SAUDI LEADERS UPBEAT ON U.S.-SAUDI MILITARY

S E C R E T RIYADH 002146 E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2016 TAGS: MARR MASS MOPS MCAP PREL PTER SA SUBJECT: SAUDI LEADERS UPBEAT ON U.S.-SAUDI MILITARY RELATIONSHIP Classified By: Ambassador James C. Oberwetter for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) Summary and Comment: During separate meetings on March 22 with visiting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace, Saudi leaders spoke favorably of the U.S.-Saudi military relationship. King Abdullah, although deeply unhappy about Iraq and the issue of helicopter support for oil infrastructure protection (reported septels),praised the strong and historical bilateral relationship. He was pleased to learn that a U.S. Air Force assessment was due in the Kingdom shortly to assess terrorism threats and Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) capabilities. Crown Prince Sultan and Prince Khalid bin Sultan also spoke highly of the bilateral military relationship, and described their priorities for training, assistance, and exercises. While both the Crown Prince and Prince Khalid mentioned a possible future meeting of the Military Working Groups of the Strategic Dialogue, they did not suggest dates or a venue. The Saudi leaders' favorable views of the U.S.-Saudi bilateral military relationship echo sentiments regularly expressed by Saudi military commanders during visits by their U.S. counterparts. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (C) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) General Peter Pace visited Saudi Arabia March 22-23 for meetings with King Abdullah bin Adulaziz al Saud, Crown Prince and Minister for Defense and Aviation (MODA) Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud, and Assistant MODA for Military Affairs Prince Khalid bin Sultan. He met with each of the Saudi leaders individually. MODA Chief of Staff General Saleh al-Muhayya attended all of the meetings and Deputy Saudi National Guard Commander Prince Mit'eb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz accompanied his father, King Abdullah. General Pace was accompanied in his meetings by Ambassador Oberwetter, CHUSTMTM General Twitchell, A/DATT, Pol/Mil Chief and Pol/Mil Officer (Notetakers),and General Pace's Executive Assistant. OPM/SANG General McCabe also attended the meeting with King Abdullah. -------------- -------------- King Abdullah - "A Very Strong and Historic Relationship" -------------- -------------- ¶3. (S) King Abdullah told General Pace that Saudi Arabia and the U.S. enjoyed "a strong and historic relationship." King Abdullah focused much of the meeting on the situation in Iraq and the insurgency threat in the Kingdom (reported septels) and, at one point, asked General Pace about plans for a USAF threat assessment of the Kingdom and an assessment of RSAF capabilities, the latter to be followed by recommendations for improvements. The King suggested that Vice President Cheney, Undersecretary Edelman, and others had mentioned the assessments in the past. General Twitchell told the King that the USAF team would arrive in the Kingdom the following week to meet with RSAF counterparts and develop teams. The King was pleased to hear that the USAF team would be arriving soon, telling General Pace that "we are anxious to do that as quickly as possible." -------------- -------------- Crown Prince and Prince Khalid - Praise for the Relationship -------------- -------------- ¶4. (S) Crown Prince Sultan opened his meeting with General Pace with hearty praise for the U.S.-Saudi military relationship. He said that Saudi Arabia "has never forgotten the cooperation from our friends Cheney, Powell, and Schwarzkopf" after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He told General Pace that "no one objected to the 400,000 U.S. troops in the Kingdom" during the Gulf War and that Saudi Arabia will never forget George Bush Sr.'s help in restoring the sovereignty of Kuwait. Crown Prince Sultan added that he has "been around" for 12 U.S. Secretaries of Defense, going back to Secretary McNamara, and that despite occasional differences, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are good friends. In his own meeting with General Pace, Prince Khalid bin Sultan echoed his father's sentiments. He spoke highly of the U.S. leadership during the Gulf War, telling General Pace that the campaign "to protect Riyadh and the cities of the Middle East was launched in Washington." He said the U.S.