IRAQ: ITALIANS FAVOR EXPANDED NATO TRAINING ROLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000607 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA, EUR/WE AND S/I E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL MARR MASS MOPS PINS IZ IT SUBJECT: IRAQ: ITALIANS FAVOR EXPANDED NATO TRAINING ROLE REF: STATE 22896 Classified By: Acting POL MC Jonathan Cohen for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Italy strongly supports an expanded NATO training role in Iraq, which it believes will help both to increase the political legitimacy of international efforts in Iraq and to encourage broader participation in those efforts. With Italian elections in April and a tight budget, Italy cannot make specific new commitments at this time but is considering options for expanding Italy's role in NTM-I (the NATO training mission in Iraq). End summary. ¶2. (C) Pol-Mil Counselor met with MFA NATO Office Director Gianni Bardini February 17 to discuss reftel demarche. Bardini said Italy agrees 100 percent on expanding and diversifying NATO's role in Iraq, as Defense Minister Martino said at the recent NATO Defense Ministerial in Taormina. Bardini has instructed the Italian Mission to NATO to support NTM-I expansion in the direction proposed by the U.S., believing that an expanded NATO mission would help legitimize international involvement in Iraq and reduce costs for small countries that otherwise might not be able to afford to participate. Italy, whose Carabinieri have trained thousands of Iraqi security forces in Dhi Qar province, is very happy with NATO's willingness to consider specialized training at the request of the Iraqi authorities and with the U.S. concept of countries with niche capabilities conducting training in their specialty fields. ¶3. (C) Italy is considering offering to conduct a new module/short-term course at ar-Rustimiyah or putting the Carabinieri training currently being conducted in Dhi Qar province under the NTM-I umbrella, with a continuing focus on special police units. Bardini suggested that Italy's contributions also could help encourage participation by other, non-NATO and small states such as Switzerland who have niche specialties for training. Bardini said Italian defense authorities do not yet know whether they will be able to contribute additional resources to the mission, and that it is unlikely they will make a decision before the April 9 Italian national elections. ¶4. (C) Bardini had not seen the Iraqi Requirements Priority List referenced in reftel; Pol-Mil Counselor provided a copy, which Bardini said Italy would study to determine which, if any, of the items it could provide. BORG