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### Viewing cable 08BAGHDAD293, BLUEBLOOD SHIA CLERIC COMMENTS ON "BACKWARD"

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08BAGHDAD293 | 2008-01-31 15:03 | 2010-12-05 12:12 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Baghdad

`

    VZCZCXRO8340
    OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
    DE RUEHGB #0293/01 0311555
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH ZDK
    O 311555Z JAN 08
    FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5519
    INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000293

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2023
    TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ
    SUBJECT: BLUEBLOOD SHIA CLERIC COMMENTS ON "BACKWARD"
    SADRISTS AND SISTANI'S FEARS AND FRUSTRATIONS

    REF: 08 JAN 08 BAGHDAD O/I (SELF-PROCLAIMED SISTANI
    EMISSARIES)

    BAGHDAD 00000293 001.2 OF 002

    Classified By: Political Counselor Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and
    (d).

    ¶1. (C) Summary: Scion of a prominent Najafi clerical family
    and related to both Grand Ayatollah Sistani and Moqtada
    al-Sadr, Emad Klanter told us January 30 that bumbling Iraqi
    politicians fail to make progress of any sort but actively
    encourage a public perception of "American Occupation"
    through statements to vernacular media. He predicted Sadr
    would extend his JAM militia freeze order beyond February,
    and advised that we can change the "backward" Sadrists and
    contain their movement but only if we adopt a more balanced
    approach to their arch-enemy ISCI. Klanter pleaded for USG
    pressure on the GOI and political blocs to hold early
    provincial elections under an "open list" system, adding that
    no one but the Sadrists and Sistani are eager for elections.
    He claimed that his maternal uncle Sistani is alarmed by the
    degree of Iranian penetration in Iraq and is frustrated by
    his lack of indirect contact with the USG. Klanter warned
    that only Sistani and the Marja'iyyah can stand up to Iran
    and Shia extremism, adding that if the USG does not
    strengthen Sistani, "Iran will devour Iraq." End Summary.

    "Our Brains Are In Our Eyes"
    ----------------------------

    ¶2. (C) Son of a respected Najafi Ayatollah, nephew to Grand
    Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, related by marriage to Muqtada
    al-Sadr, and bearing a faint resemblance to the actor Robert
    De Niro, Klanter is a direct descendant of the Prophet
    Muhammad but was not wearing the traditional Shia Sayyid's
    garb of black turban and cloak during our meeting at the IZ
    villa of Saad Jabr, a Saddam-era exile opposition financier
    and son of Iraq's first Shia Prime Minister. Claiming he had
    recently met with Prime Minister Maliki, Klanter bemoaned the
    ineffectuality of Iraq's political leaders and warned that
    the gap between these leaders and the Iraqi people is growing
    wider by the day. He stated that while Maliki might be able
    to entice Iraqiyyah and Tawafuq to rejoin his government,
    neither ISCI nor the Kurds want anything beyond superficial
    changes to the status quo. When we informed him that USG
    patience is wearing thin with the pace of Iraqi political
    process, Klanter appeared incredulous that the U.S. would
    even consider scaling-down in Iraq "because you destroyed a
    regime and now you bear the responsibility to build up a
    replacement. If you leave there is a 100 percent certainty
    of civil war, which might happen anyway even if you don't
    leave." Swinging his arms into an abbreviated "Gator Chomp"
    type of gesture, he said that if the U.S, leaves "Iran will
    swallow us whole."

