US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4910

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 004910 
 
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 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 15th 
ELECTION, TRANSPARENCY, SADDAM HUSSEIN TRIAL; BAGHDAD 
 
SUMMARY: The major theme in today's editorials was the 
upcoming election. 
 
Analysis: Independent As-Sabah published a front-page 
editorial entitled "Technocrats" which dealt with how 
technocrats have been marginalized in the current Iraqi 
political process. 
 
Independent As-Sabah Al-Jadeed published a front-page 
editorial about Saddam's trial chronicling the criminal 
history of Saddam and his followers. 
 
At-Taakhi's front-page editorial, "Faili Kurds. An Endless 
National Determination" addressed the history of the Faili 
(Shi'a) Kurds in Iraq while another editorial on page three, 
"List 730 is the Safe Resort" argued that the list will 
carry all Iraqis toward progress and prosperity. 
 
Ad-Dawa's page-five editorial, "About the Trial of the 
Dictator" criticized the court for its weakness in a popular 
Shi'a critique. "We understand that Saddam's crimes do not 
require a trial and we reiterate that this court must be 
harsher," the writer demanded. 
 
Dar As-Salam, affiliated with Iraqi Islamic Party led by 
Muhsin Abdul Hamid, published a page-two editorial calling 
for Iraqi citizens to vote for list 618. 
 
The Iraqi Business Community, a weekly, economic/vocational 
paper issued by the Iraqi Businessmen's Union, published a 
front-page editorial, "People's Goals Can Be Achieved Not 
Only through Electoral Promises but through Tangible and 
Practical Work," that, like other publications, displayed a 
frustration with candidates' hollow promises. END SUMMARY. 
 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
------------------------------- 
 
A. "Cut and Run to Victory" (Al-Basaer, 12/8) 
B. "Slogans to Be Trampled" (Az-Zaman, 12/8) 
C. "Destiny" (Al-Adala, 12/8) 
D. "Electoral Campaigns" (Al-Fourat 12/8) 
E. "The Coming Election and the Provision of Secure 
Environments" (Az-Zaman, 12/8) 
 
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES 
---------------------------------------- 
 
A. "Cut and Run to Victory" 
(Al-Basaer - affiliated with the Muslim Scholars' 
Association, anti-coalition, published this front-page 
unattributed editorial) 
 
"The recent statements by the American president Bush show 
that his administration suffers from a deep crisis; it seems 
that Bush has become very confused. His numerous statements 
aim to flirt with American public opinion. However, we know 
that the American people rejected the war against Iraq. In 
addition, some Congressional members have demanded U.S. 
forces withdraw from Iraq because losses are increasing. 
 
"Bush, like any other tyrant, cannot admit defeat. He said 
to his American opponents that `We will not leave Iraq 
prematurely as long as I am president of the United States.' 
He added, `America will not cut and run while I am the 
Commander in Chief of the armed forces.' Bush seems to be 
very arrogant while speaking about how impossible it is to 
accomplish dreams. He is speaking about victory to boost the 
weak morale of his soldiers in Iraq--recently, his soldiers 
were defeated in their Operation Shank. 
 
"Bush speaks about complete victory while he is discussing 
the issue of withdrawal or escaping from Iraq. On one hand, 
he says that he will not cut and run from Iraq while on the 
other he contradicts himself when he says that his forces 
will come back home. The most surprising thing is that the 
request for withdrawal has come from the senior commander of 
the American Army, General George Casey. He asked for a plan 
that has multiple choices but all of those choices referred 
to how to withdraw from Iraq at the beginning of next year. 
In any case, the internal situation in the battle of Iraq 
will determine the final word. All evidence indicates that 
the American occupation forces are suffering from a complete 
breakdown in morale and they are preparing to escape from 
Iraq. Most Iraqis say that the real victory Bush speaks 
about is that he wants to complete the long-term contracts 
for Iraqi oil and not for the sake of military triumph." 
B. "Slogans to Be Trampled" 
(Az-Zaman - independent, published this back-page editorial 
by Fatih Abdul Salam) 
"All the electoral slogans of the political parties have 
gone with the wind. So far, we have not seen any truthful 
electoral slogans. Most of the faces are repeated and the 
slogans copied--slogans that contain ridiculous and useless 
compositions, though this does not mean that there are no 
real honest candidates. 
 
"Iraqi voters are more aware in this election and they will 
not be deceived by false slogans like those of the former 
election which revealed those who deceived voters with their 
surreal slogans; when they were elected their bigotry and 
sectarianism was clearly transparent. 
 
