ITALY: SCENESETTER FOR SECDEF'S OCT. 30 MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 002235

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR EUR/RPM AND EUR/WE;
OSD FOR SECRETARY GATES, DASD FATA AND RELLEHUUS;
NSC FOR HADLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR NATO IT
SUBJECT: ITALY: SCENESETTER FOR SECDEF'S OCT. 30 MEETING
WITH ITALIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE PARISI: GLOBAL HAWK,
DARFUR HELOS, AFGHANISTAN, KOSOVO

REF: A. STATE 146521

B. STATE 147667

C. ROME 2153

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald P. Spogli, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

Summary
--------------


1. (C/NF) Ambassador met DefMin Parisi October 22 to preview
agenda items likely to come up in Parisi's October 30 meeting
with SecDef Gates. Parisi said he hoped to have a firm
answer on Global Hawk by Oct. 30. He said categorically that
Italy cannot contribute helicopters to the Darfur mission due
to over-stretched helo commitments elsewhere. On
Afghanistan, Parisi affirmed that Italy was committed for the
long-term and could sustain its deployment at current levels,
but could not make or sustain a larger commitment. He
worried that after December 10, Kosovo could experience
crises in which foreign troops become "reference points" for
dissatisfaction, and noted that European publics were not
prepared for this. He said European governments had not done
enough for Serbia in the run up to Dec. 10 and that a
Marshall Plan-type arrangement was needed for Kosovo. Parisi
appreciated Ambassador's readout of the Moscow 2 2 talks (Ref
A). Parisi declared that Italy had managed to maintain and
advance its commitments to NATO and its friendship toward the
U.S. despite a fragile government with a powerful far-left
component. End Summary.

Global Hawk
--------------


2. (C/NF) The Ambassador called on Minister of Defense Arturo
Parisi October 22, to preview agenda items likely to come up
in Parisi's Oct. 30 meeting with Secretary of Defense Gates,
pointing out that Parisi's visit to Washington would be the
first of three high-level Italian visits in the coming months
(the others being President Napolitano and FM D'Alema's in
December and PM Prodi's in February) and would set the tone
for the others. When the Ambassador asked Parisi if Italy
was ready to approve U.S. basing of Global Hawk UAVs at
Sigonella, Parisi said that convergence of Italian, NATO and
US interests in having the asset in Italy would be important.
The Ambassador explained that SecDef would be expecting an
answer on Oct. 30, and that we understood the matter was
ready for decision on the Italian side. Parisi said he would
try to have a decision ready for his Washington visit. (Note:
After the meeting, Parisi's Diplomatic Advisor, Achille
Amerio, told the Ambassador he thought, but could not
guarantee, that we would get approval for Global Hawk on Oct.
30.)


No Helos for Darfur
--------------


3. (C/NF) The Ambassador pressed Parisi to consider
contributing helicopter assets to the Darfur mission per Ref

B. Parisi replied Italy had no such assets to give. The
Ambassador noted that MFA sources had told us Italy was
considering contributing two CH-47s and/or three HH-3F's (Ref
C). Parisi said he was unaware of any such possibility,
noting that this was not a question of political will or
budget, but simply that Italy's rotary assets were stretched
too thin and no additional helicopters were available.

Afghanistan - Italy Committed Long-Term, Only at Current Level
-------------- --------------


4. (C/NF) Parisi said that Italy had confirmed its commitment
in Afghanistan, and pointed out that he has said publicly
that Italian forces would be there until at least 2011.
Parisi cited the coming plus-up of Italian troops and the
additional assets (UAVs, helicopters and force protection
equipment) as evidence of Italy's commitment to doing a solid
job in ISAF. He said Italy was doing what it could with a

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difficult domestic political situation and in a region of
Afghanistan that was getting more dangerous. Parisi asserted
that Italy could sustain its the deployment at current levels
for the coming years, but would be unable to contribute or
sustain more.

Kosovo - Needs a Marshall Plan, Attention to Serbia
-------------- --------------


5. (C/NF) The Ambassador stressed the importance of EU unity
on Kosovo, especially if, as expected, negotiations fail to
produce a solution by Dec. 10. Parisi said he had recently
met the Slovenian DefMin who was less pessimistic. Parisi
thought Kosovo needed something akin to the Marshall Plan, as
its economy was awful and likely to get worse. He worried
that if things go poorly there, foreign troops could become
"a reference point" for public unhappiness, a situation for
which European publics were not prepared. Italy was very
limited in what it could do at this point. He opined that
the EU should have offered more support to Serbia earlier:
now there would be a rush to offer the Serbs carrots, but
they would be too little, too late.

Missile Defense, Sheppard AFB Trip, Italy a Good Ally
-------------- --------------


6. (C/NF) The Ambassador gave Parisi Ref A readout of the
mid-October 2 2 talks in Moscow. Parisi commented, "So they
didn't go so badly as the press said..." He noted the
importance of his visit to Sheppard AFB, immediately after
his meeting with SecDef Oct. 30. Traveling there with
Italian press was, Parisi said, a chance to show Italians
that they had troops based in the U.S. too, not just the
other way around.


7. (C/NF) Parisi emphasizing that Italy had remained a good
Ally and friend of the U.S. despite the difficult Italian
government coalition in which a single extreme leftist
senator could bring the government down. He said that "we
have no differences on the fundamentals" and showed the
Ambassador a graph of Italian defense spending with a
significant upward trend over the past two years. Parisi
called the GOI's ability to resolve satisfactorily almost all
of our defense-related issues and those of the Alliance "a
miracle" of which he was clearly proud.


8. (C/NF) Comment: That Parisi feels he is working miracles
in maintaining NATO commitments and keeping alive the
50-year-old defense relationship with the U.S. speaks
volumes. Parisi remains a nearly full-time domestic
politician, better versed in the vicissitudes of Italian
political maneuvering than in the issues in his defense
portfolio, of which he has, in our experience, a somewhat
superficial understanding. However, Italian senior officials
do not like to come to Washington empty-handed, so the Oct.
30 meeting with Secretary Gates is a superb opportunity to
close on some key issues in play.
End comment.

SPOGLI