MEDIA REACTION ON SADDAM TRIAL

UNCLAS AMMAN 008312

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARN, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA, B/BXN,
B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA FOR ALTERMAN
USAID/ANE/MEA
LONDON FOR TSOU
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KMDR JO

SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON SADDAM TRIAL

EDITORIAL COMMENTARY

-- "THE OCCUPIERS ARE NOT FAIR JUDGES, BUT INVADERS AND AGGRESSORS"

FORMER MINISTER OF INFORMATION NASSOUH AL-MAJALI WRITES ON THE OP-ED
PAGE OF SEMI-OFFICIAL, INFLUENTIAL ARABIC DAILY AL-RAI (11/07): "IT
IS A BLACK DAY WHEN A DEATH SENTENCE IS ISSUED AGAINST AN ARAB
PRESIDENT WHO SITS IN AN AMERICAN PRISON AND WHO IS SUBJECTED TO A
TRIAL THAT LACKS ANY TRUE LEGALITY, MOTIVATED ONLY BY THE THIRST FOR
REVENGE THAT TYPIFIES OCCUPIERS AND THEIR TOOLS. THE DEATH SENTENCE
WAS PRE-ARRANGED THROUGH POLITICAL STATEMENTS THAT URGE DEATH, AND
ADMINISTRATIVE AND SECURITY MEASURES THAT PREEMPT IT. WE WOULD HAVE
LIKED TO SEE SADDAM AND HIS FRIENDS TRIED BEFORE A REAL
INTERNATIONAL COURT OR BY A FAIR COURT BELONGING TO A FREE
GOVERNMENT, NOT UNDER OCCUPATION. WE WOULD HAVE PREFERRED NOT TO SEE
THE LIVES OF SADDAM AND HIS FRIENDS TURN INTO A TRUMP CARD, AND
ANOTHER FALSEHOOD IN THE LONG LIST OF LIES BY THE NEO-CONSERVATIVES.
THOSE WHO OVERTHREW THE REGIME IN IRAQ ARE CAPABLE OF OVERTHROWING
ANY OTHER ARAB REGIME THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS OF FALSIFYING FACTS.
THE LESSON IS THERE FOR WHOEVER WISHES TO LEARN IT, BECAUSE THE
OCCUPIERS ARE NOT FAIR JUDGES, BUT INVADERS AND AGGRESSORS."

-- 'THE TRIAL OF SADDAM"

DAILY COLUMNIST ORAIB AL-RANTAWI WRITES ON THE OP-ED PAGE OF
CENTER-LEFT, INFLUENTIAL ARABIC DAILY AD-DUSTOUR (11/07): "IN THE
FRONT ROW OF THE DEFENDANTS CAGE WE SHOULD HAVE SEEN U.S. PRESIDENT
BUSH, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BLAIR, AND BEHIND THEM BREMER,
KHALILZAD, NEGROPONTE, ALONG WITH THE LEADERS OF THE IRAQI MILITIAS
FROM THEN BADR BRIGADES AND THE PASHMARGA TO ABU AYYOUB AL-MASRI,
THE SUCCESSOR OF AL-ZARQAWI. ALL THESE PEOPLE KILLED MORE INNOCENT
IRAQIS THAN THE TYRANT IN THE DEFENDANT'S CAGE. THEY HAVE ALL
COMMITTED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND THEY SHOULD NOT GET AWAY WITH
THEM. A MILLION IRAQIS HAVE BEEN KILLED SINCE THE 'WAR OF
LIBERATION' AND 3 MILLION HAVE BEEN MADE HOMELESS. SADDAM HUSSEIN
DESERVED THE DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING 148 PEOPLE FROM AL-DUJAYL,
SO WHAT SENTENCE SHOULD BE METED ON THE HEROES OF ABU GHRAIB, THOSE
WHO DESTROYED FALLUJAH ON ITS INHABITANTS? WHICH SENTENCE SHOULD BE
METED ON BLAIR'S OFFICERS AND MEN WHO RAPE THE OMEN OF BASRA? WHICH
SENTENCE SHOULD BE METED ON THIS UNHOLY ALLIANCE OF MURDERERS AND
WAR CRIMINALS?"

