US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4039

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BAGHDAD 004039 
 
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, Terrorism, Elections 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION, 
TERRORISM, ELECTIONS, POLITICAL PARTIES, SOVEREIGNTY; 
BAGHDAD 
 
SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution, Terrorism, 
Elections, Political Parties and Sovereignty, were the major 
editorial themes of the daily newspapers on September 29, 
2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
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A. "Let History Record" (Al-Ittihad, 9/29) 
B. "Letter of Exception" (Al-Dawa, 9/29) 
C. "1.8 Billion Bullets" (Al-Fourat, 9/29) 
D. "The Referendum is a Historical Necessity" (Al-Dustoor, 
9/29) 
E. "We Need to Renovate Iraq's House of Destruction" 
(Baghdad, 9/29) 
F. "Linkages" (Al-Adala, 9/29) 
G. "Iraq's Future is the Responsibility of the U.S." (Al- 
Muatamar, 9/29) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
---------------------------------------- 
 
A. "Let History Record" 
(Al-Ittihad, affiliated with the PUK, published this page- 
five editorial by Umran Al-Ubaidi) 
 
"What will history record tomorrow and how should we 
categorize the killing of a group of school teachers? How 
will media outlets that sympathize with Zarqawi justify this 
criminal act? Can they find any justification for such a 
crime that convinces others that this was an act of 
`resistance'? 
 
"We condemn this criminal operation and we also feel pity 
for the blood shed by Iraqis. At the same time, we are 
surprised to see some media outlets playing with and 
distorting facts in Iraq. It seems that those media outlets 
represent terrorists and I am sure they would describe the 
perpetrators of such crimes as `militants' rather than 
`terrorists' while at the same time describing the innocent 
people who were killed by those crimes as merely `victims' 
rather than `martyrs.' 
 
"Those media outlets would also consider it an insult to 
describe the `resistance' as `terrorists'. In fact, the 
terrorists who killed teachers did not even give their 
supporters a rationale to describe them as the `resistance' 
by committing such a crime. But, we want to know how those, 
who defend the `resistance,' can justify such crimes. 
History will record all of our deeds and stances; history 
will chronicle how those positions were taken against the 
Iraqi people. For this reason, the Iraqi people must not 
forget those stances, to tell the coming generations so they 
may distinguish between friend and foe. Sometimes, attitudes 
are harsher than deeds." 
 
B. "Letter of Exception" 
(Al-Dawa, affiliated with Al-Dawa Islamic party, published 
this page-seven editorial by Hadi Jallo Marai) 
 
"When Al-Zarqawi issued an extremist statement against the 
Shiites in Iraq, he did so precisely against the parties and 
leaders that have adopted political solutions [rather than 
violence] to deal with the American military intervention, 
he divided Shiites according to their platforms and targeted 
some while excluding others-a clear attempt aimed to divide 
the Shiites. He exempted those who have taken a noble 
position against the American presence and occupation.[i.e. 
Sadrists] 
 
"Following the statement by Al-Zarqawi, Shiite powers 
rejected his call for infighting; some militant Sunni groups 
did the same while other factions (Sunni and Shiite) 
announced unanticipated positions against the constitution. 
They promised their rejection toward the constitution as if 
they were bestowing deference to Al-Zarqawi to exempt them 
from his war against them. 
 
"Iraqis require special courage to handle their 
responsibilities toward their country, whether they reject 
or approve the constitution. They need a clear vision in 
dealing with the events in their country in order to achieve 
the desired harmony to ensure the country's march forward." 
C. "1.8 Billion Bullets" 
(Al-Fourat, independent, anti coalition, published this back- 
page editorial by Dawoud Al-Farhan) 
"At last Blair has admitted that the vigorous Iraqi 
resistance is more than he anticipated and if we add his 
statement to the many from American military officers about 
the expanding resistance and its adaptability, then we can 
analyze the wider war by the occupation forces and the Iraqi 
government against the insurgent cities in the north and 
west of Iraq: Tal Afar, Al-Qaim, Hadetha, and Fallujah. 
According to General Rick [Lynch] the U.S. Commander in 
Iraq, his forces have killed and captured 1,634 individuals 
in recent operations. 
"Other U.S. officials estimate that at least 20,000 
individuals have been killed by U.S. forces. In spite of 
that, the resistance and the insurgency is still continuing 
although some Iraqi officials have estimated the resistance 
to be about 5,000 strong; and they claimed that most of them 
are [foreign] Arab infiltrators or Saddam supporters. At the 
same time Blair made his statement, the [British] 
`Independent' newspaper noted that U.S. occupation forces 
are consuming 1.8 billion bullets per year in military 
operations. 
 
