PM TELLS CODEL MCCAIN BETTER WEAPONS AND QUICKER

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004564

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PTER KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: PM TELLS CODEL MCCAIN BETTER WEAPONS AND QUICKER
TRANSFER NEEDED, NOT MORE TROOPS

Classified By: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (S) Summary. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told CODEL
McCain December 13 that Iraq did not need more U.S. troops,
but rather access to better weapons for Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF) to win against militias and insurgents. He agreed with
the CODEL that Iraq needed to "work quickly" to demonstrate
improvements in the security situation, using the opportunity
to convey his desire for the acceleration of transfer of
control and acceleration of building and equipping ISF.
"Speed up the process of giving us weapons and giving us
control, and we will pay the blood price". However, when
pointedly asked by Senator Graham whether the Prime Minister
would object if the US sent 20,000 more troops, the PM
replied that he would not if the joint committee working on
Baghdad security recommended to take that action. PM Maliki
tempered CODEL comments on poor security by drawing attention
to the positive achievements in Iraq over the past three
years. He expressed optimism in the new Baghdad security
plan, in political efforts to reach out to neighboring
countries on security, and on ISF efforts to address the
militia issue. End Summary.

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WE PREFER CONTROL OVER INCREASE OF TROOPS
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2. (S) When asked whether he would appreciate an increase in
U.S. troop levels in Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki responded by
requesting that the number of troops be kept at the current
level, and not be increased. While he agreed that more
troops were needed in Baghdad, he argued that they should be
Iraqi troops, brought in from other areas in Iraq to Baghdad.
He repeated that an increase in U.S. troops would not be as
beneficial as better and more weaponry for ISF. However,
when pressed specifically by Senator Graham if the Prime
Minister would object an increase of 20,000 US troops, the
Prime Minister said that he would not if such a
recommendation came from the USG/GOI security committee
working on Baghdad security.


3. (S) When the CODEL raised the importance of demonstrating
to the American people security improvements in the upcoming
months, PM Maliki agreed and urged that accelerated efforts
be made to hand over control as well as to build up ISF. He
emphasized that deadlines should be established, reaffirming
the CODEL's own observations that results be demonstrated
sooner rather than later. The PM said, "Let's identify
deadlines and speed up building and equipping. Let's work
quickly to achieve the best results."

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PM RESPONDS TO CODEL COMMENTS ON SECURITY
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3. (S) PM Maliki tempered CODEL comments on poor security by
highlighting the positive achievements in Iraq over the past
three years -- he pointed to a freely elected unity
government, reconstruction projects and important
legislation. The PM refuted criticisms of the decision to
dismantle USG/GOI Sadr City checkpoints, saying the decision
to shut down those checkpoints had been a joint USG/GOI
decision. He responded to Senator McCain's comments on U.S.
disappointment with the security situation by linking the
poor security situation with the former regime and with
mistakes made in the past. Reiterating his positive outlook
for the future, the PM said, "We have succeeded in achieving
many of our milestones - we have made positive steps towards
reform of De-Ba'athification and elections. What remains is
defeating terrorism".


4. (S) Prime Minister Maliki noted that he was optimistic
that improvements in the security situation would indeed be
achieved in the upcoming months with the new Baghdad security
plan. He explained that the previous efforts had allowed
them to learn and select the pros and cons of certain
strategies to create a new security plan. He asserted that
that if the new plan received the right attention, it would
decrease violence in Baghdad.

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MILITIAS, TERRORISM, AND NEIGHBOR COUNTRIES
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5. (S) The Prime Minister told the CODEL that that the
government had made great progress in addressing militia
activity. "We have given orders to our security forces to
confront any insurgents or militias now that we have
exhausted diplomatic options." Despite this, he
acknowledged, militias in some parts of Iraq were stronger

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than the ISF (in some cases even part of the ISF). He noted
that ISF had been outgunned in various confrontations, thus
emphasizing the need for state of the art weapons. He
assured the CODEL that he would not retreat on the position
that militias should be disbanded, and had been proactive in
confronting militias particularly in Samawah, Karbala, and
Diwaniyah.


6. (S) When discussing Iraq's neighbors, the PM expressed
hope that these countries would support Iraq in preventing
the flow of terrorism. He added that these countries now
were seeing that the dangerous situation in Iraq would affect
their own countries. He reaffirmed the need to address the
support that militia and terrorist groups, as well as Iraqi
politicians, were receiving from outside Iraq. He
highlighted as positive steps (a) the recent Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with Syria to prevent infiltration of
terrorists across borders, (b) the reconciliation delegations
that would begin their tours to neighbor countries in the
upcoming weeks, and (c) an upcoming regional conference.
KHALILZAD