US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4791

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BAGHDAD 004791 
 
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, Elections, Media, Saddam Hussein 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 15th 
ELECTION, NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, SADDAM HUSSEIN TRIAL, 
TRANSPARENCY, SOVEREIGNTY; BAGHDAD 
 
SUMMARY: The major themes in today's editorials were 
Saddam's trial and the upcoming election. 
 
Analysis: The partisan Shi'a newspapers (Al-Adala, Al- 
Bayyan, and Al-Bayna Al-Jadidah) highlighted Saddam's trial, 
criticizing it for its slow pace and the continued 
postponement. An example is Al-Bayyan's front-page 
editorial, which generally reflects the newspaper's official 
position, entitled, "Justice and Firmness." The editorial 
expressed anger and frustration about the trial's "extension 
without any acceptable reason." And for the first time this 
week, the only Shi'a paper whose editorial dealt with the 
electoral platform of the UIA (United Iraqi Alliance) was 
SCIRI affiliated Al-Adala. 
 
Baghdad published a page-two column entitled "Promises or 
Bribes" criticizing the government and the prime minister 
for using their influence to "bribe voters" to vote for 
their list. 
 
The Kurdish Al-Ittihad published a page-three editorial 
about the upcoming election under the headline, "Popular 
Participation is a Necessity For a Successful Election" 
which addressed voter turnout. A second editorial on page- 
four dealt with the Saddam trial. 
 
Al-Taakhi's front-page editorial, "In Response to Laith 
Kubba. Why All the Accusations Against the Kurds and Why Do 
You Ignore Facts?" criticized the government's official 
spokesman for making accusations against the Kurds in Al- 
Fourat newspaper (Nov. 27). The editorial promises that "the 
Kurds will continue struggling for the sake of establishing 
a new federal Iraq where racists have no place." 
 
Independent Ad-Dustoor published a front-page editorial, 
"Saddam and the Lesson for Others" warning other politicians 
to learn valuable lessons from this trial. November 30, 
2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
------------------------------- 
 
A. "The End of the Legend of the Ogre" (Al-Fourat, 11/30) 
B. "It Doesn't Equal the Importance of the Event" (Al-Adala, 
11/30) 
C. "From the Top to the Dock" (Al-Ittihad, 11/30) 
D. "Censorship" (As-Sabah, 11/30) 
E. "Patching the Gap" (Az-Zaman, 11/30) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
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A. "The End of the Legend of the Ogre" 
(Al-Fourat - independent, anti-coalition, published this 
back-page editorial by Daoud Al-Farhan) 
 
"U.S. President Bush always states that he refuses to 
withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq until `final victory is 
accomplished and the mission is completed.' However, the 
American administration has started to speak loudly about 
the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. It says that this 
withdrawal will be done through two or more stages and will 
begin in the first half of 2006 through 2007. Concerning the 
tale of `final victory and accomplishing the mission,' this 
issue reminds us of the fable of the legendary ogre, which 
was narrated by our grandmothers when we were children. 
 
"What victory does the American president speak of? Does he 
mean the victory against unarmed Iraqis? I think this 
victory has been accomplished because he destroyed Iraq, 
killed more than 100,000 Iraqis, tortured thousands of 
people and provoked sectarian and ethnic turmoil among 
Iraqis. In addition, he desecrated the sanctity of Iraqis 
and left the Iraqi borders open to terrorists, drug dealers 
and mercenaries. If Bush says that the mission he wants to 
accomplish means dividing Iraq, the TAL [Transitional 
Administrative Law] was the main catalyst for any division. 
We know that the current distorted constitution, which was 
fraudulently passed, established division in this country. 
 
"All pretexts for war in Iraq were lies. In addition, there 
was no proof that might indicate Saddam's regime had a 
relationship with Al-Qaeda. Today, after the destruction of 
the country, the White House has started to speak about the 
withdrawal from Iraq because this issue has strong approval 
by the American administration. 
 
"News reports predict that about 50,000 soldiers will leave 
Iraq by next July. Talabani said this during his visit to 
Washington but he retracted his statement when the White 
House became upset about it. Now, what will Iraqi officials 
say about the recent American officials' statements on the 
withdrawal from Iraq? They were speaking about a civil war 
that might happen in Iraq if U.S. forces leave the country. 
The real Iraqi patriots always said that the country would 
be rebuilt only after the departure of the occupiers. Civil 
war and sedition will not happen because Iraqis have shared 
history, blood and religion. These bonds are stronger than 
any maneuver by sectarian politicians. The time of ogres has 
gone and it is time for us to wake up." 
 
B. "It Doesn't Equal the Importance of the Event" 
(Al-Adala - affiliated with SCIRI, led by Abdul Aziz Al- 
Hakim, no bias, published this page-three editorial by Dr. 
Ali Khalif) 
 
"The Iraqi people were astonished while they watched the 
dictator's trial, which is one of the most famous trials in 
history. This trial will be unforgettable because it 
represents the people trying a dictator. However, the Iraqi 
people were disappointed by the weakness of the trial's 
management and the judge, whom the public thought would be 
more responsible while trying a tyrant who routinely danced 
on the remains of his victims. 
 
