CODEL INHOFE MEETS WITH TNA MEMBERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 005051 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2015 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PBTS PINR MOPS IZ SUBJECT: CODEL INHOFE MEETS WITH TNA MEMBERS REF: A. BAGHDAD 4692 ¶B. BAGHDAD 4746 Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) met December 12 with TNA members Dr. Saad Qindeel, Wijdan Salim, and Yunadem Kanna. -------------- Security Situation: We are in a Catch-22 -------------- ¶2. (C) Wijdan Salim said the security situation is still "very bad," and the Iraqi government needs to protect people, particularly candidates and campaign workers. Later, she suggested that the Ministry of Interior is loyal to Iran. She also said the U.S. military is making Iraqis hate them because of their security and construction projects, citing a plan to build barricades on the ring roads in Baghdad. Dr. Qindeel described the security situation as "not good, but improved." He added that "we do not see the light at the end of the tunnel although we are moving in the right direction." Dr. Qindeel said Iraq is caught in a Catch-22: it needs MNF-I to build up the ISF so that it can assume the security portfolio and MNF-I can leave, which most Iraqis want to happen as soon as possible. He stated that, from the Government of Iraq's perspective, MNF-I is acting as a hindrance to the build-up of ISF to self-sufficiency. ¶3. (C) Dr. Qindeel did not miss another opportunity to note that the control of the intelligence services needs to be returned to the Government of Iraq (reftels). (NOTE: This demand was also contained in the TNA Sovereignty Commission Report issued in September. The Shia Alliance has repeatedly claimed that the INIS is closely affiliated with U.S. intelligence services and is infiltrated by former Ba'athists. END NOTE.) He added that Iraq's 2006 Budget did not contain any funding for the intelligence services (which he estimated at $250 million). He alleged that the entire budget is being financed by the USG. He concluded by saying, "How can we get to self-sufficiency if we do not have control?" -------------- -------------- Kanna's Soliloquy: How to Fix Iraq and Stop Depending on the Kurds -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Yunadem Kanna took advantage of the meeting to speak at length on a variety of topics. He said that 90% of Iraqis were happy when Saddam's regime fell, but they did not all move in the same direction since some of them had different dreams for Iraq. He stressed the importance of Iraq stopping destabilizing external factors (e.g., foreign terrorists crossing open borders) and ridding itself of bad internal factors (e.g., Ba'athists). In order to move forward, there needs to be reconciliation to bring in the Sunni Arabs and De-Ba'athification against real criminals. Wijdan Salim disagreed with Kanna's viewpoint on de- Ba'athification, saying most Iraqis were Ba'athists and the De-Ba'athification process is adversely affecting many ordinary Iraqis. She added that those Ba'athists who committed crimes to Iraqis need to be judged through the courts. ¶5. (C) Kanna's intense dislike for the Kurds (whose actions have disenfranchised those Chaldo-Assyrians in northern Iraq who do not support the Kurdish Alliance) was evident when he criticized the U.S. for relying on the same people for advice, creating a situation where the U.S. had the love of 3 million and made 24 million suffer. He later added that "maybe the Kurds will be brought down by a Shia/Sunni Alliance." -------------- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE -------------- ¶6. (C) Baghdad-native Saad Qindeel is a moderate Shia and head of the political bureau of SCIRI, the largest party in the Shia Alliance. He also serves on the Constitutional Committee. Baghdad-native Wijdan Salim is Chaldean Assyrian Christian and Secretary of the TNA's Committee on Foreign Relations. She is a supporter of former PM Ayad Allawi and is running on his list in December. She is also a reliable interlocutor on the life of ordinary Baghdadis. Yunadem Kanna is also Chaldean Assyrian Christian, and serves as Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and Chairman of the Services and Reconstruction Committee. He is a well known advocate for Christian rights as well as a member of the Constitutional Committee and the De-Ba'athification Commission. KHALILZAD