SPAIN: ZAPATERO'S CAREFUL HELO CRASH RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002967

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2015
TAGS: PGOV MARR SP AF
SUBJECT: SPAIN: ZAPATERO'S CAREFUL HELO CRASH RESPONSE


Classified By: Ambassador Eduardo Aguirre for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Through the first 24 hours after two Spanish
helicopters crashed in Afghanistan on August 16, killing 17
Spanish soldiers and injuring five others, President Zapatero
and Defense Minister Bono have responded quickly and
efficiently, garnering positive press and few public
complaints. Clearly they are aiming to maintain Spanish
public resolve to stay the course in Afghanistan and to avoid
the political firestorm that the Aznar government endured
after the loss of 62 Spanish soldiers in an aircraft crash in

2003. While the GOS has not ruled out any explanation for
the crash, Bono's initial report is that so far investigators
have found no signs that insurgents attacked the helicopter.


2. (SBU) On August 16, Zapatero and Bono both rushed back to
Madrid from their August vacations to take charge of the
government's response. In his televised remarks that
evening, Zapatero noted that soldiers gave "their lives to
defend, far from their homeland, liberty and peace." He also
emphasized that both the UN and the Spanish Parliament had
explicitly approved the mission. Popular, and generally
pro-Zapatero government, Spanish daily El Pais picked up
these themes in a positive editorial promoting the
humanitarian aspect of the UN mandate and noting the
"incontrovertible fact" that Spain faces threats to its
security from international terrorist sanctuaries in far-off
places.


3. (SBU) Bono appeared on TV within a few hours of the crash,
reading a list of the casualties, answering questions, and
announcing that he would personally lead a team of forensic
experts to Afghanistan. He focused on measures that the
government would take for the victims' families, particularly
quick identification and repatriation of the victims'
corpses. After the 2003 crash in Turkey that killed 62
Spanish soldiers, the government misidentified 30 of the
bodies. New rules adopted in the aftermath of that disaster
require soldiers to give DNA and blood samples before
participating in overseas missions and require the military
to repatriate corpses within seven days. Bono said on August
17 that identification of the corpses should be complete in
72 hours.


4. (SBU) Opposition leader Mariano Rajoy (Popular Party)
expressed complete support for the military, although a party
spokesman said that his party would never blame the
Government and President for such a tragedy, "like others
have done," and questioned the true mission of the 17
soldiers who were killed. Two small radical parties have
used the crash to renew their calls for withdrawal of Spanish
troops from Afghanistan.


5. (C) Comment. The Zapatero government has so far responded
effectively to the crash from both the domestic and
international political perspectives, but it has not yet
addressed tough questions on the cause. There have been
serious issues with the readiness of the Spanish military's
helicopter fleet. The helicopters that crashed were among
the few Spanish helicopters currently certified as airworthy.
Any indication that problems with the aircraft themselves
led to the crash could lead to an unraveling of the current
public support for the government. Senior Spanish government
officials have been very appreciative of the expressions of
sympathy by the Secretary, the Ambassador, and other senior
US officials. Our focus is to help the government find ways
to convince the Spanish people to stay the course in
A