U.S.- IRAQ SECURITY AGREEMENT: JOINT COMMITTEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000149

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2019
TAGS: MARR PREL PINS MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: U.S.- IRAQ SECURITY AGREEMENT: JOINT COMMITTEE
INAUGURATED

REF: BAGHDAD 0082

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


1. (U) Summary. On January 15, the United States and the
Republic of Iraq held the inaugural meeting of the Joint
Committee (JC),established under the auspices of the U.S. -
Iraq Security Agreement (SA). The meeting was co-chaired by
General Raymond Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National
Forces-Iraq (MNF-I),Jawad al-Bulani, Iraqi Minister of the
Interior, and Patricia Butenis, Charge d'affaires. Several
Iraqi Ministers and U.S. and Iraqi co-chairs of the joint
subcommittees (JSCs) attended, with the important exception
of the Iraqi co-chair of the Detainee Affairs JSC, whom the
GOI has yet to name. The atmosphere was cordial, and the two
sides reached agreement on organizational and procedural
issues. The next JC meeting is to occur on February 19. End
Summary.


2. (U) The U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement (SA),which
entered into force on January 1, 2009, governs the presence
and activities of U.S. Forces in Iraq. Under the SA, "U.S.
Forces" is defined as not only U.S. armed forces, but also
their associated civilian component, including DoD civilians
and DoD contractors. U.S. Department of State (DoS)
personnel, as well as DoS contractors and personnel from
other agencies, are not under the purview of the SA.


3. (U) Article 23 of the SA establishes a committee
structure to implement the provisions of the SA. At the apex
of this committee structure is the Joint Ministerial
Committee (JMC),a high-level committee composed of the
Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador,
and Commanding General of MNF-I on the U.S. side and the
Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minster of
Defense, and Minister of Interior on the Iraqi side. The
charter of the JMC is to resolve issues fundamental to the
interpretation of the SA, but by its very composition, the
JMC will meet infrequently. To carry out the mandate of the
JMC, the SA creates two other committees, the Joint Military
Operations Coordination Committee (JMOCC) and the Joint
Committee (JC). The JMOCC and its four joint subcommittees
(JSCs) deal with issues that are primarily military,
including military operations, security in the international
zone (IZ, also termed the "Green Zone"),vehicle, vessel and
aircraft movement, and transfer of security to provinces.
The JC is tasked with issues that have a military connection
but are less directly related to military operations of U.S.
Forces, including detainee affairs, jurisdiction, facilities
and agreed areas, entry and exit procedures, claims, import
and export of U.S. Forces material, surveillance and airspace
control, and frequency management.


4. (U) The inaugural meeting of the JC convened at Adnon
Palace at 10:00 a.m. on January 15, 2009. The meeting was
co-chaired by General Raymond Odierno, Commanding General,
MNF-I, Jawad al-Bulani, Iraqi Minister of the Interior
(MinInt),and Patricia Butenis, Charge d'affaires, assisted
by U.S. Embassy representative Ambassador Jackson McDonald,
U.S. SA Secretariat Director Major General (MG) Timothy
McHale, and Iraqi SA Secretariat Director MG Adelkareem
Khalaf. In addition to the U.S. and Iraqi co-chairs of the
JSCs, several cabinet ministers were in attendance, including
Minister of Trade (MinTrade) Al-Sudani, Minister of
Communications (MinCom) al-Rahman, Minister of Transportation
(MinTrans) al-Jabar Ismail, Minister of Justice (MinJustice)
al-Safi, Chief Justice Medhat and the Prime Minister's Chief
Qal-Safi, Chief Justice Medhat and the Prime Minister's Chief
of Staff (COS) Tariq Abdullah.


5. (U) The three JC co-chairs delivered opening remarks.
Interior Minister Bulani stated the convening of the JC
marked the beginning of a historic moment and that the Iraqi
side was fully committed to implementing the SA. General
Odierno followed Minister Bulani, noting that U.S. Forces
will respect Iraqi sovereignty and that continued partnership
and good faith were necessary to implement the SA. Charge
d'affaires Butenis reminded that there are many details yet
to be worked out in the SA and for this reason, the work of
the JC and JSCs is important to SA implementation.


6. (C) The co-chairs of the JSCs under the JC were
introduced, as follows: (1) Facilities and Agreed Upon
Areas, Brigadier General (BG) Stein and PM COS Tariq
Abdullah; (2) Claims, Colonel Gade and MinJustice al-Safi;
(3) Entry and Exit, BG Stein and MinInt Bulani; (4) Imports
and Exports, BG Stein and MinTrade al-Sudani; (5)
Jurisdiction, Colonel Gade and Chief Justice Medhat; (6)
Frequency Management, BG Brundidge and MinCom al-Rahman; (7)
Surveillance and Airspace Control, MG McHale and MinTrans
al-Jabar Ismail. There was confusion, however, on the
Iraqi-side regarding the co-chair of the eighth JSC, Detainee

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Affairs. MG Swan was announced as the U.S. co-chair, but it
was clear the Iraqi side had not designated a co-chair and
that Chief Justice Medhat was only a stand-in. The Embassy
and U.S. Forces have been accustomed to working detainee
issues with Deputy PM Barham Salih's office. There is
concern on the U.S. side that work previously undertaken and
agreement reached may be lost. The detainee issue is a
sensitive one for the GOI, and, with provincial elections
scheduled for January 31, the GOI possibly intends to wait
until after the elections before nominating a representative
to serve on this JSC.


7. (U) U.S. SA Secretariat Director MG McHale, with the
concurrence of Iraqi Secretariat Director MG Adelkareem
Khalaf, outlined the JC and JSC mandates and procedural
matters. The SA committees focus on interpretation and
resolution of issues arising from SA implementation. The
purpose of the JC is to provide oversight and strategic
guidance to its JSCs, with the JC serving as an appellate
authority. Most of the issues affecting the SA are to be
resolved in the JSCs, which are staffed with the appropriate
level of expertise. In the event the JSCs cannot reach
consensus, they elevate the issue to the JC for review and
guidance. The JSCs will report on their progress to the JC
in the form of agreed upon minutes of issues being worked and
decisions reached. As an appellate committee, the JC will
meet less frequently than the JSCs, most likely once a month,
although possibly more frequently during the start-up period.
Attendees to the JC are to be limited to the leaders of the
JC and its JSCs, the Secretariats, and experts as required
based on the agenda. The Secretariats are to develop jointly
agreed upon agendas for each session several days in advance,
which will include time for the JSCs to brief the JC on
issues and progress made.


8. (U) The overall good will evidenced in the meeting was
made apparent when the Iraqi side proposed hosting the next
two meetings of the JC, stating it is Iraqi custom to host
three times before allowing a guest to host, a gesture that
the U.S. side accepted. The next meeting has been set for
February 19.


9. (C) Comment. The Iraqi delegation avidly participated
in this first meeting of the JC, which was well-orchestrated
by the U.S. SA Secretariat and MOI Bulani. All the co-chairs
attended with the exception of the Iraqi co-chair of the
Detainee Affairs JSC, which has yet to be designated. This
is a cause for concern, as Detainee Affairs is a critical
JSC, which will decide the status of over 16,000 detainees
turned over to Iraqi custody by U.S. Forces. It appears that
the GOI is reluctant to engage on this politically charged
issue until after provincial elections on January 31.
Nevertheless, despite this hiccup, the inaugural JC meeting
got off to a successful start toward implementing the SA.
End Comment.
CROCKER