US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4221

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 004221 
 
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, 
REFERENDUM, NATIONAL RECONCILIATION; BAGHDAD 
 
SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution, Referendum, and 
National Reconciliation were the major editorial themes of 
the daily newspapers on October 13, 2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
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A. "This Morning" (Al-Sabah Al-Jadeed, 10/13) 
B. "Yes to the Constitution" (Al-Iraq Al-Jadeed, 10/13) 
C. "National Consensus" (Al-Adala, 10/13) 
D. "The New Tyrannies" (Al-Ihtijah Al-Akhar, 10/13) 
E. "Last Minute Chance" (Al-Dustoor, 10/13) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
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A. "This Morning" 
(Al-Sabah Al-Jadeed, independent, published this front-page 
editorial by Ismael Zayyer) 
 
"Those who attempted to hinder the constitutional process 
will be sorry--they have tried, unsuccessfully, to hurt 
their rivals. Moreover, this `fabricated' opposition is 
nominally supported by Amr Musa at the expenses of Iraq and 
all Iraqis. This group [Sunnis] wants to stand against the 
Iraqi people by trying to reject the constitution but it 
seems that they do not know that the Iraqi people are 
carefully watching them; our people know that this group 
wants to destroy the whole of Iraq's political 
accomplishments. 
 
"In addition, this group is responsible for every child and 
youth who may be killed or assassinated at the black hands 
of terrorism. Today, all of our citizens have the 
constitutional right to decide what they believe and we will 
never admit defeat and submit to Zarqawi and the Saddamist 
criminals who have destroyed this country. 
 
"Now, there is a dominant and positive spirit prevalent 
among political groups which will mend faults in the 
constitution in preparation for the upcoming election. We 
have a good chance for amendment and reform for the sake of 
all Iraqis." 
 
B. "Yes to the Constitution" 
(Al-Iraq Al-Jadeed, independent, published this front-page 
editorial by Sa'ad Al-Ka'bi) 
 
"The first Iraqi permanent constitution will be put to vote 
so that the people will have their final say about this 
constitution which will determine the future of Iraq. Before 
this constitution, we had seven temporary constitutions all 
of which tyrannized Iraqis and were written according to the 
needs of rulers rather than the needs of the people. 
 
"Today, those who call for and insist on unity and Arabism 
do not truly care about either unity or Arabism in Iraq. In 
fact, they want to draft the same tyrannical constitutions 
that were written in the past and are trying hard to hinder 
the democratic progress of the Iraqi people. The permanent 
constitution is important because it does not allow 
parasites to dominate people's decisions. Hence, we have to 
vote for the constitution so that we can stop those who want 
to make this country continue to suffer. 
 
"If we say `Yes' to the constitution, we will be able to 
reply to the killers and those who support them and in this 
way, we can defend ourselves against dictatorship and its 
followers. Today, those who weep over the unity of Iraq were 
the first ones who violated the country's unity when they 
occupied and looted Kuwait. They are the first group that 
divided Iraq into sects and nationalities. Despite that, 
millions of poor Iraqis will definitely vote for the 
constitution to defeat years of sectarianism, dictatorship 
and hateful Ba'athism, which we will never allow to return 
to our permanent constitution." 
 
C. "National Consensus" 
(Al-Adala, affiliated with SCIRI led by Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, 
published this page-three editorial by Dr. Ali Khalif) 
 
"Yesterday was an historic day when Iraqi national groups 
agreed to make some amendments to the constitution, 
following the coming election [in December]. This has 
isolated terrorists and those who dream of a return of the 
dictatorship. In addition, this has revealed the real face 
of honest and patriotic Iraqis who want only good things for 
their country and its people. 
 
