US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4175

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004175 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINR, PINS, PNAT, PREL, I, National Assembly, Security 
SUBJECT: SHEIKH HAMMOUDI TELLS CODEL SHAYS WHEN U.S. CAN 
WITHDRAW TROOPS 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT FORD FOR REASONS 
1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  On October 9, TNA Constitution Committee 
Chair and senior Shia Islamist politician Sheikh Humam 
Hammoudi told Representatives Christopher Shays (R, CT), 
Michael McNulty (D, NY), Earl Pomeroy (D, ND), Michael 
Campuano (D, MA), Ron Kind (D, WI), and Eni Faleomavaega 
(D, American Samoa) the U.S. should not withdraw its troops 
from Iraq until the Iraq Police (IP) and Security Forces 
(ISF) are capable of securing Iraq on their own.  Hammoudi 
said that the rights of women would be guaranteed by the 
draft constitution, and warned that some of Iraq's 
neighbors do not want Iraq to succeed in its democratic 
experiment.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) Sheikh Hammoudi told CODEL Shays that Iraqis want 
the U.S. military to withdraw from Iraq as quickly as 
possible, but not before Iraq is secure.  He claimed that 
training given to IP and ISF has been weak and inadequate; 
they are not yet ready to take over all security duties in 
Iraq.  When they are ready, Hammoudi said, Coalition Forces 
could simply support IP and ISF as needed, with an eye to 
withdrawing completely soon thereafter. 
 
3. (C)  Hammoudi insisted that the draft constitution would 
guarantee women's rights.  On the matter of personal status 
law, he said that just as in Lebanon, when an Iraqi couple 
marries, they retain the right to decide whether to do so 
according to civil or religious law.  This decision, 
Hammoudi said, would determine how any marital disputes, 
including divorce, are adjudicated. 
 
4. (C) Hammoudi told CODEL Shays that Iraq is now free to 
make decisions regarding its future.  Issues such as 
whether Iraq will have a strong ruler or decentralized 
government will eventually be determined.  He warned, 
however, of meddling by Iraq's neighbors, noting that 
"forces in Iraq's environs" want to prevent a stable and 
peaceful Iraq from developing.  (Comment:  Hammoudi in the 
past has evidenced deep suspicion of Arab states' 
intervening in Iraqi affairs.  End Comment.) 
Khalilzad