Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD2021
2007-06-19 11:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

DEPUTY SECRETARY EMPHASIZES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

Tags:  IR IZ PGOV PINS PREL SY XF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9340
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2021/01 1701153
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191153Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1769
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002021 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017
TAGS: IR IZ PGOV PINS PREL SY XF
SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY EMPHASIZES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
WITH MALIKI


Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002021

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017
TAGS: IR IZ PGOV PINS PREL SY XF
SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY EMPHASIZES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
WITH MALIKI


Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) Prime Minister Maliki told the Deputy Secretary that
the hydrocarbon law and the de-Baathification reform law
would be sent to the Council of Representatives this week and
passed this month. He expressed doubt, however, that
progress on legislative priorities would lead to a reduction
in violence on the ground. Iraq's security problems, he
argued, stemmed from the still-dangerous Baath party and a
regional situation where Iran and Syria were backing armed
groups inside Iraq and six Arab countries, led by Saudi
Arabia, were actively plotting and fomenting violence, even
in the Shi'a south. The Deputy Secretary agreed that the
regional situation posed serious challenges and emphasized to
the Prime Minister that progress on legislative priorities
would send the important signal that Iraq's communities could
deal with key issues through the political process without
recourse to violence. End summary.


2. (SBU) The meeting took place on June 12 at the Prime
Minister's residence. U.S. participants included the Deputy
Secretary, Ambassador Crocker, S/I Satterfield, and PAO.

SIPDIS
Iraqi participants included Prime Minister Maliki, chief of
staff Dr. Tarik Abdulla, advisor Sadik Rikabi, and staffer
Gateh Rikabi.

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Legislative Priorities: Maliki Promises Movement
-------------- --------------


3. (C) The Deputy Secretary asked the Prime Minister about
legislative priorities, noting the strong interest in
Washington to see progress on these priorities in the short
term. "We will do it," the Prime Minister said, claiming
that the hydrocarbon law and de-Baathification reform law
would be sent next week to the Council of Representatives and
passed this month. These steps "will not resolve the
problem," the Prime Minister continued. "Our problem is a
security problem. But these steps will give a message that

the political process is moving for those who participate in
it." The Deputy Secretary said that the U.S. focused on
legislative priorities related to reconciliation because of a
concern in the U.S. that U.S. troops were being caught in a
sectarian war. Progress on key legislative priorities would
show that Iraqi's communities were capable of dealing with
critical issues through the political process.

--------------
Regional Challenges
--------------


4. (C) The Prime Minister explained that the regional
situation was key to improving Iraq's security. He pointed
to Iraq's long and open borders, Arab-Iran disagreements, and
regional disagreements with the U.S. as problems that had to
be addressed. Iran and Syria, who have "long experience in
infiltration," were backing armed groups inside Iraq, he
claimed, with Syria's aim being the return of the Baath
party. A group of six Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia was
also actively conspiring against the new Iraq, supporting
political fronts and arming tribes under the auspices of
opposing Iran but in reality contributing to disturbances,
even in the Shi'a south. While the national reconciliation
process was going well, the Prime Minister continued, care
had to be taken about who was entering the process.
"Al-Qaeda and the Baath party have experience with
conspiracies," he said, explaining that some of the armed
groups who claimed they wanted to enter the political process
might instead be seeking to undermine it. The Deputy
Secretary agreed that Iraq faced serious external challenges,

SIPDIS
adding that the U.S. and Iraq had to work closely together to
push Syria to control its borders.

-------------- --------------
Baath Party, Not Sectarian Problems, Root Cause of Violence
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Returning to the Deputy Secretary's comment about
concern in the U.S. on sectarian violence, the Prime Minister
argued that Iraq's security problems were not sectarian in
nature. There were different viewpoints among those involved
in the political process on questions such as federalism,
Iraq's identity, and the shape of Iraq's democracy. The
Baath party, which was irrevocably opposed to the new Iraq,
and regional actors used these political differences to
inflame sectarianism in order to bring down the new Iraq. To
indicate the danger posed by the Baath party, the Prime
Minister cited an intelligence report showing that of six key

BAGHDAD 00002021 002 OF 002


leaders of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, five were Baath party members
and the sixth was an intelligence officer under Saddam.
While many Baathists who were not criminals should be allowed
to work in the government or receive pensions, the Prime
Minister concluded, they could not be allowed into the
security services.


6. (C) The Deputy Secretary told the Prime Minister that he
had the support of the U.S. in what he was seeking to
accomplish and that both sides needed to help each other.
The Prime Minister reiterated that he did not expect progress
on legislative priorities to change the reality in Iraq. The
Deputy Secretary said that such progress would send a message
that difficult issues could be dealt with by the political
process rather than the use of force. One way of supporting
national reconciliation, he concluded, was to make the
legislative process work.


CROCKER