US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD2506

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002506 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2025 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, IZ, Ba'ath, Dawa Party 
SUBJECT: MUHAMMAD BAHR AL-ULUM DECRIES US "BA'THIST 
IMPOSITION", DETAILS ISLAMIST CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY 
 
 
Classified By: A/PolCouns Henry S. Ensher.  Reasons 1.4 
(B) and (D). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Leading Islamic cleric and founding 
Da'wa party member Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum told Poloff 
the US was "deserting the Shia" and attempting to 
bring Ba'thists back to power--comments we have heard 
recently from other Shia interlocutors.  Al-Ulum was 
especially incensed over an article in a leading Iraqi 
newspaper claiming how the US is working with the UN 
to secure an agreement with the resistance and return 
Ba'thists.  We will seek to correct this perception. 
Al-Ulum also detailed the Islamic parties' evolution 
from denouncement to acceptance of democracy because 
they came to see democracy as a route to power.  Al- 
Ulum made a distinction between Islamist "acceptance" 
of democracy versus their "belief" in and true 
understanding/respect for the system and concepts. 
Bahr al-Ulum has written extensively on the subject 
and is regarded as a leading Iraqi "liberal Islamist". 
END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C/NF) Former Governing Council member, founding 
Da'wa party member, and leading Islamic cleric/writer 
Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum met with PolOff on June 12 at 
his residence.  Bahr al-Ulum expressed grave concerns 
about the Transitional National Assembly's ability to 
forge a constitution that satisfies all Iraqi 
factions, especially given the excessive demands from 
Kurds and Sunnis, he said.  Sunnis were emboldened by 
clause 61c in the Transitional Administrative Law 
(TAL) that allows three provinces to veto the 
constitution, if each votes to do so by two-thirds. 
 
3.  (C/NF) Al-Ulum said the Kurds are trying to impose 
their ethnicity on the rest of the country by pressing 
for the Kurdish language to be one of Iraq's official 
languages, as it is in the TAL.  Kurdish should only 
be official in the North. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Bahr al-Ulum Believes USG Intent on Returning 
Ba'thists 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C/NF) Bahr al-Ulum became visibly agitated as he 
brought up the topic of Sunni/Ba'thist participation 
in the constitution and what he said was US support to 
bring them back to power.  Bahr al-Ulum angrily 
pointed to the headline article of that day's Azzaman 
newspaper:  "Brahimi and US Embassy Have Secret Plan 
to Restore Ba'thists."  Al-Ulum criticized the US 
position towards Shia--"the children of mass graves"-- 
who had suffered so much during the former regime and 
had been killed by Sunni extremists since the fall of 
the regime and yet have only shown restraint.  Al-Ulum 
accused the US of imposing the 25 names submitted to 
the constitutional committee, 10-15 of whom, he said, 
were high-level Ba'thists including the former 
Minister of Justice Munthir al-Shawy and former Office 
Manager for Saddam Hussayn Akram al-Witri.  Al-Ulum 
warned that the US policy is driving the Shia further 
and further into the hands of Iran, which is not good 
for the US or Iraq. 
 
5.  (C/NF) PolOff pushed back, noting that the US has 
suggested no names to the constitutional committee and 
has stated that 25 Sunni additions to the 
Constitutional Committee would be unacceptable to 
other communities.  PolOff added that US policy is 
aimed at providing non-violent access to the political 
process for all Iraqi communities.  Bahr al-Ulum and 
his aides urged that the USG do more to publicize this 
position. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Bahr al-Ulum Discusses Islamic Parties' Concept of 
Democracy 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
6.  (C/NF) A leading Shia Islamic thinker and 
proponent of liberal Islamism, as well as one of the 
founding members of the Da'wa party, Bahr al-Ulum 
detailed to PolOff his view of Islamist parties' 
evolution from denouncement to acceptance of 
democracy. 
 
