MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003468

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 BAGHDAD
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION;
BAGHDAD


SUMMARY: Discussions on the Constitution was the major
editorial theme of the daily newspapers on August 24, 2005.
END SUMMARY.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A. "The Second Step" (Al-Bayyan, 8/24)

B. "Federalism is the Decision of Our Free Will" (Al-
Ta'akhi, 8/24)

C. "Pending Issues" (Al-Adala, 8/24)

D. "The Solution is to Dissolve the National Assembly" (Al-
Zaman, 8/24)

E. "The Uncovered Lie" (Al-Basaer Weekly, 8/24)

F. "Constitution Draft is the Middle Compromise" (Al-
Destour, 8/24)

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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "The Second Step"
(Al-Bayyan Newspaper (affiliated with the Islamic Dawa Party
led by Ibrahim Al-Ja'afari) in Arabic P 3 Editorial by Salim
Rasool)

"At last, the newborn constitution has been submitted to the
national assembly to give assembly members a chance to have
a look at it. The next step is to find out what the Iraqi
people think of the new constitution . . . This constitution
was not easy to draft. Indeed, it made the Iraqi politicians
work very hard and discuss difficult issues in order to
draft a constitution that guarantees the rights of all
Iraqis . . . The Iraqi politicians were able to submit the
constitution draft before the second deadline. Nobody
thought that the constitution would be submitted on time due
to the continuous disagreements among the politicians.
However, the Iraqi government proved that they are
responsible and that they can reach an agreement despite the
fact that their members come from different, religions,
ethnicities and nationalities . . . The Iraqi leaders are
moving forward wisely to continue the political process. I
am optimistic about the next step, which is the National
Assembly's endorsement of the constitution draft. After
that, the Iraqi people will have their final word during
referendum."


B. "Federalism is the Decision of Our Free Will"
(Al-Ta'akhi Newspaper in Arabic (affiliated with the KDP led
by Masood Al-Barzani) p. 1 Editorial By Dr. Badr Khan Al-
Sindi)

"Those who oppose federalism in Iraq are either ignorant
about the true meaning of federalism or they have a
nationalistic, or religious desire control others. So, it
is not very surprising that there have been objections to
the idea of establishing federalist territories . . . In
fact federalism is somewhat of a strange concept for the
majority of Iraqis. This is due to the media coverage of
the concept. The Iraqi media has been responsible for
educating people about federalism. It does not seem that
they have done a good job. Today, the majority of Iraqis,
even those who support federalism, do not know that half of
world's countries live under federal regimes. The Iraqi
people do not know that we are not the first country who
called for the establishment of federalism . . . In
addition, many of those who oppose federalism do not want to
admit that federalism means unity and it does not mean
separation. Iraq has suffered for more than 80 years since
the establishment of the first Iraqi state. It was formed
according to a British plan. However, that plan proved to be
unsuccessful. Iraq has experienced disasters, starvation,
wars and tyranny in the south. We all know that the Kurds
and the Arabs are brothers in this country. But, we must
not forget that Iraq is made up of two main nations and the
Kurds have the right to decide their own future . . .
Without a doubt, those who oppose federalism are the same
people who condemn dictatorship. Actually, some of them
suffered from that dictatorship. We must accept that here in
Iraq centralized governments are ripe for dictatorships.
Federalism is the only way that can prevent the creation of
another dictatorship in Iraq. Removal of a dictator does
not mean that the Kurdish people are ready to receive a new
dictator in the name of nationalism or religion . . . It is
very important to include federalism in the constitution
because the Kurds and the Arabs who support this option want
to establish it in new Iraq. Federalism is the best way to
defend the new Iraq and we think that federalism reflects
our free will."


