PUBLIC OUTRAGE OVER BLACKWATER DECISION GENERATING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000020

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2020
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KJUS ASEC IZ
SUBJECT: PUBLIC OUTRAGE OVER BLACKWATER DECISION GENERATING
HEAVY FALLOUT

Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Robert Ford for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (C) SUMMARY: Public outrage has erupted within Iraq over
the decision of U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina to dismiss
the charges brought against Blackwater employees for their
role in the deaths of 17 Iraqis on September 16, 2007. GOI
spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh condemned the decision on January 1
and called on the U.S. Department of Justice to appeal the
decision. Al-Dabbagh pledged the Iraqi judicial system would
prosecute the Blackwater employees involved. He also
indicated that the GOI might expel former Blackwater
employees out of Iraq, potentially complicating security
services for the Embassy. A Prime Ministry staffer
acknowledged to us the political necessity of reacting and
the Prime Minister on January 4 vowed to pursue legal
remedies, according to press reports. Members of the Iraqi
Parliament have even raised holding a referendum on the
Security Agreement (SA). Other Iraqi politicians, religious
leaders, and journalists have expressed strong outrage at the
judicial decision and called for extraditing the Blackwater
employees to Iraq, taking the case to an international court,
or for additional legal action to be taken in the U.S. So
far our security contractors' operations have not been
affected, but they both need license renewals from the
Ministry of Interior. This message contains an action
request at paragraph 10. END SUMMARY.

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GOI CONDEMNS BLACKWATER DECISION...
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2. (C) Reacting to the news of Judge Ricardo Urbina's
decision to dismiss charges against five former employees of
Blackwater in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in
2007, GOI spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh took to the airwaves on
January 1 to denounce the decision as "unjust and
unacceptable." He went further, calling for the U.S.
Department of Justice to appeal the decision and for the
Iraqi judicial system to take necessary steps to prosecute
the Blackwater employees in Iraq. On January 2, Abdullah
Emir, chief of staff to PM Advisor Sadiq Rikabi,
characterized Al-Dabbagh's statement to Poloff as a
"political necessity" given the PM's need to "look tough" in
order to fend off opposition politicians who seek to make
this a campaign issue. Emir said the PM has to placate the
Iraqi public, which doesn't comprehend the nuances of the
judicial decision. Despite the tough rhetoric, Abdullah said
that the GOI had not firmly staked out its position or next
steps with respect to the dismissal of charges, adding that
the Minister of Justice had been non-committal and the PM was
probably waiting for legal advice before going forward. (On
January 4, media reports quote the Prime Minister from Najaf
vowing to continue with a lawsuit against Blackwater.)


3. (C) Fareed Yaseen, advisor to VP Abd al-Mahdi, told Pol
M/C on January 3 that the GOI and Iraqi public would be
gravely disappointed if the U.S. Department of Justice
chooses not to appeal Urbina's decision. Former Assistant
Minister for Reconciliation Sa'ad Mutalibi, a current advisor
to the Cabinet told Poloff that the GOI planned to pursue
unspecified legal action against the Blackwater employees
either in U.S. courts or internationally with an emphasis on
testimony from the victims of the shootings. On January 4,
Pol M/C met with Parliamentary Speaker Ayad Samarra'i who
said that the PM had told him that the GOI would pursue its
civil case in the U.S. Samarra'i said that Parliament's
Qcivil case in the U.S. Samarra'i said that Parliament's
options were generally limited to debate and discussion. It
had no authority for direct action on the case. Other MPs
have taken bolder positions, however, and suggested that the
COR could retaliate by calling for a referendum on the
Security Agreement (see paragraph 7).

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...WANTS FORMER BLACKWATER EMPLOYEES OUT OF IRAQ
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4. (C) In statements to international media on January 3,
al-Dabbagh said that the GOI was now "investigating" to
determine if current or former Blackwater personnel are still
in the country, including those who might be working for
other companies. Al-Dabbagh advised that Iraq does not want
them on its soil. (Comment: The Embassy contract for
Presidential Airways, a subsidiary of Xe, the company that
replaced Blackwater, ends today, January 4. Presidential
Airways has not provided any services or support since
December 23, 2009. However, there are many former Blackwater
employees at other private security companies in Iraq, most
notably Triple Canopy and DynCorps providing security
services to us. End Comment.) Separately, the Minister of
Human Rights, Wijdan Selim, requested a meeting with Pol M/C

to discuss the GOI's position on the case, which will be
reported septel.

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RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND POLITICIANS APPEAL FOR EXTRADITION
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5. (C) During Friday prayers on January 1, influential Shia
imam and the head of Parliament's Human Rights Committee,
Sheikh Muhammad al-Haydari (INA/independent),asked
rhetorically if "the killing of innocents is considered a
defense of U.S. national security?" He added that the GOI
should demand extradition of the five guards to face
prosecution in Iraq. MP Amir Thamir (INA/Solidarity),who
also serves on the Human Rights Committee, said that the
decision showed "disdain for the blood of innocent Iraqis by
the U.S. judiciary," a sentiment echoed by the Iraqi Lawyers
Union. On the same day, imam Sheikh Na'il al-Musawi said
during prayers that the Blackwater decision "shows that Iraqi
blood has no value to the Americans." On January 3, Iraqi
Islamic Party (IIP) General Secretary Osama al-Tikriti said
that an international court should be formed to assess the
damages incurred by Iraqis as a result of Blackwater's
presence in the country and that compensation should be paid.
MP Omar Khalaf Jabouri (Iraqiyya/INDF) went further, arguing
that the GOI could retaliate for the Blackwater decision by
releasing all Iraqi defendants sentenced to death for killing
Americans in Iraq, a sentiment echoed by MP Omar Haikal
al-Jabouri (Tawafuq) in an address to the Parliament on
January 4. The day before, Haikal al-Jabouri had told Poloff
that the court decision would inevitably harm U.S.-Iraqi
relations, arguing that "even educated Iraqis" misunderstand
the reasons for the acquittal and "most Iraqis believe the
U.S. struggled to establish justice and rule of law in Iraq,
but this decision runs contrary to justice." MP Safea Suheil
(INA/independent) accused the Ministries of Human Rights and
Justice as well as the Iraqi ambassador in Washington of not
doing enough to follow through on the case. Suheil also
called on the Parliament to form a delegation to go to the
U.S. Congress to present the case and call for a fair
punishment for those involved.

