Cablegate: Media Reaction: Iraqi Government, December 15th

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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BAGHDAD 004791

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, DECEMBER 15th
ELECTION, NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, SADDAM HUSSEIN TRIAL,
TRANSPARENCY, SOVEREIGNTY; BAGHDAD

SUMMARY: The major themes in today's editorials were
Saddam's trial and the upcoming election.

Analysis: The partisan Shi'a newspapers (Al-Adala, Al-
Bayyan, and Al-Bayna Al-Jadidah) highlighted Saddam's trial,
criticizing it for its slow pace and the continued
postponement. An example is Al-Bayyan's front-page
editorial, which generally reflects the newspaper's official
position, entitled, "Justice and Firmness." The editorial
expressed anger and frustration about the trial's "extension
without any acceptable reason." And for the first time this
week, the only Shi'a paper whose editorial dealt with the
electoral platform of the UIA (United Iraqi Alliance) was
SCIRI affiliated Al-Adala.

Baghdad published a page-two column entitled "Promises or
Bribes" criticizing the government and the prime minister
for using their influence to "bribe voters" to vote for
their list.

The Kurdish Al-Ittihad published a page-three editorial
about the upcoming election under the headline, "Popular
Participation is a Necessity For a Successful Election"
which addressed voter turnout. A second editorial on page-
four dealt with the Saddam trial.

Al-Taakhi's front-page editorial, "In Response to Laith
Kubba. Why All the Accusations Against the Kurds and Why Do
You Ignore Facts?" criticized the government's official
spokesman for making accusations against the Kurds in Al-
Fourat newspaper (Nov. 27). The editorial promises that "the
Kurds will continue struggling for the sake of establishing
a new federal Iraq where racists have no place."

Independent Ad-Dustoor published a front-page editorial,
"Saddam and the Lesson for Others" warning other politicians
to learn valuable lessons from this trial. November 30,
2005. END SUMMARY.

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

A. "The End of the Legend of the Ogre" (Al-Fourat, 11/30)
B. "It Doesn't Equal the Importance of the Event" (Al-Adala,
11/30)
C. "From the Top to the Dock" (Al-Ittihad, 11/30)
D. "Censorship" (As-Sabah, 11/30)
E. "Patching the Gap" (Az-Zaman, 11/30)

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SELECTED COMMENTARIES
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A. "The End of the Legend of the Ogre"
(Al-Fourat - independent, anti-coalition, published this
back-page editorial by Daoud Al-Farhan)

"U.S. President Bush always states that he refuses to
withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq until `final victory is
accomplished and the mission is completed.' However, the
American administration has started to speak loudly about
the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. It says that this
withdrawal will be done through two or more stages and will
begin in the first half of 2006 through 2007. Concerning the
tale of `final victory and accomplishing the mission,' this
issue reminds us of the fable of the legendary ogre, which
was narrated by our grandmothers when we were children.

"What victory does the American president speak of? Does he
mean the victory against unarmed Iraqis? I think this
victory has been accomplished because he destroyed Iraq,
killed more than 100,000 Iraqis, tortured thousands of
people and provoked sectarian and ethnic turmoil among
Iraqis. In addition, he desecrated the sanctity of Iraqis
and left the Iraqi borders open to terrorists, drug dealers
and mercenaries. If Bush says that the mission he wants to
accomplish means dividing Iraq, the TAL [Transitional
Administrative Law] was the main catalyst for any division.
We know that the current distorted constitution, which was
fraudulently passed, established division in this country.

"All pretexts for war in Iraq were lies. In addition, there
was no proof that might indicate Saddam's regime had a
relationship with Al-Qaeda. Today, after the destruction of
the country, the White House has started to speak about the
withdrawal from Iraq because this issue has strong approval
by the American administration.

"News reports predict that about 50,000 soldiers will leave
Iraq by next July. Talabani said this during his visit to
Washington but he retracted his statement when the White
House became upset about it. Now, what will Iraqi officials
say about the recent American officials' statements on the
withdrawal from Iraq? They were speaking about a civil war
that might happen in Iraq if U.S. forces leave the country.
The real Iraqi patriots always said that the country would
be rebuilt only after the departure of the occupiers. Civil
war and sedition will not happen because Iraqis have shared
history, blood and religion. These bonds are stronger than
any maneuver by sectarian politicians. The time of ogres has
gone and it is time for us to wake up."

B. "It Doesn't Equal the Importance of the Event"
(Al-Adala - affiliated with SCIRI, led by Abdul Aziz Al-
Hakim, no bias, published this page-three editorial by Dr.
Ali Khalif)

"The Iraqi people were astonished while they watched the
dictator's trial, which is one of the most famous trials in
history. This trial will be unforgettable because it
represents the people trying a dictator. However, the Iraqi
people were disappointed by the weakness of the trial's
management and the judge, whom the public thought would be
more responsible while trying a tyrant who routinely danced
on the remains of his victims.

