IRAQI GENERAL OFFERS UPBEAT ASSESSMENT OF IMPROVED SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000147

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

TAGS: IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI GENERAL OFFERS UPBEAT ASSESSMENT OF IMPROVED SECURITY
SITUATION IN DIWANIYAH

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CLASSIFIED BY: Angus T. Simmons, PRT Team Leader,
REO Al Hillah, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



1. (C) Summary: Iraqi general offers reasonably upbeat
assessment on the improving security climate, despite
recent violence in the wake of a concentrated sweep through
a JAM-controlled area of Diwaniyah City. Local population
appears to support increased efforts to rid the area of Jaish
al-Mahdi (JAM) militia influence. Relations between the Iraqi
army, coalition forces, and local police are excellent.
Provincial Governor remains prickly and difficult to work with.
Iraqi and coalition forces continue to work with local tribes to
prevent rural areas from becoming sanctuaries for JAM. The
local judiciary is unable to uphold the rule of law because of
militia pressure.


2. (C) On November 1, PRT Team Leader and PRToffs and
Hillah RSO traveled to Diwaniyah for discussions with Major-
General Farhood Uthman, Eighth Iraqi Army Division (8th
IAD) Commander, as well as Major-General Tadeusz Buk,
MDN CS commander, and Diwaniyah Police Chief Brigadier-
General Safa Kadum Jassim. Uthman's command extends
over Qadasiyah, Najaf, Karbala, Wasit, and Babil provinces.
PRToffs travelled to Camp Echo from Al Hillah to Diwaniyah
by road for the first time in about a year. End Summary.

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General Security Situation
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3. (C) Uthman offered a reasonably upbeat assessment of
the improving security climate around Diwaniyah. Coalition
forces launched a major operation against JAM to establish
control over the eastern part of the city, which had been
heavily infiltrated and had become a JAM stronghold.
Uthman believes that the militias have lost support with the
public who have grown tired of recent violence levels and the
lack of public services.


4. (C) The Governor and provincial council (with whom he
and coalition forces do not have a warm relationship) also
support his efforts against the militias, Uthman theorizes,
because they want to see the JAM weakened before the
next elections. Although the Governor and PC had to some
extent found the militias politically useful, security had
become so tenuous that even the Governor and the
provincial council chair felt personally threatened.

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Cooperation with Local Tribes
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5. (C) When asked about his security plan, Uthman noted
that he will soon be reinforced termporarily by an additional
battalion of Iraqi troops in Diwaniyah. In another three to
four months he hopes another battalion will replace it to
permanently reinforce the 8th IAD troops based in Diwaniyah
(next to Camp Echo). Uthman then expects experienced
Iraqi soldiers to fight the JAM in the rural areas.


6. (C) With the dispersal of militia elements to the
countryside after the recent coalition offensive from eastern
Diwaniyah City, Uthman (Uthman is himself a tribal sheik)
communicates regularly with tribal leaders to help prevent
JAM members from establishing a safe haven in rural areas.
Uthman said that tribal leaders have agreed, based largely
on having worked cooperatively with him in the past on
issues of mutual interest, not to shelter criminals. Uthman
strongly supports the work of the Agricultural Union
distributing seeds and fertilizer through the tribally organized
agricultural union. When asked by Team Leader why the
Ministry of Agriculture and the Agriculture DG in particular
did not want to work with the agricultural union, the general
noted that the Agricultural DG was a JAM member.
Uthman's stance in support of trying to get support to the
rural tribes has brought him into conflict with Governor, who
he views as having a very narrow political agenda of acting
only in support of his Badr Corps/SCIRI party interests rather
than the province as a whole. Friction with the Governor
does not appear to bother Uthman, who appears to believe
that his professionalism has won him unshakeable support
from Baghdad.

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Views on Local Judicial System
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7. (C) When asked whether he has confidence in the local
judicial system to uphold the rule of law, Uthman said that
the judiciary's qualifications are good but that "delivery" is
bad due to militia coercion. Although Uthman works closely
with the Diwaniyah Police Chief, he believes that
approximately 50 percent of the police force is infiltrated by

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JAM elements. Note: Separately, Police Chief Jassim also
remains skeptical about the judiciary, noting that the "past
history is bad." Jassim also remarked that he believes 50%
of his force is infiltrated by JAM. End Note.

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Comment and Biographic Note
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8. (C) During our meeting, Uthman was confident, relaxed,
and optimistic. A native Diwaniyahn and long-time military
officer, he is knowledgeable and astute about local
conditions. As a military officer, he believes he has "a moral
duty and the legal ground" (and the strong backing of the
central government, including the Prime Minister and
Minister of Defense),to go after any criminal, particularly
those affiliated with militias. He is plain speaking, and
(strictly protect) did not hold back in his criticism of JAM and
Moqtada Al-Sadr. He is a key coalition partner committed to
the long-term success of a stable and secure Central South
area but believes he needs more material and a better local
police force capable of maintaining security in Diwaniyah.
He speaks good English, but has never visited the United
States. End Comment.

SIMMONS