SADR CITY OFFICIAL WANTS JAYSH AL-MAHDI TO SECURE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000896 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS PNAT PTER KDEM KISL IZ SUBJECT: SADR CITY OFFICIAL WANTS JAYSH AL-MAHDI TO SECURE SYRIAN BORDER Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT S. FORD FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) In a March 14 conversation with PolOff, the supervisor of the Sadr City District Advisory Council (DAC) General Information Center (GIC),Nsaif Jassim, told PolOff that Coalition Forces (CF) need to "take care" of Iraq's militia problem. This will demonstrate that CF are serious about building a stable Iraq. Jassim, for his part, suggested to PolOff that the Sadrist-backed Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) be deployed to Anbar and Ninewa provinces to secure Iraq's border with Syria. That way, Jassim said, JAM and the insurgents can fight each other, thereby remedying two of CF's biggest problems. PolOff pushed back, arguing that deploying JAM in Anbar province would only inflame sectarian tension and would not solve Iraq's militia problem. ¶2. (C) Jassim also told PolOff that the U.S. should keep political parties out of the cabinet and instead install a government of technocrats to solve Iraq's problems. This government should serve for at least one year and work on Iraq's most pressing issues, Jassim said. At the end of this one year period, the political parties could then form a new government. PolOff noted that the U.S. could not ignore the December 15 elections but we were urging formation of a competent government. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) Jassim's ideas, while impractical, underscore the frustration many Sadr City residents feel regarding the situation in Iraq. Jassim, an educated person who has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and speaks good English, has clearly lost faith in the current GOI's ability to solve Iraq's problems. It is somewhat encouraging, however, that his recipe for rebuilding Iraq - a government of technocrats, eliminating the militia threat, securing Iraq's borders, and ending the insurgency - is very similar to ours. If ordinary Iraqis such as Jassim are to be placated, the pace of reconstruction and restoration of stability must quicken. SATTERFIELD