DAILY IRAQI WEBSITE MONITORING - September 27, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 004009

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 - September 27, 2005

SUMMARY: Discussion of the prime minister's performance,
terrorism, and corruption were the major editorial themes of
Iraqi, Arabic language websites on September 27, 2005. END
SUMMARY.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A. "The Political End for Al-Jafari" (Sawt Al-Iraq, 9/27)

B. "As Far As Alternatives Go. . ." (Iraq 4 All News, 9/27)

C. "We Do Not Negotiate with Terrorists" (Sawt Al-Iraq,
9/27)

D. "The Comical -- Wailing in a World of Thieves"
(Independent Iraqi News Agency, 9/27)

SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "The Political End for Al-Jafari"
(Editorial by Baha Sabeih Al-Faili - Sawt Al-Iraq -
http://www.sotaliraq.com/articles-iraq/nieuws .php?id=16199 )

"The failure of Al-Jafari's administration to stop Iraqi
bloodshed at the hands of extremists and Saddam loyalists
has driven the country to a boiling point. Confidence in the
government no longer exists because it has failed to stop
terrorist attacks and failed to provide many daily
necessities.

"Al-Jafari's indecisiveness in the wake of terrorism has led
this government into a critical situation; it is mocked by
the simple citizen who thought his government would serve
the people. But it seems that Al-Jafari came to power to
serve his own interests. This was obvious from the beginning
when he threatened to pull out of the United Iraqi Alliance
if the premiership was not assigned to him. He placed his
personal interest above the public interest at a time when
we thought the man might have serious solutions to Iraq's
many crises.

"But what happened? Al-Jafari began appearing in the same
contexts in which Saddam used to appear: soldiers chanting
slogans and applauding his presence. He must have liked the
picture of himself in a helicopter, as it was shown on
television many times-the same type of image that was used
during the dark age of dictatorship. And we have seen how
the president and prime minister have fought over visits to
the United States, as if the prosperity of the Iraqi people
depends on their race to America. We are not quite sure how
much these official visits cost, but back home Iraqis were
being burned by the terrorism machine.

"As for our president, many saw him donate hundreds of
thousands of dollars from his personal salary, which raises
the question: How much does he receive in the first place if
he can donate such huge sums of money? Our minister of
foreign affairs, who is a relative of Masood Al-Barzani,
(this gives you a clear understanding of the reasons for his
appointment) has kept many Ba'athists in their embassy
positions, and some embassies were transformed into missions
representing Kurdistan.

"Differences of interest, indecisiveness of the prime
minister, restricted authority of officials, and U.S.
occupation have all contributed to the chaotic path charted
by the government and the widespread corruption within the
cabinet.

"I would like to say that countries cannot be run this way.
Where is the reconstruction? What have you done for the
southern region? You have achieved a great deal on
television, where you present criminals on screen who are
not referred to a court of law-the U.S. releases many of
them so long as they did not kill Americans.

"You are completely incompetent to take on the
responsibility of your position. You should resign and let
others carry on or, shall we say, start- even if it is too
late at this point."


B. "As Far As Alternatives Go. . ."
(Editorial by Fatih Abdul Salam - Iraq 4 All News -
http://iraq4all.org/viewnews.php?id=10062 )

"Iraqis have the right to know what is going on in Iraq. A
few days ago President Bush said that he expects the worst
with regard to the security situation (could it be worse?);
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he never expected
violence to reach its current level; and France (a country
not involved in the war) said it intends to host an
international conference to save Iraq from impending
division.

"I do not want to get into the causes of these catastrophic
results-they begin and end with the blind occupation, but I
do want to ask about the alternatives available to
Washington and question whether political achievements are
possible in a country where America can do anything
militarily.

"Many Iraqi politicians continue to turn a blind eye to the
realities of this third year of the new era, realities which
differ from those three years ago. There is a whole new
power structure in Iraq, with an additional center of power
in the Green Zone. Crises have been created and proposals
have failed to bring complete and final solutions. The U.S.
presence will not lead Iraq to stability, nor will its
withdrawal guarantee the country will survive the influence
of neighboring powers. Do those individuals who deliver
statements on television sense the seriousness of the
situation in Iraq?

