US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3807

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003807 
 
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, Security, Terrorism 
SUBJECT: DAILY IRAQI WEBSITE MONITORING - September 14, 2005 
 
SUMMARY: Discussion on Tal Afar was the major editorial 
theme of Iraqi, Arabic language websites on September 14, 
2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------ 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
------------------------------ 
 
A. "Tal Afar or.Fallujah Again"  (Al-Moheet, 9/14) 
B. "The Liberation of Tal Afar in a Series of Urban Warfare 
Conflicts" (Nahrain, 9/14) 
C. "The Constitution and the Referendum Date" (Soat Al-Iraq, 
9/14) 
D. "Khalilzad Loses Patience and Nerve in the Face of Iraqi 
and American Will" (Modern Discussion, 9/14) 
 
--------------------------------------- 
SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
 
 
A. "Tal Afar or.Fallujah Again" 
(Editorial by Dr. Muhie Al Adine Titawi - Al-Moheet / 
"Ocean" - http://us.moheet.com/  /  Pan Arab News) 
 
"In the same way American forces destroyed the Iraqi city of 
Fallujah, under the pretext of chasing terrorists, they 
executed (with extreme prejudice) air, sea, and land 
operations to slaughter citizens and destroy their homes in 
the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar. And they did it under 
the guise of seeking armed fighters who had infiltrated from 
Syria. The city was transformed into a ghost town exactly 
the same way Fallujah was. A quick examination of those 
killed and the injured lying in hospitals will reveal the 
reality of the duplicitous claims which aimed to divert 
American and international opinion away from the disaster of 
Katrina which claimed thousands of lives, due to the neglect 
of the American administration, in the states of Louisiana, 
Alabama, and Mississippi. 
 
"It is odd that Iraqi authorities fully support occupation 
forces. What is happening in Iraq is the genocide of those 
who are opposed to the occupation. It is true that Saddam 
and his era is past, but the Iraqi people won't watch idly 
as occupation forces try to break apart the country's unity 
and separate Iraq from its Arab identity and Islamic 
religion. This has nothing to do with Saddam or Ba'ath party 
ideology. Iraqi resistance will continue and increase as 
long as occupation forces intensify their aggression. The 
international community is obligated to pressure the British 
and American administrations to end their occupation and to 
withdraw their and coalition forces from Iraq." 
 
B. "The Liberation of Tal Afar in a Series of Urban Warfare 
Conflicts" 
(Editorial by Lamis Kadhum - Nahrain, "Two Rivers" - 
http://www.nahrain.com/d/news/05/09/14/nhr091 4f.html) 
 
"The liberation of cities from the grips of terrorists has 
begun again following a lull in interest since the eve of 
negotiations over the draft constitution. The deliberate 
timing of the Tal Afar operation was intended to minimize 
the importance of the discussions over the draft 
constitution and, consequently, to facilitate its approval 
through distraction. In the same way, this serves to draw 
attention away from the Al-A'emma bridge disaster. This most 
recent escalation of the conflict is a cat and mouse game 
which started more than two years ago but its leading 
characters, Tom and Jerry, are garbed in Iraqi clothing-not 
foreign. It appears the series has been extended. 
 
"Terrorists were in the city for more than three months as 
the government claimed; it tried dialogue and exhausted all 
alternatives and decided that a military solution was 
necessary to liberate Tal Afar from its sectarian 
differences. The operation came in response to cries for 
help from the people of Tal Afar who demanded that murderers 
be expelled from their city. It's odd the government 
resorted to peaceful dialogue with killers and criminals 
whose definition of discussion is pushing buttons to tear as 
much flesh from Iraqi bodies as possible. 
 
"Why did we give terrorists the chance to muster their 
forces in a place like Tal Afar near the Syrian border? 
Where were the forces of the military and Ministry of the 
Interior this entire time? Why did MNF let the terrorists 
grow strong? Who is responsible for this security 
negligence? 
 
"What if Tal Afar's people hadn't cried for help? Would 
Iraqi security and defense forces have confronted them or 
left them to deal with the mess themselves? Will the 
government use the same procedures they did when they 
liberated other Iraqi cities and leave them defenseless, 
without any security, and allow killers to seize control 
again as happened in many of Iraq's liberated areas? This 
policy of the partial liberation has proven to be a failure 
in establishing security in Iraq. 
 
"The file on terrorism won't be closed through the Iraqi 
government's policy of taking shelter behind MNF, it will 
only result in partial success in clearing Iraq of 
terrorism. The al-Ja'afari government should settle the 
matter either through political bargaining (with the support 
of Arab and foreign countries) or through a comprehensive 
military campaign to cleanse Iraq of the criminals and 
rubbish of the former regime which means deporting Arabs and 
rooting out all of the internal and external sources of 
terrorism. That is what the Iraqi people want but it seems 
beyond the capability of the government whose capacity is 
essentially limited to the status quo. 
 
