VZCZCXRO8144
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3555/01 3151459
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101459Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0300
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SCUL IZ
SUBJECT: KARADA AND COUNCIL BLUFFS - SISTER CITIES 
 
BAGHDAD 00003555  001.6 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  A new sister-city partnership between Council 
Bluffs, Iowa and the Karada district of Baghdad promises to 
be a foundation for cooperation between the two cities. 
Leaders from Council Bluffs and the Karada District Council, 
joined up by videoconference on October 28, committed 
themselves to cooperation in fields as diverse as education, 
health, business, and municipal governance.  Baghdad EPRT-2 
and Baghdad PRT will build on this first step through a 
series of programs designed to take advantage of resources in 
the Council Bluffs region and to build stronger 
people-to-people relations between the two cities.  End 
summary. 
¶2. The leaders of Baghdad,s Karada district and of Council 
Bluffs, Iowa launched a sister-city partnership on October 28 
that both sides (and we) intend to be the foundation for 
future cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the 
two cities.  In a virtual signing ceremony via digital 
video-conference, the Karada district council, chaired by Dr. 
Mohammed al-Rubeiy, and the Council Bluffs city council, led 
by Mayor Thomas Hanafan, introduced themselves and briefly 
discussed some of the differences in local governance between 
the two entities.  Chairman Mohammed expressed his 
appreciation and enthusiasm for the agreement, saying Karada 
stood to benefit greatly from working with Council Bluffs. 
Mayor Hanafan, who was joined by members of the 
well-established Council Bluffs Sister City organization, 
said Council Bluffs' citizens understood the importance of 
reaching out to Iraqis and affirmed his city,s commitment to 
build a substantive relationship that would benefit residents 
of both cities.  Baghdad EPRT-2 Team Leader Tribble expressed 
appreciation to the Council Bluffs community leaders 
involved, outlined some of the activities that the 
partnership would make possible, and urged leaders on both 
sides to make of it something substantive and useful to 
citizens on both sides.  At the end of the 90-minute 
discussion, Chairman Mohammed and Mayor Hanafan signed 
matching English and Arabic-language copies of a &Friendship 
Agreement8 (full text below).  Local Iowa press covered the 
event (several Iraqi media representatives were invited but 
did not attend).  Embassy Baghdad Public Affairs issued a 
press release about the event, resulting in some interest in 
follow up stories stories by Iraq-based media. 
¶3.  The launch of the Karada-Council Bluffs partnership is a 
first step in what we hope will become a vibrant dialogue 
between the two cities.  Baghdad EPRT-2 is organizing a 
privately-funded visit to Council Bluffs by a cross-section 
of Karada community leaders: district council, municipality, 
business, higher education, and NGOs.  The idea is to bring 
them to Iowa in the spring of 2009 for a series of meetings 
corresponding to their different interests.  District council 
leaders will focus on municipal government and citizen 
participation, for example, while Karada business leaders 
will meet with Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to 
learn how to organize the private sector for advocacy. 
Representatives of the University of Baghdad and 2-3 other 
educational institutes in Karada will spend time at the 
College of St. Mary,s in Elk Horn, Iowa, while the head of 
the Baghdad Dental School will sit down with professors at 
Creighton University.  These plans may change, of course, but 
our goal is to provide an opportunity for leaders in specific 
sectors to build strong people-to-people relationships that 
will lead to more concrete cooperation once the Iraqis return 
home.  To help ensure that this happens, we are looking to 
use QRF funds to help some of these institutions acquire 
video-conferencing capabilities, and we will use the 
facilities at Baghdad PRT to hold preparatory discussions in 
the months leading up to the trip. 
¶4. Primary credit for this initiative goes to LTC Rick Burns, 
a civil affairs officer in the 4th BCT, 10th Mountain 
Division, the brigade in which Baghdad EPRT-2 is embedded. 
LTC Burns, a resident of Iowa, worked hard over several 
months to put the partnership together, building support back 
home through his personal connections and working closely 
with EPRT-2 to line up projects as follow-up.  He is 
returning home to Iowa in November and we will continue to 
work with him to put "meat on the bones" of the partnership. 
¶5.  The Karada-Council Bluffs partnership was established 
under the umbrella of the formal Sister City relationship set 
up in 2004 between Baghdad Province and the Denver Regional 
Council of Governments (DRCOG).  The Baghdad-Denver 
connection has seen a series of exchanges since then (see 
http://www.drcog.org/).  Karada Chairman Mohammed and other 
Baghdad leaders visited Denver in April 2005 in one such 
program.  In planning for the spring 2009 trip, we are also 
working with DRCOG to put together a program for the Karada 
delegation in Denver that would immediately follow the Iowa 
stay. 
¶6.  Comment:  The Karada-Council Bluffs partnership is an 
excellent example of civil-military cooperation on the U.S. 
side ) in this case, EPRT working closely with Brigade Civil 
Affairs units.  More importantly, it offers a framework for 
building something that will last after the U.S. 
 
BAGHDAD 00003555  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
civil/military presence is no longer so visible and active at 
the local level.  Our message to Karada,s leaders is that 
they need to be active in taking advantage of the resources 
being offered to them.  We will set them up for success 
through initial steps and the provision of some basic 
infrastructure (e.g. video-conferencing open for use by 
Karada organizations at the Karada district council building 
and at one or more educational institutions).  The substance 
of the partnership, however, will need to be developed by 
them and by the citizens and leaders of Council Bluffs.  End 
comment. 
¶7.  Full text of Karada-Council Bluffs agreement: 
AGREEMENT OF FRIENDSHIP 
Whereas, to the people of Karadah, Baghdad, Iraq, the City of 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, agrees to promote and carry out 
projects of interest to help the people of Karadah establish 
their own governing bodies, learning better ideas of 
progressing their city and enabling them to become more 
proficient in medical and dental programs to the benefit of 
their citizens; and 
Whereas, these ideas are based on mutual benefit and equality 
between the two parties. 
Now, therefore, this Agreement should form a relationship of 
mutual trust between the two entities. 
In recognition of the need to diminish differences between 
people of all lands, we do sign this Agreement of Friendship. 
The foregoing instrument is acknowledged before us, on behalf 
of our two communities on this 28th day of October, 2008, in 
the City of Council Bluffs, Iowa by Thomas P. Hanafan, Mayor 
(U.S. City) and Dr. Mohammed al-Rubeiy for the City of 
Karadah, Baghdad, Iraq. 
¶8. Text of Council Bluffs resolution: 
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT OF 
FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, AND THE 
PROVINCE OF KARADAH, BAGHDAD, IRAQ. 
WHEREAS,    the cities of Council Bluffs and Karadah wish to 
enter into an agreement to foster goodwill between the two 
cities; and 
WHEREAS,    it is in the best interest of the City of Council 
Bluffs to enter into an Agreement of Friendship with this 
city in Iraq. 
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE 
CITY OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA 
That the Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to sign the 
Agreement of  Friendship between Council Bluffs and Karadah, 
Baghdad, Iraq. 
End text. 
 
CROCKER