ISAF: ITALY CONFIRMS STRASBOURG PLEDGE OF 524

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000424 SIPDIS EUR/RPM FOR RAPHAEL CARLAND AND AARON COPE OSD/ISA FOR MAGGIE SADOWSKA JCS J5 FOR THERESE PAWLOWSKI E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS NATO IT AF SUBJECT: ISAF: ITALY CONFIRMS STRASBOURG PLEDGE OF 524 TROOPS AND TRAINERS REF: A. STATE 31102 ¶B. ROME 346 ¶C. ROME 388 ¶D. ROME 364 Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor J. Liam Wasley for R easons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) Overview and Summary: Italian MFA Officials confirmed on April 10 Italy's NATO Summit offers of 524 new troops and trainers for Afghanistan. This number represents a last-minute ramp-up in the final days before the summit from Italy's planned contribution of 324 (Ref A),which was previewed to post shortly before the Summit as being contingent upon MOD's ability to overcome resistance in the Ministry of Finance to new defense expenditures (Ref B). The number of Carabinieri trainers and staff could increase as the structure and mandate of the new NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan (NTM-A) is developed and if Italy is given a leading role in it (ideally one of the Deputy Commander Positions). We found the Italians to be focused and pragmatic in their approach to NTM-A: they have a certain pride of ownership, having been engaged for almost a year in training Afghan police in a bilateral agreement with CSTC-A modeled on their NTM-I police training program, and are concerned that a project in which they have invested much effort may fall under the flag of the French (to be reported septel). Italy would like to send a Carabinieri delegation (led by a General Officer) to Kabul as soon as practicable to determine with CSTC-A the disposition of the 50 pledged Carabinieri, which Italy plans to use in Police Mentoring Teams (PMTs) in the Focused District Development (FDD) Framework. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Poloffs met with Italian MFA Political-Military Director Massimo Marotti on April 10 to review Italy's announced contributions at the April 3-4 Strasbourg-Kehl Summit. Marotti confirmed that Italy had increased its contribution of 240 Election Support Forces (ESF) in RC-West to 400. When asked whether the 400 ESF could be made permanent, thereby filling existing CJSOR shortfalls and rounding out the third maneuver battalion in RC-West, Marotti said that it might be considered in the next defense budget decree, but would probably not be explicitly approved in this budget cycle (the GOI is currently drafting the decree covering July-December 2009, which Parliament will vote on in June). He reiterated Italy's desire to rotate all or part of its RC-Capital battle group (500 troops) from Kabul to Herat when the Turks assume command of RC-Capital in December, security conditions permitting. Italian Focus on NTM-A Command Structure - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (C) MOD Political Adviser Alessandro Ruben asked A/Pol M-C on April 9 to convey Italy's strong desire for one of the Deputy Commander positions in NTM-A, given Italy's leadership of the NTM-I Iraqi police training effort and the fact that the Carabinieri have been working with CSTC-A bilaterally on the ANCOP training program for nearly a year. Marotti said that Italy's goal is to determine the framework and mandate of NTM-A before discussing a possible role for the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) within it (septel). Marotti reported that Italy would like to send a Carabinieri delegation (led by a General Officer) to Kabul as soon as practicable to determine with CSTC-A the disposition of the 50 pledged Carabinieri, which Italy plans to use in Police Mentoring Teams (PMTs) in the Focused District Development (FDD) Framework. Breakdown of Offers - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (C/REL ISAF) Marotti provided the following breakdown of offers: ¶A. Election Support Forces (ESF) ROME 00000424 002 OF 002 -- 400 ESF troops for RC-West (roughly 2 companies) -- 2 C-27 Transport Aircraft with 40 flight crew and support personnel -- Euro 10 million for UNDP Election Fund (note: this is part of a previous pledge of development aid) ¶B. OMLTs: No new pledges, although Italy will continue to urge other RC-West partners to contribute OMLTs. (Italy pledged 7 OMLTs at Bucharest. The 7th OMLT is to deploy shortly (Shindand CSS/5/2/207). (Embassy notes that in the matrix circulated by the International Staff there are two potential OMLT offers listed, one for Shindand and one for Farah. Marotti clarified that these were slots considered for the deployment for the seventh OMLT, not two separate offers). ¶C. ANA Trust Fund: -- Considering offer of Euro 2 million. (See Note 1 below) ¶D. NTM-A Potentialities -- Increase from about 50 to 100 Carabinieri for ANP training and tutoring (ANCOP and FDD) (Note: 34 Carabinieri are currently training ANCOP at the Adraskan training center, Herat Province, and 11 Carabinieri are assigned to EUPOL) -- Further Carabinieri could be contributed as needed as NTM-A structure and mandate are defined. -- Considering increase in Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) trainers and financial/customs advisers. (16 Guardia di Finanza currently train Afghan Border Police at the U.S.-funded Regional Training Center in Herat). (See Note 2 below) ¶E. Other: -- 2 additional Tornado jet fighters (4 in total). This is not a new commitment; Italy pledged the 4 Tornados last year but 2 have remained outside of theater while NAMSA finishes work on the Herat runway. -- 3 additional Medevac helos with 34 personnel. -- Considering elimination of remaining caveats (Note: Italy downgraded its geographic caveat in June 2008 to a "remark" requiring 6 hours advance consultation time for any COMISAF in extremis request for deployment outside of RC-West or RC-Capital. Only remaining caveat that post is aware of is a prohibition on turning prisoners over to Afghan authorities if there is a possibility of application of the death penalty). -- Will provide support to NATO TV (This involves the possible provision of Italian news television crews for specific assignments). ¶4. (C) Notes: Note 1: MOD La Russa indicated to USDP Flournoy at Strasbourg that the amount was still under consideration and would be announced separately by PM Berlusconi. Post continues to encourage Italy to make a more substantial effort. Note 2: Guardia di Finanza: The USG has on several occasions urged Italy to increase the number of Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) trainers so as to expand border police training to other regions, conduct training at border crossings like the Islam Qala crossing with Iran, and to begin training of Afghan Customs Officials in Herat, Kabul or elsewhere. MOD La Russa told USDP Italy was considering doubling the current GdF training contingent from 16 to 32, Ministry of Finance permitting. Guardia di Finanza are a militarized police force under both MOD and Ministry of Finance Authority. They have expertise in customs and revenue, money laundering, tax fraud and counternarcotics investigations, VIP protection and regular law enforcement duties. DIBBLE