    ¶3. (C) Small wonder that the Iraqi people feel as though they
    are living under "American Occupation," Klanter maintained,
    because Iraqi politicians - Shia, Sunni, and Kurds alike -
    routinely use terms like "occupation" and "occupiers" when
    referring to the USG presence in Iraq during interviews with
    local media. The forty-something Shia cleric, who told us he
    teaches religious classes in Najaf's traditional Shia
    seminary (Hawzah) and also operates a media-oriented NGO,
    defied us to name one Iraqi politician who has ever referred
    to Americans as "friends" in local or Pan-Arab media. When
    Iraqi politicians talk to Sistani and the Marja'iyyah, he
    continued, "they blame you for all of Iraq's problems, even
    their own failure to deliver public services." He chided the
    USG for dealing exclusively with Iraq's political class and
    ignoring contact with the Iraqi people. Employing an Iraqi
    proverb that says "our brains are in our eyes", Klanter
    exclaimed that Iraqis find it almost impossible to believe
    news reports that the USG has spent billions of dollars in
    Iraq "since we don't see any buildings or hospitals or
    structures that you have built here." He chuckled softly
    when we replied that the important thing is for the Iraqi
    people to see the GOI constructing buildings and other
    structures for their benefit.

    Sadrist Insights and Elections
    ------------------------------

    ¶3. (C) Klanter, whose two brothers are reportedly married to
    sisters of Moqtada al-Sadr and who claims to maintain good
    relations with many senior Sadrists, said that Sadr will most
    likely extend the freeze on his Jaysh al-Mehdi militia beyond
    its scheduled expiration at the end of February.
    Characterizing the education level and mentality of most
    Sadrists as "backward, almost like they are from a cave,"
    Klanter told us the USG can contain such people and change
    their thinking by "sending them to the U.S. and exposing them
    to new ideas." In reply to our rejoinder that we seek
    cordial relations with Sadrists who wish to participate

    BAGHDAD 00000293 002 OF 002

    peacefully in Iraq's democratic future, Klanter replied that
    "they hear you say this but then they look at your unbalanced
    relationship with ISCI and they don't believe your words."
    Klanter added gratuitously that, in his opinion, ISCI is more
    dangerous than the Sadrists because it is fronting for Iran.
    Conceding that some part of Sadr's movement is allied with
    Iran, he said Moqtada remains popular because "even though he
    is in Iran, we hear that he is constantly quarreling with the
    Iranians." Jabr chimed in that the USG has unwittingly
    driven Sadr into Tehran's arms.

    ¶4. (C) Klanter pleaded for USG pressure on the GOI and
    political blocs to hold early provincial elections: such
    pressure will be needed, he claimed, since no one but the
    Sadrists and Grand Ayatollah Sistani are eager for elections.
    Characterizing the 2005 "closed list" electoral system as a
    failure, Klanter also urged us to push for an "open list"
    system. He said the Sadrists can live with either an open or
    closed list system "because they know they have a very loyal
    base of popular support and they realize they will not be
    able to attract other voters beyond that base." "Even though
    I am a man of religion," Klanter asserted, "I don't support
    religious political parties because they have been shown to
    be a complete failure in Iraq and in Iran."

    Frustrated Sistani Wants More Indirect USG Contact
    --------------------------------------------- -----

    ¶5. (C) Repeating many of the points he made during a January
    8 meeting and which he claimed were conveyed to him directly
    by Sistani (Ref A), Klanter said Sistani's greatest fear is
    the degree of Iranian penetration in Iraq. He claimed that
    Sistani is in possession of detailed Iranian plans to
    dominate Iraq's political, economic, and religious
    institutions. Klanter added that Sistani wants to know what
    the USG is planning to do about this (we note that we have
    heard unsubstantiated reports that Klanter may have ties to
    Iranian intelligence and is held at something like arm's
    length by his maternal uncle Sistani). He said Sistani is
    now more open to indirect contact with the USG than ever
    before and is frustrated that previous emissaries were not
    reliable: we pointed out to Klanter that Fouad Ajami and
    Ahmad Chalabi, two claimed "emissaries" who Klanter cited by
    name, are not carrying messages for the USG. He said
    Sistani's failure to hear from the Americans is leading the
    Grand Ayatollah to think that there might actually be some
    merit to a circulating Iraqi public conspiracy theory that
    the USG and Tehran have done a deal over Iraq. Klanter ended
    the meeting by warning that only Sistani and the Marja'iyyah
    can stand up to Iran and Shia extremism, adding that if the
    USG does not support Sistani, "Iran will devour Iraq."

    BUTENIS

`