US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD2834

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002834 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/04/2015 
TAGS: MOPS, PHUM, PINS, IZ, PTERIZ, Terrorism, Judges 
SUBJECT: ATTORNEY GENERAL MEETS WITH IRAQI PM, LAW AND 
JUSTICE OFFICIALS 
 
Classified By: Classified by Acting Political-Military 
Counselor Evan Reade for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) On Sunday, June 3, 2005, Attorney General 
Alberto Gonzales and FBI Counterterrorism Assistant 
Director Willie Hulon met with senior MNF-I and 
Embassy officials, Department of Justice and FBI 
personnel, Iraq's Prime Minister, senior Iraqi justice 
leaders, and US military forces recovering at the 
International Zone's Combat Support Hospital. Reports 
on the Attorney General's and Mr. Hulon's meetings 
with Iraqi government officials follow. 
 
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WORKING JUSTICE LUNCH AT THE EMBASSY 
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2.  (C) After a brief delay at Baghdad International 
Airport occasioned by a morning sandstorm, the 
Attorney General and Mr. Hulon arrived in the 
International Zone and attended a working lunch with 
Minister of the Interior Jabr, Chief Justice Medhat, 
and Judge Jamal, President of the Iraqi Special 
Tribunal. The lunch was held at the Embassy Annex and 
hosted by the Charge d'Affaires. 
 
3.  (C) The Attorney General opened by expressing his 
gratitude to be in Iraq and his congratulations for 
the work being done to build democracy in Iraq, the 
success of which is, he noted, important for the 
United States as well as the Iraqi people.  The 
Department of Justice has been working in Iraq since 
2003, he said, and he is personally committed to the 
dedication of DOJ resources, especially given the 
difficulty of achieving democracy without rule-of-law. 
 
4.  (C) At this point, the Attorney General introduced 
Maxwell Wood, the US Attorney in Macon, Georgia, who will 
arrive soon in Baghdad as the new head of DOJ's 
Iraq delegation, and expressed his "total confidence" 
in his new delegate. 
 
5. (C) Judge Medhat welcomed the Attorney General on 
behalf of the Supreme Juridical Council, and spoke 
briefly about developments in the Iraqi justice 
system, which is now, he said, fully integrated, with 
the courts reaching out to all government services to 
involve them in the establishment of rule-of-law and 
democracy in Iraq.  He explained that for the first 
time, the MOI and the Supreme Council are working 
together, side-by-side, in all sectors. 
 
6.  (C) The Minister of the Interior noted that he 
wished the Attorney General had more time to spend in 
Iraq to observe the workings of the MOI and MOJ, and 
said he took pride in the independence of Iraqi 
justice. Three days ago, he noted, he had received an 
order to arrest an Iraqi Police Commando leader - and 
that while he had been hesitant to enforce the judge's 
order, he had to respect the rule-of-law. 
 
7.  (C) The conversation turned to specific issues of 
interest to the Attorney General, including the long- 
term prospects of Coalition detainees in Iraq, the 
protection of Iraqi judges, and the President's 
personal interest in the investigation and prosecution 
of high-profile cases, including kidnapping and 
assassination, committed against Iraqi government 
officials. 
 
8. (C) On the last point, the Attorney General 
stressed the importance of these investigations for 
rule-of-law, noted his support for a joint task force 
of US and Iraqi investigators and prosecutors, and 
said that the USG "wanted to do whatever we can to 
help develop professional police, prosecutor, and 
judicial systems". 
 
9.  (C) Judge Medhat thanked the Attorney General for 
his generous offer, and noted that while MNF-I had 
given "a lot" and MOI had put forward great effort, 
the Iraqi justice system is still in need of 
assistance, including financial assistance for 800 
Iraqi judges who require personal security details. 
What the Iraqi justice system has accomplished so 
far is, Judge Medhat said, greater than that Iraqi 
recources alone would have enabled given the Iraqis 
to achieve given their "brotherly coalition" with 
MNF-I. 
 
10.  (C) A discussion of corruption was sparked by the 
Attorney General's query, to the assembled, of which 
posed a greater danger to Iraq - corruption, or the 
insurgency. Both, replied the Minister of the 
Interior, but the insurgency had to be tackled first. 
Judge Medhat suggested that corruption contributed to 
the insurgency, and that defeating one would help 
defeat the other. 
 