"Some described the current cheap methods of the electoral 
competition as proof of lack of awareness and behavior among 
Iraqi politicians. I think we should stop this wrong 
practice in a civilized way so that Iraqis can freely vote. 
After the last election the Iraqi people witnessed many 
slogans, which were trampled and tampered with. At this 
point, sectarianism and nationalism have become the main 
goal of the electoral slogans. But, after holding the 
upcoming election will we see a new Iraqi leadership that 
puts the country above all interests?" 
 
C. "Destiny" 
(Al-Adala - affiliated with SCIRI, led by Abdul Aziz Al- 
Hakim, no bias, published this page-three editorial by Ali 
Khalif) 
 
"The decisive election is approaching and the Iraqi people 
have only days to decide their future. Election day will 
resolve all accomplishments that were achieved after the 
downfall of the dictatorship. If the Iraqi people want to 
preserve these accomplishments, they must make the best 
choice when they head for the ballot boxes. They must choose 
the one who sacrificed for them; they must elect the one who 
has a real patriotic history. 
 
"The Iraqi people must not chase statements that represent 
the same ideologies of the deposed dictator. This dictator 
and his followers are still calling for those philosophies 
even though they are behind bars. The Iraqi people know for 
sure that those who fought the dictatorship for decades are 
still making sacrifices for the sake of the people. We must 
preserve our accomplished achievements because the enemies 
of Iraq want to destroy every Iraqi achievement. 
 
"However, the Iraqi people who sacrificed in the past and 
are still sacrificing will not accept anyone tampering with 
their votes. The Iraqi people will decide their future and 
they will choose their own men. The Iraqi political scene 
indicates that the coming election will be decisive; the 
people have two choices--either moving backwards and 
destroying all achievements or progressing toward freedom, 
equality, justice and an end to suffering." 
 
D. "Electoral Campaigns" 
(Al-Fourat - independent, anti-coalition, published this 
page-two editorial by Majid Fadhel Az-Zaboon) 
 
"The coming parliamentary election will be held within a few 
days and the electoral campaigns of most of the political 
parities are about finished. Those entities and parties 
worked hard during the past weeks to present their political 
and economic platforms presented through posters, ads and 
flyers that were disseminated throughout Iraq. However, the 
scientific and practical platforms are absent. All political 
parties depended on slogans that play with citizens' 
emotions and feelings rather than dealing with their minds. 
This means that most of these platforms are not equal to the 
national responsibility that must be adopted by political 
parties. 
"The future of Iraq cannot be summarized by bombastic words 
or slogans. What happened in Iraq was so enormous that it 
needs a lot of hard work and effort during the coming four 
years in order to repair this country. The upcoming election 
is an historic responsibility that everybody should 
undertake because it is the most dangerous and important 
stage in Iraq's history. We must study all the political and 
economic platforms of the electoral lists and candidates. In 
addition, we must realize that the current Iraqi problems 
and crises can be solved only according to real and 
scientific standards. Moreover, we must depend on 
academicians and experts in order to reach a solution. 
 
"Most of the electoral platforms suffer from superficiality 
and this indicates that there is a big gap between citizens 
and politicians. Therefore, such weak vision, which is made 
by politicians, will create an imbalance between people's 
demands and political parties' wishes. Perhaps, we can 
justify this shortcoming by saying that this is the first 
experiment--but, we cannot accept such an excuse in the 
coming years." 
 
E. "The Coming Election and the Provision of Secure 
Environments" 
(Az-Zaman - independent, anti-coalition, published this back- 
page editorial by Fatih Abdul Salam) 
 
"Parliamentary election will be held within a few days amid 
significant challenges and difficult conditions. However, 
the Iraqi people have made an epic journey when they voted 
during the former election. This time, this election will 
witness wider participation. Thus, the Ministry of Interior 
must pay more attention to providing security for voters in 
the upcoming election. 
 
"Media outlets announced that the Ministry of Interior has 
begun implementing a security plan for the coming election. 
Intensive patrols have started and checkpoints have been 
placed at the entries and exits of cities. Furthermore, the 
Ministry of Interior has announced that crimes have 
decreased by 70% and this news makes people psychologically 
comfortable. This percentage may be correct if we are 
speaking about the car bombs but there are other crimes that 
are committed daily. On a daily basis, media outlets report 
assassinations, kidnappings and killings against doctors, 
security members and government employees. 
 
"If those crimes continue, they will negatively affect the 
electoral process. Perhaps, this will prevent people from 
widely participating in the coming election. Therefore, 
security forces must intensify their presence so that 
citizens can feel that there is sovereignty and rule of law 
in this country. In addition, we would like to reiterate 
that those crimes must end quickly because voters cannot 
head to the ballot boxes amid violence and disorder." 
 
KHALILZAD