-- "A FREE AND JUST JUDICIARY"

DAILY COLUMNIST SAMIH MAITAH WRITES ON THE BACK-PAGE OF INDEPENDENT,
CENTRIST ARABIC DAILY AL-GHAD (11/06): "THE MAIN ISSUE DOES NOT LIE
IN SADDAM'S DEATH, OR HIS IMPRISONMENT, OR HIS RELEASE. THE MAIN
ISSUE IS THE IRAQI PEOPLE WHOM AMERICA PUSHED, THROUGH THE
OCCUPATION, INTO A LARGE PRISON, RAMPANT WITH MICROPHONES AND
PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANIES FOR THE SO-CALLED GREEN ZONE, AND THE
MAIN NEWS ITEM ABOUT IRAQ EVERY MORNING HAS BECOME ABOUT KILLINGS
AND VICTIMS. IF THE PUNISHMENT OF SADDAM AND HIS PEOPLE MEANS THE
END OF KILLING IN IRAQ, THEN WE MUST ALL REJOICE. BUT IF IT IS A
MATTER OF VENGEANCE AGAINST A NEIGHBORING REVOLUTIONARY COUNTRY, OR
AN ELECTION CARD FOR BUSH WHOSE ARMY IS SUFFERING IN IRAQ, OR A
COVER UP FOR THE FAILURE OF A NEW REGIME, THEN THE DEATH OR
IMPRISONMENT OF MEN OF THE FORMER REGIME IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN
THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ, THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS ARAB STATE, AND THE
SHEDDING OF THE BLOOD OF ALL ITS PEOPLE."

-- "SADDAM'S EXECUTION"

DAILY COLUMNIST JAMIL NIMRI WRITES ON THE BACK-PAGE OF INDEPENDENT,
CENTRIST ARABIC DAILY AL-GHAD (11/06): "WHAT EASES THE EFFECT OF
SADDAM'S DEATH SENTENCE IS THE FACT THAT THERE IS AN APPEALS
DECISION. WE ARE NOT YET IN THE FINAL STAGE. THERE IS GOING TO BE
A DEEP DIVISION AS TO THE CORRECT DECISION ABOUT SADDAM; AFTER ALL,
HIS EXECUTION IS A PROBLEM AND HIS SURVIVAL IS ALSO A PROBLEM. BUT
EVERYTHING RELATED TO THIS TRIAL IS PART OF THE SERIES OF MISTAKES,
STARTING WITH THE ORIGINAL SIN OF THE DECISION BY THE ADOLESCENT
GANG OF NEO-CONSERVATIVES TO INVADE IRAQ.... THE IRAQI PEOPLE HAVE
THE RIGHT TO TRY A FORMER REGIME FOR ITS EXERCISE OF WHAT COULD BE
CLASSIFIED AS CRIMES AGAINST CITIZENS OR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
THE SCENE WOULD HAVE BEEN CATEGORICALLY DIFFERENT HAD THIS HAPPENED
UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES, UNDER A FREE REGIME AND THE RULE OF
LAW AND PUBLIC ORDER.... IN SHORT, HORRIBLE TRAGEDIES AND
TRANSGRESSIONS OCCURRED IN SADDAM'S ERA, WHICH JUSTIFIES THE TRIAL
OF THE REGIME AND ITS SYMBOLS AND THE ISSUANCE OF THE DEATH
SENTENCE. YET, AMERICAS STORY WITH IRAQ, WITH THIS MOST HORRIBLE
AND TERRIFYING REALITY ON THE GROUND, HAS MADE THIS TRIAL A JOKE AND
ITS OUTCOMES AN ADDITIONAL PROBLEM AND NOT A SOLUTION."