"The people and families who lost their loved ones during
Saddam's regime were waiting hopefully for this trial. The
dictator has turned the trial upside down and it has become
a [kangaroo] court to try victims rather than the dictator.
Thousands of Iraqi families feel sad because they had hoped
that the Dujail case would finish quickly so that there
would be a just verdict against the dictator. But, Monday's
session was merely a submission of the suspects' demands to
the judge. We noticed that one of them wanted a pen, another
asked for a piece of paper and someone wanted medical
treatment abroad. We do not know what they will ask for
during the next session.

"The trial must be totally reviewed and there must be
changes in its procedures. It should address charges
directly against the dictator and his lawyers should defend
him if they are able. It seems that the judge and other
officials in the court have not practiced law. The trial was
tedious and cannot even be called a trial. It was just like
a show whose aim was to make people watch the dictator in
his dock and for this reason, the next session should be
more responsible in order to restore the public's confidence
in this trial."

C. "From the Top to the Dock"
(Al-Ittihad - affiliated with the PUK, led by Jalal
Talabani, pro-coalition, published this page-four editorial
by Abdul Muni'm Al-Assam)

"For the third time, I sat in front of Saddam Hussein to
watch him during his trial. I do not care about the speeches
of the judge, lawyers and I did not pay any attention to
journalists and guards. In fact, I just wanted to watch
Saddam's face during his trial. I just wanted to watch the
expressions on the face of a professional killer who finally
dropped from the top to stand in the dock.

"Whenever I look at Saddam's eyes I find a well full of
black rats. In addition, I have discovered yellowness in
these eyes and this yellowness is covered with barbarian
hatred. It seems that he challenges death because we know
that dictators do not commit suicide. In fact, tyrants die
more than once and perhaps they die thousands of times
because every soul they kill will punish them in the end.

"When I look at Saddam during his trial, I remember that
this man is the one who gave orders to attack safe Kurdish
villages and destroyed the marshes. I also remember that
this man has waged wars, established prisons and went on
shedding the blood of innocent people. Now, this tyrant is
between my hands. He is under my punishment. I think that
this trial is fairer than any other court since the era of
Hammurabi.

"I do not care about what Saddam says during his trial
because every Iraqi knows his bloody history in Iraq. I
think we should be grateful to officials of the Special
Tribunal because they have given us a chance to watch
sessions of this interesting trial. This trial will
resurrect our martyrs, who were buried underneath [the
ground], wearing shiny white clothes. They will attend the
trial so that they can be witnesses against Saddam."

D. "Censorship"
(As-Sabah - Iraqi Media Network, government financed, pro-
coalition, published this front-page editorial by Muhammad
Abdul Jabbar)

"Electoral lists have begun their campaigns--posters and ads
have been distributed in the streets, newspapers and on TV
channels. Moreover, Al-Iraqiya TV continued its free
electoral advertising for candidates. The electoral law has
determined rules of the electoral campaign and this law
outlines prohibitions that should not be conducted during
the electoral campaign. At the same time, this law has
ignored issues that might happen during the campaign, minor
issues that may affect the honesty of the democratic aspect
of the election.

"Some speak about assassination attempts and murders against
people who were trying to post electoral posters and ads for
electoral lists. It seems that those who perpetrate such
acts either belong to specific lists or they might just be
groups that want to demolish the electoral process. Some
people said that there are groups ripping down posters of
specific electoral lists. Sometimes, people place posters
over other posters in an attempt to hide posters belonging
to opposition lists.

"It seems that these types of acts have become a part of the
electoral campaign. We all know that we cannot find an
electoral campaign that is one hundred percent honest in the
entire world. But, it is very important to work hard to make
the electoral campaigns honest. We do not have a specific
mechanism that can register infringements and violations
during the electoral campaign. However, some lists that were
harmed by these violations submitted complaints against
those who conduct such acts. I think that civil society
organizations must be responsible for monitoring, following
up and informing relevant authorities about any violations
that may happen."

E. "Patching the Gap"
(Az-Zaman - independent, anti-coalition, published this back-
page editorial by Fatih Abdul Salam)

"Recently, Iraqi politicians have started to speak about
establishing a technocratic government that includes Iraq's
scientific and academic elite. We have seen during the
former transitional governments many ministers who have
academic degrees who were appointed. This procedure
continued in an attempt to show that these governments
appoint qualified figures--however these appointments do not
necessarily mean that those ministers are truly qualified.

"We know that there are many academic certificates that were
forged and granted to individuals who know nothing about
their subjects. We all remember that there were nine
ministers who had academic degrees during the final days of
Saddam's government. But, this does not mean they were
qualified because the former regime made all senior
appointments based on loyalty to the regime rather than the
country's interest.Civil society organizations and media
outlets must teach people that technocrats cannot save the
country unless there are wise political minds in the
government."

KHALILZAD

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