Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD1977
2007-06-16 08:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

ADHAMIYA SUNNIS DISCUSS SECURITY, VIEWS ON U.S.

Tags:  PGOV PINS PINR IZ 
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VZCZCXRO7311
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1977/01 1670847
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 160847Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1706
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001977 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR IZ
SUBJECT: ADHAMIYA SUNNIS DISCUSS SECURITY, VIEWS ON U.S.

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Robert Gilchrist for reasons
1.4 (B) and (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001977

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR IZ
SUBJECT: ADHAMIYA SUNNIS DISCUSS SECURITY, VIEWS ON U.S.

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Robert Gilchrist for reasons
1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: Sunni members of the Adhamiya District
Council (DC) told PRToffs June 5 that the Iraqi Army (IA) and
both Sunni and Shia extremists are the primary sources of
instability in the predominantly Sunni areas of the district.
They added that many average Sunni citizens in the district
resent the U.S. because of what they view as its
unconditional support for the pro-Iranian Shia central
government. Several DC members said that the security wall in
Adhamiya has not improved security because IA personnel
manning the checkpoint allow Shia militiamen to enter, but
one said the wall has improved security conditions and he
would like it to be extended to surround his own
neighborhood. Several DC members complained that the Baghdad
Security Plan has not done enough to target Shia militias.
End summary.

IA, Sunni and Shia Extremists Threaten Adhamiya Security
-------------- --------------


2. (C) DC members told PRToffs that the Iraqi Army, as well
as both Sunni and Shia extremists, threaten security in
Adhamiya. DC Chairman Dawood Al-Adhamy, a Sunni, and several
of his Sunni associates told PRToff that the Iraqi Army is
the primary source of instability in the district,s
predominantly Sunni areas. Al-Adhamy and his associates
claimed the IA routinely mistreats Sunni residents because
&most of the soldiers are Shia and many of them belong to
militias.8 They said that, in their view, the security
situation in Adhamiya,s Sunni areas has deteriorated since
the beginning of the BSP because the IA has cracked down
especially hard on the Sunni populace and citizens are
hitting back. They said that the IA has failed to
distinguish between militants and average citizens and thus
many innocent Sunnis who were once neutral now at least
passively support insurgent activity.


3. (C) Al-Adhamy and his associates claimed the Iraqi Army
kills one or two innocent civilians per day in the
district,s predominantly Sunni areas. He added that usually
such incidents occur when the army indiscriminately
retaliates for attacks by opening fire in the general

direction from which the soldiers believe they were attacked.
(Comment: While there is no direct evidence of these events,
Al-Adhamy and his associates clearly believe this to be true,
therefore perpetuating their mistrust of the Iraqi Army.)


4. (C) Al-Adhamy claimed the Iraqi Army routinely carries out
mass arrests of military-age Sunni males and that detainees
often disappear because the soldiers who have arrested them
are Shia militiamen. He said that his constituents would
much rather be arrested by U.S. forces because at least they
know they will not be mistreated, executed, ransomed, or
handed over to Shia militia or death squads.


5. (C) DC member Omar Rahmani, a secular Sunni, said Adhamiya
is caught in the middle of a war between Sunni and Shia
extremists. Rahmani said he fears that he might be targeted
by either Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) militants or Al-Qaeda-linked
Sunni fighters. Rahmani claimed that security threats
severely restrict his movement around the city and that for
security reasons he refuses to travel north of Antar Square,
a major landmark in Adhamiya a few blocks from his home. He
added that he fears he might be killed by extremists or
skittish residents who are so afraid that they will kill
anyone unfamiliar entering their neighborhood.


6. (C) Rahmani said that both Al-Qaeda and JAM are openly
recruiting for new members in Adhamiya. Current JAM salaries
are about $300 a month, according to the word on the street.
Rahmani said that the U.S should stop treating these groups
as competing ideologies, and instead view them as competing
businesses. He added that sectarian violence is merely a
tool rival parties use to gain more power over city services
and the lucrative contracts handed out by the Amanat (City
Hall),and to create an environment where profitable
extortion and kidnapping rings can be maintained.

Security Wall in Sunni Area Gets Mixed Reviews
-------------- -


7. (C) Al-Adhamy and his associates claimed that most Sunni
residents living inside the wall want it taken down because
it has not improved security and unnecessarily slows the
transport of people and goods into the area. He said that
residents sometimes have to wait for several hours to get
into the walled area and are often harassed by IA personnel
manning the checkpoint. Al-Adhamy and his associates said
some IA personnel knowingly let militiamen enter. In a
separate meeting, Rahmani told another PRToff that he thinks
the wall has improved security and that he would like to see

BAGHDAD 00001977 002 OF 003


his neighborhood, Wazariya, surrounded by barriers.


