DAILY IRAQI WEBSITE MONITORING - AUGUST 28, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003502 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: DAILY IRAQI WEBSITE MONITORING - AUGUST 28, 2005 SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution was the major editorial theme of Iraqi, Arabic language websites on August 28, 2005. END SUMMARY. -------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS -------------- ¶A. "The Telephone Call and Its Effect on Influencing the Draft Constitution" (Iraq4all, 8/28) ¶B. "How Serious is the Constitutional Referendum?" (Iraq4all, 8/28) ¶C. "Referendum Is an Opportunity to Reject the Constitution" (Al-Dar al-Iraqia. 8/28) ¶D. "The Draft Constitution. the People's Dilemma" (Al- Rafidayn, 8/28) -------------- SELECTED COMMENTARIES -------------- ¶A. "The Telephone Call and Its Effect on Influencing the Draft Constitution" (Editorial by Ali Al-Basri, Iraq 4 All News Website (http://iraq4all.org) "Day after day U.S. interventions in the drafting of the Iraqi constitution reveal themselves. Where what was previously said about Iraqi politicians not being able to even talk to themselves without American consent has proven right with time. After fierce clashes around the constitution, where many conflicting drafts were presented through satellite channel debates and sedative press conferences, the U.S. goblin emerges and dictates his terms over all struggling parties in a manner that depicts that our fate doesn't lie within our hands but in the hands of a ruler thousands of miles away governing us by a remote control.When President Bush held a phone conversation with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim to impose his conditions, he was saying that your religious titles, clerical garb, and Islam doesn't mean a thing to us, and our orders must be carried out, whereas all your drafts are nothing more than sheets of paper suitable for the waste basket. All of the political chaos taking place in Iraq is a result of the political poverty residing within those who are called decision makers, who have distanced themselves far from the Iraqi street during their period of opposition to the ousted regime, alienating themselves from Iraqi's reality, and stripping themselves of the ability to make decisions independent of the occupiers' consultation. All phone calls and repeated visits have demonstrated the failure of politicians and their inability to solve even their personal problems." ¶B. "How Serious is the Constitutional Referendum?" (Editorial by Yousif Alwan, Iraq 4 All News Website (http://www.iraq4all.dk) "It's not clear for most people what form the Iraqi constitutional referendum will take. Will people simply vote "Yes" or "No," and if so, those responses present voters with an empty question, where it's not possible to have a completely good or bad constitution, where the constitutional process reflects all the well known flaws and inabilities to reach agreements over any proposal. So does the referendum truly provide Iraqis with the opportunity to express their opinions?...People fear that what took place during the elections will repeat itself in the referendum where religion and sect had their say in the results.A referendum requires voters to reflect political and cultural awareness to decide the fate of the nation, but at the time being, this awareness is nowhere to be found in a population where 75% are illiterate.Despite eight million Iraqis turning out on polling day (on Jan. 30) facing terrorist threats and gaining the world's admiration (except for some Arabs),religious and sectarian parties did have a huge impact on results by taking advantage of religious allegiances of simple and uneducated people, and the same effects threatens the constitutional referendum.Iraqis fear that religious clerics who derailed previous elections from their democratic course through a fatwa, might issue another fatwa driving simple people to vote in favor of a constitution they know nothing about." ¶C. "Referendum Is an Opportunity to Reject the Constitution" (Editorial by Hussam Kanfani, Al-Dar al-Iraqia (The Iraqi House) Website http://www.normal.iraq- ina.com/showarticles.php?id=1260) "The American demand to Sunni Arabs to agree on the draft constitution reflects the democracy that U.S President George Bush promised the Iraqi people. The first signs of that democracy were elections that omitted the role of one third of Iraq's people. Today the constitution doesn't take into consideration the opinion of that same one third, in addition to other parties who don't see the future of one Iraq in the constitution. Perhaps that's what the Bush administration meant by democracy..Constitutional disagreements don't represent the roadblocks any more. The biggest crisis is the show of power in the parliament's `majority,' waiving approval of the draft without the agreement of Sunni Arabs who represent no more than 25 out of 275 seats thanks to the misstep of the Sunni boycott of elections-a step the Sunnis and their allies have recently regretted.This mistake contributed to leading Iraqis to hell because the parliament's majority is comprised of a Kurdish coalition together with a Shiite alliance which is holding Iraq's future. The first step is approval of the draft constitution which parliament will approve only after holding a public referendum which can be scuttled by just three [of 18] provinces. We can thank the Kurds for their persistence in that clause in the TAL (to be used in Irbil, Sulaimaniyah and Duhok) but it ultimately serves the Sunni Arabs.Fears are rising today of a repeat of the election boycott (in the referendum on the constitution) whereby extremists begin to threaten those wishing to participate in the constitution by setting off explosions and assassinations. These acts shouldn't prevent Iraqis from doing their duty and expressing their demands. This is the last chance for Sunnis if they really want to guarantee true participation in forming the future of one Iraq.Since there is no hope of reaching an agreement among parties before parliament votes, it is better for Sunni parties and associations to call for active and intensive participation in the referendum which could represent a guarantee for an effective Sunni participation in the new draft project despite the lack of a significant presence in parliament." ¶D. "The Draft Constitution. the People's Dilemma" (Editorial by Faten Nour, Al-Rafidayn (Two Rivers) Website http://www.alrafidayn.com/Story/Articles/Ar28 _08_05_13.html) "Before I read most of the articles of the draft constitution, in detail, the image was clear to me. The draft began with basic principles and a dilemma of interpreting words and statements filled with double meanings which were shaped in their own ideological contradictions. Let's review an article which is full of these contradictions: First: Islam is the official state religion and a main source of legislation. ¶A. Laws contradicting the standards of Islam's teachings are not allowed ¶B. Laws contradicting the principles of democracy are not allowed ¶C. Laws contradicting the basic freedoms and rights mentioned in this constitution are not allowed. Second: this constitution guarantees an Islamic identity for the majority of Iraqis and also guarantees the full religious rights (in beliefs and religious practices) of all individuals.Well, this article dealing with democracy, rights, freedoms, and Islamic standards is nice and delicious but it can't be reduced into one pot and melted into implementation. Items A, B, and C seem contradictory. Each one of them negates the other in content, intellectual viewpoint, and the problem of implementation. If `not' is obligatory in item A then `not' in items B and C should be dropped, whereas if `not' is obligatory in items B and C, then dropping it in item A is a necessity.Let me ask, or wonder, if there is a guarantee for democracy, rights, and freedoms in Islam as mentioned in item A. If so, then there is no need to include items B and C in this article.Is this a subconscious announcement that Islamic laws and standards are on one side and democratic principles on the other side? If so then how can concurrence be reached between two opposites in one of the constitution's articles, not to mention its principles?" Khalilzad