ITALY: IRAQ NATO MISSION AND ISAF PRT/FSB -

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 004093 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2014 TAGS: MOPS MARR PREL IT AF IZ NATO IRAQI FREEDOM AFGHANISTAN SUBJECT: ITALY: IRAQ NATO MISSION AND ISAF PRT/FSB - FOLLOWING UP ON SECDEF-MARTINO MEETING IN ROMANIA REF: A) ROME 3849 B) ROME 2913 C) ROME 2122 Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER-COUNSELOR TOM COUNTRYMAN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) In an October 22 discussion with PolMilCouns and ODC Chief, Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Minister of Defense Francesco Trupiano and Italian J3 MG Giuseppe Marani said that at present, Italy was not considering contributing additional training assets to the NATO mission in Iraq, but was committed to coordinating the bilateral training assistance it had already established there within the NATO training framework. They said that given Italy's "exposure" elsewhere in Iraq and in Afghanistan, it would be extremely difficult for Italy to contribute any troops for force protection to the NATO mission. There are currently some 15 Italian trainers in Iraq as a bilateral contribution, and in November, Italy will begin training 60 senior Iraqi officers and 20 civilian Iraqi Defense Ministry managers in Italy, training programs that Italy is prepared to coordinate within the NATO training framework. In addition, the Italian troops in Nassiriyah are doing some local training, according to Trupiano and Marani. ¶2. (C) On the possibility of future Italian PRT or FSB participation in Afghanistan, Marani pointed out that Italy is presently contributing approx. 500 troops to ISAF and another 500 to election support, and will be taking lead nation responsibility for ISAF in August 2005. Trupiano noted that Parliamentary elections still must be held, and that Italy may be asked to provide election support for them as well. Any PRT contribution, he said, must be considered in this context. He said that in Romania, DefMin Martino had repeated Italy's standing position that it could help run a PRT, but could not do it by itself, and suggested there may be a chance to partner with the Canadians. Trupiano and Marani were less enthusiastic about the possibility of Italy running an FSB, but said Italy could contribute to one run by another nation. In response to our questioning, Marani and Trupiano said Italy could make PRT or FSB contributions in the near term (i.e., even prior to taking on ISAF leadership next August),depending on what support Italy was asked to provide for Parliamentary elections and on timing. ¶3. (U) Minimize Considered. SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME04093 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL