Cablegate: Media Reaction: Iraqi Government, Constitution,

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 004126

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 BAGHDAD
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAQI GOVERNMENT, CONSTITUTION,
ELECTIONS, DOMESTIC POLITICAL DISPUTES, ISRAELI
INTELLIGENCE; BAGHDAD

SUMMARY: Discussion on the Constitution, Elections, Domestic
Political Disputes, and Israeli Intelligence were the major
editorial themes of the daily newspapers on October 5, 2005.
END SUMMARY.

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

A. "Calls Versus Calls" (Al-Bayyan, 10/5)
B. "The Democratic Scene Between Talabani and Al-Ja'afari"
(Al-Ittihad, 10/5)
C. "Beware the Flood" (Al-Zaman, 10/5)
D. "Search for Israel" (Al-Fourat, 10/5)
E. "The Constitution and the Referendum; Between `Yes' and
`No'" (Al-Taakhi, 10/5)

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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "Calls Versus Calls"
(Al-Bayyan, affiliated with the Islamic Ad-Dawa Party led by
Al-Ja'afari, published this page-three editorial by Zainab
Al-Khafaji)

"President Talabani's strange call for Prime Minister
Ibrahim Al-Ja'afari to resign must be totally rejected
because President Talabani, in a protocol position of
president of the republic, has no right to ask any
government official to resign due to a political
disagreement or even internal issues. It is unwise for Iraqi
decision makers to issue such calls that may complicate the
relationship between the government's various political
parties.

"For this reason, I call on President Jalal Talabani to stop
making such irresponsible statements and accusations of the
Prime Minister and his role in ruling the country. In
addition, this is a negative point that reflects poorly on
the president as he tries to remove those who disagree with
him in the execution of their authority. Moreover,
Talabani's call only serves to provoke new disagreements in
Iraq.

"I call on President Talabani to be committed to the
principles of his presidential authority and not make use of
it to issue statements that are unrelated to his position.
President Talabani must realize that it is not wise to make
bombastic statements--he must step away from the political
conflicts that will complicate and damage the political
process."

B. "The Democratic Scene Between Talabani and Al-Ja'afari"
(Al-Ittihad, affiliated with the PUK, published this page-
three editorial by Abdul Hadi Mahdi)

"Democracy today has become a popular word throughout the
Iraqi community, especially since it was previously
forbidden. Democracy does not equate to laws and
administrative orders but is personified by the behavior of
citizens. Unfortunately, it seems that we have a new kind of
democracy in Iraq today; one comprised of groups of people
who call for establishing democracy without knowing what it
means.

"President Talabani told media outlets that Dr. Al-Ja'afari
makes decisions unilaterally which means that he does not
report to others when making decisions. The TAL
[Transitional Administrative Law] is the only
political/legal document to be used as a basis until the
constitution is approved. This was also indicated in the
agreement that was signed between the UIA [United Iraqi
Alliance] and the Kurdish Coalition on the 8th of April
2005. Both of them have agreed to change the former regime's
policies toward Kirkuk and to quickly apply Article 58.
However, Al-Ja'afari did not reply to Talabani's letter.
President Talabani has the right to freely express his
opinion about this issue and at the same time Al-Ja'afari
has the right to defend himself in a civilized way. But, we
were surprised to see him announce in a press conference
that he has no time to reply because he is too busy with
government administration.

"According to analysts, Talabani's statement is not a
personal one but it is for the interest of this country. We
all know that serving the country is not restricted to a
specific figure or sect and this was [explicitly] stated in
Article 24 of the TAL. Talabani did not mean to accuse Al-
Ja'afari because we all know that they have a strong and
long-standing relationship that dates from their opposition
to the former regime. But, there are some groups that try to
make use of these statements to disunite Iraqis. The current
disagreement between Talabani and Al-Ja'afari represents a
real expression of democracy which has been absent from this
country. In the past, we routinely heard all officials
praise the ruler and for this reason, we must not be
surprised to hear such disagreements in a new democratic
Iraq. Perhaps, this scene is strange for those who have no
knowledge about democracy or those who deceive others with
their illusionary notions of democracy. Talabani and Al-
Ja'afari will continue struggling for the sake of this
wounded country."

