ANBAR: NEW RAMADI CITY COUNCIL CONFRONTS FOUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004213

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PTER IZ
SUBJECT: ANBAR: NEW RAMADI CITY COUNCIL CONFRONTS FOUL
WATER AND FIGHTING THE INSURGENCY

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


1. (C) Summary. A technocrat-dominated, fledgling Ramadi
City Council prioritized its responsibilities with regard to
oversight of essential services to the violent and battered
city. They praised the performance of the local Ministry of
Electricity employees and noted their speed in restoring
service after insurgent attacks. Local MNF-I commander
responded to specific complaints regarding checkpoint
procedures and establishing security in a particularly
dangerous area of Ramadi; he appealed to the city's
representatives to stem the violence by reporting the
activities of the terrorists. Convincing Anbaris to overcome
their fear or unwillingness to identify insurgents will
require persuasive, sustained dialogue. Framing the message
is as important as its content. End Comment.


2. (C) Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi, has limped along
for the better part of a year without a functioning City
Council. On September 5, a body of 21 was reconstituted by
nominating members from the professional classes and tribal
representatives. PolOff observed the October 9 meeting,
hastily called two hours ahead of time for security reasons.
18 members participated in an impressively organized
discussion of improving municipal services and a question and
answer session with the local MNF-I commander. City Council
Chairman, Haji Yahya Adbul Jaleel, a lawyer, maintained order
and adhered to a two page agenda printed and circulated for
the membership. The Chair announced the formation of council
committees to oversee Education, Religion, Agriculture,
Health, Public (or Essential) Services and Financial sectors.
Both the chair and the deputy chairman demonstrated an
understanding of the inherent constraints in the authority of
the council and outlined its role as mainly one of oversight
and to a lesser extent to the airing of grievances of their
constituents. After the meeting, the chairman noted to civil
affairs officers the council,s intention to force the
resignation of Ramadi,s largely absent and ineffective mayor
and advertise the position.


3. (C) The Chairman praised the labors of the Director
General for Electricity, citing the provision of service as
the highest of all essential services. He observed that even
if the insurgents destroyed elements of the network, DG was
able to effect repairs the next day. He listed the shortages
in the distribution of fuel (especially diesel and propane)
and severe challenges in the public sewer system as the
highest priorities for the council. The Chair charged that
officials entrusted with the distribution of fuels were
diverting two thirds or more to black market. Efforts to
maintain oversight of the delivery and subsequent
distribution of supplies from Baghdad failed, Haji Yahya
noted, because the official monitors were subject to
'humiliation' and offers of bribes. He concluded the council
was ready to assist the ministry in assuring fuels reached
their intended destination.

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Swamp Water: Council,s Technocrats Stun Members With
Experiment
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4. (C) One council member asked MNF-I civil affairs officer
for water from his camelback. The official took another
glass filled with city water and ran an electrical charge
through both samples. Within minutes the city water had
formed a thick, clumpy layer of black detritus. The MNF-I
water remained clear. The council members were duly
impressed by the abysmal quality of their 'potable' water
supply. (Note. While the council did not outline next steps
to address the need, several water purification projects are
before the Provincial Reconstruction and Development Council.
We will continue to press local officials to pursue their
priorites through the PRDC process. End Note.) The Deputy
Chairman added that the sewage situation in Ramadi needed to
be addressed urgently before the winter rainy season.


5. (C) A young council member Khalid Rajaab raised the issue
of access to the Agricultural College and Girls, College,
located near the violence prone Al Malaab district. The
dislocation of the Agricultural College campus (MNF-I
occupies its original facility) is a perennial complaint, yet
the school has managed to continue classes despite borrowed
classrooms. Khalid alleged that enrollment (approximately
1200 students) had begun to drop off given the challenge for
students in transiting MNF-I and ISF checkpoints to attend
classes. He also charged that many female students were no
longer attending the nearby Girls College, because of the
humiliating treatment they faced at a checkpoint manned by
the ISF. The council member, self-identified as a teacher
(with a law degree) at the Agricultural College, observed he
waited three hours to pass through the checkpoint to reach
his classroom.
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Only You Can Stop the Insurgency
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6. (C) The local MNF-I commander paying a courtesy call to
the council, responded to questions about the continued
presence of the MNF-I on the Agricultural College campus and
appealed for the council members support in suppressing the
insurgency. Circulating photos of a recently discovered
massive cache of weapons on an elementary school property,
the commander urged the people,s representatives to utilize
the 'TIP' line to report insurgency activity. The members,
reaction was telling. After listening impassively, an
elderly sheikh was the first to respond. He shirked the
appeal, claiming, "if I see an insurgent, I don't tell you, I
take care of it myself", then quickly added his ability to do
so was impaired by the seizure of his tribe,s weapons by the
MNF-I. In an even tenser exchange, the imam of the Saddam
Mosque demanded a loosening of security around his place of
worship. (Comment: The Saddam mosque is the frequent site
of insurgent activity. End Comment.) In response to the
MNF-I commander's query about why local residents suddenly
disappeared from the streets immediately before an attack
that killed fellow Iraqi citizens (members of the ISF),the
imam protested, "I would love to help secure the area, if I
only could". The imam went on to recommend the MNF-I conduct
bihourly patrols of the area vice stringent checkpoint
procedures.


7. (C) Comment. Overall the city council appears off to a
successful start. The body appears dominated by an
academic/technocratic class, tempered by four or five
traditional tribal sheikhs; two females, who joined the
meeting late were both teachers at local schools. (PolOff
accompanied the two women back to the Civil Affairs badging
office, a delay in securing the keys to a pedestrian gate
left the two council members, an armed military officer,
PolOff and civilian translator exposed on the main street for
ten minutes. The women concealed their trepidation with
difficulty, as close proximity to Americans is dangerous for
Anbari citizens. Nonetheless they stayed with Poloff and the
certainty of a precarious return home.) Our efforts to
convince Anbaris of their role and ultimate responsibility to
suppress the insurgency are more than an uphill battle. The
council members, especially the tribesman, appeared to
defiantly reject their de facto support for violence.
According to the governor, the key task is to link tightly in
the public,s mind their well-being with the eradication of
the powerful forces terrorizing them. End Comment.
Khalilzad