PORTUGUESE NATIONAL GUARD POISED TO DEPLOY

C O N F I D E N T I A L LISBON 000607

NOFORN
SIPDIS

EUR/RPM FOR RAPHAEL CARLAND AND AARON COPE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2019
TAGS: EZ MARR PREL PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGUESE NATIONAL GUARD POISED TO DEPLOY
TRAINERS TO ISAF

REF: LISBON 513

Classified By: Poleconoff Mario Fernandez,
reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: Portuguese Lieutenant Colonel Carlos
Alves, Head of Strategic Planning and International Affairs
at the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR),Portugal's National
Guard equivalent, told us December 3 that the Portuguese
government had made a decision to deploy a GNR contingent of
trainers to ISAF and would be making an official offer at the
Force Generation Conference in Belgium, December 7. The
exact number of trainers or the nature of their mission had
yet to be determined. Whereas the GNR had contemplated
deploying 10 trainers to the Mazar-e-Sharif Training Center,
the Portuguese Ministry of Defense had suggested, following
President Obama's speech December 1, that the GNR contribute
a Police Operational Mentoring Liasion Team, consisting of 25
trainers, to be deployed in Afghanistan as necessary. The
decision to deploy GNR trainers follows a long internal
deliberation that reportedly included approval by the
President. While it is somewhat troubling that the GOP has
yet to nail down its GNR contribution to ISAF four days
before the Force Generation Conference, and though its
contribution likely will be modest, the decision to deploy
trainers signals Portugal's strong commitment to NATO's
efforts in Afghanistan. End Summary.


2. (C/NF) According to Alves, senior GNR staff had been
trying since early 2009 to persuade officials at the Interior
Ministry, to which the GNR reports, to deploy GNR trainers to
ISAF as part of the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF). The
decision was delayed, however, by the Portuguese
Parliamentary Elections in September, and the resulting
shuffle of ministers. Following a multilateral EGF
fact-finding mission to Afghanistan in October -- led,
incidentally, by a Portuguese GNR officer -- the GNR
submitted a proposal to the Interior Minister to deploy 20
GNR officers to the Mazar-e-Sharif Training Center. Interior
Minister Rui Pereira punted, declaring that the decision was
too important to be made by a lame duck minister. When
Pereira was reappointed in October, he bounced the proposal
up to the Prime Minister, who reportedly consulted with the
President because of the issue's "sensitivity." (Note: The
PM and President are from the two main political parties, not
the same party.)


3. (C/NF) While the GOP has reached a decision twvQ={I5qsident." The PM hoped
to increase the
number to 20 at a later date, once an initial deployment of
GNR trainers was firmly in place. The President agreed.
Alves reports, however, that in the wake of President Obama's
speech December 1, Ministry of Defense officials proposed
that the GNR contribute an entire Police Operational
Mentoring Liaison Team, of 25 trainers, to be deployed in
Afghanistan as necessary. The GOP will be sorting this out
in the next few days but, Alves underscored, the GNR is
prepared to go either route -- or both routes, an option also
under consideration. Deployment could take place as early as
late January.


4. (C/NF) Comment: The long, deliberative process is part and
parcel of the GOP's decision making. The process delays
decisions -- in some cases decisions are overtaken by events
-- but ensures that consensus is reached. While it is
interesting that the GOP has yet to nail down its GNR
contribution to ISAF four days before the Force Generation
Conference, and though its contribution likely will be
modest, the GOP decision to deploy trainers is a welcome and
tangible symbol of Portugal's strong commitment to NATO's
efforts in Afghanistan.


For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal,
please see our Intelink site:

http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal
BALLARD