Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BRUSSELS355
2009-03-13 09:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
USEU Brussels
Cable title:  

EU'S ROBERT COOPER AND S/P SLAUGHTER DISCUSS

Tags:  PREL IS AF PK PBK EUN 
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P 130942Z MAR 09
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000355 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2019
TAGS: PREL IS AF PK PBK EUN
SUBJECT: EU'S ROBERT COOPER AND S/P SLAUGHTER DISCUSS
MIDDLE EAST, AFGHANISTAN, AND IRAN

Classified By: USEU POL M-C Chris Davis for reasons 1.4 (b. and d.)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000355

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2019
TAGS: PREL IS AF PK PBK EUN
SUBJECT: EU'S ROBERT COOPER AND S/P SLAUGHTER DISCUSS
MIDDLE EAST, AFGHANISTAN, AND IRAN

Classified By: USEU POL M-C Chris Davis for reasons 1.4 (b. and d.)

1.(C) SUMMARY: On the margin of the U.S.-EU Ministerial
Troika March 6, S/P Anne-Marie Slaughter met with EU Council
Secretariat DG Robert Cooper, who asked that the USG "raise
the temperature" on Israeli settlements, and help enhance
movement and access for Palestinians. Noting some divergence
with respect to the fate of PM Salam Fayyad and dealing with
moderate members of Hamas, Dr. Slaughter urged the EU and the
U.S. to get on the same page regarding the formation of a
Palestinian unity government. Cooper argued that solving
Cyprus could remove impasses to NATO sharing information with
EUPOL in Afghanistan and to the U.S. participating in
EUSR-Bosnia, heretofore blocked by Turkey-Cyprus disputes.
Cooper was wary about the prospects of success in
Afghanistan, and said the European public was against
involvement there. Cooper encouraged U.S.-Iranian
consultations on Afghanistan. On Iran's nuclear program,
Cooper said the best we could hope for was a freeze and
transparency. Mr. Cooper was accompanied by John Gatt-Rutter
of the Council Secretariat's Middle East Task Force, and Dr.
Slaughter by USEU Pol M-C. Dr. Slaughter's meeting with the
Head of the Policy Unit at the Secretariat, Helga Schmid, is
reported septel. End Summary


The Middle East: Trade is the Thing
--------------


2. (C) Opening their discussion with the Middle East, both
Dr. Slaughter and Mr. Cooper noted that Secretary Clinton and
High Representative Solana had been deeply affected by their
recent visits to Ramallah and Gaza, respectively. Cooper
pressed the point that Palestinians now need access more than
anything. By obstructing access, he said, Israeli
authorities were flouting the agreement on Palestinian
movement and access negotiated by the U.S. Access means
trade, Cooper continued, which it the key to Palestinian
recovery, not "throwing money" at the problem. Dr. Slaughter
noted that an Israel-Palestine-Jordan free trade agreement,
on the model of the Benelux countries, was worth
reconsidering, citing the writing of Gidon Gottlieb on this
subject. She added that the EU could nurture such a

"Benelux" approach through its Euro-Mediterranean Union, and
the U.S. could provide security. Israel might be prompted to
consider the idea, she said, by the worsening global economic
crisis.


Stop Settlements
--------------


3. (C) Robert Cooper expressed satisfaction upon hearing
that the Secretary was upset about the Israeli order to
demolish some Palestinian apartment buildings in East
Jerusalem issued earlier that same week. Cooper said he
hoped the Secretary would remain "fighting mad" about that.
Shifting to a discussion about Israeli settlements, Cooper
said they were "at the heart" of the Israeli-Palestinian
problem. Since Oslo, he continued, there has been one
settlement after the other. Cooper speculated that if the
USG was willing to raise the temperature on settlements, the
EU could institute something such as a "no-settlements"
content rule in trade with Israel. Dr. Slaughter said the
USG was waiting for the formation of a new Israeli government
before pronouncing on settlements.


Unity Government, but what about Fayyad?
--------------


4. (C) Dr. Slaughter asked that the EU insist on keeping
Salam Fayyad as PA prime minister, saying that the USG
supported Palestinian reconciliation, but not to the point
where Fayyad is obliged to leave. Gatt-Rutter suggested that
Fayyad could be excellent as a finance minister and could
better monitor the money pledged for the Palestinians.
Noting that Fayyad was the exemplar of a government of
technocrats, Cooper thought that Fayyad could be an effective
eminence grise to the Palestinian Authority. Both Cooper and
Gatt-Rutter contended that Hamas included a broad spectrum of
people, some educated and "reasonable," and that Mahmoud
Abbas was coming around to the idea of sharing power with
moderates in Hamas. Dr. Slaughter stated that the U.S. and
EU needed to get on the same page on this question,
acknowledging that Abbas as much as suggested that too much
visible support from us might weaken him. Cooper said that
High Representative Javier Solana "lives the Middle East and
is relentlessly optimistic a

BRUSSELS 00000355 002 OF 003


bout it," and encouraged the Secretary to talk to him often
about it.


