Baghdad Response to IG Report Regional Embassy Offices in

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002669 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASIG AMGT ABLDG ASEC IZ SUBJECT: Baghdad Response to IG Report Regional Embassy Offices in Iraq REF: Geisel-Hill Letter 08/18/2009 (SBU) Sensitive but Unclassified. Protect Accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. State IG Middle East Regional Office (MERO) Review of the Roles, Staffing, and effectiveness of Regional Embassy Offices in Iraq dated August 18, 2009 (Report Number MERO-IQO-09-09, August 2009) made one recommendation about planning for the eventual opening of U.S. Consulates in Iraq. That recommendation reads: "Upon receiving policy direction from the Administration to proceed forward in the normalization of relations with the Government of Iraq, Embassy Baghdad should develop a detailed plan for establishing consulates in Iraq. The plan should contain an analysis of the security situation, life support, and other logistical requirements at proposed sites." The Embassy agrees with the recommendation and, although final policy direction from the Administration as to the size and nature of the future U.S. presence outside Baghdad has yet to be determined, the Embassy has begun intensive planning and preparation for the many issues that will need to be addressed once direction is forthcoming. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Diplomatic relations between the United States and Iraq are already normalized in many respects, as evidenced in part by the fact that each country maintains an embassy and additional diplomatic posts in the other country, and each country's embassy is led by an accredited Ambassador. Embassy Baghdad therefore understands the phrase "Upon receiving policy direction from the Administration to proceed forward in the normalization of relations" to mean that the Embassy will proceed in accordance with the Administration's instruction once the Administration has determined the nature of its desired presence in Iraq post-2012, when the withdrawal of U.S. military forces is complete. As the U.S. military presence in Iraq declines -- with withdrawal of all U.S. forces to occur no later than December 31, 2011 -- the conduct of bilateral relations will increasingly become the sole purview of U.S. Embassy Baghdad, performed by an interagency team led by the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. The U.S. presence in Iraq will also include several additional facilities, including consulates and other operations (currently referred to informally as "Provincial Diplomatic Teams," or PDTs),whose location, size, and composition are the subject of ongoing deliberations at senior levels of the Administration. ¶3. (SBU) As of September 2009, there are 16 Provincial Reconstruction teams (PRTs) and seven embedded PRTs (ePRTs) located throughout Iraq, as well as Regional Embassy Offices (REOs) in Hillah and Basrah. The REO in Hillah, which serves as the administrative and operational platform for PRT Babil, will be closed by October 30th. The PRT in Hillah is being relocated to a U.S. forward operating base in Kalsu and, once this is done, the building housing the former REO will be decommissioned and returned to Iraq by the end of 2009. A requirement of the decommissioning process is a formal notification to Congress of the Department of State's intention to close the REO. The notification was transmitted to Congress on September 15, 2009. ¶4. (SBU) The Embassy and MNF-I are currently negotiating arrangements to embed the existing Basrah REO and Basrah PRT in Basrah Air Base. No decision has been made as to whether Basrah will be the site of a future U.S. consulate. ¶5. (SBU) As for the future of other U.S. operations in other locations in Iraq, the seven ePRTs will be folded into their parent PRTs by August 2010. Administration policy is to maintain 16 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (one for the 3 Kurdish Regional QProvincial Reconstruction Teams (one for the 3 Kurdish Regional Government provinces and one each in the other 15 provinces) through August 2011. From August 2011 until December 2011, further consolidation will take place, leaving a smaller number of U.S. presence posts when the military completes its withdrawal. ¶6. (SBU) As noted in MERO's report, a 2004 agreement between the United States and Iraq provides that Iraq will transfer title to properties in Mosul and Basrah to the United States for future consulate sites, but no decisions have been made as to the ultimate number and location of U.S. consulates. Ultimately, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Government of Iraq must consent to the opening of a new consulate and must approve of its location and consular district. The Department will also be required to complete congressional notification procedures prior to the opening of a new consulate. Nevertheless, the planning process to determine the U.S. presence in Iraq in 2012 and beyond began in May 2009 and is ongoing. Embassy Baghdad has had significant input into deliberations in Washington, and OPA has begun a number of planning processes in advance of the final Administration decision, that will be applicable regardless of how many consulates and other U.S. presences (including PDTs). ¶7. (SBU) These plans include working in concert with Multinational Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) and other Embassy sections to develop detailed plans for PRT and ePRT drawdown/closures; planning for a reduced PRT footprint by identifying key strategic priorities and diverting reduced resources to these provinces and functions; reviewing resource requirements for enduring presences (including consulates) and identifying equipment, vehicles and other resources the U.S. military may be able to provide to meet those requirements; and determining cost estimates for various enduring presence options for security operations, life support, personnel, facilities upgrades and other resource requirements. ¶8. (SBU) Planning for U.S. provincial presence in Iraq will continue and intensify once Administration policy with regard to the location of consulates and any other USG presences is finalized. Hill