VZCZCXYZ0029
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGB #2669/01 2780805
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050805Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4944

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002669 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASIG AMGT ABLDG ASEC IZ
SUBJECT:  Baghdad Response to IG Report Regional Embassy Offices in 
Iraq 
 
REF:  Geisel-Hill Letter 08/18/2009 
 
(SBU)  Sensitive but Unclassified.  Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  State IG Middle East Regional Office (MERO) 
Review of the Roles, Staffing, and effectiveness of Regional Embassy 
Offices in Iraq dated August 18, 2009 (Report Number MERO-IQO-09-09, 
August 2009) made one recommendation about planning for the eventual 
opening of U.S. Consulates in Iraq.  That recommendation reads: 
"Upon receiving policy direction from the Administration to proceed 
forward in the normalization of relations with the Government of 
Iraq, Embassy Baghdad should develop a detailed plan for 
establishing consulates in Iraq.  The plan should contain an 
analysis of the security situation, life support, and other 
logistical requirements at proposed sites."  The Embassy agrees with 
the recommendation and, although final policy direction from the 
Administration as to the size and nature of the future U.S. presence 
outside Baghdad has yet to be determined, the Embassy has begun 
intensive planning and preparation for the many issues that will 
need to be addressed once direction is forthcoming.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Diplomatic relations between the United States and  Iraq 
are already normalized in many respects, as evidenced in part by the 
fact that each country maintains an embassy and additional 
diplomatic posts in the other country, and each country's embassy is 
led by an accredited Ambassador.  Embassy Baghdad therefore 
understands the phrase "Upon receiving policy direction from the 
Administration to proceed forward in the normalization of relations" 
to mean that the Embassy will proceed in accordance with the 
Administration's instruction once the Administration has determined 
the nature of its desired presence in Iraq post-2012, when the 
withdrawal of U.S. military forces is complete.  As the U.S. 
military presence in Iraq declines -- with withdrawal of all U.S. 
forces to occur no later than December 31, 2011 -- the conduct of 
bilateral relations will increasingly become the sole purview of 
U.S. Embassy Baghdad, performed by an interagency team led by the 
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.  The U.S. presence in Iraq will also 
include several additional facilities, including consulates and 
other operations (currently referred to informally as "Provincial 
Diplomatic Teams," or PDTs), whose location, size, and composition 
are the subject of ongoing deliberations at senior levels of the 
Administration. 
 
¶3. (SBU) As of September 2009, there are 16 Provincial 
Reconstruction teams (PRTs) and seven embedded PRTs (ePRTs) located 
throughout Iraq, as well as Regional Embassy Offices (REOs) in 
Hillah and Basrah.  The REO in Hillah, which serves as the 
administrative and operational platform for PRT Babil, will be 
closed by October 30th.  The PRT in Hillah is being relocated to a 
U.S. forward operating base in Kalsu and, once this is done, the 
building housing the former REO will be decommissioned and returned 
to Iraq by the end of 2009.  A requirement of the decommissioning 
process is a formal notification to Congress of the Department of 
State's intention to close the REO.  The notification was 
transmitted to Congress on September 15, 2009. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Embassy and MNF-I are currently negotiating 
arrangements to embed the existing Basrah REO and Basrah PRT in 
Basrah Air Base.  No decision has been made as to whether Basrah 
will be the site of a future U.S. consulate. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) As for the future of other U.S. operations in other 
locations in Iraq, the seven ePRTs will be folded into their parent 
PRTs by August 2010.  Administration policy is to maintain 16 
Provincial Reconstruction Teams (one for the 3 Kurdish Regional 
QProvincial Reconstruction Teams (one for the 3 Kurdish Regional 
Government provinces and one each in the other 15 provinces) through 
August 2011.  From August 2011 until December 2011, further 
consolidation will take place, leaving a smaller number of U.S. 
presence posts when the military completes its withdrawal. 
 
¶6. (SBU) As noted in MERO's report, a 2004 agreement between the 
United States and Iraq provides that Iraq will transfer title to 
properties in Mosul and Basrah to the United States for future 
consulate sites, but no decisions have been made as to the ultimate 
number and location of U.S. consulates.  Ultimately, in accordance 
with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Government of 
Iraq must consent to the opening of a new consulate and must approve 
of its location and consular district.  The Department will also be 
required to complete congressional notification procedures prior to 
the opening of a new consulate.  Nevertheless, the planning process 
to determine the U.S. presence in Iraq in 2012 and beyond began in 
May 2009 and is ongoing.  Embassy Baghdad has had significant input 
into deliberations in Washington, and OPA has begun a number of 
planning processes in advance of the final Administration decision, 
that will be applicable regardless of how many consulates and other 
U.S. presences (including PDTs). 
 
¶7. (SBU) These plans include working in concert with Multinational 
Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) and other Embassy sections to develop detailed 
plans for PRT and ePRT drawdown/closures; planning for a reduced PRT 
footprint by identifying key strategic priorities and diverting 
 
reduced resources to these provinces and functions; reviewing 
resource requirements for enduring presences (including consulates) 
and identifying equipment, vehicles and other resources the U.S. 
military may be able to provide to meet those requirements; and 
determining cost estimates for various enduring presence options for 
security operations, life support, personnel, facilities upgrades 
and other resource requirements. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Planning for U.S. provincial presence in Iraq will continue 
and intensify once Administration policy with regard to the location 
of consulates and any other USG presences is finalized. 
 
Hill