"What is more significant is that the newspaper mentioned 
that those bullets are being imported, by the U.S., from 
Israel to kill Iraqis because American ammunition factories 
are not capable of meeting the demand. Therefore, we 
congratulate the Arab and Islamic world and the Iraqi 
government because what Camp David could not achieve (the 
normalization between the Arabs and Israel) Israeli bullets 
are achieving on Iraqi and Palestinian land in order to 
enhance the principles of democracy, freedom, federalism, 
and human rights. 
 
"Why do the U.S., British, and Iraqi governments always 
speak about the mass graves perpetrated by the former regime 
while they are now committing far worse in their military 
operations against the [insurgent] cities that reject what 
occurs behind the walls of the Green Zone?. The detention of 
thousands without investigations or trials, killing 
everywhere, and mass graves, while their slogans proclaim 
`democracy and the constitution'... The final question is: 
if they needed 1.8 billion bullets to kill 20,000 Iraqis 
then how many bullets are needed to kill all Iraqis?" 
 
D. "The Referendum is a Historical Necessity" 
(Al-Dustoor, no bias, independent, published this page-five 
column by Najim Al Rubay'ee) 
 
"October 15 will be regarded as a period of historic change 
in the lives of the Iraqi people and a specific 
transformation in the Middle East where decisions will be 
left to the Iraqi people to determine their own future. Iraq 
has reached, at the insistence of its people, a point of 
greater transparency and openness when it comes to 
consulting its people as a source for legislation. In spite 
of differences among parties and peoples, the final result 
is that the constitution is awaiting the peoples' 
ratification and without pressure from evil forces--this 
standard is a respectable one. 
 
"The success of the referendum will leave many impressions 
and will highlight the role of people making democratic 
decisions that will consolidate Iraqi wishes and insistence 
for drafting a new history for their lives; distant from 
terrorism, the factions responsible for it, and the 
politicians claiming loyalty to Arab issues supported by 
some sick Arab media institutions. 
 
"The draft constitution is not a divine document that cannot 
be modified; it's actually possible to legally change any 
item through proper mechanisms. The Iraqi people have 
reached an agreement on approximately 154 articles (out of 
158 articles), after some quiet and tense negotiations, but 
the significant thing is that the success of the accord 
exceeded all expectations, and thus resulted in some regimes 
rejecting the constitution and trying to incite suspicion of 
it. 
 
"This has been motivated by fear from outside countries who 
are concerned that their people may start to demand similar 
democratic experiences. The accord in the constitution among 
religious, secular, liberal, nationalistic, and even 
Ba'athist parties makes us to proud because we reached 
consensus through negotiation. This should be the only way 
to solve problems-through negotiations we can evaluate the 
orientation of politicians and ensure that dictatorships 
will not be repeated. Politicians should respect the need 
for negotiating and stick to it. 
 
"The various stages of negotiations included obstacles and 
missteps but reaching the stage of the referendum will make 
us proud, especially with the participation of all Iraqi 
sects-it represents an attempt to achieve a peaceful life in 
spite of events. Widespread participation in the referendum 
and a conclusion of the transitional stage of government is 
a national demand, which all Iraqis should insist on by 
voting for the constitution. A government based on the 
constitution will prevent the distortion of laws or the 
legislation of laws lacking legal legitimacy in addition to 
ensuring all parties, organizations, and government entities 
are accountable to the law-a constitutional government means 
that there is no power greater than people power. 
 
"Ending the transitional stage and convening elections, 
certified by the TNA, will bring about social awareness and 
lessen the effects of sectarianism which has destroyed 
unity-without this awareness, bad things are bound to 
happen." 
 
E. "We Need to Renovate Iraq's House of Destruction" 
(Baghdad, affiliated with the Iraqi National Accord led by 
Iyad Allawi, published this back-page editorial by Abdul 
Karim Al-Khazraji) 
 
"We thank God that the majority of influential political 
party leaders and Iraqi government officials are doctors. 
This means that decisions are made through wisdom and the 
abilities of sound judgment. On the other hand, I think we 
have been subjected to brainwashing by the media which have 
misrepresented many things and attempted to convince us that 
we were living in a strong and united country that could not 
be divided. Actually, we were astonished to see that we are 
in fact a divided nation where people kill, loot, 
marginalize, and rob each other. 
 
"In a new Iraq, we can find some groups which make use of 
media outlets and the government's power in a way that is 
similar to Saddam's former policy of immorally attacking 
political opponents. The recent campaign concerning 
accusations of corruption has targeted Dr. Iyad Allawi's 
former government. This campaign tried to accuse ministers, 
during Bremer's and Allawi's government, of corruption. But, 
those accusations are unfounded because Dr. Barham Saleh 
spoke frankly about administrative corruption and said that 
it is wrong to arbitrarily accuse others. 
 
"In addition, Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi strongly opposed making 
use of administrative corruption as a political issue. These 
accusations have known political goals, which are to 
eliminate political opponents before the referendum and the 
coming election. In the end, we are not angels and 
perfection is an exclusively divine attribute. Therefore, we 
had better renovate our damaged Iraqi house, which can only 
be done by Iraqis. Strangers, who do not know what is inside 
this house will exploit its weak structural points and bring 
the house down." 
 
