HOFF GUARDED ABOUT GERMAN ENGAGEMENT IN IRAQ AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001026

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

BERLIN FOR KKARO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV GM IZ
SUBJECT: HOFF GUARDED ABOUT GERMAN ENGAGEMENT IN IRAQ AND
AFGHANISTAN


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


1. (C/NF) SUMMARY. During a March 25-28 visit to Baghdad
marred by indirect fire (IDF),German Bundestag member Elke
Hoff, accompanied by Hans Christian Roessler from Frankfuter
Allgemeine Zeitung, Dieter Bednarz from the weekly Der
Speigel and Nazyr Bircholtz of the German Iraq Friendship
Society met with GOI and Embassy and MNF-I leadership. With
MNF-I Commanding General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker,
Hoff was guarded about additional German engagement in
Afghanistan and Iraq, but appeared to welcome the opportunity
to burnish her credentials as the Bundestag's Middle-Eastern
hotspot trailblazer. END SUMMARY.

INDIRECT FIRE PROMPTS CHANGE OF PLAN


2. (C/NF) Ms. Hoff's visit began as planned on Tuesday, March
25 with a 15:00 call on the Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi
Council of Representatives Sheik Khalid al-Attiya. Heavy
rocket fire later in the afternoon prompted RSO to cancel
International Zone movements and to invite the delegation to
stay in the Palace's hardened DV quarters. The Mission
relayed the invitation via the German Charge Andreas Krueger
who at the time was with Ms. Hoff at the Rashid Hotel. Hoff
eagerly accepted but Krueger told PolOff that she would not
be available at Krueger's cellphone number for much longer
because the German PSD (Personal Security Detail) was getting
nervous and planned to leave shortly. The Embassy PSD leader
reported that when she arrived at the Rashid to collect the
delegation the Germans had already departed, leaving the
delegation alone at the hotel. Continued IDF fire curtailed
Wednesday,s schedule after Hoff's second meeting and the
Embassy, with Ms. Hoff's approval, decided it would be better
for the delegation to depart on Thursday at the conclusion of
the Embassy/MNF-I meetings, rather than Friday morning as
originally scheduled. To its credit, the German Embassy
assisted in changing the group's tickets.

HOFF GUARDED ABOUT GERMAN MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN


3. (C/NF) MNF-I Commanding General Petraeus gave Hoff an
overview of operations in Basrah, which he said the GOI would
not have had the capacity to launch even six months
previously, and welcomed her visit as a sign of greater
German interest in Iraq. He stressed there were numerous
fields, such as education, in which Germany could become more
involved in Iraq. Hoff provided the CG a downbeat assessment
about German engagement in Afghanistan, characterized the
problems there as "excruciatingly difficult" and suggested
support for a complete troop withdrawal was gaining momentum
with the German public in the run-up to 2009 elections. She
was equally pessimistic about Pakistan -- in her estimation
the key country in the war on terror -- where, during her
trip there (which she also claimed was the first by a German
parliamentarian) she noted "very, very deep anti-U.S.
feeling." She closed by inviting the General Petraeus to
Germany to provide an update on the situation in Iraq on
behalf of the Mars/Minerva Society, which she described as an
association of German MOD, Bundestag and other officials.

IRAQ PART OF LARGER REGIONAL PUZZLE


4. (C/NF) In a meeting later that morning, the Ambassador
echoed General Petraeus' comments by stressing that Basrah
fighting -- GOI-owned and strongly supported by the local
populace weary of criminals running the city -- had been
inevitable even if some questions remained about the GOI's
timing. Events in Iraq, he assessed, were part of a much
larger regional puzzle and Ms. Hoff's trip would give her the
opportunity to see linkages that were not always apparent
from the perch of a European capital. Hoff agreed and
mentioned that her GOI meetings and previous travel to
Pakistan and Afghanistan had made it clear there was no
substitute for first-hand experience.


5. (C/NF) Hoff thinks Germany should focus on the way ahead
for both Iraq and the region. She volunteered that she and
the Iranian Ambassador to Germany discussed mediation between
the U.S. and Iran on nuclear issues. They agreed that
perhaps a "prominent personality" could serve as mediator and
added Germany might have several candidates for the job.
Hoff suggested the U.S. would have to drop its demand that
Iran renounce development of nuclear weapons before
negotiations could begin, a move Ambassador Crocker rejected
reasoning that such a step would signal U.S. acquiescence to
Iran's brinkmanship. Hoff agreed with Ambassador Crocker
that if the Iraq experiment failed it would be a problem for
all countries, not just the U.S. and that this was adequate

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justification for increased German engagement here.
Ambassador Crocker suggested that Germany should 1) encourage
Iraq's neighbors to be more positively engaged in Iraq, 2)
follow up its own useful support with a more visible role
here, and 3) increase engagement in Iraq with the Iraqi
Council of Representatives. Hoff bemoaned the fact that
Germans had "lost their pioneer spirit" and "had gotten
comfortable and wrapped around their own little problems."
She acknowledged that Germany had historically strong ties
with the region, but cited Chancellor Merkel,s recent visit
to only Saudi Arabia as proof of German neglect. Hoff
promised to return to Iraq and hoped she would be able to
bring a larger delegation of Bundestag and German press
members, but was candid about the strong opposition her visit
aroused at the German MFA.


6. (C/NF) COMMENT. Hoff came across as focused on burnishing
(and touting) her credentials as the Bundestag's Middle
Eastern hot-spot trailblazer, and several observers in her
meeting with Ambassador Crocker thought she was making a
pitch for the mediator position she had discussed with the
Iranian Ambassador in Berlin. Overall she was guarded about
additional German engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Baghdad looks forward to Embassy Berlin's follow-up and
assessment of the deliverables Hoff's visit produces. END
COMMENT.
CROCKER