Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Why do they die? | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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In the space of two days of carnage, fellow reporter Jawad Kazem was assassinated in Baghdad , the journalist and university professor Jasem al Ithawi was murdered, followed by engineer Abdel Sattar Hussein al Khazraji, killed on his doorstep. The latter two were about to represent the Arab Sunni community and take part in drafting the constitution, in accordance with an agreement reached by the Iraqi Parliament. These assassinations have one thing in common: the identity of the victims. All three cases involved prominent independent figures in Iraq : a journalist, an opposition politician, and a university professor.

All three were the victims of a campaign to sabotage any efforts to form a unified Iraq , a country based on the rule of the law and constitutional structures. They were targeted because of their professional standing and their willingness to participate in building a new multiethnic Iraq , free of terrorism.

Assassinating journalists aims at banning media professionals from telling the truth, especially when the reality of Iraq can influence public opinion inthe Arab World. The matter of fact, only known to citizens of the country, is that the so-called mujhaedeen (fighters for religion) are terrorists who have shifted tactics and instead of bombing, Cairo , Riyadh , Doha , and Casablanca , now kill innocent civilians in al Ramadi or Baghdad . They also murder politicians to terrorize the opposition movements who might want to take part in drafting the constitution. This explains why al Khazraji, a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, is now dead. After it boycotted the parliamentary elections, earlier this year, the group said it would participate in discussions on a new constitution for Iraq . The killing al Khazraji aims at crippling political participation.

Terrorists in Iraq no longer attack Iraqi or US military forces because they are heavily armed and live in fortified areas. They have become aware of the important role played by the media across Iraq in exposing their lies slogans. Through the eyes and ears of the media, we know that the victims are mostly children, women, and the elderly, all civilians, killed in houses, schools, or mosques.

By targeting our colleague Kazem, terrorists wanted to send a message to all media professional and university professors. They seek to terrorize Iraqi communities and citizens who are actively trying to rebuild their society, based on an equal share for all groups. Many of those killed in recent months were the best in their respective fields. They were targeted and murdered with mafia-like precision by those afraid of a multi confessional Iraq . Threatened by an open political system, these terrorists want to create perpetuate chaos and destroy any vision of a bright future for Iraq .