The Broader Middle East: Cyprus
--------------


5. (C) Both Cooper and Slaughter agreed that solving the
Cyprus problem could have a positive ripple effect for other
seemingly intractable problems in the Middle East. Cooper
said this is the year to fix it, particularly since the Greek
and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Christofias and Talat, can
apparently work together. The Greek Cypriots should
understand, said Cooper, that property resettlements would
cost them nothing.


6. (C) As examples of the detrimental effects of the Cyprus
vs. Turkey dynamic, Cooper said that Turkey blocks NATO from
sharing intelligence with the EU in Afghanistan, "which could
end up costing us lives lost." Cyprus, for its part, wants
to stop the EU from inviting the U.S. to take part in a large
EU Special Representative mission to Bosnia (once the Office
of the High Representative closes, which Cooper said he
thought was inevitable). The Cypriots, he said, see the U.S.
as a Trojan horse for Turkey's own involvement in the EUSR
mission. Cooper complained of bad faith on the part of both
Turkey and Cyprus: the Ankara Protocol allowing Cypriot ships
into Turkish ports, he said, has not been implemented; the
Greek Cypriots acted in bad faith regarding the Annan Plan
(and, by extension, the premise of their own accession to the
EU).


Afghanistan and Pakistan: The Truth
--------------


7. (C) Speaking candidly about Afghanistan, Robert Cooper
told Dr. Slaughter that "the truth" was that the war was very
unpopular in Europe. While he lauded Defense Secretary
Gates, Cooper was still troubled by lingering parallels with
the Soviets' failed adventure in Afghanistan and the U.S. war
in Vietnam. Cooper punctuated his discussion with remarks
such as, "Why are we there?" "Everything we do is always
wrong there," and "9-11 was organized in Pakistan, not
Afghanistan." The Western effort in Afghanistan lacks
legitimacy in the eyes of the Afghan people, Cooper
continued. "Look at France during World War Two," he
remarked. "More than 70,000 French were killed by Allied
action there, yet the French, who wanted an Allied victory,
kept quiet about that." Cooper contrasted that attitude with
President Karzai's public criticisms about civilian
casualties in Afghanistan. While Cooper acknowledged that
Karzai got rid of (the corrupt) justice and interior
ministers, he judged that the Afghan electorate would vote
for what it perceived the U.S. wanted; so why not support a
candidate other than Karzai?


8. (C) S/P Slaughter responded that the Afghan National Army
is doing better, but we still needed an integrated NATO
strategy, to include a civilian surge. Civilian mentors can
report corruption right away, she said. Dr. Slaughter said
she thought the U.S. public would not support rebuilding
Afghanistan as a goal in itself, and we therefore needed a
realistic framework for our strategy. She said she expected
Robert Cooper to be encouraged by how we frame our objectives
in the Afghanistan/Pakistan policy review. On the long term
in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Cooper said he would try to
introduce Dr. Slaughter to English professor Geoff Mulgan,
who argues that governments overestimate what they can change
in the short term, and underestimate their long-term impact.


9. (C) Slaughter and Cooper agreed on the importance of
Pakistan, Dr. Slaughter saying she thought the recent attack
against the cricketers in Lahore would help turn the tide of
Pakistani public opinion against such extremism. Taking a
lesson from the Irish Republic Army, Cooper cautioned that
the loss of legitimacy for extremists may only come "at the
end of a long, long process."


Iran: Transparent Freeze
--------------


10. (C) Robert Cooper said he thought there was little
chance stopping Iran from going nuclear, if that is really
what Iran wanted. He quipped that the favorite Iranian
pastime, however, is not making decisions. The best we can
do, Cooper said, is to "freeze things as they are," and get
maximum transparency. He said he was happy to hear of the

BRUSSELS 00000355 003 OF 003


idea of having the USG and Tehran attend the same conference
on Afghanistan. He noted that a visiting Iranian diplomat
had lamented to interlocutors at the Council in Brussels on
March 5 the lack of consultations with Iran on Afghanistan.
While sanguine about the prospect of new USG approaches to
Iran, Dr. Slaughter warned that could not lose sight of
Israel's redlines with respect to Iran's nuclear program.


11. (U) This cable has been cleared by Dr. Slaughter.

MURRAY
.