LITHUANIA DECIDES TO KEEP PLATOON IN IRAQ, WILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000511 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS MARR IZ LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA DECIDES TO KEEP PLATOON IN IRAQ, WILL SEND TWO MINISTERS TO WASHINGTON Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN CLOUD FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On July 9, President Adamkus told the Ambassador that Lithuania will meet its commitments in Iraq. He explained that decisions by the Danes and the British to reduce their presence in MNF-southeast forced the Lithuanians to do some restructuring of their presence. President Adamkus has instructed Foreign Minister Vaitiekunas and Defense Minister Olekas to travel to Washington as soon as possible in order to determine next steps for the Lithuanian combat platoon in Iraq. Adamkus acknowledged that Defense Minister Olekas has opposed the continued presence of Lithuania,s combat platoon in Iraq. According to Adamkus, Olekas,s opposition was for purely domestic political reasons. ¶2. (C) Summary continued. The visit of the Ministers to Washington provides the USG with the opportunity to impress upon them the importance of their maintaining the combat platoon in Iraq (with either the Poles or the British) as well as contributing to MNF-I staffs and training missions. The Ministers will look for U.S. support on several other issues. Olekas remains difficult on the issue and will use any ambivalence on our part to reduce dramatically Lithuania,s presence in Iraq. End Summary. ¶3. (C) On July 9, President Adamkus briefed the Ambassador on the results of the July 5 State Defense Council (President, PM, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, CHOD, and Security Service chief) meeting on Iraq. President Adamkus said Lithuania remained committed in Iraq at least through the end of this year. (The Lithuanian parliament recently extended the Government,s authority to deploy forces in Iraq for three more years. The Government has yet to act to extend the mandate beyond the end of this year.) Adamkus said that the decisions by the British and Danes to downsize their presence in MNF-Southeast have forced the Lithuanians to restructure their presence. He believes it would be useful for the Foreign and Defense Ministers to travel to Washington to consult with appropriate high level USG officials on Lithuania,s presence in Iraq. Adamkus confirmed that Defense Minister Olekas has been opposed to maintaining their combat platoon in Iraq. However, Adamkus said he had decided to keep a platoon there at least for the rest of their mandate. ¶4. (C) The GOL has made several missteps on Iraq over the past several months. Defense Minister Olekas used the announcement of the British and Danish downsizing of their mission in MNF-Southeast to call publicly for the withdrawal of Lithuania,s combat platoon from the region. (The Danish downsizing in particular required a Lithuanian response given that Lithuania was 100% dependent on the Danes for logistical support.) While the President,s office, the PM,s office, and the Foreign Ministry at the time all said that Olekas was freelancing, they have allowed Olekas to continue to press this line. When the British initially proposed a series of modest missions for the Lithuanians, the CHOD jumped on options involving training and staff augmentation rather than force protection as being solid and low-risk means to reaching transformation goals. ¶5. (C) Unlike his predecessor, current PM Kirkilas, Olekas is more focused on domestic politics than on the alliance with the U.S. In addition, Olekas unsuccessfully challenged Kirkilas for the position as Social Democratic party chairman in May. In reality, Olekas would have preferred to consolidate Lithuanian combat operations in Afghanistan and might have considered a combat commitment there in addition to the 50-member SOF team that is deploying in the next two weeks. Since the spring, Olekas has misread requests from Washington for additional staff support as acquiescence on our part to the removal of the combat platoon. While the Embassy and DASDs Cagan and Fata have pushed back on this misinterpretation, the recent letter from DepSecDef and calls from the Poles at high level have forced the GOL to reassess their future presence in Iraq. We understand that the President, the PM, and the Foreign Minister support assigning a Lithuanian combat platoon to work with the Poles in the Multinational Division Center South. ¶6. (C) The Ministers are being sent to Washington to find out what we want. MFA Under Secretry Pavilionis told the Ambassador July 11 that the Ministers will also want to discuss: 1) possible increased US foreign assistance and Afghan central government involvement in Ghor Province where Lithuania runs the PRT; 2) Lithuanian concerns regarding the Adapted CFE Treaty; 3) Lithuanian concerns regarding Russian efforts within NATO for a military transit agreement through Lithuania to Kaliningrad; 4) the NATO air policing mission in the Baltics; and 5) upcoming GOL conferences on energy security and defense in the Adriatic-Baltic region. The Ministers will be hoping for U.S. support on the above issues, on many of which -- e.g., revised CFE -- we are in complete agreement with them. CLOUD