-- "BREAKING NEWS"

CHIEF EDITOR TAHER ODWAN WRITES ON THE BACK-PAGE OF INDEPENDENT,
MASS-APPEAL ARABIC DAILY AL-ARAB AL-YAWM (11/06): "YESTERDAY WAS A
MAJOR BREAKING NEWS DAY FOR THE AMERICAN MEDIA OUTLETS, DESPITE THE
WHITE HOUSE'S DENIAL OF ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TIMING OF THE
VERDICTS IN BAGHDAD AND THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED
STATES.... WE WILL SEE THE EXTENT OF THE REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATIONS SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN THIS CHARADE OF VERDICTS TO
SALVAGE THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES IN THE ELECTIONS. YET, IT IS
CLEAR THAT THE ONLY VICTORY THAT BUSH HAS IN IRAQ IS THE CAPTURE OF
THE IRAQI PRESIDENT, PUTTING HIM ON TRIAL AND FINALLY SENTENCING HIM
TO DEATH. OTHER THAN THAT, THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE QUAGMIRE OF
DEFEAT THAT WILL HAUNT BUSH AND THE REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION UNTIL
WHEN. IRAQ IS AN OCCUPIED COUNTRY. THIS IS THE ONLY AND THE BITTER
TRUTH ... THAT SLAPS IN THE FACE ANYONE WHO GLOATS ABOUT THE
VERDICT'S JUSTICE AND THE LEGITIMACY OF THE COURT. AFTER ALL, THE
TRIAL DID NOT TAKE PLACE IN AL-DUJAYL, THE VILLAGE CONCERNED, BUT IN
THE GREEN ZONE AND UNDER THE SPEARS OF THE AMERICANS.... WE DO NOT
KNOW IF JUSTICE WILL TAKE ITS COURSE ONE OF THE DAYS ON THE BASIS OF
A COMPARISON BETWEEN A PRESIDENT WHO IS TO BE EXECUTED BECAUSE HE IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KILLING OF 148 IRAQI 22 YEARS AGO AND AFTER HIS
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON THE ONE HAND, AND A WAR ADMINISTRATION OR
AN INVASION DECISION THAT LED TO THE KILLING OF MORE THAN HALF A
MILLION IRAQIS AMIDST THE OBJECTIONS OF ALL HUMANITY AND THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY."

-- "THE FARCE TRIAL"

DAILY COLUMNIST BASEM SAKIJHA WRITES ON THE OP-ED PAGE OF
CENTER-LEFT, INFLUENTIAL ARABIC DAILY AD-DUSTOUR (11/06):
"EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE TRIAL OF SADDAM HUSSEIN FORCES US
TO COMPARE IT TO A FARCE. SINCE THE BEGINNING, THE DEFENSE WAS
PREVENTED FROM DEFENDING, THE JUDGE WAS REMOVED BECAUSE HE IS
NEUTRAL, THE PROSECUTION WAS PROVOKED OVER EVERY LITTLE THING, AND
THE IMPLICIT-EXPLICIT AMERICAN PRESENCE WAS INVOLVED IN EVERY LITTLE
DETAIL.... THE COURT, FROM BEGINNING TO END, WAS A MIRROR
REFLECTING THE IMAGE OF THE NEW IRAQ. THERE IS AN OCCUPATION THAT
RUNS MATTERS, ALLIES FOR IT THAT DO ITS BIDDING, AND PEOPLE IN THE
CAGE AWAITING THE VERDICT. TO SAY THAT THE IRAQI PEOPLE TRIED
SADDAM HUSSEIN IS NOT TRUE AT ALL. THE OCCUPATION IS THE ONE THAT
TRIED HIM AND IT IS THE ONE THAT SENTENCED HIM. IN THE FUTURE, THE
IRAQI PEOPLE WILL COME TO STUDY THE VERDICT AGAINST SADDAM. THE
PARTY THAT TRIED SADDAM ON CHARGES OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IS THE
PARTY THAT IS COMMITTING THESE CRIMES TODAY. NO ONE CAN BE
CONVINCED THAT THE ADVERSARY COULD EVER BE A JUDGE UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES. HAD THE CHANGE IN THE REGIME BEEN NATURAL AND HAD
THE JUDGES AGAINST SADDAM HUSSEIN BEEN IRAQI, WE WOULD HAVE
CONCLUDED A DIFFERENT RESULT. BUT THE SENTENCING OF THE OCCUPATION
CAN NEVER ACHIEVE JUSTICE."
HALE