UPDATE ON THE IRAQI FLAG CONTROVERSY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000150 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS PINR IZ SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE IRAQI FLAG CONTROVERSY Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Rob Waller for reasons 1.4 (b ,d). ¶1. (C) Summary and comment: A brief but impassioned debate over revising the Iraqi flag appears to have yielded an agreement on a one-year placeholder flag, resembling the older one but with less Ba,th party and Arab nationalist symbology. The Kurdistan Alliance in the Council of Representatives has driven much of the dispute, demanding both the inclusion of yellow to represent Kurds and the removal of Saddam Hussein,s handwriting and the pan-Arabist stars color scheme. The COR has not reached a final agreement, but appears close to agreement on a one-year interim flag that the Kurds will agree to fly at international events in Iraqi Kurdistan. This seemingly abstract issue, coming at nearly the same time as the de-Ba,thification debate, highlights the countervailing passions still at work as the COR attempts to grapple with the Ba,th party,s legacy. End summary and comment. Flagging Support for Ba'thist Iconography -------------- ¶2. (C) Kurds object to the old Iraqi flag on several counts. First, they protest the &Allahu Akbar (God is great)8 printed in the middle, since the script is widely believed to be Saddam Hussein,s own handwriting. Their second objection is to the flag,s symbols of Arab nationalism, an ideology many consider chauvinist and anti-Kurd. The three stars represent, depending on who one asks, either Egypt, Syria, and Iraq (in the 1960s intended as the three components of the United Arab Republic),or Unity, Freedom, and Socialism, once an Arab nationalist slogan. The colors of the flag ) red, white, and black ) similarly represent pan-Arabism, as evident in the flags of Egypt, Syria, and several other Arab countries. ¶3. (C) The first objection was an easy fix ) the words &Allahu Akbar8 remain, but in Kufic script, a style of Arabic calligraphy native to Iraq and common across the Arab world. The Kufic writing has been common on Iraqi flags for several years now, but the GOI has not yet canonized it as the official design. The symbols are more difficult ) some argue for excising them entirely and marking a new Iraq era with an all-new flag, while others argue for simpler tweaks. The Kurds argued either the lettering or the stars should be yellow, the Kurdish color. This prompted the Turcomen to demand the inclusion of their color, blue, and others to protest that any yellow would be invisible against a white background. The January 15 session of the Council of Representatives produced a string of suggestions on different variations of the Iraqi flag, too numerous and with too many minutiae for the full session to debate. COR Agrees to Set New Standard -------------- ¶4. (C) The next step is a meeting of COR bloc leaders which Deputy Speaker Khalid Attiya announced on January 15, followed by the bill,s third and final reading. Kurdish MP Mahmud Uthman detailed for us what he claimed is a decisive agreement on most of the points. The design that passes a third reading will be in place for a year, during which time a national contest will determine the permanent Iraqi flag. The lettering on the interim flag will be Kurdish yellow, and the three stars will now represent peace, justice, and tolerance. Top KDP official Rowsch Shaways expressed skepticism the GOI would actually generate a permanent flag within a year, but said the Kurds are satisfied now that the Ba,thist symbols have been removed or redefined. ¶5. (C) Perhaps most importantly, Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani told the press the new Iraqi flag ) not the Kurdish flag ) would fly in March above the summit of regional parliament leaders in Erbil. KRG events repeatedly have featured the Kurdish flag more prominently than, or to the exclusion of, the Iraqi flag. Such political theater is lost on neither the Arabs to the south nor the Turks to the north, and would be particularly unhelpful at a time of heightened tension between the Kurds and both. This tension provides the imperative for a quick resolution to a deceptively volatile debate. CROCKER