Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PRAGUE1505
2006-12-13 11:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Prague
Cable title:  

CZECHS PLAN INCREASED SUPPORT FOR ISAF: MILITARY

Tags:  PGOV PREL EZ MARR MASS AF NATO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3897
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHPG #1505/01 3471132
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131132Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8345
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 1795
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 001505 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

EUR/NCE FOR FICHTE, PM FOR DOWLEY, OSD FOR SADOWSKA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL EZ MARR MASS AF NATO
SUBJECT: CZECHS PLAN INCREASED SUPPORT FOR ISAF: MILITARY
HOSPITAL IN 2007, PRT IN 2008

REF: A. PRAGUE 1466

B. PRAGUE 1423

C. PRAGUE 283

D. PRAGUE 225

Classified By: Political Counselor Michael Dodman
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRAGUE 001505

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

EUR/NCE FOR FICHTE, PM FOR DOWLEY, OSD FOR SADOWSKA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL EZ MARR MASS AF NATO
SUBJECT: CZECHS PLAN INCREASED SUPPORT FOR ISAF: MILITARY
HOSPITAL IN 2007, PRT IN 2008

REF: A. PRAGUE 1466

B. PRAGUE 1423

C. PRAGUE 283

D. PRAGUE 225

Classified By: Political Counselor Michael Dodman
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: On December 20 the Czech government is
likely to formally adopt a plan to create a Czech PRT at
Pol-e-Khomri, Afghanistan, to take over from Hungary in 2008.
Many of the details such as civilian component, financing,
and partners still need to be worked-out, but the Czechs will
likely provide their PRT with helicopter support. There is
also a strong chance that sometime in 2007 the Czech Republic
will send a 70-man military field hospital to Afghanistan, a
commitment that would be in addition to the 225 personnel
already authorized by the parliament. End summary.

-------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- ---
The Plans: PRT at Pol-e-Khomri in 2008,
Military Hospital in Kabul in 2007
-------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- ---


2. (C) Poloff met with MFA Security Policy Director Veronika
Smigolova on December 12 to solicit further information on
Czech plans to potentially lead a Provincial Reconstruction
Team (PRT) in Afghanistan beginning in 2008 and to possibly
deploy a military hospital in 2007. Smigolova indicated that
the PRT plan is for approximately 100 Czech troops,
accompanied by an unspecified number of Czech civilians and
troops from other countries to take over the Hungarian PRT at
Pol-e-Khomri. The Czech military hospital would potentially
comprise approximately 70 personnel and would operate in
Kabul.

-------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
PRT: A Decision in the Political Pipeline
-------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------



3. (C/NF) Smigolova shared that after a long spring and
summer of working-level meetings between the Ministries of
Defense, Foreign Affairs, and the General staff, the General
Staff had gradually begun to warm to the idea of leading a
PRT. Crucially, new Defense Minister Jiri Sedivy has been an
enthusiastic supporter of the project, helping to move those
who were more cynical about the endeavor. FM Sasa Vondra had
in the past been skeptical about the wisdom of allied
operations in Afghanistan, seeing it as a Russian problem
that had been adopted by the West in recent years. However,
he is fully prepared to support Czech operations at this
stage.


4. (C) Smigolova said that a formal plan has now been agreed
between the ministries, and the Cabinet is scheduled to
formally adopt a decision to go forward with a Czech PRT on
December 20. However, she acknowledged that the ongoing
process of government formation could possibly interfere with
that date. Smigolova was cautiously optimistic that any
government that emerged in future months would maintain
support for the creation of this PRT.