"The well telegraphed plans of the Ministries of Defense and 
Interior backed by MNF gave the terrorists a chance to sneak 
into the mountains near Tal Afar and hide there for a period 
of time in the hopes of finding new escape routes to regroup 
and start anew the game of cat and mouse-the next time in 
other cities. 
 
"The bloodshed in Tel Afar represents a clear political 
message to the Iraqi government and confirms the failure of 
dialogue. Political bargaining will cost the Iraqi people 
more destruction and will weaken the popularity of the Iraqi 
government. Parties which wrote the draft constitution 
should reconsider their stances or else there will be 
conflict, bloody confrontations, displacement, and the 
destruction of other cities." 
 
C. "The Constitution and the Referendum Date" 
(Editorial by Adnan Al-Sheikhli - Soat Al-Iraq, "The Voice 
of Iraq" - http://www.sotaliraq.com  / Faili (Shi'a) Kurds) 
 
"It's a rare occasion when any party to gets everything it 
wants in a democracy unlike dictatorships where the ruler 
anoints himself as the caretaker of his subjects, 
legislating whatever he desires, leaving others with nothing 
to do but obey, demonstrate support, and express fealty 
during demonstrations. 
 
"The diversity of regions, sects, and ethnic minorities is 
what makes reaching a consensus practically impossible. And 
this is what happened in the Iraqi draft constitution, where 
all parties expressed objections to rights not granted, 
items not mentioned, and opposition to certain articles--all 
of this is perfectly normal and can be summarized by what 
President Al-Talabani said regarding the holy Qu'ran being 
the only perfect document and leaving room for everything 
else to be modified. 
 
"And since we are living in a democracy, or at least that's 
how it seems, objection is acceptable and any peaceful means 
to express it is a guaranteed right. But Iraqis no longer 
tolerate slogans such as `all or nothing at all.' So those 
who reject the draft have several democratic options, the 
most important of which is to vote no in the referendum 
after explaining the rationale. While the most difficult and 
dangerous option is to gather two-thirds of votes in three 
separate provinces (as provisioned in the TAL) to foil the 
draft--but what we found hard to understand is the motive 
behind anti-draft demonstrations-- lifting Saddam's pictures 
and chanting slogans of allegiance. It's hard to figure out 
the logical connection between rejecting the constitution 
and supporting Saddam, a person who trashed all 
constitutions and divine laws. 
 
"In any case, the IECI has established mid-October as a date 
for the referendum, and here we need to reach a conclusion 
regarding the constitution to allow the U.N. to print and 
distribute millions of copies and to initiate campaigns to 
increase public awareness over constitutional issues. These 
should be the responsibilities of national media outlets, 
civil society organizations, and political parties." 
 
D. "Khalilzad Loses Patience and Nerve in the Face of Iraqi 
and American Will" 
(Editorial by Suad Khairi - Modern Discussion website 
(http://www.rezgar.com) / Independent & secular) 
 
"The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq recently announced that, `Our 
patience towards Syria is wearing thin and all options, 
including military, are open to halt their intervention in 
Iraq.' The Afghan Khalilzad was chosen to implement 
America's plot in Iraq after favoring Karzai to complete the 
mission in Afghanistan. Therefore he has to prove worthy of 
the post reflecting his status as the ultimate ruler in Iraq 
with economic, political, and military dominance sufficient 
to deter other nations in the region, the first of which is 
Syria. 
 
"However, he failed to extinguish Iraqi resistance when 
faced with it despite a variety of means at his disposal 
including deliberately clouding it with terrorism to turn 
people against a resistance that has caused a significant 
loss of American life and created a financial burden leading 
Americans to demand a withdrawal. These calls increased 
after Hurricane Katrina which revealed the lack of troops 
necessary to salvage what was left behind by nature's 
disaster that created thousands of victims. 
 
"Khalilzad has lost his patience through observing that his 
president is being intimidated by escalating campaigns to 
end the war in Iraq coupled with the deteriorating 
confidence of his people, so he had no other solution than 
to threaten Syria. 
 
"Today the world (specifically Iraq and the U.S.) faces a 
tough decision of either standing up to this criminal gang 
or facing the consequences. This gang has started to lose 
its temper, as confirmed by Khalilzad, and could resort to 
anything including using weapons of mass destruction. 
Americans today have a huge responsibility on their 
shoulders, especially after all the justifications to invade 
Iraq were found to be baseless, and they deserve all the 
support to uncover the reality of this war and increase 
awareness among those taking part in it whether they be 
scientists, engineers, or soldiers who are the true 
participants in U.S. wars." 
 
SATTERFIELD