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PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #2247/01 2180533
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060533Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0663
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0287

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 002247 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KISL PREL PTER EAID AF EG
SUBJECT: ULEMA COUNCIL: US MUST SUPPORT WHOMEVER IS LEGALLY 
ELECTED 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: During their July 25 meeting, Council of 
Religious Scholars (Ulema Council) President Mawlawi 
Fazulhadi Shinwari told Ambassador Holbrooke Afghan Muslims 
had been very pleased with President Obama's Cairo speech, 
but added that many doubted there would be action behind the 
President,s words.  Shinwari sought assurances from SRAP 
Holbrooke the United States was not anti-Pashtun, and the 
United States would support Afghan anti-corruption efforts. 
He urged the United States to support all who were elected in 
a legal manner in the upcoming Presidential and Provincial 
Council elections, saying such support would help avoid 
future atrocities.  Ambassador Holbrooke Holbrooke assured 
the gathered Ulema of the United States, intentions to 
assist all Afghans, including the Pashtun, in developing 
their country, and in the US' continued support for the 
elections process, anti-corruption efforts, and eventual 
Afghan-led reconciliation. 
 
Obama Cairo Speech Very Well-Received, But Doubts Remain 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶2.  Mawlawi Shinwari told Ambassador Holbrooke that Afghan 
Muslims had been very pleased with President Obama's Cairo 
speech.  Many still had doubts, however, that action would 
back up the President,s words.  Ambassador Holbrooke assured 
Shinwari the President meant every word of what he had said 
in Cairo, and that the SRAP's presence in Afghanistan was 
proof of that renewed commitment. 
 
U.S. Not Anti-Pashtun and Supports Elections 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Mawlawi Shinwari said the Pashtuns of Afghanistan were 
the majority population in the country, and added that many 
believed the United States was against them because Americans 
believed all Pashtuns were Taliban.  Ambassador Holbrooke 
replied the United States was absolutely not opposed to the 
Pashtun people, and those who said otherwise were spreading 
disinformation and trying to cause a war between U.S. forces 
and the Pashtuns.  This remark was widely covered in the 
press.  He told Shinwari the United States was committed to 
helping the Pashtuns fight their real enemy, the Taliban - 
that was why he was in Afghanistan, and at the Ulema Council. 
 
 
¶4.  Shinwari said Afghans were grateful for U.S. assistance, 
but needed more help to solve their problems.  He noted the 
security situation in Afghanistan was declining as the 
Taliban sought to destabilize the nation before elections. 
 
¶5.  To counter Taliban violence, Shinwari said the United 
States should support the victor of the upcoming elections. 
Ambassador Holbrooke agreed with Shinwari about the 
importance of elections, noting U.S. support (money, troops, 
elections team, etc.), and assuring Shinwari the elections 
would take place on schedule. 
 
U.S. Policy In Afghanistan Continues To Be Reviewed 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6.  Ambassador Holbrooke said the United States was 
continuing to review its policies and refocus support in four 
key areas: 1) Agricultural Development; 2) Anti-Narcotics 
efforts; 3) Reducing Civilian Casualties; and 4) Developing 
the Afghan National Police (ANP).  He told Shinwari the 
United States had decided to remove poppy eradication from 
its anti-narcotics program, and would instead focus on 
interdiction and arresting drug traffickers.  Shinwari 
pointed out that traffickers outside Afghanistan must be 
arrested to cut off support to the Taliban.  Turning to 
civilian casualties, Ambassador Holbrooke said LTG McChrystal 
had changed the military's rules of engagement, and sharply 
reduced civilian casualties in the past months, despite the 
increased operations tempo in Kandahar and Helmand.  Shinwari 
noted that while he had noticed the decrease in civilian 
casualties, innocent people were still dying, and asked 
Ambassador Holbrooke to do his best to reduce further those 
casualties.  Mr. Mohammad Kassim Halimi said 16 members of 
his local community had recently been lost to coalition 
forces fire in an incident in Logar province.  (Note:  Post 
is investigating.) 
 