-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Personnel, Finances, and Partners:
The Devil is in the Details
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------


5. (C/NF) Smigolova shared that the document to be approved
by the Cabinet was deliberately vague in many areas, in order
to obscure differences that remained between the ministries.
The Ministry of Defense (MOD) is pressing for a strong
civilian component, an idea supported by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) with the caveat that &strong8 can
mean strength in sense of the financial ability to do
development rather than in the literal sense of having large
numbers of civilians on the ground without sufficient
justification. (Note: Embassy sources indicate that a large
gap remains between the MFA and MOD on this issue, with some
in the MOD maintaining that a PRT in Pol-e-Khomri be majority
civilian. End note)


6. (C) According to Smigolova the Ministry of Finance has not

PRAGUE 00001505 002 OF 003


yet developed a comprehensive plan to finance the PRT,
although the direct costs to the military will likely be paid
from the regular defense budget. Individual ministries will
be asked to contribute to civilian component operations
(Note: This is another point of discord within the Czech
government. The MOD is pressing for separate funding
allocations from Parliament for some of its foreign
operations as a means of supplementing the declining defense
budget. End note).


7. (C/NF) Smigolova acknowledged that the issue of partners
needs plenty of work. Slovakia appears willing to contribute
only approximately 20 troops and the Czechs are in favor of
casting the net widely to see what contributions are
available from other sources. Negotiations with Croatia are
likely. Smigolova also said that Serbia had in the past
mentioned a potential willingness to provide troops for a
Czech-led PRT in Afghanistan, something that appeared more
likely in the wake of the Partnership For Peace (PFP) offer
made at Riga. However, Smigolova did not consider Serbian
participation a likelihood, especially in light of the
inevitable tensions that will accompany the January
announcement of UN envoy Ahtisaari's proposals on end-status
for Kosovo.


8. (C/NF) The Czechs would likely provide their own
helicopter support to the PRT. Early in 2006 the UK had
pushed the Czechs hard to plan to provide rotary-wing airlift
to British troops in Afghanistan. Instead the Czech
helicopters in question are likely to be sent to Kosovo in
2007 with the notional plan that they be part of the Czech
PRT effort in Afghanistan in 2008.

-------------- -------------- -------------- --
A PRT Means a Reduction,
Not an End, to Other Missions
-------------- -------------- -------------- --


9. (C/NF) Smigolova shared that, contrary to prior
indications, the establishment of a Czech PRT would not mean
the end of Czech participation in other missions in
Afghanistan. She said that the Czech contribution to the
German PRT at Feyzabad would be significantly reduced, but
Czech participation would continue. (Note: Part of the
initial MOD resistance to establishing a Czech PRT came from
the Czech need for a German headquarters to support the 2009
establishment of a Czech Battlegroup under ESDP. The Czech
MOD felt that the Germans would be less willing to offer a
headquarters facility if the Czechs had withdrawn their ISAF
troops from Feyzabad. The Germans have by now already
promised the headquarters will be available to the Czech
Battlegroup, leaving the Czechs confident that a partial
drawdown at Feyzabad will not have an impact on their ESDP
commitments. End note)

-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Military hospital deployment to
Kabul in 2007 becoming more likely
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------


10. (C) Smigolova confirmed rumors in both the MFA and the
MOD that the Czech government may ask Parliament for
authorization to send a military hospital to Afghanistan in

2007. This authorization would be for additional troops
beyond those already approved in the 2007 deployments bill
(ref A). Initial planning is still ongoing, but the
deployment could encompass possibly 70 Czech personnel with
all the equipment necessary to set up a military field
hospital. Smigolova claimed that this possible deployment,
which had not been widely considered before, had become an
issue as a result of the insistent requests of Czech military
hospital personnel to be deployed. Airlift requests for the
hospital were likely to be made multilaterally at NATO, but a
bilateral request to the United States for airlift might be
made if allies could not help the Czechs meet this demand.

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


11. (C/NF) Embassy Prague has long lobbied for the Czechs to
step up their efforts in Afghanistan. Despite the optimism

PRAGUE 00001505 003 OF 003


from the MFA, the process of government formation has the
potential to hinder the formal decision-making process
surrounding the deployment of Czech troops. The Embassy will
continue to encourage prompt governmental action in order to
bringing sufficient resources to bear in Afghanistan. End
comment.
GRABER