Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BAGHDAD4392
2005-10-26 03:25:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION,

Tags:  OPRC KMDR KPAO IZ 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BAGHDAD 004392

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: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION,

REFERENDUM, NATIONAL RECONCILATION, AMR MUSA, IMAM ALI;
BAGHDAD

SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution, Referendum,
National Reconciliation, Amr Musa, and Imam Ali were the
major editorial themes of the daily newspapers on October
25, 2005 (with Regional Report from Basrah, items F-I). END
SUMMARY.

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


A. "A Scandalous TV Interview" (Al-Fourat, 10/25

B. "Iraqis Have Agreed to Frank, National Dialogue" (Al-
Ittihad, 10/25)

C. "A Wake Up" (Al-Bayna, 10/25)

D. "Yes to the Constitution" (As-Sabah Al-Jadeed, 10/25)

E. "ALI: The Humanity and Democracy" (Al-Adala, 10/25)

F. "A Need for National Awakening" (Al-Manarah - Basrah,
10/20)

G. "Enlightenment after Referendum" (Al-Manarah - Basrah,
10/20)

H. "Partisanship Ministries - The Work is Only for the
Parties" (Al-Hakeeka - Basrah, 10/20)

I. "A Demon in the Palace" (Al-Ashara - Basrah, 10/20)

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


A. "A Scandalous TV Interview"
(Al-Fourat, independent, anti-coalition published this back-
page editorial by Dawoud Al-Farhan)

"The live TV dialogue between U.S. President Bush and ten of
his soldiers (along with an Iraqi sergeant) via satellite
teleconference might have been a good addition to American
democracy, except for one small problem which is that it was
not a true, live dialogue. It was stage-directed by the
Pentagon's Public Relations Department and the soldiers were
taught answers and the President was prepped with the
questions.

"American newspapers commented on the affair writing, `The
reactions of the soldiers show that Iraq is a completely
stable country and Iraqis are happy and grateful to
President Bush-the Iraqi Army's ability is increasing daily
in spite of General Casey's statements before Congress that
only one Iraqi battalion is capable of fighting without the
assistance of U.S. forces.'

"One female soldier caused a scandal by saying, `We are
proud of fighting terrorists here in the north of New York,'
before hesitating and correcting herself, saying, `I mean
here in the north of Iraq--in Tikrit.' The New York Times
described what happened as a scandal because the soldiers
memorized their answers while the President memorized his
questions before the event.


"Another funny thing happened during this dialogue when the
Iraqi sergeant said to Bush, `I like you.' Bush was
embarrassed because in the U.S. it is unacceptable that a
man would say such a phrase to another man-it would mean
something else; therefore both the president and American
soldiers laughed.

"The efforts of the President's media advisors, to improve
his ratings, have collapsed because his popularity in the
U.S. has fallen to 32%. In Iraq also, his popularity has
decreased significantly when Iraqis realized the definition
of democracy and human rights in the jails of Abu Ghraib and
through the destruction of Iraqi cities.

"In any case, it is not only the Iraqi sergeant (who told
President Bush `I like you'),there are many others
including the popular [gay] Iraqi singer Sa'adi Al-Hili who
admire American civilization."


B. "Iraqis Have Agreed to Frank, National Dialogue"
(Al-Ittihad, affiliated with PUK led by Jalal Al-Talabani,
published this page-three editorial by Abdul Hadi Mahdi)

"Iraqis are bleeding daily in large numbers and are victims
of car bombs and terrorist attacks. The silence on behalf of
the world, including the Arab world, towards the crimes
against Iraqis is quite strange-though Iraqis know well who
is supporting the terrorist attacks, the goals behind them,
and how infiltrators penetrate Iraq in order to kill Iraqis.
"Iraqis have heard a lot of promises, on many occasions, of
help but there has been no response to these promises.
Therefore, only Iraqis are capable of stopping these
attacks, through harmony and unity.

"The Arab League Secretary General's visit to Iraq and his
meetings with a variety of Iraqis from all sects produced a
significant development which is that everyone agrees on the
necessity of national unity and the convening of a
conference on national dialogue in order to save the country
from crisis.

"All Iraqi factions that have faith in saving the country
from aggression have announced their agreement to an Arab
League initiative for national dialogue. But all of them,
including the Secretary General, have established conditions
for this participation, which is the exclusion of terrorists
and murderers from this conference.

"The trend for frank dialogue is not new for Iraqis. Dr.
Iyad Allawi led such an initiative by holding a national
unity conference before the Secretary General's visit to
Iraq.

"Observers will clearly see the points that Iraqis have
agreed to, which in essence is national unity and a frank
national dialogue in order to transform Iraq to a new phase
of history and the establishment of rule of law. That's what
people achieved through ballots and not bullets-instead of
fighting and bleeding; that's what happened on referendum
day."