F. "Linkages" 
(Al-Adala, affiliated with SCIRI led by Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, 
published this front-page editorial by Dr. Ali Khalif) 
 
"In the coming days, Iraqis will be heading to polling 
centers full of hope and faith for a better life and future. 
They hope their constitution will promote legitimate rights 
and demands. For this reason, we have to carefully examine 
and study all of the dangers surrounding this constitution. 
 
"Iraq's enemies are trying to hinder the constitutional 
process and prevent Iraqi people from obtaining their 
rights. Most of those, who oppose the constitutional 
process, do not have any reasonable viewpoints and they have 
not submitted any sensible or positive solutions. When the 
Governing Council was formed, many voices called for 
rejecting it. Similarly, when the transitional government 
was established and assumed power, many voices objected to 
it. When the elections were held and an elected government 
was formed, those voices cast doubt on it and maligned it. 
The problem is that those same voices have reappeared during 
the present constitutional process and started to contest 
the constitution. Why do those voices oppose everything in 
the Iraqi political process? Why have they entered the 
constitutional process and why have they held long meetings 
with the Americans if they think that the political process 
is controlled by the occupiers? 
 
"Why do they insist on dissolving the National Assembly 
whenever they disagree with others? It seems that they 
reject the constitution because they oppose the fact that 
the oppressed [Shi'a], the majority of Iraqis, will attain 
power in Iraq. This is the truth and it must be said 
frankly. Recently, some criminal Ba'athist elements have 
issued a statement in which they demanded, under weak 
pretexts and pompous slogans, that the Iraqi people reject 
the constitution. They have claimed that they want to 
preserve Iraq's unity and independence. That's why we 
emphasize that participation in the referendum is not merely 
an act of inserting a ballot into the box. But, in fact, it 
is aimed to protect achievements and respect the honorable 
blood of Iraqis who have shed it for the sake of this 
country." 
 
G. "Iraq's Future is the Responsibility of the U.S." 
(Al-Muatamar, affiliated with the Iraqi National Congress 
led by Ahmad Al-Chalabi, published this page-fifteen 
editorial by Ahmad Al-Jar Allah) 
 
"Disagreement in any alliance ultimately strengthens each 
segment and is different from submissiveness which leads to 
weakness and failure. We are allied with the U.S. but this 
alliance does not mean that the U.S. solely makes decisions 
nor does it mean that we are submissive to the Americans. 
Saudi Arabia accused the U.S. of deepening sectarian 
divisions in Iraq and enabling Iran to exert its control, an 
accusation intended to correct American foreign policy in 
Iraq. 
 
"The U.S. must admit that its policy has caused divisions 
within Iraqi sects. It addresses Sunnis as if they were a 
group isolated from the Shiites. If the U.S. continues this 
policy, it will further enable Iran to interfere in the 
south of Iraq, which is dominated by the Shiite majority. In 
addition, Turkey will intervene in the north of Iraq because 
it fears the establishment of a Kurdish entity. The Saudi 
Minister of Foreign Affairs said that they have done their 
best since the liberation of Kuwait to keep Iran out of 
Iraq. He added that the U.S. has essentially given Iraq to 
Iran without any justification. 
 
"The U.S. must be more responsible, especially after the 
downfall of the dictator. This transitional period has 
become increasingly difficult and Iranian interference in 
the south of Iraq is evident. At the same time, there is 
clear Syrian intervention in central Iraq. This combined 
Syrian and Iranian infiltration is turning the whole region 
upside down and threatening stability and security in the 
Middle East. In addition, there is Al-Qaeda interference. 
But, this intervention cannot be compared with the Iranian 
and Syrian intrusion. Indeed, such interventions by 
neighboring countries in Iraq may provide cover for 
terrorists who conduct their criminal operations in Iraq. 
Without a doubt, neither the Shiites nor the Sunnis accept 
Iranian or Syrian interference in Iraq. 
 
"America has liberated Iraq and the entire world has 
supported this--we all know that it will withdraw from Iraq 
after it accomplishes all of its political goals. However, 
the U.S. must work hard to achieve the goal of freedom that 
is aimed at establishing a free and democratic Iraq. In 
order to achieve this enormous goal, the U.S. must be able 
to put an end to some Shiite and Sunni groups that 
facilitate Iranian and Syrian intervention in Iraq. We know 
that there are mutual interests between Saudi Arabia and 
Iran but there are higher interests at stake and for this 
reason, the Saudi Foreign Minister spoke frankly about 
Iran's role in Iraq. The responsibility the U.S. has in Iraq 
requires it to stop the sectarian massacres and preserve 
Iraq's unity." 
 
KHALILZAD