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OUTRAGE IN MEDIA
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6. (SBU) Condemnation of the Blackwater decision was also
pervasive in the Iraqi and pan-Arab media. The decision has
received extensive television coverage with lead stories on
Iraqiyah and on pan-Arab channel Al-Arabiya and others. A
January 3 editorial by Basim al-Shaykh in the independent
newspaper Al-Dustour commented that "failure to seek
retribution from the criminals and acquitting (sic) them of
what they have done to the Iraqi people is a bad omen for the
Americans who will pay the price of a deepening hatred
against them. These feelings will only be defused through
bringing those killers to justice." Another editorial by
Sattar Jabbar in the sensational al-Bayyna al-Jadeedah
claimed that "if the U.S. judiciary system is self-respecting
and respects the Iraqi people it would not dare to commit to
such an immoral disgrace that reveals its 'phoniness.'"

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SECURITY AGREEMENT REFERENDUM UP NEXT?
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7. (C) As a result of the fallout from the Blackwater
decision, Iraqi politicians appear poised to grandstand on
the Security Agreement. On January 3, MP Omar Haikal
al-Jabouri passed a letter to Poloff from the Independent
National Tribal Gathering which cited the "risky
QNational Tribal Gathering which cited the "risky
consequences" of the decision including the "credibility" of
the Security Agreement. In a separate meeting on January 3
with Pol M/C, MP Humam Hammoudi (ISCI bloc leader),the head
of the Foreign Affairs Committee and one of our more
thoughtful interlocutors in the COR, said that the Blackwater
decision had raised conversations in Parliament as to whether
the SA had been violated because the United States and Iraq
did not address the case jointly. Hamoudi also said that the
committees of Human Rights, Foreign Affairs, as well as
Security and Defense were looking into the implications of
the decision for the SA. On January 4, MP Ali al-Adeeb (Dawa
bloc leader) told POL M/C that some blocs in Parliament
thought the Blackwater decision violated the SA and that
Tawafuq and Al Hadba members of Iraqiyya were "pushing for a
referendum on the SA." Al-Adeeb said that while support for
a referendum on the SA was not universal, it would grow if
the United States failed to respond in a "just fashion." The
same day, Haikal al-Jabouri read a statement in Parliament in
which he said that if the U.S. Justice Department did not
appeal the case, Iraq would be forced to carry out a SA

referendum on March 7 and that he would urge Iraqis to vote
against it. Reports from Parliament indicate that a decision
has been taken to have the Legal Committee "look into"
options to add a referendum on the Security Agreement to the
March 7 general elections.

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IRAQIS DO NOT UNDERSTAND LEGAL NUANCES
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8. (C) A consistent theme in our engagements with Iraqi
contacts and in Iraqi media reporting on the dismissal of the
case against Blackwater employees has been a failure to grasp
the legal nuances behind Judge Urbina's decision, in
particular the decision to dismiss the testimony of Iraqi
witnesses. For example, Dr. Jaber al-Jaberi, senior
political advisor to DPM Rafi al-Issawi, and a sophisticated
interlocutor, told Poloff that the legal basis for Judge
Urbina's decision was not clear to him, and therefore was
likely not clear to most Iraqis. He stressed that most
Arabic language press coverage of the decision has focused on
the failure of the U.S. legal system to acknowledge the
suffering of Iraqis involved in the incident, not the legal
reasons behind it. In addition, most Iraqis do not intuit
the concept of an independent judiciary and therefore suspect
that the U.S. executive branch orchestrated dismissal of the
case. On January 4, MP Qassim Daoud (Shia/independent) told
Pol M/C that it was "very important for political reasons"
for the case to be appealed by the USG.

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COMMENT
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9. (C) So far, Iraqi official reactions have been sharp in
terms of rhetoric but the government has not taken any
measures to retaliate in any way. We are monitoring that
carefully, especially with contacts at the Ministry of
Interior. This is especially important because both Triple
Canopy and DynCorps that provide us ground convoy and air
operations respectively need license renewals at the
Ministry. Interior Minister Bolani is out of the country now
but sent word that he would like to see outgoing Legatt and
discuss during his farewell call the Blackwater issue.
(Other Emboffs will attend this meeting if it occurs.)

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ACTION REQUEST
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10. (C) All of our contacts urge that the United States
publicly acknowledge the suffering of the victims' families.
(Many have received small compensation payments from the
Embassy, but we should not mention this, obviously.) Our
contacts also recommend we publicly explain in simple terms
the legal reasoning for the decision. The fact that Iraqi
lawmakers and other might exploit the judge's decision to
revive calls for a referendum on the Security Agreement shows
we need to address in some fashion Iraqis' perception that
justice has not been served. Cleared media guidance
acknowledging the suffering of the Iraqi victims' families,
explaining the basis of the decision and, if appropriate,
indicating what steps the U.S. Justice Department intends to
take to appeal the decision is urgently needed.
FORD