"The people and families who lost their loved ones during 
Saddam's regime were waiting hopefully for this trial. The 
dictator has turned the trial upside down and it has become 
a [kangaroo] court to try victims rather than the dictator. 
Thousands of Iraqi families feel sad because they had hoped 
that the Dujail case would finish quickly so that there 
would be a just verdict against the dictator. But, Monday's 
session was merely a submission of the suspects' demands to 
the judge. We noticed that one of them wanted a pen, another 
asked for a piece of paper and someone wanted medical 
treatment abroad. We do not know what they will ask for 
during the next session. 
 
"The trial must be totally reviewed and there must be 
changes in its procedures. It should address charges 
directly against the dictator and his lawyers should defend 
him if they are able. It seems that the judge and other 
officials in the court have not practiced law. The trial was 
tedious and cannot even be called a trial. It was just like 
a show whose aim was to make people watch the dictator in 
his dock and for this reason, the next session should be 
more responsible in order to restore the public's confidence 
in this trial." 
 
C. "From the Top to the Dock" 
(Al-Ittihad - affiliated with the PUK, led by Jalal 
Talabani, pro-coalition, published this page-four editorial 
by Abdul Muni'm Al-Assam) 
 
"For the third time, I sat in front of Saddam Hussein to 
watch him during his trial. I do not care about the speeches 
of the judge, lawyers and I did not pay any attention to 
journalists and guards. In fact, I just wanted to watch 
Saddam's face during his trial. I just wanted to watch the 
expressions on the face of a professional killer who finally 
dropped from the top to stand in the dock. 
 
"Whenever I look at Saddam's eyes I find a well full of 
black rats. In addition, I have discovered yellowness in 
these eyes and this yellowness is covered with barbarian 
hatred. It seems that he challenges death because we know 
that dictators do not commit suicide. In fact, tyrants die 
more than once and perhaps they die thousands of times 
because every soul they kill will punish them in the end. 
 
"When I look at Saddam during his trial, I remember that 
this man is the one who gave orders to attack safe Kurdish 
villages and destroyed the marshes. I also remember that 
this man has waged wars, established prisons and went on 
shedding the blood of innocent people. Now, this tyrant is 
between my hands. He is under my punishment. I think that 
this trial is fairer than any other court since the era of 
Hammurabi. 
 
"I do not care about what Saddam says during his trial 
because every Iraqi knows his bloody history in Iraq. I 
think we should be grateful to officials of the Special 
Tribunal because they have given us a chance to watch 
sessions of this interesting trial. This trial will 
resurrect our martyrs, who were buried underneath [the 
ground], wearing shiny white clothes. They will attend the 
trial so that they can be witnesses against Saddam." 
 
D. "Censorship" 
(As-Sabah - Iraqi Media Network, government financed, pro- 
coalition, published this front-page editorial by Muhammad 
Abdul Jabbar) 
 
"Electoral lists have begun their campaigns--posters and ads 
have been distributed in the streets, newspapers and on TV 
channels. Moreover, Al-Iraqiya TV continued its free 
electoral advertising for candidates. The electoral law has 
determined rules of the electoral campaign and this law 
outlines prohibitions that should not be conducted during 
the electoral campaign. At the same time, this law has 
ignored issues that might happen during the campaign, minor 
issues that may affect the honesty of the democratic aspect 
of the election. 
 
"Some speak about assassination attempts and murders against 
people who were trying to post electoral posters and ads for 
electoral lists. It seems that those who perpetrate such 
acts either belong to specific lists or they might just be 
groups that want to demolish the electoral process. Some 
people said that there are groups ripping down posters of 
specific electoral lists. Sometimes, people place posters 
over other posters in an attempt to hide posters belonging 
to opposition lists. 
 
"It seems that these types of acts have become a part of the 
electoral campaign. We all know that we cannot find an 
electoral campaign that is one hundred percent honest in the 
entire world. But, it is very important to work hard to make 
the electoral campaigns honest. We do not have a specific 
mechanism that can register infringements and violations 
during the electoral campaign. However, some lists that were 
harmed by these violations submitted complaints against 
those who conduct such acts. I think that civil society 
organizations must be responsible for monitoring, following 
up and informing relevant authorities about any violations 
that may happen." 
 
E. "Patching the Gap" 
(Az-Zaman - independent, anti-coalition, published this back- 
page editorial by Fatih Abdul Salam) 
 
"Recently, Iraqi politicians have started to speak about 
establishing a technocratic government that includes Iraq's 
scientific and academic elite. We have seen during the 
former transitional governments many ministers who have 
academic degrees who were appointed. This procedure 
continued in an attempt to show that these governments 
appoint qualified figures--however these appointments do not 
necessarily mean that those ministers are truly qualified. 
 
"We know that there are many academic certificates that were 
forged and granted to individuals who know nothing about 
their subjects. We all remember that there were nine 
ministers who had academic degrees during the final days of 
Saddam's government. But, this does not mean they were 
qualified because the former regime made all senior 
appointments based on loyalty to the regime rather than the 
country's interest.Civil society organizations and media 
outlets must teach people that technocrats cannot save the 
country unless there are wise political minds in the 
government." 
 
KHALILZAD