U/S BURNS' 12/4 MEETING WITH AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CANBERRA 001744

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y -- ADDED TEXT TO SUBJECT

SIPDIS

STATE FOR P, NEA-I, SA, ISN AND EAP
PACOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2017
TAGS: MARR MOPS KNNP PREL AS
SUBJECT: U/S BURNS' 12/4 MEETING WITH AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MINISTER
FITZGIBBON

REF: A. STATE 162558

B. CANBERRA 1717 (NOTAL)

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Classified By: Ambassador Robert D. McCallum for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).

SUMMARY
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1. (C) Under Secretary Nicholas Burns, accompanied by the
Ambassador, called on newly sworn-in Minister for Defence
Joel Fitzgibbon on December 4. Fitzgibbon reaffirmed the Rudd
government's commitment to the alliance with the United
States, asserted his government's long-term commitment to
Afghanistan, and reiterated the GOA's intention to withdraw
combat forces from Iraq while maintaining non-combat
engagement. U/S Burns stressed that the international
community needed to maintain pressure on Iran, as findings of
the unclassified National Intelligence Estimates Report on
Iran's nuclear weapons program indicated Iran has ongoing
enrichment and reprocessing activities. Burns also flagged
as a U.S. priority approval of the U.S.-India civil nuclear
deal, including by the Nuclear Suppliers Group which includes
Australia. End summary.

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U.S.-Australian Alliance
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2. (C) Joel Fitzgibbon, a 45-year-old member of Parliament
who had been sworn in December 3, the previous day, along
with other cabinet members of PM Kevin Rudd's new government,
stressed the importance of Australia's alliance with the
United States. He offered assurances that the strong
relationship between the two countries would not change under
the Rudd government. U/S Burns reciprocated the sentiments,
expressing confidence the United States and Australia would
continue to enjoy a great relationship, despite occasionally
diverging on some issues.

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Afghanistan
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3. (C) After acknowledging U/S Burns' condolences for Luke
Worsley, the third Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan
within the past two months, Fitzgibbon said Australia
remained "absolutely committed" to its engagement in
Afghanistan. Fitzgibbon described Australia's contribution to
Afghanistan as "substantial," noting that Australia's
involvement in Afghanistan, unlike Iraq, enjoyed broad
bipartisan support. While Australia would "stay the course"
in Afghanistan, he cautioned against expectations that
Australia could increase its security contribution there, as
the Australian Defense Force (ADF) was overstretched
operationally, given its other deployments. Fitzgibbon
commented on the need to look beyond the military response in
Afghanistan, noting his government was considering offering
arid agriculture experts and possibly deploying Australian
Federal Police to counter the opium poppy trade. It was
important not to deny opium cultivators their liveihoods
without providing an alternative, he observed. Fitzgibbon
said he planned to attend the December 13-14 International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Regional Command South
Ministerial in Edinburgh.
QMinisterial in Edinburgh.


4. (C) U/S Burns provided Fitzgibbons with an update on
efforts to forge greater solidarity among NATO members in
Afghanistan and outreach to current or potential non-NATO
contributors, including Singapore, New Zealand, and South
Korea. He described plans to establish a senior civilian
position, representing the UN, EU and NATO, to help bring the
civilian and military efforts together in Afghanistan, and
solicited Australia's support for efforts to recruit Paddy
Ashdown for the position.

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Iraq
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5. (C) Fitzgibbon said Iraq had been a divisive domestic
issue in Australia and had strained U.S.-Australia relations.
He reiterated that the Rudd government intended to withdraw
the combat troops stationed in southern Iraq in 2008,
emphasizing that the decision to do so was not driven by
populism but by constraints on capacity. Australian forces
were overstretched. Combat forces in Iraq were needed to
address requirements elsewhere. Nevertheless, he noted, the
GOA had recently reauthorized another six-month rotation for
the 500 combat troops, until the middle of 2008. Fitzgibbon
assured U/S Burns Australia wanted to work closely with the
United States on this issue, and that the withdrawal of
combat elements would be done in close consultation with the
United States. Australia was prepared to leave in place
other, non-combat forces, including air and naval units, as a
demonstration of its long-term commitment to Iraq. The Rudd
government was prepared to publicly remain part of the Iraq
effort, he said, which would allow the United States to count
Australia as part of the coalition.


6. (C) As an example of how overstretched the Australian
Defense Force (ADF) was, Air Chief Marshal Houston observed
that the ADF had deployed over 20,000 personnel to numerous
contingencies over the past two years, representing almost 50
percent of its entire force. Most deployments were drawn
from the Army, which was especially overstretched in the
infantry and cavalry. Two Chinook helicopters -- one-third
of the ADF's inventory -- were preparing to redeploy to
Afghanistan, he noted. The ADF was operating at a very high
operational tempo, with the equivalent of only one battalion
group in reserve to handle any contingency. The ADF needed
to balance its overseas deployment against regional risks.


7. (C) Under Secretary Burns said the United States would
respect the decision of the new Rudd government on Iraq, and
that the withdrawal of combat troops would not damage the
friendship between the two countries. It was important to
manage it in such a way, however, as to do the least damage
to our efforts in Iraq. Fitzgibbon should expect to discuss
this in detail with Secretary Gates.


8. (C) Ambassador McCallum interjected that we envisioned
consultations would continue at senior levels over the coming
months, perhaps culminating in a meeting between the leaders
of the two countries in 2008. U/S Burns described the
improved security in Iraq, citing the lowest casualty figures
in 18 months. Acknowledging the possibility that the
situation could reverse, he contrasted the encouraging
security picture with much work remaining to be done on the
political and legislative fronts. He reaffirmed the U.S.
commitment to Iraq, adding the United States welcomed any
assistance other countries could provide in training,
Qassistance other countries could provide in training,
economic inputs and political support.

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Iran
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9. (C) In a brief discussion of Iran, U/S Burns discussed Ref
A demarche points on the release of the unclassified National
Intelligence Estimates Report on Iran's nuclear program. (Ref
B reports DFAT's response to Ref A demarche.) Burns
emphasized that while the NIE assessed that Iran's nuclear
weapons development had been suspended in 2003, that did not
affect the need to address Iran's ongoing enrichment and
reprocessing activities, which were the focus of the UN
Security Council resolutions. UNSC agreement was nearing on
a third resolution, he added. Fitzgibbon took the points on
board, noting there was continuing pessimism in Australia
over Iran, which was causing great tensions in Israel.

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U.S.-India Civil-Nuclear Deal
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10. (C) U/S Burns flagged the high importance the United
States attached to securing approval for the U.S.-India civil
nuclear arrangement, not only in the Indian Parliament but

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also by consensus in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which
includes Australia. Fitzgibbon noted the Australian Labor
Party, while in opposition, had opposed the Howard
government's policy decision to sell uranium to India because
India had not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,
acknowledging the NSG issue would be a challenge for the Rudd
government. U/S Burns noted this was a priority for
President Bush. Australia should separate its future
decision on uranium sales from the separate issue of the NSG
decision.


11. (U) Under Secretary Burns has cleared this cable.

MCCALLUM