C. "A Wake Up"
(Al-Bayna - affiliated with the Hezb'allah movement in Iraq)

"The Arab League's Secretary General holds many meetings
with political leaders and religious men and at the top of
his list was his meeting with grand Ayatollah Al-SISTANI.
Musa arrived following complete silence by the Arab League
toward what is happening in Iraq and came in order to ensure
that Iraq maintains its Arab framework because they believe
Shi'a and Kurdish leaders are not Arabs. All the flesh that
was scattered in the Hillah, Baghdad and Shua'la attacks, or
citizens who died on Al-A'ima Bridge, etc. haven't shaken
the League's feelings!

"Why weren't they Arabs? And why shouldn't you at least send
a letter of condolence to them, dear Mr. Secretary General?
If they are not [Arabs], while they comprise the majority,
then in what Arab framework have you come to talk about
dear? We appreciate the initiative and the call for
reconciliation, by those who have just woken up, but only
for the sake of the weeping widows--not for the sake of the
Ba'athists' barking."


D. "Yes to the Constitution"
(As-Sabah Al-Jadeed - independent, no bias, published this
page-two editorial by Sadiq Bakhan)

"By announcing preliminary results of the constitutional
referendum, observers will notice the discrepancy among
voter numbers in Iraqi provinces. This is normal and we
should not worry or start riots and create rumors and
mystery stories about the results because this is what
democracy's enemies are waiting for.

"Voter turnout percentages affirming the draft constitution,
among 13 [of 18] Iraqi provinces, were 80% as announced by
Dr. Fareed Ayar (the head of IECI). This is considered a
high percentage compared to other countries and in this way
Iraqi voters have endorsed their permanent draft
constitution and its principles that promote peaceful lives
and inform citizens of their civic rights and duties.

"It is normal for some Iraqi voters to reject the draft
constitution and vote no during the referendum. That's
similar to what happened in Europe when some Europeans
rejected the European constitution despite their faith in
European unity; they believe that the constitution would not
fulfill their ambitions which is why the European parliament
decided to review several articles and consider the reasons
for rejection. The attitudes of voters who reject the
constitution are normal and will not lead to widespread
chaos or instability as some Arab media clowns and
politicians collecting [fat] pensions would like.

"Iraqis wrote a civilized constitution and even the liberal
draft constitution written in 1925 did not include
principles guaranteeing a decent life for Iraqis in the way
this current constitution does. We wonder if the Iraqis, who
under Hammurabi wrote the world's first legislation, will be
capable of writing their own social contract."


E. "ALI: The Humanity and Democracy"
(Al-Adala - affiliated with SCIRI led by Abdul Aziz Al-
Hakim, no bias, published this page-three column by Dr. Ali
Kholaif)

"Today, the Islamic world and free people throughout the
world are commemorating the anniversary of the death of Imam
Ali, who was murdered while he was kneeling in prayer in the
Al-Kufa Mosque, at the criminal hands of betrayers and
naysayers. We don't wish to focus on his courage and his
brilliant history that raised the level of the Islamic
nation, but we aim to highlight one of the important and
shining facets of his political life; especially now that
Iraq is undergoing democratic changes that were not new or
unique to Islamic mentality that was represented by Imam
Ali.

"Ali's political thoughts and initiatives were not only
Islamic, but were global and humanitarian making him one of
the great democrats and a source of human rights. This is
not praise for his personality or casual discourse, because
his heritage and history have documented that. Because of
this, historians and writers in the fields of freedom and
human rights, ramified in Islamic history, have described
him as a democratic and humanitarian leader. Actually, the
democracies of the world are small compared to his
democracy.

"One of the examples of his democracy was his attitude
towards his opponents--he stalled negotiations and
discussions for years in order to fight his opponents. And
he had the religious authority and power to do that. Another
example is how he dealt with those who expelled him from the
caliphate in spite of the fact he was qualified and
justified to inherit the leadership [of Islam] and all of
them knew that. And when the caliphate was given to someone
else, Ali did not adopt a tough position or raise his sword
but accepted to be a minister or counselor in the
government. When the people chose him to be caliph he
exercised democracy and humanity in a sublime manner, which
did not appeal to his enemies who multiplied as a result.

"He didn't bargain over principles but sacrificed and fought
to achieve them. He began to fight corruption and held those
who profited accountable. He also accepted arbitration with
Muawiya and his era and the eras that followed were
characterized by injustice, cruelty and the use of the sword
(in the name of Islam) in settling disputes and invading
lands. In spite of the illegality of Muawiya's reign (Ali
was chosen by the people),Ali complied and when the
duplicity of the compromise surfaced and a group of people
spilt from the Muslims he refused to fight them, in spite of
his superiority, and opened negotiations resorting to
military action only after he lost hope in reforming them.

"Another interesting element is that he knew his assassin
(Ibn Muljam Al-Muradi). His followers asked him to kill Al-
Muradi but Ali answered them, `How can I kill my killer?'
And when he was giving a speech, some of his enemies mocked
him and called him names but he refused to fight them and
dealt with them as regular people--he didn't want to use his
power for personal revenge and control of people. One of his
sayings was, `I want to come to the power for only one
reason, to achieve justice.' He visited the treasury at the
end of every year to make sure it was empty because he
believed the money should go to the people.