C. "Pending Issues"
(Al-Adala Newspaper affiliated with SCIRI in Arabic P 3
Editorial by Ali Khalif)

"Iraq's enemies have been shocked by the timely submission
of the constitution draft to the National Assembly.
However, there are still some pending issues that made the
happiness of Iraqi people incomplete. In fact, these issues
need to be explained in order for the Iraqi people to
understand them. The issue of federalism in the territories
cannot be described as separation because all Iraqi
political groups call for Iraq's unity. In addition, the
United Iraqi Alliance has demanded to give every province
the right to establish one or more territories.
Furthermore, any territory can be merged with other
territories. Does this sound like separation? This system
will unite Iraq according to the will of the territories.
If those who oppose federalism want to unite Iraq, why don't
they establish their own federal territories and demand to
be merged with the south or the north in an attempt to unite
the country. . ? Why they want to omit from the
Constitution the article that speaks about the Ba'ath party?
We want to mention the Ba'ath party in order to remind
people with its crimes . . .Concerning the distribution of
natural resources; if we want to be selfish we would make
United Iraqi Alliance the big loser. But, we adhered wanted
to fairly distribute the revenue among all Iraqis. However,
the Iraqi people are waiting for the referendum in order to
give their final opinion on the merits of the constitution."


D. "The Solution is to Dissolve the National Assembly"
(Al-Zaman Newspaper (independent, Anti-Coalition) in Arabic
last page Editorial By Fateh Abdul Salam)

"It would be no big sacrifice to dissolve the National
Assembly and admit the failure of the drafting committee.
This would ensure safety for the Iraqi people while they are
witnessing the failure of all of their hopes . . . The best
choice is to dissolve the TNA, because they won't be able to
resolve the issues that plague the draft Constitution . . .
Therefore, The TNA is the best easy sacrifice, because it is
already a temporary entity . . . full of problems. The TNA
was established under exceptional circumstances and the
Iraqis will not feel sorry for dissolving it. This
political body has not benefited the Iraqis at all.
However, they have learned a good lesson for the upcoming
elections. They have learned to keep their eyes wide open
at the ballot boxes in the future . . . So, feel the comfort
of dissolving the TNA and stop trying to build this heavy
Constitution on such a weak base, because it will collapse
in the end."


E. "The Uncovered Lie"
(Al-Basaer Weekly Newspaper (affiliated with the Association
of Muslim Scholars, Anti-Coalition) in Arabic P. 1 Un-
attributed Editorial)

"It is a bad situation for any nation when its leader
becomes a liar and does not fulfill his promises. The Arab
and Islamic nations are included in this as well. Nations
that have found themselves in this situation have a bad
destiny in the modern era. Iraq is one of these nations and
its people have suffered for three long decades. We have
moved from crisis to crisis until now we have reached
occupied country status . . . We were looking forwarded to
the time that we could be free of bad leaders. We were
looking forward to forgetting about this phenomenon of a
liar leader. Unfortunately, the phenomenon has gotten
bigger than it was before because now we have more than one
leader. Sometimes the leaders get along and sometimes they
are looking out for their own interests. No matter what
each of those leaders acts as though he is the main leader
of our people. He assures us that he is taking care of the
nation's interests better than anyone else . . . Those
leaders talk about the constitution in the name of Iraq and
they act like unity is the most important thing in the world
to them. However, every time those leaders get together
they behave in the best interests of their own sect or party
and not in the best interest of Iraq . . . Some of them
claim that Iraqis are drafting the constitution without any
external pressure. Not even American pressure. However, we
did see the US Ambassador attending sessions of the TNA.
The government continues to put out statements that are full
of lies. They promise, but they do nothing."


F. "Constitution Draft is the Middle Compromise"
(Al-Destour Newspaper (Independent) in Arabic P. 1 Editorial
by Bassem Al-Sheikh)

"The accomplishment of submitting the permanent constitution
to the Iraqi National Assembly was underscored by the
challenges of the postponement . . . Every one admired the
flexibility of the political forces during the negotiations
over the permanent constitution. The political leaders were
able to complete the draft despite the short amount of time
they had to achieve this victory and the stress involved . .
. Iraq is anxiously awaiting the results of National
Assembly's vote process. They are watching to see how they
resolve several pending issues between the cross-sections of
different political forces . . . The Sunni representatives
still claim that they are being ignored and marginalized by
the powerful parties in the Constitution Draft Committee. I
think this is to be expected because the previous electoral
process allowed those political parties to dominate the
political process. However, the committee members were very
eager to consider the minority opinions and allow those
opinions into the constitution draft. They also took the
time to consider all disagreement points and reach a
compromise among all the political involved. They did this
because this path benefited all Iraqis. The submitted
constitution draft is a document that was achieved through
compromise. The Iraqi politicians did this to secure safety
for all Iraqis.