Committee on the Present Danger: Letter to Sec. Rice

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington D.C. 20520

The Honorable Ryan Crocker
Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington D.C. 20520

Dear Secretary Rice and Ambassador Crocker:

We, the undersigned members of the Committee on the Present Danger (which seeks to stiffen American resolve to confront terrorism and the ideologies that drive it), wish to express our distress and concern over the Iraq Council of Representatives’ mistreatment of Mithal al-Alusi, leader of the Democratic Party of the Iraqi Nation, and to urge you to condemn its action in the strongest terms
For the “crime” of visiting Israel to attend a conference on counter-terrorism – at a time when both Iraq and Israel are attempting to defend themselves from terrorists – Iraq’s parliament stripped Mr. al-Alusi of his parliamentary immunity, cut the salaries of his security staff, and allowed for his prosecution under a 1950s-era law that would make conviction prosecutable by death.

As Iraq joins the community of democracies, the American people and our government should expect it to act like a free nation. It should not persecute nor prosecute its citizens for having done nothing more than visit a neighboring country and attend a conference to discuss the plague of terrorism – a conference attended by representatives of more than 50 nations. What's more, there is no reason for Iraq to regard Israel as an enemy; nor is it in the interest of the United States for it to do so.

Over the years, belligerence between Iraq and Iran has proved far costlier in human life than that between Iraq and Israel. Iraq suffered some 375,000 casualties from its 1980-88 war with Iran. Iran’s intervention in Iraq in recent years, and its support of extremist militias, has cost both Iraqi and American lives. Yet Iraq’s parliament would not consider stripping the immunity of a member who visits Iran.

Mr. al-Alusi has suffered a great deal for his courage. In late 2004, he attended another conference in Israel and was soon threatened by terrorist groups and Iraq’s own intelligence services. In early 2005, his car was attacked by gunmen – two of his sons were murdered in the assault.

Mr. al-Alusi is not alone among Iraqi politicians in suffering for not treating Israel as its enemy. In July of this year, Iraq’s parliamentarians called on the nation’s president, Jalal Talabani, to resign after he shook hands with Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, in Greece.

Mr. al-Alusi – and all Iraqi citizens, not least members of its parliament – should be free to travel to any country unless such travel is formally banned under law.


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We urge you to express your concern in the strongest possible terms, and to ask that the Council of Representatives immediately rescind its rash decision to strip Mr. al-Alusi of his parliamentary immunity; it also should restore full salaries to all members of his security staff, and protect him from prosecution, persecution, and terrorism.

Sincerely,

The Honorable George Shultz The Honorable R. James Woolsey
Co-Chair Co-Chair

Debra Burlingame Jack David

Jeffrey Gayner Farid N. Ghadry

Lawrence J. Haas Peter Hannaford

The Honorable Jerome M. Hauer Peter R. Huessy

Phyllis Kaminsky Robert J. Lieber

Clifford D. May Andrew McCarthy

The Honorable Robert C. McFarlane Chet Nagle

The Honorable Mark Palmer Robert L. Pfaltzgraff

David Pryce-Jones The Honorable Peter R. Rosenblatt

The Honorable Richard Schifter Ken Schwartz

Max Singer, J.D. The Honorable Stephen J. Solarz

James Strock Raymond J. Tanter

Arnold S. Trebach , J.D., Ph.D. Robert F. Turner, S.J.D.

William R. Van Cleave, Ph.D. Francisco R. Wong-Diaz, Ph.D., Esq.

Moshe Yaalon James G. Zumwalt