C. "Beware the Flood"
(Al-Zaman, independent, anti coalition published this page-
four column by Constitutional Committee member, Dr. Ali Al-
Dabagh)

"The current bloodshed and violence in Iraq are aimed at
spreading general chaos so that the country will not be
stable and secure. It seems that the general situation in
Iraq is becoming increasingly aggravated. However, we
thought that the Sunni participation in the constitutional
committee would make the political process advance smoothly
but the Sunnis seem to have a consensus in rejecting the
constitution. They have had disagreements about federalism
and for this reason we amended that article and decided to
leave it for the next National Assembly. Nevertheless, we
were surprised to see that in fact they did not care about
this issue and decided to reject the constitution as a whole
and we have noticed that they have started to mobilize
people against the constitution.

"Does harmony mean that the majority responds to the
minority's demands? We all want to draft a constitution that
guarantees freedoms and rights of individuals. Then, why do
they reject such a constitution? Why are they against
fighting terrorism which has burned everything in Iraq? Why
have we seen some paid demonstrators raise Saddam's
portrait? Do those people know that families of Saddam's
victims will never accept coexistence with such groups of
people?

"We must all reconsider our attitudes for the sake of Iraq's
unity. We defended Iraq's unity and we sacrificed ourselves
when the British invaded Iraq in 1914 and we do not want to
divide this country. We do care about our Sunni brothers and
we do not want to cause crises. Wise people must progress
and take the lead so that they can prevent the boat from
sinking--or else, a flood will come and destroy everything."

D. "Search for Israel"
(Al-Fourat, independent, anti coalition, published this back-
page editorial by Dawoud Al-Farhan)

"The entire world, except for the Iraqi government and
Kurdish politicians, speak about the increased Israeli
infiltration in Iraq. Citizens of Baghdad know that the
Mossad bought or rented large buildings in the first days of
the occupation in the capital. In addition it bought or
rented apartments and farms in Baghdad, Basrah, Mosul,
Kirkuk and other cities under the cover of companies trying
to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq. Or, they
claimed to be research centers.

"Many Iraqi officials have announced that they do not mind
establishing diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Tel
Aviv. Moreover, an Iraqi politician, who is very interested
in deba'athification and always condemns the Iraqi
resistance, flew to Tel Aviv to normalize Iraqi relations
with Israel. The Kurds have sworn that there are no Israelis
in the north of Iraq and they said that these are just
rumors. However, many Iraqis know that the Israelis have
trained the Peshmerga forces during the era of the former
regime. Then, after the American invasion the Kurds opened
their doors to the Israelis to establish companies in Arbil
and Sulaymaniyah. An Egyptian female researcher published a
report in Al-Ahram newspaper a few days ago about the
Israeli infiltration in the north of Iraq and how they use
cover names. The report indicates that there are about 160
Israeli companies in Iraq. In addition, the Green Zone is
filled with Israeli intelligence and spies who have American
and British nationalities.

"Israel has a role in training U.S. Marines in special
techniques used against the Iraqi people, techniques which
are similar to those the Israelis employ against the
Palestinians. There is also the well-known Iranian
infiltration of the south of Iraq and some sectarian
political parties are trying to hide this infiltration. Why
is it acceptable for Iran and Israel to interfere in Iraq
and it is unacceptable for Zarqawi?"

E. "The Constitution and the Referendum; Between `Yes' and
`No'"
(Al-Taakhi, affiliated with the KDP led by Mas'ood Al-
Barazani, published this front-page editorial by Editor-in-
Chief, Badirkhan Al-Sindi)

"The constitution represents the fruit of the nation's
struggle and it outlines the political philosophy of the
state. The constitution represents a collection of
fundamental principles that organize government's system for
a specified state. Moreover, the constitution determines
the government's authority and the ways of distributing and
applying authority, individual rights, and duties.

"The constitution guarantees the state is governed by law
because it monitors and sets the foundations of the state's
law. The constitution establishes legal conditions and
methods for choosing a governor and identifying the
governor's authorities. Drafting a constitution, for any
state, requires, as a first step, established law that
governs the general work of the state and limits the
authority of the government to prevent corruption and to
ensure individual rights. Jurists, scholars, and experts in
constitutional rights have pointed out differences between
regime principles and the regime as a system. Many states
might have similar constitutional principles but each
country creates its own system different from others.

"It has been observed that there are democratic countries
which choose to be kingdoms, republics, or to elect
presidents as executive authorities who appoint the prime
minister. Other states follow the parliamentary system in
which the prime minister represents the executive authority
and selects ministers for the government after gaining
approval from the Parliament-it's the president who
represents the unity of the country. Democratic states
typically get public approval for their draft constitution
by holding a public referendum. The Iraqi people will decide
their future by saying `yes' or `no' to the draft
constitution which was written by the elected
representatives of the Iraqi people."

KHALILZAD

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