FALLOUT OVER BLACKWATER CONTINUES, ALBEIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000063 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2020 TAGS: KJUS PREL ASEC IZ SUBJECT: FALLOUT OVER BLACKWATER CONTINUES, ALBEIT DIMINISHED REF: A. BAGHDAD 0020 ¶B. BAGHDAD 0030 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Ford for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The public upset over the decision of U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina to dismiss the charges against former Blackwater employees for their role in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in September 2007 has quieted, but there continue to be repercussions. The Embassy and CODEL McCain have engaged with senior GOI leaders and the media to express disappointment with the decision as well as sympathy for the victims' families. The Ambassador discussed the issue with PM Maliki on January 7 (reported septel). There are no concrete indications that Iraq's Parliament intends to schedule a referendum on the Security Agreement on March 7. The GOI has also chosen to create a committee within the Council of Ministers to follow the Department of Justice's next actions and to initiate legal action in civil court in the United States on behalf of the Iraqi victims' families against the former Blackwater employees. The GOI does not appear to want the Blackwater decision to do further damage to bilateral relations. It approved our security contractor Dyncoprs' license application (for our aircraft operations) on January 8. The Iraqi government also has taken aim at private security companies. The MOI has formally requested that Triple Canopy certify that it is not employing anyone who previously worked with Blackwater. The Iraqi government may feel compelled (for political reasons in an election season) to resort to more bellicose rhetoric and perhaps additional action if the Department of Justice chooses not to appeal Judge Urbina's decision. END SUMMARY. -------------- EMBASSY ENGAGEMENTS HELP DAMPEN PUBLIC FUROR -------------- ¶2. (C) For four days following the December 31 decision of the judge, Iraqi politicians, religious leaders, and journalists railed against the United States for failing to deliver justice (ref A). Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh stated that all former Blackwater employees would be asked to leave Iraq, while members of Parliament (mostly Sunnis) spoke of the need to schedule a referendum on the Security Agreement to coincide with national elections on March 7 unless the DOJ appealed the Blackwater decision. Over the past three days, the furor over the Blackwater decision has diminished, in part due to the Embassy and CODEL McCain calming senior GOI leaders and the media and to GOI wishes to avoid doing real damage to the bilateral relationship. ¶3. (C) On January 4, Pol M/C met with Parliament Speaker Ayad al-Samara'i, Ali al-Adeeb (Dawa bloc leader),Humam Hamoudi (ISCI bloc leader) -- ref A --, as well as the Minister of Human Rights, Wijdan Selim to express sympathy for the victims' families and to explain that the dismissal of charges was driven by procedural issues and not based on a determination of guilt or innocence. Pol M/C also noted that there remained a possibility that the Justice Department would appeal the ruling. Minister Wijdan was especially keen to understand nuances of the decision, particularly whether a determination of innocence or guilt had been made and why the judge had chosen to dismiss the charges. Pol M/C provided a copy of the judge's ruling, which the Minister referred to repeatedly during an interview with al-Iraqiyah television on the evening of January 4. Her remakes to the Iraqi media were fact based and intended to quell public anger over the Qwere fact based and intended to quell public anger over the decision. ¶4. (C) Also on January 4, Justice Attache met with the head of the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council, Chief Justice Medhat (Iraq's top official in the judiciary),who wanted to know whether the case had been dismissed for a lack of evidence. Justice Attache explained that the dismissal arose from a procedural error committed by the prosecutor and was in no way the fault of the GOI. Medhat asked if the DOJ planned to appeal the dismissal decision, to which the Justice Attache responded that the Embassy was asking for a decision to be made soon. Medhat also asked whether the victims of the Nisour Square shooting had received compensation to date, and if so, how much had been paid. Justice Attache responded that the victims' families had received compensation. (NOTE: To date, the Department of State has made condolence payments to 34 of the victims of the Nisour Square incident, paying $5,000 to each victim who suffered injury, $10,000 to each family of a deceased victim, plus $2,500 to each person who claimed property damage. Such payments are not admissions of guilt or liability but rather an acknowledgment