US embassy cable - 04MADRID4677

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 004677 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE 
NSC FOR FRIED AND VOLKER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, MOPS, SP, NATO, Defense and Political 
SUBJECT: SPAIN: CHARGE MEETS WITH CHIEF OF DEFENSE 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires J. Robert Manzanares, 
reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Charge met with Spanish Chief of Defense 
General Felix Sanz December 9.  Sanz said he will do all in 
his power to strengthen U.S./Spain military ties.  He agreed 
it was not useful talk about whether the military 
relationship between the two countries is "balanced," rather 
Spain's permission given to the U.S. to use its bases is part 
of Spain's contribution to global security.  He hopes the 
Spanish government will eventually agree to allow Spanish 
troops attached to NATO to go to Iraq as part of a NATO 
consensus mission to train Iraqi security forces.  He is 
optimistic Spain will help provide security for the next 
round of Afghan elections, and said chances are good Spain 
will participate in either in a Provincial Reconstruction 
Team (PRT) or the Herat Forward Support Base (FSB), but 
probably not both.  Sanz said Spain has never had a close 
military relationship with France and that is not likely to 
change under President Zapatero.  Although Sanz took pains 
during the lunch to show he is pro-American and is optimistic 
about Spain's participation in NATO missions in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, he is not a policy maker and is more positive 
about Spain's potential role in the NATO missions than is the 
Zapatero government.  End summary. 
 
2.  (C) Several members of Sanz's staff joined him at the 
meeting, while from the embassy side defense attache, Office 
of Defense Cooperation chief and poloff also attended.  Sanz 
said he will do all he can to strengthen U.S./Spain military 
ties.  He said there is no reason U.S./Spain mil-mil 
relations should move backward and in fact, if they do not 
improve significantly while he is CHOD, he "will consider 
that a failure" on his part.  He suggested he and the Charge 
have monthly lunches and offered to host the next one. 
 
3.  (C) With respect to comments Sanz, Defense Minister Bono 
and others have made in the last couple of months to the 
effect that the U.S./Spain military relationship is tilted in 
the U.S.'s favor, Sanz agreed it was not useful for either 
government to think in those terms.  Sanz believes that given 
Spain's limited ability to project military force, one of the 
best ways Spain can contribute to global security is by 
allowing the U.S. to use bases on Spanish soil. 
 
4.  (C)  Sanz said he hopes the GOS will eventually agree to 
send Spanish troops to Iraq who are attached to NATO as part 
of a consensus mission.  He disagrees in general with caveats 
to participation in NATO missions and thinks the Foreign 
Ministry is doing its best to convince Zapatero to eliminate 
or at least reduce national caveats to NATO missions.  In his 
words, "You are either part of the alliance or you're not." 
He added chances are better Spain would send troops to Iraq 
as part of a NATO force after Iraqi elections, because that 
would give the Zapatero government political cover.  Sanz 
also said Spain will probably agree to train Iraqi security 
forces in Spain at its anti-mining institute. 
 
5.  (C) Turning to Afghanistan, Sanz said Spain's 
participation in ISAF has gone extremely well in every way. 
As a result, he is optimistic Spain will participate in 
ISAF's security mission for the next round of elections.  On 
Spain's possible role in a PRT or the Herat FSB, Sanz said 
chances are good Spain will participate in one or the other 
but not both.  It would be useful, said Sanz, if the U.S. 
could indicate to Spain which was more important from the 
U.S. point of view.  He thinks Spanish participation in the 
FSB is more attractive from Spain's perspective but does not 
rule out the possibility the GOS would eventually agree to 
play a role (not necessarily the lead role, but a role) in a 
PRT if the USG decides that is more important.  Sanz said he 
believes Spain's ambassador to NATO is working overtime to 
persuade the Zapatero government that Spain should do all it 
can in Afghanistan and in connection with the NATO training 
mission for Iraq. 
 
6.  (C) Finally, Sanz commented on Spain/France mil-mil 
relations, saying Spain has never had close military 
relations with France and he does not expect that to change 
under Zapatero.  The Spanish military is far more interested 
in maintaining close ties with the U.S.  In general, he 
thinks the French political-military outlook is evolving in a 
positive direction for NATO and for European security. 
France is realizing that its self-chosen exclusion from the 
NATO military structure has meant that it essentially does 
not speak the same language as the rest of Europe on military 
matters.  He thinks over the next several years France will 
move closer and closer to NATO's military structure. 
 
7.  (C) Comment:  Sanz is still smarting from having been 
quoted in the press as saying the U.S./Spain military 
relation is out of kilter in the U.S.'s favor.  He took pains 
during the lunch to point out that he and the Spanish 
military are pro-U.S., want excellent relations with the U.S. 
and believe Spain should do all it can to assist NATO 
missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.  We think he fairly 
represented the view of the majority of the Spanish military. 
 Nonetheless, Sanz is not a policy maker and the Zapatero 
government's interest in inserting Spain further into ISAF's 
mission in Afghanistan and NATO's training of Iraq's security 
forces is not equal to the Spanish military's. 
MANZANARES