"Yesterday was the beginning of the move forward toward 
national reconciliation and, as Sayyid Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim 
confirmed, the belief that the principles of national 
reconciliation will encourage us to support initiatives to 
unify all viewpoints and isolate terrorism. President 
Talabani said that Sunni Arabs no longer have any excuse to 
reject the constitution. I think all generations will 
remember this day because we are all waiting for the day 
when the Iraqi people say `Yes' to the constitution. The 
following day, terrorist faces will feign sorrow (through 
media outlets) over: Iraqi unity, the country's future, and 
the distribution of wealth. However, the Iraqi people will 
reveal the masks hiding the names of those who have 
attempted to restore the Ba'athist regime. 
 
"Yesterday's agreement between national and Islamic powers 
can be considered an essential move that shows constructive 
dialogue. Sunni Arabs could have adopted this type of 
dialogue long ago. On the other hand, Zarqawi has mistakenly 
labeled himself a representative for Sunni Arabs. Yesterday 
confirmed that Sunni groups are serious about participating 
in the political process and the Sunnis have realized that 
boycotting the constitution and the elections is useless 
because the Iraqi people will never allow the dictatorship 
to come back to power. The Iraqi people will move forward 
and advance toward freedom and democracy to build a new 
country where all citizens live peacefully under an elected 
government and a permanent constitution." 
 
D. "The New Tyrannies" 
(Al-Ihtijah Al-Akhar, weekly, anti-coalition, affiliated 
with the [Sunni] Liberation and Reconciliation Bloc led by 
Mish'an Al-Jabouri) 
 
"The TNA (Transitional National Assembly) was forced to 
cancel its decision to change the law governing the 
referendum following serious criticism from liberal parties 
and democratic parliamentary members, in addition to the 
U.N. and the U.S. It is possible to say that the tyrannical 
ruling powers, which influenced the TNA, have been forced to 
retract their attempt to alter the referendum law--we must 
refer to the expanding number of rejecters to the draft 
constitution. This expansion follows the insistence of the 
ruling powers in rejecting the demands of others and their 
failure to make realistic amendments to the draft 
constitution that would preserve Iraq's unity and restore 
its position in the Arab world. 
 
"Due to this insistence by those powers, the word `No' has 
taken on new meaning and proliferated putting the ruling 
powers in an awkward position, in addition to religious 
authorities who assured us they would never interfere in 
Iraqi's choices or determination to express their will 
regarding whether to support or reject the draft 
constitution. Because of this, legislative and executive 
authorities have been pushed to explain the referendum 
law... 
 
"Following this disappointment, on behalf of the ruling 
powers, they announced that the TNA retracted its decision 
with some conditions; one of them was to transfer the IECI 
employees that are posted in the majority of Sunni provinces- 
-as if they were insistent on trading employees for militias 
to manipulate the referendum result in these provinces." 
 
E. "Last Minute Chance" 
(Al-Dustoor, independent, no bias, published this front-page 
editorial by Basim Al-Sheikh) 
 
"The leaders of political blocs and other factions have 
worked diligently to push the constitution process forward. 
They have demonstrated a high degree of flexibility and made 
concessions toward putting the country's interest above all 
else in order to succeed during the referendum process-- 
without divisions or disagreements that would destroy the 
political process and take us back to the starting point. 
"On the other hand, some factions have educated people in an 
effort to get them to vote against the constitution because 
they have encountered roadblocks in achieving their demands. 
This has caused leaders of the political blocs to review 
their plans, after failing to change the amendment of the 
TAL in the TNA [to facilitate the constitution's passage], 
forcing them to confront dangerous challenges and offer some 
concessions to rejecters to make them feel included in the 
process. 
"These rejecters have worked hard recently to cause the 
political process to fail, but now harmony has been achieved 
among all factions who have announced that they will stop 
their campaign against the constitution and will begin 
supporting it. So will they succeed in changing the public 
opinion from rejection to acceptance in such a short period 
time? 
"It seems difficult if it is not impossible, but this 
significant and dangerous experience has provided an 
invaluable lesson proved to all--that dialogue and the 
democratic means are capable of leveraging issues and that 
politicians can get whatever they need through this process; 
policy is considered a language of interests and there is no 
absolute winner nor loser, but rather it's a process of give 
and take." 
 
KHALILZAD