8. (C) Al-Adhamy and his associates said that IA personnel
sometimes antagonize residents by preventing fuel shipments
into the area, unnecessarily slowing the entry of perishable
goods, and destroying merchandise while searching shipments.
They added that &even Israel treats the Palestinians better
than the Iraqi Army treats the Sunnis.8

Iraqi Army Undermines Services in Sunni Areas
--------------


9. (C) Al-Adhamy and his associates claimed that the Iraqi
Army deliberately undermines services in Adhamiya,s Sunni
areas as a means of collective punishment in the aftermath of
attacks. He said that on June 4 the IA went to the power
station that serves the Sunni area and ordered it shut down
for the day to punish residents for the deaths of four Iraqi
soldiers in an attack. He added that the shut-down made
little difference since the area only gets an average of one
or two hours of electricity per day. Al-Adhamy and his
associates also said that soldiers routinely open fire on
electricity transformers in neighborhoods after attacks to
punish what they see as complicit residents.


10. (C) Al-Adhamy and his associates claimed that IA
personnel manning the checkpoint to the walled area sometimes
prevent garbage trucks from leaving the area and order the
drivers to
&let the Sunnis live in their filth.8

Adhamiya Sunnis Resent U.S. Support for Shia Government
-------------- --------------


11. (C) Al-Adhamy and his associates said many of Adhamiya,s
Sunni residents have a negative view of the U.S. because of
what they called its &unconditional support for a
pro-Iranian Shia government of thieves and sectarian
killers.8 He said that most residents say U.S. troops in the
area behave professionally and fairly and that they would
rather have U.S. troops deployed in the area than Iraqi
troops. However, they said, average Sunnis distrust the U.S.
because they do not understand why it supports what they see
as a sectarian government openly hostile to them. Rahmani
said that Iraq,s ruling political parties cause the
sectarian divide and that the U.S cannot expect
reconciliation while supporting a process that empowers
religious parties and their armed supporters. (Comment: Both
Sunni and Shia moderates regularly ask PRToffs why the U.S.
does not provide more support to secularists and moderates
committed to liberal democracy. They add that such people
cannot seriously compete in local or national elections
against religious parties, which have their own militias
receive hefty financial assistance from Iran and other
neighboring countries. End comment.)


12. (C) Al-Adhamy said that Sunnis would like to see the U.S.
apply more pressure on the Iraqi government on issues such as
corruption and militia infiltration of security forces. He
said it undermines U.S. credibility when the U.S. claims to
stand for representative government and human rights when
average citizens see the U.S. supporting an Iraqi government
whose officials embezzle public funds and run militias that
torture and kill civilians.


13. (C) When asked if average Sunnis in Adhamiya favor
continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, Al-Adhamy and his
associates said average Sunnis are about evenly divided
between two camps; the first wants the U.S. to leave and is
willing to use force to drive U.S. troops out. The second,
he said, wants the U.S. to stay in order to prevent the
predominantly Shia government from slaughtering the Sunnis
and to curb growing Iranian influence in Iraq. He said that
within this camp, Sunnis say that if the U.S. will not crack
down on Shia militias, particularly JAM, U.S. forces might as
well leave now.

Iraqi Politics and Elections
--------------


14. (C) Rahmani said Baghdad,s political future is bleak,
due in part to entrenched sectarianism. Rahmani, who has
been a district council member since 2003 and was a member of
the disbanded Baghdad City Council, said he is committed to
public service, but that secular technocrats like him have
never had a chance to contribute to rebuilding Iraq. He said
that provincial and national elections held in 2005 put into
office a cadre of &foreigners who are largely pushing an
agenda developed in Tehran.8 He said that religious parties
with armed wings dominate Iraqi politics and are likely to
continue doing so.


15. (C) Rahmani said that &Shia zealots who are

BAGHDAD 00001977 003 OF 003


unaccountable to the citizens of Baghdad8 will likely win
the next round of provincial elections. He added that even
though he is a Sunni, he would never vote for any of the
Tawafuq (Sunni coalition) parties because they do not
represent his secular viewpoint. He added that Iyad Allawi
and other prominent secularists have proven themselves
corrupt. Rahmani said he would prefer to see the next
Provincial Council chosen from the membership of current
District Councils, as was done in 2004.


16. (C) Comment: PRToffs have been dealing with Rahmani for
more than two years and he has steadily become more
pessimistic about the prospects for stability and
reconciliation since religious parties swept 2005 elections.
Whether or not the DC members, claims about the IA and JAM
elements are true, the DC members believe that they are and
perceive both the IA and JAM as threats to their community.
These perceptions apparently perpetuate their feelings of
insecurity. End comment.


17. (C) Bio Notes: Al-Adhamy has been acting chairman of the
Adhamiya DC since the murder of the former chairman earlier
this year. He deals regularly with U.S. forces in Adhamiya
and has met periodically with the Baghdad PRT. Rahmani is a
secular Sunni who has been a DC member since the council was
formed. He is the former chairman of the now disbanded city
council and is a long standing contact of the PRT. Both men
are known as moderates within their communities and both are
among Baghdad PRT,s most cooperative and candid contacts.
CROCKER