DEMARCHE REQUEST TO NATO ALLIES AND PARTNERS FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 099701

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2018
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS NATO IZ
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST TO NATO ALLIES AND PARTNERS FOR
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT TO NATO TRAINING MISSION-IRAQ

REF: A. SECSTATE 73794

B. SECSTATE 96122

C. USNATO 00144

Classified By: EUR Nerissa Cook, Acting DAS for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) This is an action request to alert NATO Allies and
select NATO Partners -- particularly those that are departing
the Iraq Coalition -- that Prime Minister Maliki has asked
the Alliance to maintain the NATO Training Mission-Iraq
(NTM-I) through at least 2009. We would urge Allies and
Partners to provide additional resources to support the new
training tasks in response to Maliki's request for an
expanded mission and to fill gaps in the current force
structure in preparation for a September 26 NTM-I Manpower
Coordination conference. Please see action requests in
paragraph 5.

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BACKGROUND
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2. (C) Fourteen NATO Allies and one Partner - Ukraine -
currently contribute to NTM-I. In response to ref A, six
contributors report that they plan to increase their
contributions to NTM-I: Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovenia,
Ukraine, and the UK.


3. (C) Recently, Posts demarched capitals on the drawdown of
the Iraq Coalition from twenty-three partners to five as a
result of improved security throughout Iraq and the
Government of Iraq's (GOI) desire for a reduced coalition
presence after 2008 (see ref B). Initial responses to ref B
indicate that Macedonia, a non-contributing NATO partner, and
the Czech Republic, which initially responded with no
increase, are now interested in contributing or increasing
their support to NTM-I. For most of the seventeen partners
departing Iraq this fall, the drawdown of the coalition
should allow Partners to recalibrate their troop
contributions for other missions, to include NTM-I. Posts
should highlight the drawdown and the increased level of
security in Iraq when demarching Allied and Partner capitals
to contribute or increase their contribution to NTM-I.

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MANPOWER COORDINATION CONFERENCE AND NEW PARTNERS
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4. (C) On September 26, SHAPE will host a manpower
conference where Allies and Ukraine are invited to announce
contributions to the new staffing requirements list, called
Crisis Establishment 6.0 (see ref A for NTM-I background).
Other NATO Partner nations such as Albania, Australia,
Azerbaijan, and Macedonia should be encouraged to have their
national representatives at SHAPE directly contact the
International Coordination Center, which falls under the
SHAPE J3, to join this meeting and announce their own
contributions to NTM-I. In addition to these CE 6.0 slots,
NATO also is looking for Allies to lead new training programs
in areas such as advanced forensics, border security, and
Iraqi air force and navy leadership training. These specific
training requests are in direct response to PM Maliki's Jan
29 letter to NATO's Secretary General. They were highlighted
in the NATO Bucharest Summit Declaration and then stressed
again by PM Maliki at an April meeting with the North
Atlantic Council in Brussels (see ref C). Allies agreed in
July 2008 to expand NTM-I into these areas. Some new
training tasks, such as border security and advanced
forensics, could be performed by non-military personnel.
This could potentially enable Allies and Partners to exceed
current limits to their military support to NTM-I by using
Interior Ministry training teams to conduct these
non-military functions.

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ACTION REQUEST
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5. (C/REL NATO Allies and Ukraine) In light of the drawdown
of the Coalition in Iraq, improved security throughout Iraq,
and PM Maliki's request to continue and expand the NTM-I
mission, Posts are requested to deliver the following points
to senior MFA and MOD officials in advance of the September
26 NTM-I manpower conference:

For London:

-- Thank the United Kingdom for its leadership in NTM-I and
for its continued contributions. We understand the United
Kingdom is considering acting as the Principal Coordinating
Nation within NTM-I for a significantly expanded Iraqi
officer training program, and the United States strongly
supports this initiative.

-- Building on the success of your forensics program in Iraq,
we ask that you consider supporting NTM-I with an advanced
forensics training program in response to PM Maliki's direct
request to NATO.

For Bucharest, Kyiv, Ljubljana, Prague, Rome, and Warsaw:

-- Thank Allies and Ukraine for their continued contributions
to NTM-I and confirm how they plan to increase their
contributions to NTM-I.

(Note for Poland: Congratulate Poland for its critical
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) role, especially Poland's
five-year leadership of the Multinational Division (Central
South),which at one point included 8,000 troops from a
multitude of nations. This experience shows that Poland has
the skill and credibility to continue providing leadership
and forces in NTM-I. Poland's withdrawal of its 780 troops
from the Iraq Coalition may provide an opportunity to give
additional consideration to increasing its NTM-I contingent
by 60-100 personnel, which Polish embassy officials in
Baghdad previously suggested to the NTM-I POLAD. Poland is
building two expeditionary Military Police battalions, and
NTM-I is an ideal location for them to be employed.)

(Note for Romania: Encourage Romania to utilize its NATO
Center of Excellence on Human Intelligence (HUMINT) to
provide a HUMINT training augmentation team to NTM-I to train
Iraqi security forces.)

(Note for Ukraine: As Ukraine completes its OIF mission,
encourage it to increase its contribution to NTM-I.)

For Tallinn:

-- Thank Estonia for its continued contribution to NTM-I and
acknowledge that Estonia is contributing to KFOR and ISAF,
and has been asked to stay in the Iraq Coalition past 2008.

-- We are looking to expand NTM-I in the area of border
security training. Ask Estonia to consider how it might
contribute training personnel in support of such a new
effort.

For Budapest, Copenhagen, the Hague, Lisbon, and Vilnius:

-- Thank Allies for their continued contributions to NTM-I
and encourage them to review the staffing requirements from
the recently released CE 6.0 in order to contribute to the
mission with more trainers and advisors. (Note: SHAPE
distributed a new manning request - Crisis Establishment 6.0
- in mid August.)

