VZCZCXRO9462
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2435 2040635
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230635Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2383
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002435 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON IZ
SUBJECT: PRT TIKRIT:  DE-BAATHIFICATION CONTINUES TO PLAGUE 
SALAH AD DIN 
 
¶1. (U) This is a PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din cable. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Salah ad Din's continued receipt of de- 
Baathification orders to remove individuals with ties to 
the former regime from their government positions, many of 
which it has chosen to ignore, is eroding the central GOI's 
influence in the province and causing many of SaD Sunnis to 
question if the GOI wants to incorporate former members of 
the Baath Party in Iraq's new democracy.  On July 9, 11 
more Tikrit professors who were low-level Baath Party 
members received debaathification orders.  The University 
removed them from their positions, though maintains them as 
lecturers due to a lack of qualified replacements. 
Additionally, the Higher National De-Baathification 
Commission continues to attempt to remove key provincial 
government officials, many of whom are participating in the 
democratic process and working to reconstruct the province. 
Thus far, the Governor has ignored these orders, 
recognizing the political sensitivities and potentially 
disastrous effects.  While the effects of de-Baathification 
are most obvious with the unemployment it has caused 
throughout the province, most SaD Sunnis see it as a 
psychological symbol of what they perceive to be a Shia- 
dominated government's rejection of their participation in 
the political process.  In the eyes of SaD Sunnis, 
political reconciliation hangs almost exclusively on the 
reformation of the de-Baathification regulations.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------------------- 
11 More Professors De-Baathified 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On July 9, 11 more Tikrit University professors 
who were low-level Baath Party members received 
debaathification orders.  The University immediately 
removed them from their positions, as many of them were 
heads of departments, but has continued employing them as 
lecturers due to a lack of qualified replacements. 
Counting those recently issued de-Baathification orders, 28 
of the university's professors now have been removed from 
their positions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Since late 2006, the Higher National De- 
Baathification Commision (HNDBC) has had a reactive method 
of sending de-Baathification orders.  For instance, the 
Commission only investigates an individual's former 
Baathist ties after it receives a tip or after it 
"remembers" an individual may have been a Baathist.  SaD 
residents have felt this technique makes the process uneven 
and opaque.  Several high-level SaD government officials, 
including the Deputy Governor and the Assistant Governor 
for Technical Affairs, received de-Baathification orders 
during this time.  The Governor chose not to enact them for 
fear of the effect on the province's reconstruction 
efforts. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The provincial office of the HNDBC reports that 
over 200 teachers, 86 healthcare professionals, 4 judges, 
330 police officers, and hundreds of other local government 
technocrats are still among those who have fully submitted 
their files to be re-hired to their positions.  To date, 
the province has not received a response on most of those 
cases.  (NOTE: Approximately 300 teachers who received de- 
Ba'athification orders were re-hired in January.  However, 
the DG of Education says that he is not sure why some were 
re-hired and others were not.  He claims that 200 more 
qualify to be re-hired.  END NOTE.) 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In the eyes of SaD Sunnis, political 
reconciliation hangs almost exclusively on the reformation 
of the HNDBC and its regulations.  While de-Baathification 
is most tangible for the unemployment it has caused in the 
province, most SaD Sunnis see it as a psychological symbol 
of what they perceive to be a Shia-dominated government's 
rejection of their participation in the political process. 
Salah ad Din's continued receipt of de-baathification 
orders, many of which it has chosen to ignore, is eroding 
the central GOI's influence in the province and causing 
many of SaD Sunnis to question if the GOI wants to 
incorporate former members of the Baath Party in Iraq's new 
democracy. END COMMENT. 
 
¶7. (U) For additional reporting from PRT Tikrit, Salah ad 
Din, please see our SIPRNET Reporting Blog: 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Tikrit. 
CROCKER