US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD2979

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002979 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2025 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PTER, IZ, National Assembly, Terrorism, Security 
SUBJECT: TNA PUSHING FOR STRONG RESPONSE TO TERROR ATTACKS 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford. 
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (U) The Transitional National Assembly is taking a 
more public and critical role in national security 
policy following the latest string of suicide attacks 
in Iraq.  TNA Speaker Hachim al-Hasani on July 17 
proposed a three-minute moment of silence on 
Wednesday, July 20 at noon in memory of the victims of 
the Musayib bombing. 
 
2.  (C) The representatives passed that recommendation 
with a unanimous vote, but not before pushing a much 
wider array of more activist remedies.  Influential 
cleric and SCIRI member Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer used 
the occasion to revive calls for the formation of 
Popular Security Committees.  (Comment:  In Iraqi 
political lexicon, a popular or local security 
committee usually means militias or irregular security 
forces.  End Comment.)  He described the string of 
attacks as a failure by MNF-I and said such committees 
needed to be formed to avert civil war.  He called 
upon the Sunni leadership to condemn Ba'athists and 
terrorism.  Shia parliamentarian Khudayr al-Khuzai'e 
warned that the Shia would eventually start 
retaliating for attacks against them and also urged 
that popular security committees be established.  The 
TNA heard a classified report on the security 
situation in the July 18 session.  We have heard that 
that report also pushed for the security committee 
idea and called for deeper de-Ba'athification and 
restructuring in the security ministries.  The head of 
Iraq's intelligence service may also be called in for 
questioning. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  We have batted down the idea of 
Popular Security Committees in meetings with SCIRI 
leader Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim.  SCIRI dropped the idea 
after our warnings about militia formation but clearly 
never dropped the idea.  We will be meeting with 
members of the TNA Security and Defense Committee July 
19 to hear the details of their classified report and 
see whether this idea has emerged in force.  Until 
then we will continue to caution against vigilantism 
or militia activity as false solutions to a pressing 
security problem. 
 
4.  (U) REO HILLA, REO BASRA, REO MOSUL, and REO 
KIRKUK, minimize considered. 
 
 
Satterfield