IRAQ: TGS REQUESTS ANSWERS TO PHASE IV QUESTIONS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000649 SIPDIS STATE FOR P, NEA/NGA, EUR/SE, PRM/ANE AND PM (PM ACTION TEAM); OSD FOR ISA AND ISP; JCS FOR J5 AND J3, EUCOM FOR J3, J4, J5 AND POLAD; CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD; NSC FOR KHALILZAD AND B. MILLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2012 TAGS: MARR MOPS TU IZ SUBJECT: IRAQ: TGS REQUESTS ANSWERS TO PHASE IV QUESTIONS BY JAN 30 MIL TALKS REF: A. A) ANKARA 629 B) ANKARA 625 C) ANKARA 539 AND PREVIOUS D) STATE 18029 ¶B. E) STATE 261517 (NODIS) (U) Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch. Reasons: 1.5 (B and D). ¶1. (U) This is an action message. See para 3. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶2. (S) The Turkish General Staff (TGS) provided visiting CENTCOM/EUCOM planners January 23 questions (see para 4) concerning Phase IV operations in Iraq. TGS requested that appropriate USG authorities respond to the questions during the next round of mil-to-mil talks (January 30) in Ankara. January 27-Jan 31 is a key week for Turkish decision-making on Iraq. Turkish concerns and questions about Phase IV have dominated the US-Turkey political and military discussions on Iraq to date. Many of these questions involve non-military issues. These are also the questions we anticipate the Turks will raise with the USG Humanitarian Planning Team (January 27-29) and that we need to answer in preparing for trilateral/quintilateral talks. Post recognizes that senior USG officials are still formulating positions on some of the issues addressed in TGS's questions, and that we are not likely to have definitive answers to many of these questions by the next mil-to-mil meeting January 30. However, we believe that our ability to provide detailed responses (where possible) will go a long way toward increasing pressure on TGS to provide the GOT its views on the larger USG requests regarding Turkey's role in a possible Iraq operation. -------------- ACTION REQUEST -------------- ¶3. (S) Embassy recommends that the Department, in conjunction with other appropriate USG agencies, provide EUCOM and Embassy Ankara answers to as many of TGS's questions as possible no later than COB January 29 (Washington time). Post further recommends that Washington's response to this request include a reiteration of the USG invitation (ref e) for the GOT to include the appropriate civilian and military planners in the planning process, both at CENTCOM and here in Turkey. End action request. -------------- TGS'S QUESTIONS ON PHASE IV -------------- ¶4. (S) Below are the questions that TGS provided CENTCOM/EUCOM planners last week during the planning talks (note: Embassy only received the questions January 25): Begin text: QUESTIONS RELATED TO PHASE IV OF POSSIBLE IRAQI OPERATIONS Below are some questions that need to be answered for the next mil-mil discussions during the last week of January ¶2003. There may be some other questions that may be raised during the next mil-to-mil discussions, so this list should not be seen as the final list. Questions Related to the New Government and the Administrative Structure to be Established Following the Operations: --How do you envision the structure and organizations of the military government? --What will be the tasks and responsibilities of that military government? --Will there be any participation from other coalition nations in the military government? If yes, how? --Will there be any sectorial responsibility distribution among the coalition nations' armed forces to establish security and stability in the region? --Will the military government be responsible to any organization? --How long do you think that military government will be in power? --How do you plan the transition from a military government to a civilian one? --When do you think that national elections be held? --Following completion of the military government's mission, how will you organize the civilian government? --What will be the structure of that civilian government? --How do you plan the organization of the local administrations? Who will be the governors? --Will there be any military/senior flag officers governing the local administrations? If so, how will you select them or what will be the criteria for their selection? --How will you specify the representation of Turkomans in the civilian government? --How will you guarantee that all representatives from all ethnic groups will be represented equally in the new government? Questions Related to the Reconstruction Phase of the Operations: --Who will lead the reconstruction phase? The US, UN or other organizations? --What will be the conditions (or requirements) for other nations who want to participate in and/or contribute to this phase? --Who will invite those nations? How/when will it be done? --Will there be any priority for the participation of volunteer nations for this phase? If so, who will determine that priority? --What do you expect from Turkey in the reconstruction phase? Questions Related to the Stabilization Force: --What will be the structure and organization of this stabilization force? --How and when would the transition to the stabilization force structure take place? --Which nations will provide forces to the stabilization force? Will it be from only the coalition nations or be based on a voluntary basis? --Will it be open to the participation of all nations who wish to become involved? --What will be the mandate for this force and who will produce it? --How will command and control relationships be established for this force? --How do you plan to protect the oil fields in Iraq? Questions Related to NGOs: --What will be the sharing of responsibility among the civilian authorities, international organizations and NGO's? --Who will govern or direct the NGOs in the region? We (TGS) believe that NGOs should be governed by an established central authority which is very important for the coordination of all activities and for preventing confusion in the area. --What tasks will be given to NGOs? --What will be the selection criteria for NGOs? We believe that only selected NGOs should work in the region. --Which authority will invite NGOs? Questions Related to the Iraqi Military Police: --How do you plan to discharge the Iraqi military forces? Will it be done totally or partially? --How will you establish security if you discharge all of the forces? Which unit or organization will be responsible for security? --How do you plan to use the police force? For public security? Questions Related to EPW/IDP Immigrants: --How do you intend to speed up the return of IDPs and immigrants? --Do you think that there will be any problems dealing with the IDPs at the end of Phase IV? --Where do you plan to establish EPW camps in the region? Questions Related to Law and Order: --What kind of legal system do you intend to take into consideration in the military government administration? --How do you intend to disarm civilians during the transition phase? --What kind of precautions will you take to establish control over people in the region? Questions Related to CIMIC Activities: --Which civilian activities will be carried out by military forces? How long will these activities be carried out? --How will CIMIC activities be handed over to the civilian authorities? --Do you plan to assign any responsible organization under the auspices of the UN (i.e. OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF or UNDP) to coordinate the activities of the volunteer civilian organizations in the operation? --How will you organize the support of the CIMIC activities of the international organizations, NGOs and possible contributing nations? --How do you intend to realize the CIMIC projects during the transition phase? --In which fields do you need civilian functional specialists for CIMIC assessments? Do you have any plan to build a joint specialists pool? --On which subjects do you envision a need for an agreement or an MOU in Phase IV? Questions Related to the Provisional Commission: --How will you establish this commission? --What will be the structure of this organization? --Will the commission be responsible to any organization? --What kind of authorities will this commission have? end text. PEARSON