"Iraq is in a very critical situation, and available options
are complex, despite attempts to simplify them."


C. "We Do Not Negotiate with Terrorists"
(Editorial by Jowad Akram - Sawt Al-Iraq -
http://www.sotaliraq.com/articles-iraq/nieuws .php?id=16187 )

"The United States has puzzled the world with its claims
that it does not negotiate with terrorists. But it is well
known that American foreign policy is based on double
standards. Everybody knows that the Ba'ath Party (in
cooperation with Zarqawi) is behind the explosions,
kidnappings, and murders in Iraq. Everybody knows Ba'athist
hands are stained with the blood of Iraqis who were killed
after the fall of Saddam (and the blood of hundreds of
thousands of Iraqis who were killed during Saddam's reign).

"From time to time we hear American politicians talking
about the necessity of negotiating with moderate Ba'athists
and encouraging them to participate in politics. What kind
of moderate Ba'athists are they talking about? Those who
kidnap and bomb and whose hands are smeared with blood? The
Ba'ath Party is working on two fronts: the first through
kidnappings and car bombs (the Muslim Scholars' Association,
which has representatives in the constitutional drafting
committee); the second front conducts a daily terror
campaign against the Iraqi people and their government to
force additional concessions.

"These are the people with whom America wants to share power
in this democratic system. The Ba'athists reminded me of the
Turkmen Front, which labeled Ba'athist operations
`resistance'; they were participating in the government
while simultaneously describing it as a traitorous
government. For those who do not know, this is called
political prostitution."


D. "The Comical -- Wailing in a World of Thieves"
(Editorial by Shamel Abdul Qadir - Independent Iraqi News
Agency - http://www.normal.iraq-
ina.com/showarticles.php?id=1412 )

"After reading a report from the Commission on Public
Integrity (CPI) about administrative corruption, I reached
the following conclusion: while it identifies serious
misconduct in the country, the information in the report
does not expose the true scope of financial and
administrative corruption.

"Some of the major administrative and financial corruption
cases that the report unveils include bribes, embezzlement,
and fraud. The report summarizes corruption cases, including
contract violations: some ministers referred bids to
companies of their personal choosing rather than the
companies selected by the bidding committees. A few
companies monopolized contracts, such as the Al `Ain
Company, which took over a large number of Defense Ministry
contracts.

"CPI discovered that some officials signed contracts that
exceeded their authority; one of them, who was authorized to
work for $100 million, signed a contract estimated at $170
million! The report mentioned that one of the ministries
signed a contract to buy twenty-four helicopters at a cost
of $113.4 million and another deal to buy the same number of
helicopters with the same amount. They paid the sum in
advance ($226.8 million) and the aircraft have not yet
arrived in Iraq.
"Another phenomenon the CPI exposed is the use of fake names
in timesheet lists. The CPI stated that the most frequent
perpetrators were from the Ministries of Interior, Defense,
and Facilities Protection. The funny, yet sad, fact the CPI
unveiled is that one of the officers included his three-year-
old daughter's name in his personnel protection list!
Another registered his seven-year-old son's name in his
personnel protection list.

"The report also exposed the widespread use of appointment
bribes. Officers from the commando regiments in Babil,
Karbala, Dhi-Qar, Najaf, Amara and Basra had all received
large sums of money in exchange for appointing commandos!
Although some employees in the Ministries of Interior and
Defense, as well as police regiments, were dismissed and
fired, they continued to receive salaries.

"The report proposed solutions and measures to put an end to
this financial and administrative corruption. We wish the
report was drafted in Arabic because some points were
ambiguous and difficult to understand due to their poor
structure. However, the CPI report will be an historic
document from the most corrupt period in contemporary Iraqi
history."

KHALILZAD