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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGB #2919/01 3051528
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011528Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5308
INFO RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0622
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 0036

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002919 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL KPAO KISL PHUM EINT IZ
SUBJECT: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FARAH PANDITH'S VISIT TO IRAQ, 
OCTOBER 28-30, 2009 
 
¶1.  Summary: On her first visit to Iraq, the Secretary's Special 
Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith reached out to a 
broad cross-section of Baghdad's civil society. She emphasized 
President Obama's promise (as enunciated in his  June 2009 Cairo 
speech) of a renewed U.S. dialogue based on mutual respect and 
mutual understanding as well as the Secretary's vision to engage on 
a people to people level.   Her meetings with Iraqi NGO activists, 
officials, youth, women and entrepreneurs were constructive, as she 
urged Iraqis to look beyond their daily political and security 
challenges and to "begin building networks of like-minded people." 
Her willingness to listen, her confident insistence on Iraqi 
self-reliance, and her upbeat, progressive message resonated well 
with our contacts. She was interviewed on three Arabic-language 
channels.  End Summary 
 
¶2.  Meetings with Civil Society: Ms. Pandith's first program day in 
Baghdad (October 28) consisted of a series of back-to-back meetings 
at the Al-Rasheed Hotel, chosen by post for its location within the 
International Zone, secure environment and relative accessibility to 
guests arriving from outside the zone. Teaming up with PRT Baghdad 
and the political section, public diplomacy officers were able to 
bring together a diverse, distinguished and vocal line-up of civil 
society representatives and local leaders. Pandith's opening 
90-minute session with a dozen women entrepreneurs and civil society 
(facilitated by Arabic interpreters) and a second lengthy session 
with Iraqi war widows provided a useful glimpse into the resilience 
and determination of Iraqi women (including Christians and other 
minorities) to rebuild their lives and overcome suffering. The last 
session at the Al-Rasheed, moderated by the DRL-funded NGO Mercy 
Corps and featuring several locally elected officials focused 
squarely on peaceful conflict resolution, the problem of Iraqi 
sectarianism, and the need to build tolerance and acceptance across 
political and ethnic lines. Again, Pandith showed empathy and 
understanding, and urged her interlocutors to network and 
problem-solve together. The final meeting with these leaders was 
particularly important for they all wanted to do more to help the 
Office of the Special Representative to Muslim Communities (SRMC) 
achieve greater dialogue and understanding. 
 
¶3.  Meeting with Youth: Although a planned talk at the Women's 
College at Baghdad University had to be cancelled at the last minute 
due to security concerns, Pandith was able to meet (for over two 
hours) with a handful of students from Mustansariya University (who 
were bused in to the Embassy) along with their professor and some 
young alumni who recently traveled to the U.S. under the Middle East 
Partnership Initiative (MEPI) program. The group was especially 
excited to meet with Pandith having already interacted with her 
during Ramadan via an Embassy digital video-conference (DVC). 
Pandith challenged the Iraqi students and young professionals to 
avoid pessimism, to think big but start small, recognizing that 
recovery and progress come incrementally. She also urged them to 
network beyond their own limited circles, to reach out via social 
media and Internet to Americans and youth in the region and across 
the globe, and to give serious thought to community service and 
mentoring junior students. 
 
¶4.  Meeting with Information Technology Professionals: Post arranged 
a lunch for Pandith with young IT professionals and entrepreneurs 
that helped shed light on Iraq's technological capabilities and 
Qthat helped shed light on Iraq's technological capabilities and 
challenges vis-a-vis connectivity. Members of the Iraq Technology 
Task Force (ITTF) and other invitees briefed Pandith on difficulties 
experienced in working with the GOI on new technology, the state of 
fiber optic backbone, the electricity grid, the promise of 
satellite-based communications and the recent Baghdad visit by a 
team from Google. Post and SRMC will follow up with the respective 
attendees on the concepts discussed. 
 
¶5.  Other Meetings: On her first day, Pandith joined DCM Ford for 
dinner at the home of the Minister of Human Rights where she was 
able to join in on policy discussions relating to the rights of 
women and minorities. The following day, Pandith had dinner at the 
Embassy with 10 women activists, including a former Minister of 
Displacement and Migration, the founder of a women's empowerment 
NGO, a Fulbright alumnus involved in public health, and the 
department head of an engineering college. Pandith also visited the 
headquarters of the Iraq Educational Initiative (IEI) and met with a 
member of the Prime Minister's Board of Advisers. The discussion 
focused on the importance of youth and cultural exchange between the 
U.S. and Iraq, and how best to complement and support the PM's 
recently launched project that will send up to 10,000 Iraqi students 
overseas each year in the next five years (primarily to the U.S. and 
U.K.) for Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degrees. 
 
¶6.  Media Coverage: Pandith was interviewed on three Iraqi TV 
channels: Al-Hurriya, Al-Hurra and Rasheed Television. Coverage of 
her meeting with women entrepreneurs (with footage) was aired on the 
October 29 newscast of Al-Hurriya. All three channels are expected 
to air their exclusive interviews of Pandith later this week. 
 
¶7.  Comment: Despite the short amount of time available and the 
difficult security situation which restricted her movements to 
 
within a close radius of the Embassy, Pandith succeeded in achieving 
her primary goal, of establishing contacts and working relationships 
with youth and civil society members who can be progressive partners 
for the U.S. and strong, secular advocates for change, progress and 
mutual respect. 
 
¶8.  Farah Pandith cleared on this cable prior to her return to the 
U.S. 
 
Hill