SHEIKH HAMMOUDI TELLS CODEL SHAYS WHEN U.S. CAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004175

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PINS PNAT PREL
SUBJECT: SHEIKH HAMMOUDI TELLS CODEL SHAYS WHEN U.S. CAN
WITHDRAW TROOPS

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT FORD FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On October 9, TNA Constitution Committee
Chair and senior Shia Islamist politician Sheikh Humam
Hammoudi told Representatives Christopher Shays (R, CT),
Michael McNulty (D, NY),Earl Pomeroy (D, ND),Michael
Campuano (D, MA),Ron Kind (D, WI),and Eni Faleomavaega
(D, American Samoa) the U.S. should not withdraw its troops
from Iraq until the Iraq Police (IP) and Security Forces
(ISF) are capable of securing Iraq on their own. Hammoudi
said that the rights of women would be guaranteed by the
draft constitution, and warned that some of Iraq's
neighbors do not want Iraq to succeed in its democratic
experiment. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Sheikh Hammoudi told CODEL Shays that Iraqis want
the U.S. military to withdraw from Iraq as quickly as
possible, but not before Iraq is secure. He claimed that
training given to IP and ISF has been weak and inadequate;
they are not yet ready to take over all security duties in
Iraq. When they are ready, Hammoudi said, Coalition Forces
could simply support IP and ISF as needed, with an eye to
withdrawing completely soon thereafter.


3. (C) Hammoudi insisted that the draft constitution would
guarantee women's rights. On the matter of personal status
law, he said that just as in Lebanon, when an Iraqi couple
marries, they retain the right to decide whether to do so
according to civil or religious law. This decision,
Hammoudi said, would determine how any marital disputes,
including divorce, are adjudicated.


4. (C) Hammoudi told CODEL Shays that Iraq is now free to
make decisions regarding its future. Issues such as
whether Iraq will have a strong ruler or decentralized
government will eventually be determined. He warned,
however, of meddling by Iraq's neighbors, noting that
"forces in Iraq's environs" want to prevent a stable and
peaceful Iraq from developing. (Comment: Hammoudi in the
past has evidenced deep suspicion of Arab states'
intervening in Iraqi affairs. End Comment.)
Khalilzad