-Saudi military relationship went even further than that because "we shed blood together, something only soldiers can share." Prince Khalid said he was always optimistic about the relationship, commenting that while there were a few differences, in the end they will be solved. He noted that bilateral military cooperation was even better now than it was in 2000, and remarked people understood how close the cooperation was, they would know that the U.S. had a true friend. ¶5. (S) Crown Prince Sultan also said that he believes that 90% of the terrorist problem in the Kingdom has been taken care of, thanks in large part to U.S. cooperation. He said that Saudi citizens are helping to increase the Kingdom's security by reporting suspected terrorist activities. He added that even religious leaders who had been accused of supporting terrorism are now working against extremism in the mosques and local communities. He expressed his hope that the proposed International Counter-Terrorism Center would be established soon. Crown Prince Sultan also said that he hopes to see the return of dependent family members of U.S. military personnel in the Kingdom, noting, "We want U.S. officers to be satisfied." In his meeting with Prince Khalid, General Pace congratulated the Kingdom for its counterterrorism efforts and noted that joint counterterrorism exercises were scheduled for July and August. Prince Khalid welcomed the joint exercises, commenting that (the war on terrorism) "is an international war," in which people underestimated the experience of the terrorists. He remarked that, especially in the Ministry of the Interior, Saudi counterterrorism efforts were much improved now, "thanks to the help of (U.S.) friends." He said the first priority of MODA and the SANG was to support the counterterrorism efforts. -------------- Priorities for Cooperation -------------- ¶6. (S) Crown Prince Sultan presented General Pace with three priority items: 1) to convene the Military Joint Planning Committee (MJPC)/Military Working Group of the Strategic Dialogue; 2) to initiate U.S. - Saudi joint land forces exercises; and 3) to obtain advanced U.S. missiles for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). Crown Prince Sultan said that King Abdullah has recently allocated "a big chunk of money" to modernize the Saudi Armed Forces and that accelerating the MJPC/Strategic Dialogue talks would help guide the SAG in this modernization effort. General Pace said that U/S of Defense Eric Edelman is ready to meet his counterpart, Prince Khalid bin Sultan, and asked the Crown Prince for proposed dates to begin the discussions. ¶7. (S) Prince Khalid outlined a number of priority bilateral military issues, including CISMOA and the depleted uranium problem. He noted that recent meetings on these issues had been fruitful. Like King Abdullah, Prince Khalid raised the planned visit by the USAF assessment team. He also noted RSAF complaints concerning a lack of agreement on equipment purchases, including ammunition and missiles. Prince Khalid told General Pace that the issue of a datalink with the Patriot missile systems was being worked out. Prince Khalid declined to comment on the Military Working Group issue, saying only that the new committee was something for the Embassy and others to work out. ¶8. (S) Land Forces Exercise: Both Crown Prince Sultan and Prince Sultan spoke favorably of the U.S.-Saudi joint exercises conducted with the Air Force and Navy. However, they noted that despite an agreement two years ago, exercises with the U.S. Army have not yet taken place. Crown Prince Sultan acknowledged that planned exercises had been postponed because of the Iraq War, but said that because the Royal Saudi Land Forces obtain most of its weapons from the U.S., joint training activities are necessary. Prince Khalid told General Pace that he had been disappointed with the proposal that the planned "Friendship 1" exercise be conducted at the battalion- rather than brigade level. He indicated that he had hoped that "Friendship 1" would be treated like U.S. joint exercises with Egypt and other countries. ¶9. (S) General Pace said that a U.S. Army delegation will be in the Kingdom this summer for counterterrorism training and that the U.S. is ready to re-start joint ground forces exercises. He told the Crown Prince and Prince Khalid that contemplated land forces exercises were an important opportunity for both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. However, he pointed out that 20 U.S. brigades were presently in Iraq and Afghanistan, with an additional brigade in reserve in Iraq, a commitment that made it difficult to plan future exercises. Prince Khalid acknowledged the commitment, and conceded that a "good start" could be made with a battalion-level exercise. He reiterated MODA enthusiasm for a land forces exercise, noting the highly-successful joint air forces exercises were an opportunity the land forces had never had. General Pace said U.S. military planners would be happy to work with a Saudi team on such an exercise. ¶10. (S) Prince Sultan pressed General Pace for the U.S. to provide the RSAF with advanced missiles for its F-15/S fighters, saying, "an airplane is just a piece of metal without advanced weaponry." General Pace agreed that having the same weapons systems as the U.S. military fosters inter-operability, and, acknowledging SAG frustrations over the weapons acquisition process, encouraged the Crown Prince to "not give up" on the U.S. ¶11. (U) General Pace has cleared the text of this cable. OBERWETTER