of suffering and a measure of condolence. Amounts provided are generally in line with local custom and Department of Defense practice. Post also understands that Blackwater may also have made payments to some victims' and for families but has no specific information on such payments. END NOTE.) -------------- CODEL MCCAIN PROVIDES AN ASSIST -------------- ¶5. (C) On January 5, CODEL McCain on a previously scheduled trip met with PM Maliki, President Talabani, Deputy PM Rafi al-Issawi and Vice President Abd al-Mahdi. In all four meetings, as well as a press conference with Iraqi journalists, Senator McCain raised the issue of the Blackwater case to express regret for the dismissal and to express sympathy for the victims' families. Both the PM and VP Abd al-Mahdi asked that the USG appeal the Blackwater decision in order to give the right impression to the Iraqi people (ref B) and Abd al-Mahdi requested a briefing on the issue during his visit to Washington January 12-14. President Talabani expressed his hope that the Blackwater decision would not affect bilateral relations, while DPM Issawi said that the Council of Ministers had established a committee to follow the Blackwater case closely. -------------- TALK OF A LAWSUIT, BUT NOT A REFERENDUM -------------- ¶6. (C) Seeking to demonstrate its continuing resolve on the matter, government spokesman al-Dabbagh announced on January 5 that the GOI had decided to file a lawsuit in U.S. courts against the Blackwater employees involved in the shooting and that permission would be sought from the victims' families. On January 7, the Iraqi media reported that Iraq's Ambassador to the United States, Samir al-Sumaidee, had confirmed that the Iraqi Embassy in Washington was seeking to hire a private law firm to file the suit on behalf of the GOI. (NOTE: We do not know the current status of reported existing civil suit(s) in U.S. courts. It is not certain that the GOI would enjoy legal standing to file suit in U.S. courts on behalf of victims and families or how this move would be affected by the announcement in the press on January 7 that Blackwater had reached a settlement in at least one of the civil suits. These reports may represent a garbled summary of ongoing GOI efforts to support the reported civil suit against Blackwater by victims' families or GOI efforts to have U.S. legal counsel assess the Urbina decision and provide feedback to the GOI on what happens next and how the GOI might support an appeal. END NOTE.) Despite discussions within Parliament earlier in the week of holding a referendum on the Security Agreement to coincide with the March 7 general elections, there have been no further reports of this possibility. None of the senior Iraqi political leaders with whom we engaged last week raised the referendum. -------------- TRIPLE CANOPY GETS TARGETED -------------- ¶7. (C) Following up on the GOI's threat to get former Blackwater employees out of Iraq, the MOI sent a letter to Triple Canopy on January 5 requesting that the company provide the government with "an officially signed and sealed letter issued by the authorized director and attorney of your company stating that no Blackwater employees have been employed, or added to the list of personnel in your company... otherwise Triple Canopy shall pledge to bear the legal responsibility before the Iraqi judiciary." Although Triple Canopy is currently operating legally within Iraq, it's license has not been formally renewed since it expired in early December. (NOTE: The Embassy understands that Qin early December. (NOTE: The Embassy understands that Triple Canopy currently employs several hundred former Blackwater employees. END NOTE.) Meanwhile, our security contractors providing aircraft support, Dyncorp, finally got its new operating license January 8. (COMMENT: Dyncorp has been operating for weeks without a license. It too employs dozens of ex-Blackwater employees.) ¶8. (C) COMMENT: The election season has highlighted sensitivities to such issues and the propensity of some to speak even act rashly. Given how many former Blackwater employees are currently in the services of Triple Canopy, there is a serious possibility that the GOI's request that they leave Iraq will diminish the company's ability to fulfill the Embassy's security requirements. At the same time, the GOI is toning down its public rhetoric as it does not want the Blackwater decision to harm bilateral relations further. GOI leaders have pressed for an appeal by the DOJ in order to provide them with the necessary political cover to push the issue into the future and out of the media. While discussions of a Security Agreement referendum have muted, a decision by the DOJ not to appeal the case would likely thrust this issue back into the media and public spotlight. In that event, GOI leaders could be forced to take a tougher line than they might otherwise desire in order to inoculate themselves politically in the run-up to the elections. END COMMENT. HILL