FRENCH MOD COORDINATOR FOR MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007436

SIPDIS

PM FOR DAS COULTER, NEA FOR DAS DANIN, NEA/ELA FOR
DONICK/SONTY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2016
TAGS: FR KDEM LE MARR PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: FRENCH MOD COORDINATOR FOR MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO
LEBANON ENVISIONS COOPERATION WITH USG

Classified By: POL Deputy Bruce Turner, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Vice-Admiral Jean-Marie Van Huffel, France's
Coordinator for Military Assistance to Lebanon, told Emboffs
November 17 that he looks forward to cooperating with the USG
on meeting the equipment needs of the Lebanese Armed Forces.
He spoke highly of his Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
counterpart, General George El-Hecham. Van Huffel said he
planned to visit Washington within the next two weeks. End
summary.


2. (C) Embassy PolMiloff and NEA Watcher met on November 17
with Vice-Admiral Jean-Marie Van Huffel to discuss military
assistance for Lebanon. Van Huffel, who previously commanded
the French Navy's Mediterranean Squadron (2003-2006),praised
the close working relationship between France and the United
States on questions regarding Lebanon, and said he looked
forward to cooperating with the USG in his new assignment,
although he repeatedly stressed the need for Lebanon to be in
the driver's seat. "The Lebanese must tell us what they need,
and take charge of coordinating their own requests to donor
states," said Van Huffel, who added that his own mission was
to then "coordinate, accelerate, and increase" bilateral
French military assistance to the LAF.

Dealing with the LAF
--------------


3. (C) Van Huffel said he recently visited Lebanon, where he
met with Prime Minister Siniora, Defense Minister Murr, and
the LAF's Chiefs of Staff. On the basis of those
discussions, he assessed that Hizballah was "not fiercely
opposed" to the LAF, in part because Hizballah was confident
of retaining the upper hand in terms of armament. He sensed
that PM Siniora was genuinely concerned about how to tackle
the disarmament of Hizballah, which Van Huffel characterized
as "a veritable army." Van Huffel was pleased that Defense
Minister Murr quickly responded to a request from French
Defense Minister Alliot-Marie by appointing General George
El-Hecham to be Van Huffel's counterpart in the LAF. Van
Huffel said he and El-Hecham had established effective
communication.


4. (C) Nevertheless, Van Huffel expressed several concerns.
He said that in his initial discussions in Beirut, LAF
officers evinced confusion about who was authorized in the
GOL to make decisions -- especially decisions with financial
implications. In addition, he found some LAF requests to be
financially unrealistic and strategically unnecessary. The
Lebanese Navy, for example, gave France a sweeping wish list
aimed at building a fleet larger than Lebanon needed or could
hope to sustain. By the same token, years of budgetary
neglect meant that not only had many of Lebanon's existing
weapons systems been mothballed, but that the LAF had also
lost the organizational capacity to operate and maintain
them. For example, in speaking to an LAF procurement
official about repairing Lebanon's neglected helicopter
fleet, it quickly became apparent to Van Huffel that the
official had given no thought to the numbers of mechanics,
pilots, and other personnel who would need to be trained (or
retrained) in order to resume flight operations. Finally, he
expressed concern that the LAF had done a relatively poor job
thus far of prioritizing its training and equipment needs and
of speaking to donors with one voice (he noted, for example,
that he was surprised to learn during his visit that the LAF
was seeking sophisticated radar systems from Germany). Such
ad hoc requests betrayed a lack of discipline and internal
coordination, in Van Huffel's view.

The LAF's Needs
--------------


5. (C) Van Huffel said the LAF's top two priorities were
weapons and mobility. With respect to weapons, he said the
Lebanese had expressed great interest in anti-aircraft
systems. The French were cool to this idea, suggesting the
Lebanese be "prudent." With regard to mobility, Van Huffel
said he understood the LAF hoped to obtain several hundred
surplus Humvees from the US. France would help on mobility
primarily by assisting the LAF to put many of its inoperative
armored vehicles back into service. He noted that the
Lebanese were also interested in obtaining small attack
helicopters armed with cannons, which Van Huffel thought
would be useful in detecting/deterring arms smuggling while
not posing a serious threat to Israel. Van Huffel suggested
that France likely would not be able to help with helicopter
donations, given the limitations of its own helicopter fleet.


6. (C) Van Huffel concluded by saying he hoped to visit
Washington and New York within the next 10-14 days, and asked
for suggestions on who he should try to see. He said he
looked forward to his scheduled telcon with PM DAS Mike
Coulter on November 21, and expressed interest in learning
the outcome of CENTCOM's survey of the LAF's Training &
Equipment needs. He noted that, following his trip to the
United States, he plans to visit a number of Gulf States to
encourage financial support for the LAF's T&E needs.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Comment: In contrast to his counterparts at the MFA
(who have been markedly skittish on this question),Van
Huffel seemed to welcome the prospect of further coordination
with USG officials. Emboffs will be in e-mail contact with
the appropriate offices in PM, DOD, and NEA to ensure that
Van Huffel sees the right interlocutors in Washington and New
York.

Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
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