Iraq Press Roundup

The independent Kitabat newspaper said in an editorial Wednesday that the "liberation" of Iraq uncovered the reality of Shiite and Sunni Islamic parties and revealed the true nature of religious figures.

The editorial, titled "U.S. success in saving Iraq from the evil of Islamic parties," said that for the first time in the history of Iraq, religious figures and political Islam had been discarded.

"Today, the average Iraqi considers Islamic activists and religious figures as thugs and hijackers," the paper said. It said the transformation of public opinion in Iraq was a "clever" move by the United States.

"The U.S. plan relied on the concept of letting Islamic parties and religious men to rule, thereby revealing to the public" their motives, the paper said.

It said the immense social and political transformations that have taken place in Iraqi society, along with the banishment of the power of Islamic and religious powers, have become popular among Iraqis.

"As a result, a secular government has become a reality, a nature that dominated the political history of Iraq," it said.

Kitabat said the "sons of Iraq" recorded the greatest and brightest secular revolution when they fought al-Qaida.

"Fighting the Islamic powers is the first of its kind battle in Iraq's modern history," the paper said.

It said Shiite areas have come to a "general critical moment" that crystallized "national awareness for the simple Iraqis who were used by … Shiite parties to achieve sectarian goals."

"Shiite population criticizing their Shiites parties … is considered a civic miracle; a huge, qualitative transformation in a society that the Iranian lobby tended to use to achieve their sectarian interests," the paper said.

It said those who look for the future of Iraq using a national perspective have found the strategic relationship with the United States is the only way to save and build Iraq.

The Kurdish Al Ahali Newspaper said in an editorial, titled "Let the year of 2008 be one of rebuilding," that Iraq, through the last few decades, has been demolished due to many wars and immature policies.

It said that when Iraq was "transformed," Iraqis were hoping to remove the "wrecks of wars" and rebuild their country, but the storm of terrorism, violence and political disagreements has hit Iraq since Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003.

"Iraq is a damaged and exhausted country. … Its rulers are obliged to pull it from under the wreck and rebuild it," the paper said.

It said most agendas, especially democratizing Iraq, are connected to the financial situation of the average Iraqi.

"Rebuilding Iraq would reduce terrorism and guarantee a stable situation on the ground," it said.

It said that if the 2008 budget were to be used to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure, the country would be a model.

The editorial said that if Iraqis had opportunities for work, they could be the most qualified people and "manufacture miracles."

"We hope that the slogan of this year, with political prosperity and will, will be to rebuild Iraq," it said.