This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004503
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 - November 2, 2005
SUMMARY: Discussions of Barzan Al-Tikriti and calls to offer
him cancer treatment, as well as anger over U.S.
"occupation," were the major editorial themes of Iraqi,
Arabic language websites on November 2, 2005. END SUMMARY.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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A. "Criminals Stand Together" (Kitabat, 11/2)
B. "To Murderers of Man and Culture" (Watan Lil Jamee, 11/2)
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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "Criminals Stand Together"
(Editorial by Nezar Riheg - Kitabat - "Writings" -
http://www.kitabat.com/i9634.htm - Independent, based in
Germany)
"Saddam's half brother, Barzan Al-Tikriti, is suffering from
cancer and his treatment can only be found abroad; thus, he
wrote a plea to his personal and family friend, Jalal Al-
Talabani, whom he used to visit from time to time during the
latter's efforts to strengthen his bonds with the
dictatorship. It was not only a plea, but a reminder of
previous crimes they shared together.
"The criminal felt sorry for his fellow criminal, so he
agreed to respond to the plea on the condition that none of
the shared secrets be revealed. The massacre of `Bashtashan'
followed a meeting between Al-Talabani and Al-Tikriti in
which they agreed to purge Arabs who opposed the fascist
regime... In return, Al-Talabani's bank accounts were filled
by his close friend, Al-Tikriti, who was based in
Switzerland at the time.
"This new plea seems to be a bargain that will prove very
costly for Al-Talabani, as he needs to incorporate other
parties to guarantee Barzan's rescue from imprisonment, if
not death, and transform the whole issue into a humanitarian
one. This is why Al-Ja'fari came on board even though he had
no justification for his people. He and his family suffered
a great deal from Saddam's regime and from Barzan Al-
Tikriti, who spared no one-not Arabs, Kurds, Communists,
Nationalists, nor any others who all shared the same fate:
dismembered and mutilated bodies dumped in mass graves.
"Al-Ja'fari does not mind Barzan leaving prison, nor will he
mind the others like Taha Al-Jezrawi or Abid Humood. It is
as if he was the one who toppled the previous regime and is
the gentle dictator of Iraq who cannot confess that such
decisions should be made by the tribunal. since it is a
democracy.
"What will Al-Ja'fari say to the families of victims who
perished in the prisons of the previous regime? Why all this
interest in this criminal when thousands of detainees are
neglected? Where was he when abuses took place at Abu Ghraib
and when Al-Talabani's statement that `Saddam used to do
worse' indicated that everything is a legitimate right for
the Americans? How many Iraqis are suffering from cancer due
to the depleted uranium from American weapons used in wars
against Iraq? Why didn't Al-Talabani and Al-Ja'fari address
the concerns of thousands of people with cancer, or demand
the occupiers provide medical care for those infected? Why
is it that only now the noble emotions of Al-Ja'fari drive
him to save the life of Barzan Al-Tikriti and no one else?
"The amazing thing is that despite the essential differences
between Al-Talabani and Al-Ja'fari and the exchanged
accusations between them, the two seem to agree over two
things: occupation forces remaining in Iraq, and the release
of Barzan Al-Tikriti. As for future agreements, well, only
God and Zalmay Khalilzad know."
B. "To Murderers of Man and Culture"
(Editorial by Hamza Shamkhi - Watan Lil Jamee - "Homeland
for All" -
http://wattan4all.com/viewarticle.php?id=6808 =articles -
Affiliated with Faili Kurd Party of Iraq)
"You have violated humanity, culture, and civilization
through your terrorist actions and dark methodologies. You
have killed man and destroyed life. But this time you have
taken it a step too far by destroying our national culture
and attempting to wipe out our humanitarian heritage that
crosses Iraqi borders and reaches out to the world.
"Not long ago, you targeted a symbol of our civilization
represented in the spiral minaret in Samara, followed by the
statue of the founder of the Republic of Iraq and the leader
of the revolution, Abdul Kareem Qasim. Today your craven
actions violate another symbol: the statue of Abu Ja'far Al-
Mansour.
"All these monuments frighten you; our culture frightens you
and so do our poetry, portraits, plays, and science. You
live alone in your era of ignorance, this era that will
inevitably vanish.
"Governmental and non-governmental organizations carry the
onus of protecting our priceless national culture from the
enemies of civilization, especially the monument of freedom
in central Baghdad, which symbolizes our beloved and proud
city."
SATTERFIELD