Lawmakers express reservations to Secretary of State about reports that Iraq’s acting government plans to purchase electricity from Syria and Iran

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Representatives Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Howard Berman (D-CA), Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and 12 other members of Congress today expressed reservations about news reports that Iraq’s acting government announced its intent to purchase electricity from Syria and Iran.  Other  signatories include U.S. Representatives Robert Wexler (D-FL), Joe Hoeffel (D-PA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Martin Frost (D-TX), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Peter Deutsch (D-FL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Tom Lantos (D-CA).

A member of Iraq’s interim governing council announced, as reported in the Boston Globe,  that Iraq was negotiating with Syria, Iran and Turkey for electricity to “augment energy supplies rationed by the United States.”

In their letter, the lawmakers wrote, “Of course, it’s not the governing council that has a final say in the running of Iraq, but the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.  And it is U.S. taxpayers who are footing the bill for the reconstruction of Iraq, which includes providing electricity.  So this proposed deal would ultimately need Administration approval – and American dollars.”

Emanuel said, “We are asking Secretary Powell to assess if America would be better served by purchasing electricity from, if not an American supplier, then a neighboring government allied to the United States.  We hope that he agrees the American people would not want their tax dollars to enrich two countries that top the Department of State’s list of countries that support terrorism.”

As the Boston Globe article states, “the United States imposed sanctions on Iran in 1979, and tightened them as part of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act in 2001. A bill that would apply a similar embargo on Syria is working its way through Congress, largely because Syria continues to support the radical Lebanese group Hezbollah.”

“Supporting the Iraqi governing council’s efforts to buy electricity from these nations would circumvent the intent of existing U.S. sanctions against Iran,” the lawmakers wrote.  “Moreover, such a contract would directly conflict with the views of a majority in Congress who support proposed sanctions on Syria, including 268 members of the House and 74 Senators who have cosponsored pending legislation, the Syrian Accountability Act.”

The letter closes with the lawmakers asking Secretary Powell to reconsider U.S. support for electricity contracts with Syria.

Following are the Letter to Secretary Colin Powell and the September 8, 2003 Boston Globe Article

The Honorable Colin Powell
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Secretary Powell,

We are writing to express our deep reservations and concerns about reports that Iraq’s acting government announced its intent to purchase electricity from Syria and Iran.

A member of Iraq’s interim governing council announced, as reported by the September 8th Boston Globe, that Iraq was negotiating with Syria, Iran, and Turkey for electricity to “augment energy supplies rationed by the United States.”  This individual also stated that negotiations between Iraq and Turkey are “well underway and were moving ahead with Syria.”

Of course, it’s not the governing council that has a final say in the running of Iraq, but the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.  And it’s U.S. taxpayers who are footing the bill for the reconstruction of Iraq, which includes providing electricity.  So this proposed deal would ultimately need Administration approval – and American dollars.
 
Therefore, we request that you assess whether the U.S. would be better served by purchasing electricity from an American supplier or a neighboring government allied with the United States such as the Republic of Turkey or the Kingdom of Jordan.  We hope you would agree that the American people would not want their tax dollars to enrich two countries that top the Department of State’s list of countries that support terrorism.

We also hope you share our view that the United States should not be doing business with the same governments that allow volunteers, foreign fighters and military equipment to cross its porous borders into Iraq unimpeded to kill American servicemen and women.  Not only are we concerned that this agreement reveals weaknesses in the President’s strategy in the global war against terror, but that it also exposes significant inconsistencies in U.S. trade sanctions.

Supporting the Iraqi governing council’s efforts to buy electricity from these nations would circumvent the intent of existing U.S. sanctions against Iran.  Moreover, such a contract would directly conflict with the views of a majority in Congress who support proposed sanctions on Syria, including 268 members of the House and 74 Senators who have cosponsored pending legislation, the Syrian Accountability Act.

You have explicitly stated that Syria was not cooperating sufficiently with U.S. demands to cooperate in the global war on terror or taken any steps to dispel reports about its ambitious pursuit of Weapons of Mass Destruction capabilities.  The Under Secretary for Arms Control, John Bolton, was even more critical of Syria’s actions when he testified before Congress last week that Syria has taken “a series of hostile actions” against the United States and “allowed military equipment and volunteers to pass into Iraq to attack and kill our service members during the war, and is still doing so.”

