MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 004352

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON IRAQ


Summary

-- Lead stories in all papers today, July 15, and over
the past several days focus on the formation of the
Iraqi governing council. Coverage has included
reference to the body's "limited" powers of authority
and questions about its legitimacy with the Iraqi
people. One Jordanian daily derided the council's
declaration of April 9 ("Occupation Day") as a
national holiday. Reports have also continued to
emphasize attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, with one
headline on July 15 declaring: "Explosions Shake
Baghdad on the Anniversary of July 14," referring to
events marking the military coup of Abdel Karim
Qassim. Editorials on the issue have been mixed, with
"liberals" asking for patience and a chance for the
council to succeed, and Islamists and leftists either
deriding the council as illegitimate or citing its
early formation as proof of the effectiveness of
continued armed resistance.

Editorial Commentary

-- "The legitimacy of the Iraqi council lies in
quickening the end of occupation"

Daily columnist Sultan Hattab writes on the op-ed page
of semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(07/15): "It is not strange that the formation of the
interim council in Iraq is met by such a wave of
denunciations and negativity among the Arabs. Many of
us have diligently been drawing the lines of what is
right and what is wrong for our Iraqi brothers, even
before asking the opinion of those people concerned..
I must say that the formation of the interim governing
council in Iraq did not meet the Iraqis demands for
national democratic rule nor for putting an end to the
occupation. Furthermore, the Iraqis did not take to
the streets in jubilation. However, the Iraqis,
unlike some of their Arab brethren, want to slow down
and give this move a chance before judging it. They
could not have adopted a negative stand about an
arrangement that brings together all their political
forces, despite its shortfalls in terms of the absence
of those calling for the revival of the monarchy.
Yet, since this council is temporary and interim in
its nature, these shortfalls can be overlooked while
highlighting the positive aspects of it in terms of
filling the political void and providing a formula,
even though not comprehensive, for representing the
Iraqi political society."

-- "A governing council that lacks legitimacy"

Daily columnist Fahd Fanek writes on the back page of
semi-official, influential Arabic daily Al-Rai
(07/15): "Under pressure from the Iraqi resistance,
Iraq's governor Bremer was forced to form an Iraqi
governing council to be some sort of cover for the
occupation before the Iraqi people. The governing
council does not represent the Iraqi people, but the
party that appointed it, which is the occupation. It
cannot be considered a push for democracy, because
democracy exists when the people are sought to elect
their own representatives.. The reference for the
appointed governing council is the occupation. The
council may very well turn out to be worse than the
occupation and bolder in its wrongdoing. It has
already outbid the occupiers when it considered the
day of the downfall of Baghdad as a national holiday..
In its press conference, the governing council
expressed its antagonism for the Arabs and for the
independent media. It attacked Arab regimes and the
Arab League for their of Saddam. It also attacked the
BBC on the pretext of being biased in favor of Saddam.
It attacked Al-Jazirah TV and other satellite
televisions on the pretext that they are instigating
the Iraqi people against the occupation. It has
stressed that Saddam will not be coming back and that
survival is for the American occupation alone."

-- "The interim council is a step in the right
direction"

Daily columnist Urayb Rintawi writes on the back page
of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-Dustour
(07/14): "Whatever is being written or said about the
recently formed Iraqi interim governing council, there
is one fact that cannot be denied, namely that the
council is representative of most, if not all, of the
active and influential Iraqi political and religious
spectrums and that it is the first council in the
history of Iraq where seats are distributed in
accordance with the demographic distribution on the
ground..The new council, in its formation, job and
decisions, is going to face great of criticism. The
parties, the people and the tribes who were not
represented are going to express their rejection and
their doubts. Yet, despite all this, we must say that
we are seeing a transitional step in the right
direction, a step that paves the way for other steps
that will allow Iraq and the Iraqis to get out of the
tunnel of the foreign occupation, just as they had
been allowed to get out of the tunnel of dictatorship
approximately one hundred days before."

-- "Bremer's new council and its many issues"

Daily columnist Yaser Za'atreh writes on the op-ed
page of center-left, influential Arabic daily Al-
Dustour (07/14): "We are not wrong when we say that
the authorities given to the Iraqi interim governing
council were the result of the heroic Iraqi resistance
which has played on the nerves of Bush and the right-
wing in the United States and which has left clear
marks on the morale of the soldiers.. The issue here
may be a genuine distribution of the cake, as if the
occupier has really left the game and given Iraq back
to the Iraqis. Yet, close inspection of this issue
shows a different story. The new council enjoys only
executive authorities, while the veto remains in the
hand of the American governor. This being the way it
is, these authorities actually relieve the Americans
of their burden and rescue them from having the image
of the dirty occupier by having a town council that
undertakes the tasking of the police and public
services. However, matters of sovereignty that affect
politics, economy and foreign relations continue to be
in the hands of Bremer and his superiors in
Washington."

-- "The interim governing council"

Daily columnist Jamil Nimri writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(07/14): "International, regional and domestic
pressures, and not to forget the armed resistance,
have all pushed the occupation administration to
establish the Iraqi interim governing council. This
step marks a qualitative move, despite the criticisms
that accompanied the announcement of the council.. To
say that the Americans are entrenching and encouraging
sectarianism is completely false, because sectarian
division already exists. Let us put the Americans
aside. The ball is now in the court of the Iraqis
themselves. The current council is tasked with
writing the country's constitution, which will either
hold on to or exclude any sectarianism. The Iraqis
can choose the most advanced and sophisticated of
constitutions and can ignore aspects of race and
sectarianism. However, we already know two facts.
The first is that the Kurds want a federation that
would give them a great deal of independence and a
major role in the central government, while the
Shiites and the Sunnis reject the idea of a federation
and prefer administrative decentralization. The
second fact is that the Shiites view themselves as
having a priority, being the majority, to the
presidency of the state. The Sunnis are the weakest
party in this equation, something that is difficult to
have end in an understanding. But if the Sunnis
decide to embark on a historic venture that adopts a
formula where all racial, ethnic and sectarianism
considerations are put behind them and where the only
foundation and principle is Iraqi citizenship, then it
would be worth that venture just for the sake of a
happy Iraq, even though this might in reality mean
that the Shiite majority would take hold of the
legislative council and hence the state institutions.
What does this matter anyway, if there is no
oppression or discrimination against any sect of
society?"

-- "A council for Bremer's account only"

Chief Editor Taher Udwan writes on the back page of
independent, mass-appeal Arabic daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm
(07/14): "The birth of the new council in Iraq does
not constitute national rule nor an elected council
that represents the Iraqi people. This council is the
making of an occupation force that invaded Iraq in
spite of the opposition of the international community
and the United Nations. It would be gravely wrong for
the Arab League to reach the point of recognizing this
council. Such recognition is going to give legitimacy
to the increasing occupations in the Arab world,
making Sharon the decider of the fate of the
Palestinians, and maybe to others in the future."

HALE