Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BAGHDAD2598
2005-06-19 09:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ, U.S. WITHDRAWAL,

Tags:  OPRC KMDR KPAO IZ 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002598 

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
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ, U.S. WITHDRAWAL,
CONSTITUTION; BAGHDAD


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002598

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
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ, U.S. WITHDRAWAL,
CONSTITUTION; BAGHDAD



1. SUMMARY: The major themes in the daily newspapers on
June. 19 were Al-Jafari's visit to Kuwait, military
operations in Al-Qa'im and Al-Thar Thar, and the Brussels
conference. END SUMMARY.

--------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
--------------


A. "Failure is not an option in Iraq" (Asharq Al-Awsat,
6/19)

B. "Human rights are an important theme in drafting the
constitution" (Al-Ittihad, 6/19)

--------------
SELECTED COMMENTARIES
--------------


A. "Failure is not an option in Iraq" (Asharq Al-Awsat,
6/19)

Asharq Al-Awsat (independent, London-based, has wide
circulation in Iraq) published a ninth-page editorial by
Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid about the situation in Iraq:

"American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a man of Afghan
origin who was moved from Kabul to Baghdad, has recently
stated that failure in Iraq is not an option. However,
neither he nor his superiors in Washington have explained
the meaning of failure. Because of the continued loss of
human lives, there have been some doubts about whether the
U.S. forces will continue to remain in Iraq. The continued
deterioration of the security situation has led some U.S.
congressional members to demand a timetable for the
withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

Not only is failure in Iraq possible, it is imminent. The
question that remains is what will be the magnitude of the
American loss? Will it be the loss of 2,000 soldiers in
just two years? What will happen if this number reaches ten
or even thirty thousand? What will happen if the number of
attacks increases and new groups join the insurgency? What
will happen if the Iraqi people continue to disagree with
each other, thus proving that the country cannot be
stabilized? Historical experiments have demonstrated that
anything is possible in the Middle East, including failure.
If the U.S. departs Iraq defeated, it will likely lose its
dominance in the world and perhaps lose its presence in
other countries. The U.S. will become just like any other
small country that can be defeated easily. Indeed, the
American position in the world will be weak and Washington
will lose the trust of its friends.

The new American Ambassador stated that failure in Iraq is
not an option. Yet, we must declare that achieving success
is not so easy. During the Vietnam War, Washington repeated

that it would not leave the country until South Vietnam won
the war. However, the U.S. left Vietnm afer he
communists took control of Saigon. At that time, the
Americans were trying to catch the last fleeing helicopters
from the roof of the Embassy. If you were to ask Henry
Kissinger about that terrible defeat, he would say that the
Americans lost Vietnam but stopped the Left from
controlling all of Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, the cost of
failure in Iraq is higher than in Vietnam because Iraq's
oil is much more important than Vietnam's rice.

The U.S. defeat in Iraq will be the end of an empire. Most
Iraqi politicians, except for those of the Muslim Scholars
Association, realize that the early withdrawal of U.S.
forces from Iraq will threaten the internal situation and
may push the country into civil war. This war will be
terrible and similar to the Serbian war on Bosnia and
Kosovo. A decade ago in the Balkans, the world asked for
American intervention to stop the ugly massacres that were
occurring. From that time until now, the situation in the
Balkans has been under control. The Iraqi people deserve a
chance to enjoy stability and they deserve to run their own
internal affairs, without the need for American troops.
This must be an Iraqi decision, not one made by the Arabs
who are living away from the fire."


B. "Human rights are an important theme in drafting the
constitution" (Al-Ittihad, 6/19)

Al-Ittihad (affiliated with PUK led by Jalal Talabani)
published a third-page editorial by Abdul Hadi Mahdi about
the constitution:

"On April 9th, 2003, many voices appeared from the cracks
that began calling for human rights. In the past, it was
forbidden to speak about this issue because it did not
conform with the policies of the former regime. Thus, any
discussion on human rights was artificial and far from its
real meaning. For decades, human rights were violated in
all Iraqi cities. Today, there are many associations and
organizations that have expressed their interest in human
rights. However, the concept of human rights is not as easy
as some people may think. In reality, these concepts are
extensive and include aspects of several different fields
that must be discussed in order to obtain a full
understanding of human rights.
The leaders and members of these organizations must be
highly educated so that they can overcome obstacles that
may hinder them in accomplishing their goal of establishing
effective human rights organizations. Iraq is full of
reliable human rights activists that have dedicated their
lives to promoting the rights of the Iraqi people. The
constitutional committee has recently begun to draft the
permanent constitution. Undoubtedly, human rights will be
an important theme for the constitution drafting process
because it is now time to correct the violations that have
plagued the past.

The constitution is the primary law of the country and it
must guarantee all rights. We must disseminate the culture
of human rights in order to understand its concepts. This
can be accomplished by providing specialized staffs in
human rights to teach the subject in universities and other
academic arenas. We should take the subject of human rights
and turn it into an academic curriculum. In addition, we
must hold human rights forums for governmental employees in
all provinces. We must encourage civil society
organizations to participate in these forums and conduct
media campaigns to educate the Iraqi people about human
rights because they must be accompanied by commitments."

JEFFREY