US embassy cable - 02AMMAN5751

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005751 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2012 
TAGS: PREL, IZ, JA, JO 
SUBJECT: JAPANESE DIPLOMAT REPORTS BAGHDAD NORMAL, BASRA 
BUSTLING, AND MFA HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT DIRECTOR COMING TO 
THE REGION 
 
REF: AMMAN 5490 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
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Baghdad, Basra and Points In Between 
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1. (C) On October 2, a source in the Japanese Embassy's Iraq 
Division provided A/Polcouns a readout of his recently 
completed three week visit to Iraq.  The source had been in 
Iraq from September 7 to 27 and had traveled from Baghdad to 
Basra and back by car September 14-16.  Overall, he said that 
the atmosphere throughout the country was "remarkably 
normal."  He didn't perceive any noticeable difference in 
Baghdad from his last visit in June.  The security presence 
in the city was unchanged from earlier in the summer 
(offering a different impression from that of USINT Chief 
Bernacki (ref)) and Baghdad's hotels were full of foreign 
visitors (including a Japanese musical troupe -- a first, he 
noted), there for the Babylon festival. 
 
2. (C) On his trip to the south, he said he was surprised by 
the relatively good condition and bustle of Basra.  He had 
expected to see a "devastated city."  Instead, he found a 
city "full of street traffic and souks quite full of goods." 
He saw no obvious military presence in the city during the 
day he was there.  These impressions were very different, he 
noted, from those he had of a trip to Mosul earlier in the 
year where he had found streetlife comparatively quiet and 
the military/security presence much stronger. 
 
3. (C) The 9/14-9/16 trip south took him through Karbala and 
Najaf enroute to Basra and via Misan and Kut on the way back. 
 Karbala and Najaf, like Basra, were full of people -- both 
Iraqis and Iranian pilgrims.  All the shops were open even 
though the day they passed through both cities was a Friday. 
The one area where he said he encountered an overt military 
presence was "in the middle of Misan province" where he saw 
quite a number of soldiers. 
 
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Upcoming Regional Visit of Japanese MFA Humanitarian Chief 
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4. (C) On the issue of preparations for any possible U.S. 
military action against Iraq, he told A/Polcouns that Tokyo 
is dispatching a Mr. Kawakami, Director of the International 
Humanitarian Support Division of the Japanese MFA, to the 
region to assess potential needs and how Japan could help 
address them.  Kawakami will arrive in Jordan from Syria on 
October 12 and then depart to Israel on October 14.  While in 
Amman he intends to meet with officials from the MFA, the 
Ministry of Interior, and possibly the GID.  Kawakami will be 
in Geneva October 7-8 to discuss Tokyo's humanitarian 
strategy in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia with 
Japanese diplomats from posts in those regions, and with 
Geneva-based humanitarian agencies. 
GNEHM