JULY 27-29 COALITION SUPPORT FUNDS DISCUSSIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 017890 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2016 TAGS: PK SUBJECT: JULY 27-29 COALITION SUPPORT FUNDS DISCUSSIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN Classified By: DCM Peter W. Bodde, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. From July 27-29 CENTCOM J-8 led a team of OSD-Comptroller, OSD-Policy, CENTCOM, Joint Staff and Embassy personnel to discuss Coalition Support Fund (CSF) issues with the Government of Pakistan's (GOP) Joint Staff, military services, and Ministry of Finance. The U.S. delegation raised issues regarding formalizing the CSF process, maintaining detailed accounting of expenditures by the GOP, and improving the claims processing time. The GOP counterparts were attentive to USG needs and ensured greater effort in providing information for CSF reimbursement. End Summary. Meeting with Joint Staff -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On June 27 the U.S. delegation met with Brigadier Afzal (Joint Staff, Director Operations and Plans) at the Pakistan Joint Staff Headquarters to discuss CSF funds. Brigadier Afzal's delegation included representatives from each service as well as the incoming and outgoing Pakistani Senior National Representative at CENTCOM. Brigadier Afzal welcomed the U.S delegation and emphasized that he understood that we had come to improve the procedures for reimbursing the CSF claims. He reminded the delegation that an earlier team had come in 2004 and as a response, Pakistan had implemented a new spreadsheet that provides more information. The Pakistan military had readily complied with that request and is ready to provide whatever Qormation the USG needs. ¶3. (SBU) The delegation responded by emphasizing the continual need to formalize the CSF prQs. In 2001, the USG had to implement the program quickly, but now, five years later, there is a need to formalize the process as well as look at the future. The delegation emphasized that the purpose of these discussions was not to cut funding but to improve accountability of the program. The delegation emphasized the need to provide additional information to Congress, especially in the current tight budget environment. By having more information, DoD representatives will be better advocates for Pakistan in discussions with Congress. Presentation -------------- ¶4. (SBU) OSD-C Senior Analyst stressed the importance of Pakistan's commitment to the Global War on Terror and CSF funding. The OSD-C Senior Analyst made a presentation to Pakistani officials on the mechanics of the CSF program. The following were the highlights of the presentation: - Since October 2001, the USG has provided over $4.5 billion in CSF to Pakistan. Pakistan receives approximately 87% of all CSF money. - CSF is not in the regular budget but is part of the Emergency Supplemental budget. The authority for CSF was passed after 2001. It is very unusual for DoD to receive such an authority, so there is a need to protect it and continually defend it. - All CSF claims must be "valid and reasonable." - Claims must be for incremental costs above normal operations. The delegation emphasized that to understand what is incremental, the delegation needed help understanding what the normal costs are for the Pakistani military. - There must be quantifiable data that is comparable to U.S. costs. - The delegation emphasized that it expected to get CSF in the future but needed to increase its justification of the program in order to ensure funding. - The U.S. delegation passed on a new spreadsheet to the Pakistan delegation that asked for additional information on costs, rates, and operations conducted. Additionally, the delegation asked the Pakistan military to provide a briefing every 90 days to the Embassy so both sides can talk about the issues and claims. - The delegation emphasized that the requirements it was asking Pakistan for are the same ones that it asks from its own Services. Discussion of Claims -------------- ¶5. (U) The U.S. and Pakistan delegations discussed the April, May, and June claims in order to better understand each line item. ¶6. (C/REL PAK) The Pakistani military noted that the manpower in the tribal area had increased from 82,000 personnel to 92,000 personnel from April to June. This is largely due to support provided to MOUNTAIN THRUST. ¶7. (SBU) There were questions on the Frontier Corp's presence in the tribal area. These were not fully addressed because there was no Ministry of Interior representative present. The delegation asked if the GOP could break down the number of 11th Corp and 12th Corp Civil Armed Forces in future claims. ¶8. (SBU) The U.S. delegation emphasized the importance of understanding Pakistan's military operations that claim CSF. Greater clarity and transparency of operations is required to process CSF clams. The delegation asked for information from the Pakistan military on: - The number of helo hours broken down by helo type; - More information about "road building," which is being claimed by both the Pakistani Army and Navy; - Information about fuel rates and quantities; - Types of ammunition being used; - Breakout of flying costs from the Pakistan Air Force; - More information about the Air Defense Radar; and - Generally greater transparency and accountability in Pakistani operations that claim CSF. ¶9. (SBU) The U.S. delegation emphasized to Brigadier Afzal that it would be helpful for the Pakistanis to assist us with predicting future CSF expenses. Since CSF is a limited pot of money, we need to be able to forecast what is going to happen in the future to ensure funding. Meeting at the Ministry of Finance -------------- ¶10. (SBU) On June 28 the U.S. delegation met with a delegation from the Ministry of Finance to discuss the CSF payment process. OSD Comptroller presented a briefing on the CSF program and process (the same briefing that was presented at the Joint Staff). ¶11. (SBU) Ministry of Finance personnel asked if the USG could expedite the processing of claims, as there were many negative consequences of not getting paid back in a timely fashion (such as having to borrow money from the Central Bank to pay the OEF bills). ¶12. (SBU) The Pakistani Ministry of Finance asked if the USG could improve claim processing time to two/three months. After some discussion, the delegation agreed to try to process claims in a three/four month time frame. OSD-C also agreed to try to process the Pakistan January/February claim by the end of August and the March-June claim by the end of November 2006. ¶13. (SBU) Both sides agreed to continue to meet in the future and have meetings that included Ministries of Defense, Finance, and Interior. (NOTE: The Embassy attempted to do this prior to this trip but received push back from the Pakistani Joint Staff.) Office Call with MG Bilal of the Joint Staff -------------- ¶14. (U) On June 29 the delegation held an Office Call with Major General Bilal, the Joint Staff's Director General of Operations and Plans, and again explained that as money gets tighter, the USG will need more information to justify CSF. ¶15. (SBU) MG Bilal stated that he had heard that the discussions went extremely well and that his staff would provide any additional information that we need. He knew there was an issue with money being used for road construction and he promised that he would get more information to us. ¶16. (SBU) The delegation emphasized that in addition to gaining more information to validate CSF, Congress would also want to eventually see the results of these operations. The delegation stated that the USG would need to see tangible progress in the long-term. ¶17. (U) This cable was drafted in cooperation with Cara Negrette, OSD-Policy. CROCKER