Peace, Love and Understanding in Occupied Iraq

/ the Iraqi civil war /

Iason Athanasiadis, sent the following transcript of a talk show from Al Jazeera TV featuring Sunni MP, Mish'an Al-Jabouri (owner of Al-Zawraa TV) and Shiite Iraqi Journalist Sadeq Al-Musawi (political advisor to the President of Iraq Jalal Talabani). The debate aired on Al-Jazeera TV on January 2, 2007:

Host: "Do you support the execution of Saddam Hussein?" 4,787 people, who constitute 88.6% of the public, say: "No." 11.4% say: "Yes." What do you want to say to them?

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: With your permission, before he responds... I would like to begin this show by calling upon the viewers to recite the Al-Fatiha verse for the soul of the martyred president Saddam Hussein...

Sadeq Al-Musawi: We are not going to recite the Al-Fatiha for anybody. We are here to condemn a man who killed thousands and millions of Iraqis. We are not here to recite the Al-Fatiha for anybody. He was an oppressive tyrant who spilled the blood of the Iraqis. [...] Saddam Hussein was not an Arab leader. Saddam Hussein came to power by stealth, in the dark of night. He killed his friends and his comrades in order to attain power. Saddam Hussein has gone to the garbage bin of history. [...]

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: You should have some self-respect, and choose your words carefully, or else, I will do to you things you cannot even imagine, you Persian liar... Behave yourself, you liar...

Sadeq Al-Musawi: You are a thief... You are a thief. You've been convicted for theft..

Mish'an Al-Jabouri : Get out. Saddam Hussein is your master and the master of your parents...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: These are your documents. You are an Iranian citizen. You are Persian... You are an Iranian citizen... Saddam Hussein is your master and the master of people like you... (throwing the pages at Al-Musawi) These are your documents...

Sadeq Al-Musawi: Your father killed Kurds...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: These are your Iranian documents... You are Iranian. These documents show that he applied for Iraqi citizenship in May 2004.

Sadeq Al-Musawi: We will settle accounts with all of you...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: To hell with you and your accounts...

Host: Sir, I beg you to sit down...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: You Persian shoe...

Host: You cannot talk this way.

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: He shouldn't offend the master of his own parents... Saddam Hussein is his master and the master of his parents... That man is an Iranian...

Host: OK. Let's sit down. Let's talk calmly, without getting upset, please. This isn't the way to hold a discussion. [...]

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: As you know, Saddam executed my own brother and many of my relatives. He executed the uncle of my children, but the way he was executed proved Saddam was a brave man. He has truly become our martyr, and we will visit his grave like the graves of the righteous. [...] They sentenced him to death and executed him on the holiday. The people who executed him are the same people who killed Omar [ibn Al-Khattab]. These are the same peple who killed Abu Bakr... Sorry, the same people who hate Abu Bakr and all the Prophet's companions... [...]

Host: To the viewers who have just joined us, we had Mr. Sadeq Al-Musawi with us, and he left after one minute...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: He is not Sadeq Al-Musawi. You know that's not his name. Don't make me an accomplice to this forgery...

Host: It looks like he is coming back. I hope Mr. Sadeq will return. Please, let's not make it personal.

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: If he's rude or if he says things that are wrong about Saddam Hussein, I will do things...

Host: Mr. Mish'an, you can say whatever you want about politics...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: Speak politely and do not offend the memory of the martyred president. Do not offend the memory of... The martyred president Saddam Hussein has become an imam for the heroic resistance fighters around the world.

Sadeq Al-Musawi: That's your opinion.

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: Yes it is, and you should respect my feelings and those of the public. [...] I will not allow him to curse the president....

Sadeq Al-Musawi: I will curse him until this show is over...

Mish'an Al-Jabouri: By Allah, I advise you not to do that....

Sadeq Al-Musawi: Don't advise me, kill me in Iraq... Send your militia to kill me...

[another version here].

I note that the AJ host claims that there is some sort of poll that shows that close to 90% of respondents were against Saddam's execution. The transcript does not make clear who was asked - whether it was Arabs in general or Iraqis. If the latter, the numbers are difficult to believe, and I haven't seen anything on the english (or french, or greek) speaking websites that even mentions such a poll. We do know that when the trial started, a poll claimed that over 50% of the Iraqi population supported his hanging. On the other hand, whereas in a poll published on April 2005, only 39% of Iraqis believed that Iraq was then somewhat worse off or much worse off than before the U.S. invasion, a recent poll shows that:

...Only five percent of those questioned said Iraq is better today than in 2003. While 89 percent of the people said the political situation had deteriorated, 79 percent saw a decline in the economic situation; 12 percent felt things had improved and 9 percent said there was no change. Predictably, 95 percent felt the security situation was worse than before...

However if anyone knows more about the poll quoted by the Al Jazeera anchor, feel free to comment and/or post a url.