VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGB #0650/01 0711347
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121347Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2127

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 000650 
 
SIPDIS 
ECA FOR D IVES; NEA/PPD FOR P BERGSTRESSER AND P AGNEW 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SCUL SOCI PGOV OEXC OIIP IZ
SUBJECT: Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!  U Kansas Professor Wows Kurdistan 
Region 
 
REFTEL:  08 Baghdad 3545 
 
(U) This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) reporting 
cable. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) During a jam-packed visit to the Kurdistan Region, 
University of Kansas Political Science Department Chairman Burdett 
Loomis spoke to students and faculty at major universities in Dohuk 
and Erbil on the transition to the new Obama administration and the 
effects it will have on domestic and foreign policy.  Professor 
Loomis participated in a lively discussion with the KNA Media and 
Public Relations Committee and met with the Dohuk Governor and KRG 
Minister of Higher Education.  He blogged about his experience 
throughout his trip: http://web.ku.edu/~iraqtrip/cgi-bin/. 
As was the case for University of Massachusetts Professor Mike 
Hannahan last fall (reftel), RRT Erbil's local university partners 
took the lead in handling the logistics for Professor Loomis.  He 
traveled to Erbil via Austrian Airlines and was treated by his host 
universities like any other foreign visitor.  In his out-briefing 
with RRT PD officers, Professor Loomis stressed that he was 
completely comfortable with the universities taking the lead and 
considered the Kurdistan Region to be on par with Argentina and 
Malaysia in terms of security.  He was also very enthusiastic about 
the possibilities for further exchanges and linkages, particularly 
with Hawler Medical University and Duhok University.  End Summary. 
 
Context 
------- 
 
¶2.  (U) With the strong support of Embassy Baghdad's Public Affairs 
Section, RRT Erbil's Public Diplomacy Section brought University of 
Kansas Professor Burdett (Bird) Loomis to the Kurdistan Region 
February 17-27 for a series of lectures at major universities and 
other venues in Duhok and Erbil provinces.  Loomis, the chairman of 
the Political Science Department at the University of Kansas, is an 
expert on American politics and focused his talks on the transition 
to the new Obama administration. 
 
The Visit:  Lectures at Duhok University. 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Professor Loomis' first stop was Duhok University, which 
routinely hosts visiting faculty members from European universities 
and whose leadership has frequently asked for USG support in 
bringing U.S. academics to the school.  Loomis gave a series of 
lectures over the course of four days to students, faculty members, 
college deans, and KDP officials.  He also met with the Duhok 
Governor and was interviewed by the local media. 
 
...and in Erbil 
--------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Professor Loomis spent the second half of his visit in 
Erbil, where he was hosted by the Kurdistan Regional Government's 
Ministry of Higher Education and Hawler Medical University.  Loomis 
gave lectures on the transition to the new Obama administration and 
its likely impact on both American domestic and foreign policy to 
students and faculty of Salahaddin University's College of Law and 
Political Science and at Hawler Medical University, as well as a 
private lecture for members of the Kurdistan National Assembly's 
Media and Public Relations Committee.  Loomis spent a considerable 
amount of time with the Dean of the Kurdistan Medical Research 
Center and the President of Hawler Medical University discussing how 
to establish partnerships with the University of Kansas. 
 
¶5.  (U) During his stay in Erbil, Professor Loomis also met with KRG 
Minister of Higher Education (MoHE) Dr. Idris Salih.  Salih 
accompanied Loomis to Salahaddin University, where he delivered a 
second, encore lecture to approximately 250 students and faculty 
members from the Colleges of Media, History, and English Language. 
Qmembers from the Colleges of Media, History, and English Language. 
The Minister also attended two lunches for Professor Loomis during 
his stay: one hosted by the RRT and one hosted by the MoHE.  The 
Minister, sporting a large Jayhawk lapel pin, expressed his thanks 
more than once to the RRT and Embassy Baghdad for providing the 
opportunity for American academics to visit the Kurdistan Region. 
 
Logistics Note 
-------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) As was the case for University of Massachusetts Professor 
Mike Hannahan last fall (reftel), our university partners took the 
lead in handling the logistics for Professor Loomis.  The only 
glitch in his schedule was caused, ironically, by Austrian Airlines, 
which bumped him from his initial flight from Vienna to Erbil, 
leading to the cancellation of the Sulaimaniyah portion of his 
visit.  He stayed at hotels in Duhok and Erbil and his local 
transportation and security arrangements were handled entirely by 
the host institutions.  In his out-briefing with RRT PD officers 
before his departure, Professor Loomis stressed that he was 
 
completely comfortable with the universities taking the lead, noting 
that he felt the Kurdistan Region was far safer than, for example, 
Mexico and that he considered it to be on par with Argentina and 
Malaysia in terms of public security. 
 
Comment:  Bring More Professors for Longer Periods of Time 
----------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Professor Loomis' host institutions and the KRG's Ministry 
of Higher Education consistently request more visiting professors 
and strongly urge the USG to allow American scholars to come to the 
Region under the auspices of the Fulbright Program.  Our various 
interlocutors all would prefer that U.S. academics stay on campus 
for longer periods of time, ideally one semester or even an academic 
year to aid in the capacity-building and curriculum reform at their 
universities.  Given the success of Professor Loomis' visit, which 
again proved that the Kurdistan Region's universities are capable of 
hosting American academics with minimal USG involvement, we would 
ask that ECA give all due consideration to the universities' 
requests. 
 
BUTENIS