US embassy cable - 04MADRID2936

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002936 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NP, T, EUR, AND EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/30/2014 
TAGS: KNNP, MNUC, PARM, PGOV, PHSA, PREL, SP, Defense and Political 
SUBJECT: SPAIN:  RESPONSE TO PSI INFORMATION SHARING REQUEST 
 
REF: A. STATE 46614 
     B. STATE 134958 
 
Classified By: KATHLEEN M. FITZPATRICK, POLITICAL COUNSELOR. 
REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) Spain concurs with the PSI proposal to share 
information with non-member countries, but Spanish defense 
officials continue to question its operational aspects and 
lessons learned.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) Over the past few months, we have met with Marcos 
Rodriguez in the Office of International Affairs of 
Disarmament at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 
encourage Spain to concur with sharing information and 
operational aspects of the Proliferation Security Initiative 
(PSI) (refs A and B).  Rodriguez, recently designated as 
deputy director of the Office of International Disarmament 
Affairs, finally told us July 30 that Spain concurs with the 
information sharing principles, but Spanish defense officials 
who had also reviewed the proposal raised the following 
concerns about the proposal: 
 
(A) PSI Operational Principles 
 
Rodriguez said that Spanish defense officials were generally 
positive about the PSI's operational principles but were 
having some difficulty understanding some of the terms used 
in the proposal.  For example, they did not understand "C3I" 
(Note:  Poloff explained the term.  End Note.) or the meaning 
of "even integration". (Comment: It may be useful to provide 
the MFA and defense officials with a Spanish translation of 
the proposal that defines or explains technical terminology 
in greater detail.  End comment.) 
 
(B) PSI exercise programs 
 
Rodriguez said Spain has already performed ten successful PSI 
exercise programs and others have been scheduled for 2005, 
one of which will occur in Spain.  He said defense officials 
considered the proposal's recommendations on how to perform 
successful PSI exercise programs to be redundant. 
 
(C) Lessons Learned 
 
Rodriguez also noted that Spanish defense officials generally 
accepted the lessons learned from PSI operational exercises, 
but they felt that there was some "unspoken messages" in 
them.  For example, Rodriguez explained that defense 
officials were concerned about which country would have the 
lead in pre-planning operational exercises and coordinating 
its command and control procedures.  Defense officials want 
to ensure that Spanish interests are protected in any 
pre-planning exercises or contingencies involving Spain. 
Rodriguez said that defense officials would continue to study 
the details of the PSI proposal and seek clarification at the 
next operational expert's meeting. 
MANZANARES