US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4213

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004213 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PTER, IZ 
SUBJECT: ANBAR: NEW RAMADI CITY COUNCIL CONFRONTS FOUL 
WATER AND FIGHTING THE INSURGENCY 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT FORD FOR REASONS 
1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (C) Summary.  A technocrat-dominated, fledgling Ramadi 
City Council prioritized its responsibilities with regard to 
oversight of essential services to the violent and battered 
city.  They praised the performance of the local Ministry of 
Electricity employees and noted their speed in restoring 
service after insurgent attacks.  Local MNF-I commander 
responded to specific complaints regarding checkpoint 
procedures and establishing security in a particularly 
dangerous area of Ramadi; he appealed to the city's 
representatives to stem the violence by reporting the 
activities of the terrorists. Convincing Anbaris to overcome 
their fear or unwillingness to identify insurgents will 
require persuasive, sustained dialogue.  Framing the message 
is as important as its content.  End Comment. 
 
2. (C) Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi, has limped along 
for the better part of a year without a functioning City 
Council.  On September 5, a body of 21 was reconstituted by 
nominating members from the professional classes and tribal 
representatives.  PolOff observed the October 9 meeting, 
hastily called two hours ahead of time for security reasons. 
18 members participated in an impressively organized 
discussion of improving municipal services and a question and 
answer session with the local MNF-I commander.  City Council 
Chairman, Haji Yahya Adbul Jaleel, a lawyer, maintained order 
and adhered to a two page agenda printed and circulated for 
the membership.  The Chair announced the formation of council 
committees to oversee Education, Religion, Agriculture, 
Health, Public (or Essential) Services and Financial sectors. 
 Both the chair and the deputy chairman demonstrated an 
understanding of the inherent constraints in the authority of 
the council and outlined its role as mainly one of oversight 
and to a lesser extent to the airing of grievances of their 
constituents.  After the meeting, the chairman noted to civil 
affairs officers the council,s intention to force the 
resignation of Ramadi,s largely absent and ineffective mayor 
and advertise the position. 
 
3. (C) The Chairman praised the labors of the Director 
General for Electricity, citing the provision of service as 
the highest of all essential services.  He observed that even 
if the insurgents destroyed elements of the network, DG was 
able to effect repairs the next day.  He listed the shortages 
in the distribution of fuel (especially diesel and propane) 
and severe challenges in the public sewer system as the 
highest priorities for the council.  The Chair charged that 
officials entrusted with the distribution of fuels were 
diverting two thirds or more to black market.  Efforts to 
maintain oversight of the delivery and subsequent 
distribution of supplies from Baghdad failed, Haji Yahya 
noted, because the official monitors were subject to 
'humiliation' and offers of bribes.  He concluded the council 
was ready to assist the ministry in assuring fuels reached 
their intended destination. 
 
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Swamp Water: Council,s Technocrats Stun Members With 
Experiment 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
4. (C) One council member asked MNF-I civil affairs officer 
for water from his camelback.  The official took another 
glass filled with city water and ran an electrical charge 
through both samples.  Within minutes the city water had 
formed a thick, clumpy layer of black detritus.  The MNF-I 
water remained clear.  The council members were duly 
impressed by the abysmal quality of their 'potable' water 
supply.  (Note.  While the council did not outline next steps 
to address the need, several water purification projects are 
before the Provincial Reconstruction and Development Council. 
 We will continue to press local officials to pursue their 
priorites through the PRDC process. End Note.)  The Deputy 
Chairman added that the sewage situation in Ramadi needed to 
be addressed urgently before the winter rainy season. 
 
5. (C) A young council member Khalid Rajaab raised the issue 
of access to the Agricultural College and Girls, College, 
located near the violence prone Al Malaab district.  The 
dislocation of the Agricultural College campus (MNF-I 
occupies its original facility) is a perennial complaint, yet 
the school has managed to continue classes despite borrowed 
classrooms.  Khalid alleged that enrollment (approximately 
1200 students) had begun to drop off given the challenge for 
students in transiting MNF-I and ISF checkpoints to attend 
classes.  He also charged that many female students were no 
longer attending the nearby Girls College, because of the 
humiliating treatment they faced at a checkpoint manned by 
the ISF.  The council member, self-identified as a teacher 
(with a law degree) at the Agricultural College, observed he 
waited three hours to pass through the checkpoint to reach 
his classroom. 
-------------------------------- 
Only You Can Stop the Insurgency 
-------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) The local MNF-I commander paying a courtesy call to 
the council, responded to questions about the continued 
presence of the MNF-I on the Agricultural College campus and 
appealed for the council members support in suppressing the 
insurgency.  Circulating photos of a recently discovered 
massive cache of weapons on an elementary school property, 
the commander urged the people,s representatives to utilize 
the 'TIP' line to report insurgency activity.  The members, 
reaction was telling.  After listening impassively, an 
elderly sheikh was the first to respond.  He shirked the 
appeal, claiming, "if I see an insurgent, I don't tell you, I 
take care of it myself", then quickly added his ability to do 
so was impaired by the seizure of his tribe,s weapons by the 
MNF-I.  In an even tenser exchange, the imam of the Saddam 
Mosque demanded a loosening of security around his place of 
worship.  (Comment:  The Saddam mosque is the frequent site 
of insurgent activity.  End Comment.)  In response to the 
MNF-I commander's query about why local residents suddenly 
disappeared from the streets immediately before an attack 
that killed fellow Iraqi citizens (members of the ISF), the 
imam protested, "I would love to help secure the area, if I 
only could".  The imam went on to recommend the MNF-I conduct 
bihourly patrols of the area vice stringent checkpoint 
procedures. 
 
7. (C) Comment.  Overall the city council appears off to a 
successful start.  The body appears dominated by an 
academic/technocratic class, tempered by four or five 
traditional tribal sheikhs; two females, who joined the 
meeting late were both teachers at local schools.  (PolOff 
accompanied the two women back to the Civil Affairs badging 
office, a delay in securing the keys to a pedestrian gate 
left the two council members, an armed military officer, 
PolOff and civilian translator exposed on the main street for 
ten minutes.  The women concealed their trepidation with 
difficulty, as close proximity to Americans is dangerous for 
Anbari citizens.  Nonetheless they stayed with Poloff and the 
certainty of a precarious return home.)  Our efforts to 
convince Anbaris of their role and ultimate responsibility to 
suppress the insurgency are more than an uphill battle.  The 
council members, especially the tribesman, appeared to 
defiantly reject their de facto support for violence. 
According to the governor, the key task is to link tightly in 
the public,s mind their well-being with the eradication of 
the powerful forces terrorizing them.  End Comment. 
Khalilzad