--DEMOCRACY AND ISLAM COMPATIBLE.  Iraqi Shia Islamic 
parties, including Da'wa, at first rejected democracy 
because they lacked a clear understanding of the term. 
Democracy was viewed as a foreign, Western, even 
heathen, concept--created by the "Godless Greeks" as a 
system of people self-government in contrast to a 
divine government.  During the turbulent years of 
upheaval in Iraqi politics and the decline of the 
clerical class in the early 1960s, Bahr al-Ulum and 
his colleagues studied various governing systems to 
redress the exclusion and suffering Shia were 
experiencing.  Through his study of democracy, he 
noted the similarity of democratic and Islamic 
concepts, such as shura (consultation) and rule of 
law. 
 
--MEANS FOR SHIA TO GAIN POWER.  Just as important as 
the compatibility of Islam and democracy, al-Ulum saw 
democracy as a means for Shia to gain power through 
the majority.  During the 1970's in Iraq, many Da'wa 
factions and other Islamic parties started opening up 
their thought to democratic principles in part because 
of this realization. 
 
--"MEANING OF DEMOCRACY" ANECDOTES.  AL-Ulum used 
examples to explain his view of democracy.  "I do not 
believe it is right to dance, but if we are out at a 
gathering, you can dance and I will not.  Each one can 
express what he believes is right."  Al-Ulum also told 
a story of one of the Shia's most revered figures, 
Imam Ali, that illustrates there is a similar concept 
in Islam to the democratic view that all are equal 
before the law. 
 
--"ACCEPTANCE VERSUS BELIEF" IN DEMOCRACY.  Bahr al- 
Ulum was careful to distinguish between the Islamic 
parties' "acceptance" of democracy as a means to 
ascend to power versus a system in which they truly 
believe.  Al-Ulum acknowledged that he himself does 
not know if the parties truly understand the concepts 
or believe in them.  However, al-Ulum opined that the 
Islamist parties would increasingly take ownership of 
and imbibe democratic principles through their ever- 
increasing exposure of it.  Al-Ulum said the parties 
have had a taste of democracy and proclaim they 
support it and would be viewed by the people as "two- 
faced" if they backtracked from this position.  Al- 
Ulum, however, noted that there are still widely 
diverging opinions on democracy within the Da'wa party 
itself and even more so within other Islamic parties. 
 
7.  (C/NF) Comment:  Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum's 
accusation that the US is turning away from the Shia 
and seeking to impose Ba'thists, although delivered in 
a more agitated manner than our other Shia 
interlocutors, echoes the consternation we hear from 
them over the unfounded allegations that Sunni 
outreach really means a Ba'ath restoration.  As we 
continue efforts to achieve acceptable representation 
for all communities, we will have to continue to 
clarify and explain our views to prevent this type of 
misunderstanding that draws from the history of 
repression experienced by Iraqi Shia.  Bahr al-Ulum's 
insights on the evolution of Islamic parties' views on 
democracy and the remaining ambivalence towards the 
term--other than an expedient way to gain power--helps 
explain the contradictory writings of the Da'wa and 
other Islamists' views on democracy. 
 
8.  (C/NF) Bio Notes:  Bahr al-Ulum left the Da'wa 
party in 1960 because he said he preferred to be a 
religious rather than political leader.  Al-Ulum said 
he was very close to Grand Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim 
during his time in Iraq.  Al-Ulum lent support from 
1960-1969 to political movements that opposed the 
Ba'th party even though he himself was no longer a 
member of any party.  Al-Ulum claimed he worked with 
all parties except the communists and Ba'thists 
because he refused to work with parties with Iraqi 
blood on their hands.  In 1969, the Ba'th regime 
sentenced him to death and he fled the country, first 
hiding out in Egypt, Kuwait, and Iran before he 
finally settled in London in 1970.  He lived in London 
until the fall of the regime, during which time al- 
Ulum frequently lectured at London universities on 
Islam and democracy.  Bahr al-Ulum began writing his 
Islamic political treatises in 1961.  Al-Ulum 
recounted that while he traveled frequently to Iran 
during his time in London for work in the opposition, 
he is the least pro-Iran of the Islamic leaders.  He 
was called the "American" Bahr al-Ulum because of his 
defense of liberal democratic ideals. 
 
9.  (U) REO BASRA, REO MOSUL, and REO 
KIRKUK, minimize considered. 
 
 
Jeffrey