LATVIAN DEFMIN REASSURED ON ROTATAION OF LATVIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIGA 000524

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2016
TAGS: MOPS PREL PGOV IZ LG
SUBJECT: LATVIAN DEFMIN REASSURED ON ROTATAION OF LATVIAN
TROOPS, FOR NOW

REF: BAGHDAD 2319

Classified By: Ambassador Catherine Todd Bailey. Reason: 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: As flagged by Embassy Baghdad, the Government
of Latvia has been very concerned in recent days about what
they believed to be a delay in the return home of their
contingent rotating out of service in MNF-I. Thanks to
quick coordination, we have been able to allay GOL concerns
and the Minister of Defense told the Ambassador July 5 that
he accepts that there was miscommunication within the GOL
that led to the confusion. Nevertheless, the incident is
indicative of the nervousness of senior Latvian political
figures regarding Iraq as October's parliamentary elections
draw closer. End summary.


2. (C) As reported reftel, during Latvian Def Min Slakteris'
recent visit to Iraq, the GOL came to believe that the U.S.
was delaying the return of Latvian soldiers coming home from
Iraq. Post first learned of this July 2 when land forces
commander Reyevs approached DATT at 4th of July event to
complain. DATT immediately began working with CENTCOM and
others to learn the true state of play and we had much of the
information in paras 8 and 9 reftel by COB July 3.


3. (C) On July 4, both DefMin Slakteris and FM Pabriks called
Ambassador Bailey to express their concern about the supposed
"delay" in the return of Latvian troops. Ambassador told
them that we had other information, but pledged to reconfirm.
DATT, thanks to previously received information, was able to
quickly reconfirm the state of play with CENTCOM and
Ambassador was able to call the two ministers back within 15
minutes to explain that the July 10 - 13 window had been
agreed and coordinated with the Latvian rep at CENTCOM.



4. (C) In a July 5 meeting with the Ambassador, Slakteris
acknowledged that there had been miscommunication within the
GOL that had led to the confusion. He first heard of the
alleged problem when meeting with Latvian troops and several
of them complained, in the presence of Latvian press.
Concerned about the potential negative effect of a story
saying the U.S. was holding Latvian troops in Iraq beyond
their expected departure date, Slakteris and others launched.


5. (C) Comment: We believe we have this particular story
under control, although it could rise again in the press,
especially if the returning troops repeat it. There are two
lessons from this episode. First, senior Latvian politicians
are nervous that Iraq will explode into the election
campaign. At the moment, it is not a major political issue.
Public opinion toward the deployment remains negative, but no
more so than it has been in the past year. However, a
negative event like casualties or a sense that the Latvian
contribution is taken for granted could easily invigorate the
opposition to the deployment. That is also why the GOL is so
focused on staying in close coordination with us, so it does
not look out of touch. The second lesson is the value of the
coordination between all concerned. We greatly appreciate
Embassy Baghdad's and CENTCOM's timely reporting which kept
us on top of the issue and able to quickly address our host
government's concerns.
Bailey