11.  (C) The Minister of the Interior followed with a 
summary of the current state of the insurgency, which 
he traced to foreign terrorists entering Iraq from 
neighboring countries, and members of the old regime. 
Iraq needs the support of neighboring states, 
especially Syria, to stop foreigners from coming in, 
he said. As for the members of the old regime, he 
believes they would be able to get rid of these 
elements quickly - except for the recent rise in 
suicide bombers. 
 
12.  (C) The fight in Iraq, the Minister said, is a 
fight with international terrorism, and the whole 
world should stand and fight -- which is what 
happened in Brussels. The Minister then thanked 
the USG and American people for their assistance in 
Iraqi governance, democracy, and elections, and noted 
that these developments in Iraq are starting to 
affect neighboring countries whose governments are 
"afraid of freedom". 
 
13.  (C) Attention turned to the President of the 
Iraqi Special Tribunal, who provided an update on the 
tribunal's status, saying that investigations were 
taking place in the proper manner, and that the 
tribunal remained independent of the government. 
Judge Jamal concluded by requesting USG assistance 
in procuring apartments in the International Zone 
for IST judges. "My judges are courageous", he said, 
"but safety is also good." 
 
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THE IRAQI PRIME MINISTER AND ATTORNEY GENERAL MEET 
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14.  (C) PM Ja'afari opened the meeting by welcoming 
AG Gonzalez, saying that he had enjoyed fruitful 
meetings with the President, SecState, and National 
Security Adviser several days earlier in Washington. 
The AG commended Ja'afari's progress in promoting 
democracy and the rule of law in Iraq, noting that the 
birth of a democracy can be difficult, but that it is 
impossible without the rule of law.  The AG expressed 
his personal commitment to Ja'afai and the Iraqi 
government to provide whatever help DOJ could, 
including advice, training, and resources. 
 
15.  (C) Ja'afari, again demonstrating his interest in 
U.S. history, quizzed the AG on the two former U.S. 
presidents who had died on July 4.  He discussed the 
fact that the U.S. constitution had evolved since its 
inception, and noting the number of amendments 
throughout its history.  Ja'afari noted that he wanted 
a constitution for all Iraqis, not just for the 
majority or just for the minority.  He emphasized that 
the diversity of Iraq was even greater than that of 
the United States, but suggested that Iraq would start 
-- with the equal rights of women and minorities, and 
the acceptability of intermarriage -- where the U.S. 
constitution and laws ended up.  He spoke briefly of 
the need to include in the Iraqi constitution a 
recognition that the majority of Iraqis are Muslim. 
 
16.  (C) Ja'afari took the opportunity to articulate 
Iraq's need for a constitutional awareness campaign, 
noting that he hoped to get the Iraqi citizens to a 
certain level of understanding about the process and 
content of the constitution.  He spoke of collecting 
points of view from different sectors and people, also 
noting that he wanted to achieve the draft 
constitution by August 15. 
17.  (C) AG Gonzalez introduced to PM Ja'afari the new 
Justice Attache, Mr. Wood, who assumes his post at the 
Embassy in a week.  The AG also raised the USG's 
concern about the long-term issue of detainees in Iraq 
and how the Iraqis might eventually assume detention 
responsibilities for individuals it is unable to 
charge under its criminal laws.  PM Ja'afari seemed to 
focus on those held by MNF-I against whom criminal 
charges can be brought; when the AG noted that the 
concern was with those Iraq could not charge 
criminally, the PM mentioned that Iraq could get 
"guarantors" for the detainees, prohibit them from 
leaving the country, and so on.  (Comment: The Prime 
Minister does not seem to have given much thought to 
this problem, including its scope or possible 
solutions.  End comment.) 
 
18.  (C) Ja'afari concluded the meeting with a 
discussion of terrorism in Iraq; both he and the AG 
agreed that Iraq was on the front lines of the war on 
terrorism.  The PM noted that the Iraqi people have 
two pictures of the American presence in Iraq.  On the 
one hand, they see the positive diplomatic presence, 
which is evidenced by the fact that people wave at the 
helicopters they see flying overhead.  On the other 
hand, they see innocent people killed for taking a 
misstep or making a sudden move in a car.  Ja'afari 
cautioned that MNF-I needed to be sensitive in dealing 
with Iraqi civilians and look into events in which 
civilians were injured or killed by MNF-I forces.  In 
conclusion, Ja'afari mentioned that he had visited 
wounded U.S. soldiers while he was in Washington and 
that America should be proud that it has children who 
came to Iraq to fight against oppression. 
 
19.  (C) This cable was not cleared by the Attorney 
General prior to his departure. 
Satterfield