Censorship a mistake.

Byline: The Register-Guard

A steadily worsening security situation has forced - some would say enabled - Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to crack down on insurgents and perpetrators of violence. But neither Iraq nor the United States can afford to have Allawi's efforts to restore order come across to the Iraqi people as an excuse to legitimize repres- sion.

That's why it was a big mistake for Allawi to order his police to shut down the Baghdad bureau of Al-Jazeera, the satellite television network with the largest audience in the Arab world. Allawi pulled the plug on Al-Jazeera for at least 30 days, charging the network with inciting violence by continuing to broadcast graphic coverage of terrorist kidnappings and other violent crimes.

The interim Iraqi government has said Al-Jazeera will be allowed to resume operations in Baghdad only if it agrees to "change its policies." Translation: "You're history unless you limit your coverage to approved topics that make the government look good."

Authoritarian Arab regimes throughout the region must be breathing a sigh of relief. The last thing they want is for a successful democratic Iraq to emerge in their midst, inflaming repressed populations and threatening their power. Muzzling the media is one of the most effective methods of quashing dangerous democratic stirrings.

But the Iraqi people, only recently delivered from a brutal dictatorship, are unlikely to give Allawi carte blanche to restore order. They understand the difference between needing checkpoints to inspect vehicles for explosives and the establishment of state-run media to silence dissent.

The fact that the U.S. is no fan of Al-Jazeera's stridently nationalistic message and its pointed opposition to the invasion of Iraq is all the more reason for American advisers to counsel Allawi to change course. If our goal is to help Iraq assemble the ingredients for a successful democracy, the first line in the recipe should echo the First Amendment to our Constitution.