US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD2587

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002587 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MOPS, PTER, IZ, SY, TU, IR, Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP, Kuristan Regional Government, Kurdistan National Assembly, Kurdistan Islamic Union 
SUBJECT: KURDS WANT MAXIMUM DECENTRALIZATION WITHOUT 
INDEPENDENCE 
 
Classified By: Classified by David M. Satterfield, Deputy Chief of Miss 
 
ion, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (U)  This is a REO Kirkuk cable. 
 
2.  (C) .  (C) SUMMARY.  Key Kurdish leaders told DCM and 
MNF-I Political Military and Economic Affairs Chief on June 
13-15 that they cannot accept "provincial" or 
"administrative" federalism and will focus instead on 
pursuing "historic geographic" federalism.  They define the 
Kurdistan region however as one with more south-reaching 
boundaries, a process that the TAL stipulates must not 
precede the constitution.  END SUMMARY. 
 
3.  (C) DCM Satterfield and MNF-I Commander for Political, 
Military and Economic relations MG Hank Stratman discussed 
the federalism with senior KDP and PUK officials in the 
Kurdistan Region June 13-14.  RC Kirkuk (notetaker) and DCM 
assistant also attended the meetings.  The issue also 
surfaced in the context of the swearing-in pf Kurdistan's new 
president Massoud Barzani on June 14. 
 
Talabani Strikes the Right Tone 
------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) In his remarks at the swearing in, Iraq's President 
and PUK Secretary General Jalal Talabani declared that Kurds 
must seek "a free Kurdistan within a free Iraq."  He spoke at 
length in Arabic to make visiting Iraqis feel welcome.  He 
welcomed them not as guests however, but as the "owners of a 
house in which all of us live as family."  Barzani also 
kicked off remarks in Arabic, but focused in his speech more 
on federal and democratic elements of the state, while 
Talabani focused more on pluralism and unity. 
 
Historic Geographic Federalism 
------------------------------ 
 
5. (C) PUK Deputy Noshirwan Mustafa focused intently on 
decentralization.  He said the region was plagued by 
oriental, Arabic, despotism.  Kurds now have signed on to a 
unified framework of one state, but only if the Arabs do not 
attempt to define the state in terms of Arab nationalist 
goals.  DCM noted that the U.S. supports decentralization, 
but a clearly delimited one.  Mustafa said Baghdad should 
allow the regions to develop their own education, judicial, 
health, agriculture, banking systems, while the center would 
continue to control defense and foreign affairs. 
 
6.  (C) Both Mustafa and Kurdistan National Assembly speaker 
Adnan Mufti told DCM that Kurds would never accept 
"administrative" federalism (Iraq administered on the basis 
of its 18 governorates).  They both also spoke of "historic 
geographic" federalism as the better basis for governance. 
Mustafa indicated said Iraq south of Kurdistan could 
conceivably be divided into multiple regions. 
 
7.  (C) KRG-Sulimaniya Prime Minister Omar Fattah told DCM 
that the Kurds are for a united Iraq, but that they 
constitute a "separate nation."  The Kurdistan region must 
have strong relations with Baghdad, it should have its own 
budget like any U.S. state and pay tax to the center.  The 
Ba'athist model in which the center doled out all the money 
would not be accepted.  Drawing on the U.S. comparison, DCM 
said the U.S. government manages natural resources nationally 
to bring benefit to all citizens.  This should be the model 
for Iraq. 
 
Independence Does Not Serve Kurds' Interests 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Mustafa was pragmatic on Kurds' options, noting it 
would be difficult to settle borders with neighbors who would 
be hostile.  Further, this independence would shut the Kurds 
out of a potential market of 22 Arab states.  Independent 
Kurdistan would be hopelessly weak, but as part of Iraq, 
would gain great leverage regionally.  He agreed with DCM 
that the era of mini-states was over.  What the Kurds want, 
he said, is "complete decentralization without independence." 
 PUK politburo executive committee chairman Kosrat Rasul said 
that if Iraq is truly democratic and federal and Article 58 
is implemented fully, Kurds would not demand independence. 
 
KRG Presidency Law 
------------------ 
 
9.  (C) The new KRG presidency law, passed June 7, notes that 
the President of the region will represent the citizens of 
Kurdistan "locally and internationally and coordinate between 
the federal and regional authorities."  In this regard, 
Massoud Barzani told DCM that the Kurds were unified on 
Kirkuk and their relations with Baghdad.  He was traveling to 
Baghdad June 16 to begin sorting out aspects of the 
relationship. 
 
10. (U) REO Basrah, REO Hillah, REO Mosul, and REO Kirkuk 
minimize considered. 
 
Jeffrey