UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE EDELMAN MEETS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004332

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2015
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS PTER IZ
SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE EDELMAN MEETS WITH
IRAQI MINISTER OF INTERIOR


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David M. Satterfield for reasons 1.4 (
a),(b),and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric
Edelman and LTG Victor Renuart, Director of Strategic Plans
and Policy, called on Iraqi Minister of Interior Bayan Jabr
at his office on October 18, 2005. Jabr was accompanied by
GEN Babiker Shwakt, commander of the Iraqi Joint Forces
(representing the Minister of Defense who was out of the
country),and MG Adnan Thabit, head of the Ministry of
Interior's Special Police Forces. Jabr reviewed the progress
being made by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and expressed
gratitude to the U.S. for its continuing assistance. He
agrees with President Bush that we cannot back down and must
continue to fight until the terrorists are defeated. The ISF
are improving in their abilities to fight on their own and
are getting an increasing amount of cooperation from
civilians who are pointing them to insurgents. Edelman told
Jabr that the Iraqis must continue to develop ministerial
capacity and to spend sufficient amounts to support their
investment in security. With regard to cross-border threats,
Jabr said that Syria is the number one problem with regard to
support for the insurgency and played down any negative role
played by Iran. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) USDP Edelman opened the meeting explaining that he
and LTG Renuart had recently assumed their positions and
wanted to visit at the earliest opportunity to assess and
learn first hand what is taking place in Iraq. So far they
had visited Mosul, al-Kisik, and Taji to meet with ISF
officers and to inspect training facilities. USDP Edelman
related that he and Renuart had been impressed by what they
had seen.

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IRAQI CAPACITY NEEDED
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3. (C) USDP Edelman stressed the need for the Iraqis to
develop the ministerial capacity required to support the
progress and the investments already made, noting that the
Iraqis have gone from zero security forces to a combined
military/police force of over 207,000, with a goal of
325,000. He emphasized that, as these forces grow, so too
does the need to build the capacity to sustain them. USDP
Edelman stressed they must be equipped, maintained, paid,
fed, and housed in a way that will protect the investments
already made and allow progress to continue. He also
acknowledged that this will pose challenges for the Ministers
of Interior and Defense as they will be required to negotiate
with the Minister of Finance and others over the amount of
funding needed. To prevail in these negotiations, the
security ministries must ensure that institutions and
procedures are in place to assure others that the money
allocated will be well and properly spent. The U.S. is
confident that this type of ministerial capacity can be built
because we have helped to do so in several Eastern European
countries that recently have advanced to the point that they
have been allowed to join NATO. He assured Jabr that we are
committed to helping the Iraqis successfully build their
capacity as well.

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PROGRESS ON THE SECURITY FRONT
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4. (C) Jabr thanked USDP for his remarks and welcomed him
to Iraq. He said he could speak for both the Ministries of
Defense and Interior when he said that the Iraqis are
grateful for all the training and assistance provided to them
by the U.S. Thanks to this assistance, the ISF have
progressed to the point where they are capable of carrying
out more duties at a higher level. As an example, he noted
the very successful outcome, from a security standpoint, of
the recent referendum. In comparison to the January
election, more people voted and acts of violence were
significantly lower. The Iraqis will always remember the
assistance given by the U.S.


5. (C) Jabr said that the fight in which Iraq is involved
is not merely a war between Iraq and a group of individuals.
Rather, it is a "world war" against the phenomenon of
terrorism. If we do not work together to stop terrorism now,
he warned, it will spread throughout the world. Jabr said he
agrees completely with President Bush that we must not back
down in the face of terrorism and that to do so would be a
serious defeat. He said that the progress Iraq is making
politically -- with its election, new government, draft
constitution, and referendum -- is sending an important
message to the people of the region living under
dictatorships: democracy is possible. "If we obtain a
victory here we will help many people throughout the region
to win their freedom."


6. (C) Thabit, who commands the police Commando and Public
Order Brigades, reported that his forces have received
excellent training and are becoming more and more successful
in engagements with terrorists. He boasted that the
terrorists his forces encounter no longer stand and fight but
run away instead. When asked about the level of public
support for the ISF, both Thabit and Babiker said that more
and more civilians are coming forward to report terrorist and
insurgent activities and their hiding places. In addition,
insurgents who are captured are informing on their colleagues
more than has been true in the past. LTG Renuart emphasized
the need to have police forces that are trusted and respected
by the public, as these are the security forces they see
every day in their communities. The force must be composed
of individuals who are representative of all communities in
Iraq. Thabit replied that this is increasingly the case.

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SYRIA A THREAT, IRAN LESS SO
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7. (C) USDP Edelman asked Jabr about problems caused by its
neighbors. Jabr replied that two kinds of interference are
encountered: direct or government-supported interference and
indirect interference in which individuals in a neighboring
country are permitted to cause problems for Iraq. With
regard to the first, Syria is the major problem, as it opens
its borders to fighters from other countries and allows them
to pass through to enter Iraq. He produced a handful of
foreign passports he claimed were taken from foreign fighters
and noted that the last stamps in all of them were entries
into Syria. He also showed one that had a receipt for a
one-way ticket into Syria tucked inside. With regard to
"indirect" interference, he pointed to Saudi Arabia, stating
that the Saudis permit their citizens to support the
insurgents financially and that many of the foreign fighters
who come to Iraq are Saudi. When asked about Iran, Jabr
replied that it was not a problem. Only a handful of people
have been arrested crossing the Iranian border to cause
trouble. Jabr did, however, acknowledge that the British
have informed him that they suspect many of the improvised
explosive devices that have killed their soldiers and others
are based on technology imported from Iran.


8. (U) This cable was cleared by USDP Edelman.
Satterfield