"When he walked in the streets of Kufa he told people that
if they couldn't find their share of food they should seek
money from the treasury. And when he would see a beggar, he
became angry and allocated a salary for him from the
treasury. One day he saw a poor Jew begging in the street
and asked him about his needs. Some of the people rejected
the beggar for being a Jew, so Imam Ali became angered and
said, `Even if he is a Jew, if he is not your brother in
religion he is your brother in humanity,' and ordered a
salary for him from the treasury.

"This is Ali. He is human, a ruler, a worshipper, the honest
hero of Islam, so, our love for him is not sensational or an
exaggeration, but for the properties he demonstrated.

"Actually, Imam Ali is bigger than the words in a column. In
the words of a famous writer, `A good writer shouldn't be
regarded as good unless he has written about Ali.'"


F. "A Need for National Awakening"
(Al-Manarah (Basrah),Independent, published this front page
editorial by Khalaf Al-Munshidi, on October 20)

"To support the constitution, a media campaign was conducted
by `some parties' who preyed on the suffering of people.
They said that the constitution would provide security and
jobs for the people and destroy terrorism. As a result,
thousands people supported the constitution without reading
it, falsely seeing it as the only solution for Iraq.

"We still do not know the final result for the referendum.
However, either way what happened will create great
challenges for the political process in Iraq. Those
responsible for `selling' the Iraqi constitution as a
solution to everyone's problems committed a big mistake.
Soon, the people who supported this constitution will
discover the promises of security and jobs were just mirage
and can not be delivered. In the next few months, we will
see continuing fighting. Attempting to amend the
constitution so that it truly meets the needs of the Iraqi
people must be at the top of the list for the National
Assembly's schedule.

"The constitutional process took place under the objection
of many Iraqis and accord to a specific American plan and
timetable. This process did not allow the Iraqi people to
read or discuss the constitution, as a result about 6
million Iraqis did not support the referendum which is about
40 percent of the all registered voters."


G. "Enlightenment after Referendum"
(Al-Manarah (Basrah),Independent, published this front page
editorial by Editor-in-Chief Moafaq Al-Refaie, on October
20)

"Millions of Iraqis visited referendum centers to vote
either `yes' or no on the constitution. Those who voted
"yes" did so because they want to move forward with their
lives and believe that the constitution offers the best
chance for Iraq to be a `country of laws.' Those who voted
`no' did so because they fear what a future Iraq would look
like under the constitution. The distinction between these
two groups is how they view themselves in the new Iraq and
the result of the referendum will reflect this difference.
This is how democracy works."


H. "Partisanship Ministries - The Work is Only for the
Parties"
(Al-Hakeeka (Basrah),Communist Party, published a last page
article by Editor-in-Chief Abbas Al-Jorani, on October 10)

"In modern society, is has become typical that political
enemies substitute their features for each other; today's
prey is tomorrow's predator.

"We acknowledge the difficulty in forming a new government
after the last election. However, it has become clear that
in creating this new government the individual ministries we
created to be corrupt, feudal enterprises, ruled by and for
the benefit of the powerful political parties in Iraqi.
They do not care about the interests of the Iraqi citizens.
How quickly we have forgotten the wrongs of Saddam's regime.
Depending on party affiliation and partisanship to staff and
operate the national government is a bad example for the
country, corrupting its laws and institutions.

"In Basrah the people have to deal with this problem if they
wish to work in the government's offices. When someone asks
about a vacated position, it is always `already filled.'
When you ask a new government employee how they got their
job; did they apply? did they interview? They will tell you
they have a confidential letter of employment, but will not
show you. In reality, government officials fill these
positions with party loyalists, selected from lists prepared
well in advance. These days, if you want to build support
for a political party, you just hire a large group of the
unemployed into government jobs, thus ensuring their
loyalty. So the impact of Saddam's regime is alive and well
in Basrah. Here is my question: Where does someone who is
not affiliated to a party go to get a job?"


I. "A Demon in the Palace"
(Al-Ashar (Basrah),Independent, published a front page
article by Editor-in-Chief Mansoor Al Kan'an, on October 13)

[The article is a satire criticizing the local Iraqi Police]

"Al Ashar newspaper heard from the Iraqi Police that there
is a demon living the Palace in Bradh'eyah area. There is a
TV station [IMN] that operates inside the Palace and this
station reported that two $35,000 cameras disappeared from
locked cupboards inside the their offices. Investigators
from the police arrived at TV Channel to investigate the
crime. They tried to open the cupboards the cameras were
supposedly locked within. They were unable to open the
cupboards because, `they are locked.' The said that a demon
must have been responsible for the loss of the cameras and
suggested the TV station ask their staff for donations."

SATTERFIELD