LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM ACTING PARLIAMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000437 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR S/ES-CR, S/ES-O, AND NEA NSC FOR LTG LUTE AND NSC/IRAQ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: IZ OPDC OVIP PREL SUBJECT: LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM ACTING PARLIAMENT SPEAKER SHEIKH KHALED ATTIEH Begin Text of Embassy translation: Republic of Iraq Council of Representatives of Iraq Office of the First Deputy 2 February 2009 Your Excellency Barack Obama, President of the United States of America I would like to present Your Excellency my warmest congratulations on the occasion of your taking office as President of the United States of America and my best wishes to you and our friends in the United States for continued progress and prosperity. A nation that remains faithful to the values and principles of justice and equality will be able to effectively contribute in advancing human civilization and shine as a beacon for other nations and will help the entire world overcome the hurdles of the past and move forward to a brighter future. Mr. President: your assuming office comes at a time when political, economic and social challenges facing humanity take on a universal character, which makes it incumbent on all nations to cooperate and stand together in facing the challenges and providing a secure future for our future generations and build a lasting peace. Both Americans and the Iraqis have faced many common challenges over the past five years. Together and through the sacrifices of our men and women we have overcome the dangers that threatened the heart of our nascent democracy. However, the current realities in Iraq have changed for the better and we are more hopeful than ever that our children will enjoy a brighter future. This will require changing the requirements for the realities on the ground and rearranging the priorities of the decision makers and those who are in charge of advancing the current conditions in Iraq. Today, we are mindful of the need for development and providing better opportunities for a free and decent life for the have-nots in all fields in parallel with-if not ahead of-our security and military requirements. Security is synonymous to development and without development one cannot speak of security. The quick succession of events that followed the toppling of Saddam's dictatorial regime and the mistakes that were made provided an impetus to adopt a different strategy. We believe that the same Iraqi arena on which the blood of victims was shed is the same one that will bear our best features of change. Hopefully, this will provide a precious opportunity for the United States as a nation to rejuvenate the great principles on which it was established through its continued contribution in building a just and democratic society in Iraq. Our great ambition and hope for Iraq is to have a strong alliance and partnership with the free world and for the sons and daughters of the Iraqi people to see the importance and usefulness of such alliance for the restoration of their sense of openness and the intellectual exchange of ideas with the free world,of which they had been deprived by former tyrannical regimes. It is for these reasons that people in their homes and the poor in their villages must share the fruits of the new democratic state of affairs in Iraq. I am confident that that will go a long way toward uprooting the remnants of the seeds of terrorist ideologies that seeped into our society in the recent past. Our democratic experiment will not succeed and take root unless the social,economic and cultural aspects of life go hand in hand. This will call for continued efforts of all friends and courageous nations with which we share common human values and Qnations with which we share common human values and legitimate interests in supporting our Iraqi people to complete their national project, particularly BAGHDAD 00000437 002 OF 002 considering the fact that they have opted for partnership rather than conflict and have committed themselves to build their homeland and preserve their security and prevent the enemies of peace and democracy from interfering in their own affairs. Today, the future of Iraq is being made by its sons and daughters. Our people that hold its history sacred will never forget their friends and those that helped us complete the march toward the realization of freedom, prosperity and welfare. Please accept my best wishes for your continued success, Sheikh Khaled Attieh Acting Speaker, the Council of Representatives End Text. BUTENIS