Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAGHDAD896
2006-03-20 08:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:
SADR CITY OFFICIAL WANTS JAYSH AL-MAHDI TO SECURE
how-toVZCZCXRO4655 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS DE RUEHGB #0896 0790853 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 200853Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3402 INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
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).
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
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