KEY SADRIST LEGISLATOR: IN IRAQ, IRAN IS EVERYWHERE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003821

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: KEY SADRIST LEGISLATOR: IN IRAQ, IRAN IS EVERYWHERE

Classified By: Political Counselor Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: Sadrist Trend CoR legislator Baha al-Aaraji
claimed during a November 19 meeting that while Iran may not
like the U.S., it likes the Iraqi people even less and is
infiltrating Iraq at every level. He conceded that Iran has
tried to penetrate the Sadrist Trend through support to
people like Qais al-Ghazali, but said the U.S. should wake up
to the reality that the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
(ISCI) is controlled by Iran. He characterized Sadrist-ISCI
relations as bad and getting worse, complaining that Sadrists
believe the USG is allied with ISCI and is working to delay
provincial elections for fear that the Sadrists will defeat
ISCI at the polls. He warned that a U.S. attempt to
dismantle the Sadrist Trend would be a mistake that would
convert the movement into an uncontrollable rabble: rather,
America should recognize that the Trend consists of "poor,
angry, and uneducated Shia who have been oppressed for years"
but can be brought into mainstream political life if treated
with care. Baha has made demands in the media for immediate
elections to replace the current CoR membership, and he made
no attempt to disguise his displeasure with CoR leaders and
his doubts about the competency of fellow legislators. He
was also highly critical of Maliki, who he dismissed as a
leader without courage who is under the sway of the Group of
Four alignment. Baha, who is Chairman of the CoR Legal
Committee, made clear his misgivings over many aspects of the
pending De-Baathification Law but said the Sadrists would not
attempt to block a vote on the bill and would seek instead to
amend objectionable provisions. He assured us the bill would
be formally presented to the CoR later that day (it was not,
and Deputy CoR Speaker Attiyah blamed Baha for stalling the
bill in committee). End Summary.

Iranian Influence: Hidden Out in the Open
--------------


2. (C) Iran may not like you, Baha said, but Iran likes the
Iraqi people even less "and will never leave us alone." He
claimed that Iran has infiltrated Iraq at every level and
Iranian influence is "present everywhere, in the cabinet, in
the legislature, in the judiciary, even in the Green Zone."
Without further explanation, he asserted that GOI weakness
makes the Iranian presence stronger and more difficult to
see. After we expressed concern that Iran appears intent on
using the Sadrists to steer Iraq in a dangerous direction, he
conceded that Iran has tried to penetrate the Sadrist Trend
through support to individuals such as Qais al-Ghazali
("Moqtada al-Sadr has never asked you to release him from
custody") but he vehemently denied that Moqtada is "with
Iran." He advised us to talk to ISCI about its ties to Iran
because, he claimed, ISCI is an Iranian-controlled
organization.

The Sadrist Trend - A Most Misunderstood Organization
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Nattily-attired and nervously chain-smoking imported
Rothmans cigarettes throughout the 45-minute meeting, Baha
characterized Sadrist-ISCI relations as bad and getting
worse. He alleged that ISCI controls GOI security in various
provinces and regularly abuses such authority - sometimes
with U.S. assistance, as in Diwaniyah - to attack their
political rivals, the Sadrists. Baha said he fears that
continued ISCI/GOI/MNF "squeezing" of the Jaysh al-Mahdi
(JAM) will compel Moqtada al-Sadr to cancel his "freeze"
order or, even worse, force JAM members into full attack mode
"in order to preserve their honor and dignity." He confided
that Sadrists believe the USG is allied with ISCI and is
working to delay provincial elections for fear that the
Sadrists will defeat ISCI at the polls. Baha predicted
ISCI-Sadrist conflict will continue until local elections
take place. He warned that a U.S. attempt to dismantle the
Sadrist Trend would be a mistake that would convert the
movement into an uncontrollable mob. Rather, we should
better understand the Trend and recognize that it consists of
"poor, angry and uneducated Shia who have been oppressed for
years" but can be brought into mainstream political life if
"treated with attention and care."

Scorn for the CoR and GOI
--------------


4. (C) Baha has made demands in the media for immediate
elections to replace all current CoR members, and he made no
attempt to disguise his displeasure with CoR leaders and his
fellow legislators. For example, he criticized the "closed
list" system used in the 2005 elections that brought him "and
many uneducated, unqualified people" to the CoR, noting that
he had been nominally elected from Nassariyah even though he
had only visited the place a few times in his entire life,
and that he would have received only a couple of thousand

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votes from family and friends if he had contested a seat in
an "open list" election. Baha, who is Chairman of the CoR
Legal Committee, claimed that most legislators had not
bothered to read the lengthy draft Hydrocarbons Framework
law. Taking a thinly-veiled swipe at ISCI, he groused that
the CoR is dominated by parties with no popular base and that
the CoR will remain a "useless" entity and a detriment to
Iraq's people until new leadership and members are elected.


5. (C) He was equally caustic about GOI performance, claiming
that improved security in Baghdad has little to do with GOI
efforts. He hoped that services would improve and lead to
reduced unemployment - the keys to sustained security
progress - but expects no help in this regard from the GOI:
if it happens, he claimed, it would be because of the work of
a few competent, committed individuals in the GOI and not GOI
leaders. Baha insisted that political blocs have more
control over ministries than the Prime Minister, and that
ministries serve blocs and not the people. Furthermore,
ministers conspire against the Prime Minister at every
opportunity though they claim to support him. He stated that
ministers should be GOI technocrats, not political figures,
and subject to the law like all Iraqi citizens. He dismissed
Maliki as a leader who lacks courage, is unable to obtain
cooperation of political blocs, and is controlled by the
Group of Four alignment.

Mixed Feelings About De-Baath Law
--------------


6. (C) Baha made clear his misgivings over many aspects of
the pending De-Baathification Law (i.e. the Law on
Accountability and Justice) but said the Sadrists would not
attempt to block a vote on the bill and would seek instead to
amend objectionable - possibly even unconstitutional -
provisions "and keep what is to the benefit of the people."
Although he did not accuse the USG of intervening in the
legislative process, he registered negative "surprise" when
the draft De-Baath law his committee was preparing for
presentation to the CoR was suddenly replaced last week by a
substitute draft without advance notice. Noting that his
view on the bill is more relaxed than the Sadrist bloc
position ("I may even vote for it if it is properly
amended"),he said he is concerned that the bill does not
adequately address compensation for the many victims of
Baathist brutality, and also tends to focus on punishing
organizational rank rather than actual criminal culpability.
As an example, he noted that senior Baathists who helped him
escape from Iraq in the Saddam era would be affected more
negatively by the draft in its current form than the junior
Baathists who assassinated his father. He stated that while
the CoR could never achieve true justice "because justice
belongs only to God" it still had a duty to be fair. He told
us the bill would have a first reading in the CoR later that
day: as it turned out, the first reading was delayed and
Deputy CoR Speaker Khalid al-Attiyah blamed Baha for stalling
the bill in committee.
CROCKER