 
¶7.  Ambassador Holbrooke told Shinwari Secretary of State 
Clinton had laid out in a speech the previous week a revised 
U.S. policy on reconciliation.  People who had fought for the 
Taliban should be invited back into society, so long as they 
rejected al Qaeda, laid down their weapons, and accepted the 
principles of the Afghan constitution.  He added the U.S. 
government recognized the vast majority of Taliban were poor, 
uneducated, and had been misled into supporting the Taliban, 
 
KABUL 00002247  002 OF 003 
 
 
and needed to be given options for improving their lives. 
Shinwari said an invitation to people who had been misled to 
rejoin Afghan society might be effective, since the Taliban 
were not a "pure" indigenous enemy, but instead took orders 
from outside the country. 
 
Afghans To Take Lead On Reconciliation After Elections 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶8.  Mr. Halimi, the chief of the administrative section of 
the Afghan Supreme Court, said he and the other members of 
the council hoped the United States would permit the next 
president to take the lead on reconciliation.  He hoped there 
would not be a repeat of 2002 when President Karzai tried to 
initiate a reconciliation process, but was forced to end the 
program when then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld blocked the 
process.  Ambassador Holbrooke said the U.S. completely 
agreed reconciliation should be Afghan-led, and international 
community supported.  He said enough attention had not been 
paid to the matter due to the elections, but assured the 
council that would change after August 20.  The U.S., he 
said, understands how important reconciliation is to 
Afghanistan, and will support the GIRoA's efforts. 
 
Corruption Leads Some Afghans To Support Taliban 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶9.  Mr. Halimi also said he hoped there would be greater 
emphasis placed on anti-corruption.  Shinwari agreed, saying 
some Afghans continued to support the Taliban because of the 
high incidence of corruption in the country.  Afghanistan, he 
said, is totally dependent on the United States, and the 
people need the United States' support to battle corruption. 
He estimated that 95 percent of GIRoA officials were corrupt 
(though he offered no specific evidence to support that 
claim).  Ambassador Holbrooke told the council the United 
States would like to see the establishment of a large 
anti-corruption program. 
 
Other Impediments to Peace 
-------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Mawlawi Pir Mohammad Rohani, dean of Kabul University 
during Taliban rule, told Ambassador Holbrooke there were two 
blocks to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan: former 
communists, influence on the international community, and 
unrest in neighboring countries.  He said former communists 
were giving local coalition commanders bad information in 
order to settle grudges with ex-mujahideen leading to 
ill-targeted raids and anger amongst Afghanistan,s religious 
leaders.  He asked Ambassador Holbrooke to stop those raids, 
and reevaluate information obtained from ex-communists. 
Unrest in neighboring countries would also frustrate 
reconciliation, he said.  Unless the world community devoted 
attention to problems in neighboring countries, Afghanistan 
would not find peace. 
 
Possible Links To Moderate Islamic Universities 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶11.  Ambassador Holbrooke asked council members for their 
views on the ability of moderate Islamic universities, such 
as al Azhar in Egypt, to combat the Taliban,s violent 
message.  Two of the 12 members present had attended al 
Azhar.  One of these, Mr. Halimi, said that while al Azhar's 
scholars could help address certain problems in the country 
by training more open-minded and moderate mullahs and 
religious scholars, it could not solve all of Afghanistan,s 
problems.  He suggested the United States help GIRoA 
establish itself as a strong and efficient government. 
 
Message to President Karzai 
--------------------------- 
 
¶12.  Shinwari said that if he could give a message to 
President Karzai, it would be that Karzai was too kind. 
Karzai must not give assistance to bad people in an attempt 
to appease and co-opt them. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13.  The council was animated by the importance of 
international support for the victor of elections, and an 
Afghan-led reconciliation process.  Shinwari did not say why 
he thought the international community would not support 
freely elected representatives of the people, but may have 
been referring to a number of provincial council candidates 
(and potential Parliamentary candidates) with ties to militia 
and/or the Taliban.  Some Afghans believe those candidates 
could be duly elected, and either not seated or opposed by 
 
KABUL 00002247  003 OF 003 
 
 
the international community. 
EIKENBERRY