Since you have taken strong diplomatic measures to warn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the U.S. would adopt more restrictive sanctions if Syria does not cooperate in these areas, we hope you agree that it is entirely appropriate for the United States to suspend any and all support for buying electricity or otherwise contributing to state sponsors of terror.  Therefore, we strongly encourage you to reconsider U.S. support for electricity contracts with Syria, and instead encourage Iraq’s governing authority to obtain its electricity from the United States or allied foreign governments like Turkey or Jordan. 

We look forward to working with you to ensure that American taxpayers are not underwriting Syrian-sponsored terrorism and that we are doing all we can to protect U.S. troops in Iraq and America’s interests in the region.

      Sincerely,

U.S. Representatives Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Howard Berman (D-CA), Bill Delahunt (D-MA) Robert Wexler (D-FL), Joe Hoeffel (D-PA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Martin Frost (D-TX), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Peter Deutsch (D-FL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Tom Lantos (D-CA).

IRAQ PLANNING TO BUY ELECTRICITY FROM IRAN, SYRIA EFFECT OF US SANCTIONS ON TRANSACTIONS UNCLEAR

Stephen J. Glain, Globe Staff
714 words
8 September 2003
The Boston Globe
THIRD
A.1
English
Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTON - The US-appointed Iraqi interim government said late last month in a little-noticed statement that it would buy electricity from Syria and Iran, a deal that would probably enrich with US funds two countries that top the White House list of states that support terrorism.
The move reveals the limits of President Bush's war on terrorism, of which the invasion of Iraq was a key part, and of trade sanctions generally. With many details of the Iraqi reconstruction effort unclear, it's not certain whether the United States or its contractors in Iraq would be violating an embargo - in place since the 1979 seizure of America's embassy in Tehran - against doing business with Iran.
"There is a formal process" for doing business with Iran, said Edward Chow, an oil consultant who has had to navigate the complex US rules prohibiting companies from doing business with Iran. "If there's a dollar transaction that exceeds a certain threshold you have to get permission. It is not easy to evade those sanctions."
Spokesmen for the Bechtel Group, the San Francisco engineering giant that is restoring Iraq's energy grid as part of its $1 billion contract to rebuild the country, said it knows nothing of the proposed energy sale. An official at the Department of Treasury, which monitors countries under US embargo, said he was unaware of Iraqi efforts to buy electricity from its neighbors, but doubted the United States would veto such a transaction. "It could be we regard Iraq as a sovereign state that can purchase electricity from any country it likes," the treasury official said.
A spokesman for the Pentagon, which has authority over the US occupation of Iraq, referred questions to a counterpart in Baghdad, who could not be reached.
The United States imposed sanctions on Iran in 1979, and tightened them as part of the Iran-Libya sanctions act in 2001. A bill that would apply a similar embargo on Syria is working its way through congress, largely because Syria continues to support the radical Lebanese group Hezbollah. Removing Saddam Hussein, said Bush officials, would intimidate rogue regimes like Iran and Syria into obedience. Some administration hard-liners had even suggested Iran or Syria, or perhaps both, were next on the Pentagon's target list.
But with postwar Iraq in disarray, starting with an acute energy shortage that has destabilized the country, the White House has had to lower its sights. Rather than subduing Syria and Iran, the United States appears to be relying on them to help alleviate Iraq's crippling power failures.
"There is the hubris of the administration and there is the reality on the ground," said Peter Galbraith, a former US ambassador and senior advisor to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "And the reality is Iraq needs to have good relations with its neighbors."
Muwaffak Al Rubai, a member of Iraq's interim governing council, said on Aug. 27 that Iraq was negotiating with Syria, Iran, and Turkey for electricity to augment energy supplies rationed by the US occupation. Rubai said negotiations between Iraq and Turkey were well underway and were moving ahead with Syria. On Aug. 31, Tehran's state media announced Iran would supply electricity to the southern Iraqi cities of Mehran and Dehloran.
The moves come as US occupation officials are struggling to restore Iraq's energy output from 3,200 megawatts to its prewar level of 4,000 megawatts. The country has a maximum production capacity of 6,000 megawatts.
Iraq is technically bankrupt and is surviving on a drip feed of US funds and limited oil revenue. Analysts said the purchase of Iranian electricity, though an important step toward rapprochement between two countries that fought a devastating war in the 1980s, reflects inconsistent US policy. For instance, just last month Japan said it would buy Iranian oil after resisting weeks of pressure from the United States to respect its embargo on Tehran.
"What the heck are we doing jawboning the Japanese from signing an Iranian oil deal when Iraq is buying Iranian electricity?" said Chow.