POLAND-IRAQ: FOREIGN MINISTER EXPRESSES CONCERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001221

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2007
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR PL IQ GG
SUBJECT: POLAND-IRAQ: FOREIGN MINISTER EXPRESSES CONCERN
OVER POTENTIAL DOMESTIC POLITICAL FALL-OUT FROM CHANGES IN
LEADERSHIP OF

REF: A. STATE 064773

B. WARSAW 1163

Classified By: DCM Ken Hillas, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga called Ambassador
in on Friday, May 25, to discuss the changes in the
leadership structure of the Multi-National Division Center
South (MND-CS) in Iraq, in particular the decision to create
a new command (MND-C) that would assume command of MND-CS
elements that are based at Camp Delta (Al-Kut),and
consolidate Polish forces in Camp Echo in Al-Diwaniyah
(Reftel A). Fotyga said that there was some "difficulty" in
understanding the situation in light of Ref A non-paper, and
that she wanted some "clarification" of the developments,
specifically the structure and operations of MND-C.
Ambassador and Defense Attache reviewed the changes being
made, with an emphasis on the operational necessity for the
changes, and noted that the Polish Ministry of Defense and
military leadership had agreed to the changes at the most
recent Force Generation Conference.


2. (C) Fotyga expressed surprise at the number of Georgian
troops that would be sent to Iraq, noting it represented a
significant proportion of Georgia's overall military
strength. After a few technical questions about the
structure of the new command, and the apportionment of troops
between MND-CS and MND-C, she noted that this change had the
potential to cause internal political problems for the
government, especially given the opposition to the Iraq and
Afghanistan deployments by the Law and Justice (PiS) party's
junior coalition partners. However, she did not/not ask for
a change in this decision. She repeated twice that the
political leadership "has to be careful" with regard to any
decisions about Iraq, because the coalition partners would
seek to exploit "every tiny item." She noted she had
discussed the matter "very softly" with Minister of Defense
Szczyglo, and then closed discussion of the issue by asking
our understanding. The Ambassador assured her that the U.S.
values Poland's role in Iraq and that the decisions made
there were operationally based. PolCouns added that the
realignment would be beneficial to Georgia's NATO
aspirations, to which Fotyga enthusiastically agreed.


3. (C) Comment: This was the first significant political
reaction we have had to reftel demarche. We believe, given
the way Minister Fotyga presented the issues and then quickly
moved on to other subjects, that the PiS leadership remains
nervous about its coalition partners' eagerness to exploit
any issue related to Iraq. Fotyga's failure to request a
reversal of Georgia/MND-C decision suggests the Polish
Government has accepted this step, even if it harbors
concerns. End Comment.
ASHE