Cablegate: Daily Iraqi Website Monitoring - August 28, 2005

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

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.

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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)

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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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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

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