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. 
 
------------------------------ 
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 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶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