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.


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King Abdullah - "A Very Strong and Historic Relationship"
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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."


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Crown Prince and Prince Khalid - Praise for the Relationship
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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.

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Priorities for Cooperation
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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