EU AMBASSADORS QUERY THE AMBASSADOR ON TESTIMONY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003294 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ SUBJECT: EU AMBASSADORS QUERY THE AMBASSADOR ON TESTIMONY Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On September 26, 2007 the Ambassador provided an overview of his congressional testimony to a roundtable of European Union (EU) ambassadors. The Ambassador emphasized that in his testimony he not only attempted to assess the progress of developments, but to also fully apprise listeners to the consequences of any dramatic changes in our commitments. "The consequences of a failure in Iraq could be great indeed -- for both the Iraqi people and International community," stated the Ambassador. ¶2. (C) Italian Ambassador Maurizio Melani asked about the August 26 communique, grassroots level progress, and meetings with Iran. The Ambassador replied that the 3 1 consultative process behind the communique was more important than the communique itself and that we are seeing positive grassroots developments in mixed districts of Baghdad. With respect to Iran, the Ambassador stated that we have seen no change in Iran's activities and that, while we are willing to engage with the Iranians, we should not have talks for the sake of having talks. ¶3. (C) The German Ambassador asked about additional assumptions of power by the Government of Iraq, and about the expanded United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) mandate. The Ambassador replied that the Iraqis must assume all the attributes of a sovereign state, and the sooner the better; but in the past we attempted to make this happen before Iraqis were ready. With respect to UNAMI, the Ambassador stated that the expanded mandate was a good one, and it would extend UNAMI's involvement to national reconciliation and disputed internal boundaries. "However, to accomplish this UNAMI must expand their staff, including representation in Baghdad from the UN agencies," he said. ¶4. (C) The German Ambassador also asked about possible roles that the EU could play in Iraq. The Ambassador replied that almost any area in which the EU wanted to focus would be welcome; the only issue would be coordination. The Ambassador proposed a three-way EU, US, UNAMI meeting once the new UNAMI Special Representative to the Secretary General Staffan De Mistura was settled in Baghdad (Note: De Mistura expects to arrive during the first half of November. End Note). CROCKER