US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE889

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 000889 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2015 
TAGS: PARM, PM, EZ 
SUBJECT: CZECH ARMS SALES/DONATIONS TO IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN 
- EMBASSY PRAGUE PROPOSAL FOR INTEREMBASSY TEAM 
 
 
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Mark Canning  for reasons 1.4 
 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (U)  ACTION REQUEST, SEE PARAGRAPH 4. 
 
2 (C)  As the western-most country in the Soviet bloc, then 
Czechoslovakia became the forward ammo depot for any 
potential invasion of Western Europe.That fact, combined with 
the recent draw-down in the number of Czech troops from over 
130,000 to roughly 30,000, means there are massive surpluses 
of Soviet-era ammunition in the Czech Republic.  The Czech 
Army doesn't have adequate storage facilities, or money to 
build new ones and renovate old ones.  As a result, the Czech 
Army has begun asking Czech arms firms to help them get rid 
of the surplus. The Czech Republic,  as a result of rather 
liberal registration requirements in the early to mid 90's, 
has more than 160 firms licensed to deal in arms and some of 
these firms have eagerly responded with proposed sales of the 
surplus to Iraq and Afghanistan.  The contractor for these 
transactions is usually either the US Government, or an 
American firm.  The licensing authorities at the Czech 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) are generally inclined to 
support requests from the US.  But they are also inclined to 
be cautious when the end user is in places such as 
Afghanistan or Iraq.  If the MFA has any questions about the 
sale itself, or the supporting documents, they are likely to 
withhold approval of the export application.  Therefore, post 
proposes the establishment of a mechanism under which Embassy 
Prague would be notified of the proposed sale, and Embassies 
in Baghdad and Kabul would identify points of contact who 
could confirm details or answer questions regarding the sale. 
 
3. (C)   Such a mechanism would not only help avoid delays in 
the licensing process,  it should also help avoid situations 
in which American companies use a Czech subcontractor which 
is in turn subcontracting part of the transaction to a firm 
in a country of concern.  Although there are massive 
surpluses in the Czech Republic, not all firms have access to 
all the material.  Czech firms might contract to provide more 
than they have access to domestically and then try to make up 
the difference with imports from other countries, including 
countries of concern.  That information, which might not be 
available to the main American contractor, would be in the 
import documentation the Czech firm would have to provide to 
the licensing authorities at the MFA.  The MFA's licensing 
office is currently processing 8 export applications for Iraq 
and Afghanistan, with US contractors,  for transactions 
ranging from 8000 rounds to 150 million rounds. One of the 
transactions, for example, involves a subcontractor in China 
about which the US Army office handling the sale was unaware 
of. 
 
4. (SBU)  ACTION REQUEST: On more than one occasion, Embassy 
Baghdad has already helped answer questions, or confirm an 
EUC, and for that post is grateful  But these were done on an 
ad hoc basis, and involved an unneccessarily long chain of 
passed messages  Post would like to identify individuals in 
Baghdad and Kabul who could be directly contacted by 
counterparts in Prague.  Embassy Prague's points of contact 
are: 
Pol--mil officer Brian Greaney (GreaneyBE@state.sgov.gov) 
Tel: 420 257-533-822 
Defense Attache Office:Colonel Frank Morgese 
(dimorfx@notes.dawn.dia.smil.mil)  Tel:420 257-533-811 
Request Baghdad and Kabul provide views on feasibility of 
such a mechanism and points of contact. 
 
 
 
 
CABANISS