-- Acknowledge that all are contributing to multiple NATO
operations and note that contributions to NTM-I also include
training augmentation teams (TATs) that are small teams
deployed to Iraq for short intervals of less than six months.
Some new training tasks, such as border security and
advanced forensics, could be performed by non-military
personnel. Ask Allies to consider additional support using
civilian training teams.

(Note for Hungary: Encourage Hungary to utilize its NATO
Center of Excellence on Medical Support (MED) to provide a
paramedics TAT to NTM-I to train Iraqi security forces.)

(Note for Netherlands: Encourage the Netherlands to utilize
its NATO Centers of Excellence on Command and Control (C2)
and Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) to provide C2 and
CIMIC training augmentation teams to NTM-I to train Iraqi
security forces.)

For Ankara:

-- Thank Turkey for its continued support of NTM-I, and
determine whether, in addition to providing assistance on any
other training requirements, it would be willing to become
the lead nation for a border security training program along
the lines of the Carabinieri model.

-- The United States recognizes that Turkey is better
positioned than any other Ally to perform this significant,
new role which would send a strong signal of NATO,s support
to the Iraqi government. We strongly support such a Turkish
role if Turkey is prepared to do so.

-- As the lead nation for a new border security training
initiative within NTM-I, Turkey would determine the size and
scope of the new training effort. Such a program could
encompass 20-30 Turkish trainers at a location in Iraq, under
NTM-I authority, with a commitment of at least one year.

(Note to Post: The Turkish delegation at NATO has been
approached with this proposal and has readily agreed to ask
for guidance from Ankara. In August, a Turkish military
representative from JFC-Naples traveled to Iraq with a NATO
assessment team to help develop a border security training
program for NTM-I.)

For all NATO Allies and Ukraine:

-- Stress to government officials that Allied leaders
committed at the Bucharest Summit to "favorably consider the
Government of Iraq's request to enhance the NATO Training
Mission-Iraq (NTM-I) mission in areas such as navy and air
force leadership training, police, and border security" among
other areas that are specifically stated in the Summit
Declaration.

-- Note that contributions to NTM-I also include training
augmentation teams (TATs) that are small teams deployed to
Iraq for short intervals of less than six months. Some new
training tasks, such as border security and advanced
forensics, could be performed by non-military personnel. Ask
Allies to consider additional support using civilian training
teams.

-- Urge Allies to contribute to the NTM-I Trust fund.

-- Note that we hope Allies respond favorably to SHAPE's
requests for more trainers and advisors in order to continue
and expand the successful NTM-I mission.

-- Explain to government officials, if necessary, that
anything less than full support for PM Maliki's direct
request for additional training not only sends a negative
political message to the PM and the Iraqi people, but also
falls short of the Alliance's agreed-to objective of ensuring
the establishment of fully functioning and self-sustaining
Iraqi security structures responsible to the democratically
formed Iraqi Government.

(Note for Bulgaria: We understand that Bulgaria intends to
contribute five military personnel to NTM-I and hope this is
announced at the September 26 manpower conference at SHAPE.
Thank Bulgaria for this commitment and encourage Bulgaria to
look into the possibility of contributing additional support
as the mission expands through Training Augmentation Teams in
the future.)

(Note for Italy: Thank Italy for its highly successful
Carabinieri training program. We hope to see this effort,
recently expanded to increase training output, to continue.
We would be interested in learning whether Italy would
consider contributing additional personnel to a new border
security effort.)

(Note for Spain: Encourage Spain to utilize its NATO Center
of Excellence on Counter Improvised Explosive Devices (CIED)
to provide a training augmentation team to NTM-I to help
train Iraqi security forces in CIED.)

-- (If raised) As the Chapter VII mandate relating to status
protections for the MNF-I likely will not be renewed in
December, we encourage NATO to engage the GOI as soon as
possible in a full and frank discussion on the means by which
they can preserve the status protections currently afforded
to NATO personnel pursuant to the existing Exchange of
Letters (EOLs) with the GOI to ensure that NTM-I's critical
mission proceeds seamlessly.

-- (If raised) We are willing to help as NATO works to secure
an EOL or other appropriate arrangements between NATO and the
GOI.

-- (If raised) We would encourage new EOLs rather than a full
NATO-GOI SOFA.

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SELECT PARTNER REQUESTS
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6. (C / REL Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia) In
light of the drawdown of the Coalition in Iraq, PM Maliki's
request to continue and expand the NTM-I mission, and NATO's
willingness to include more NATO Partners, Posts are
requested to deliver the following points to senior MFA and
MOD officials:

For Tallinn, Canberra, Baku, and Skopje:

-- Thank you for your country's contributions in Iraq over
the last several years.

-- As an international security provider, your country's
military capabilities would be of great value in providing
trainers and mentors to the NATO Training Mission in Iraq.

-- On September 26, SHAPE is hosting a manpower conference
for NTM-I and is looking for Allies and Partners to fill the
staffing requirements.

-- We encourage your national representatives at SHAPE to
directly contact the International Coordination Center, which
falls under the SHAPE J3 (Operations),to join this meeting
and to announce your contributions or interest in
contributing to NTM-I.

-- We hope Partners respond favorably to SHAPE,s requests
for more trainers and advisors in order to continue and
expand the successful NTM-I mission.

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REPORTING AND POINT OF CONTACT
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7. (U) Department requests Posts demarche as soon as possible
and report responses via front channel message by September
24 in anticipation of the September 26 NTM-I manpower
conference, to be followed by a NATO Global Force Generation
conference in November. Please contact EUR/RPM Chris Davy at
DavyRC@state.sgov.gov or 202-647-2127 for additional
information.
RICE