza Mustafa) 
 
"When Iraqis had their first democratic election on January 
30, 2005, they faced serious hurdles erected by religious 
heroes who encouraged voting but claQed through their 
fatwas that voting for a specific list was a holy duty and 
not a democratic right. In the opposite camp clerical fatwas 
were proclaimed demanding a boycott of the elections 
because, they said, it was against that which is holy and 
sacred and participating in the electoral process meant 
condemnation in hell. 
 
"Belief in such fatwas is largely irrelevant but it is very 
important to understand that this is a secular matter that 
has nothing to do with religion or heaven or hell; twisted 
interpretations through religious statements only 
complicates matters. Educational programs on the referendum 
process help to supplement our lack of political experience 
and we don't want to have religious polarization telling us 
`yes' or `no.' 
 
"Our goal is to see that honorable clerics refrain from 
involvement in the political process to prevent failure 
during the negotiation process. At the same time our 
national political negotiators who claim to support 
democracy, secularism, and the principles of the French 
revolution and of Martin Luther King's struggles, should not 
use religion (or the clerics) to achieve their goals. They 
have material means (i.e. access, wealth, property, and 
security) while honorable clerics have nothing but their 
good reputation among their followers. It seems that our 
politicians are trying to make use of religious authorities 
after they had lost the trust of the Iraqi people since the 
people's allegiance is to the clerics." 
 
D. "Advancement and Deception" 
(Al-Adala, affiliated with SCIRI led by Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, 
published this page-three column by Dr. Ali Khalif) 
 
"Many governmental and ministerial decisions have been made, 
but the commendations are few. Few segments of Iraqis 
complain or whine to minimize their own suffering. One of 
the funny things is that the Ministry of Oil decided to 
establish a mechanism for distributing fuel to the people 
which involved coordinating fuel distribution according to 
vehicle numbers (odd and even). Some people weren't 
satisfied with the system, so the ministry canceled its 
plans and then launched new ones which met with similar 
public scorn. So, I am wondering, what is it that satisfies 
the populace? 
 
"Unfortunately, people have started to put personal 
interests ahead of public ones in dealing with the daily 
issues. Some elements of the media focus on the small 
segments of society that are negatively affected by new laws 
or regulations, trying to show that all Iraqis are 
dissatisfied. The government has enacted many beneficial 
laws and made social and economic progress by raising 
pensions, providing jobs for advanced degree holders, and 
solving the issues of many former employees from the 
dissolved Ministry of Information, as well as other issues 
the media failed to cover. It seems that media outlets are 
focusing only on the negative. 
 
"If there are criticisms, it's fine to address them but 
demands should take into consideration the difficult 
circumstances the government is dealing with. The strange 
thing is the blatant and misleading attempts the media makes 
to undermine the government's achievements. So we shouldn't 
be surprised when citizens make decisions based on wrong 
information. But the prospective view can conclude that 
government decisions are right. 
 
"The stranger thing is that is that there are some 
professional people who do not understand this. If we leave 
economic issues behind and move to politics, we can see 
examples. Any reasonable mind can comprehend that federalism 
is the best system to rebuild the new Iraq, but some media 
outlets portray federalism as trying to divide Iraq. There 
are many similar issues where the media has played a 
sinister role and the Iraqi people should understand that 
there are elements of the local and foreign media connected 
with followers of the former regime and its fascist 
ideology. Those media entities often play host to guests who 
share their ideologies and have similar outlooks in analysis 
on almost every issue so it's important we realize that and 
recognize the decent media that aim to rebuild Iraq and not 
destroy it." 
 
E. "On Debathification" 
(Ad-Dawa newspaper, affiliated with the Ad-Dawa movement in 
Iraq led by Abdul Kareem Al-Anzi, published this page-six 
column by Walid Hussein) 
 
"I heard a story about a Ba'athist who strongly believed in 
the ideology of Ba'ath party, but at the same time rejected 
the intrusive activities that Ba'ath members were carrying 
out against the Iraqi people. This Ba'athist had been called 
on to reorganize the party after the war but he refused 
because the party itself rejected pluralism-the same party 
that destroyed the infrastructure of Iraq through three 
destructive wars and the systematic theft of Saddam's 
family. 
 
"The opinions that this Ba'athist expressed were right. 
Actually, they were part of the rationale for 
debathification but unfortunately we still find corrupt 
Ba'athists which the party fired or demoted and who are 
still holding their former posts. We hope that senior 
government officials will take notice of that. Moreover, 
there are infiltrations of the debathification committee and 
some people were fired from their positions even though the 
debathification committee didn't indict them, but were 
victimized because of differences of opinion, or personal 
interest, or because of an incomplete investigation by the 
committee." 
 
SATTERFIELD