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DE RUEHMD #0499/01 0600738
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P 010738Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8985
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 1774

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OSD/P FOR ZACCOR/GRAFF; JCS/J5 FOR MANTIPLY; EUCOM FOR SHARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2016 
TAGS: PREL SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: MOD POLICY DIRECTOR ON DEFENSE RELATIONSHIP 
 
 
Classified By: POL Couns Kathy Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4 b & d. 
 
¶1. (C) Spanish Ministry of Defense (MOD) acting Director for 
Policy (DIGENPOL) Admiral Enrique Perez Ramirez told a 
visiting GAO team and Emboffs on February 17 that the 
mil-to-mil relationship is strong overall but that there are 
some "details" that the allies need to resolve.  He 
emphasized that Spain has given the US full use of Spanish 
bases for more than 50 years and has never wavered in this 
support.  Perez Ramirez noted MOD's strong desire to conclude 
an MOU that would regulate the activities of the US Navy 
Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Air Force Office of 
Special Investigations (OSI) in Spain.  This, he indicated, 
was envisioned in the 2002 Agreement on Defense Cooperation 
(ADC).  He expressed concern about a recent US proposal for 
the MOU, and said that he hoped that the issue could be 
resolved soon.  Perez Ramirez also noted MOD's desire for a 
meeting in 2006 of the High Level Defense Committee.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------- 
STRONG 50 YEAR RELATIONSHIP 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The GAO team met with Perez Ramirez as part of its 
investigation into how the US can most effectively cooperate 
with host nations on force protection and anti-terrorism 
issues.  Perez Ramirez explained to the team the 50-plus year 
history of the US military's presence in Spain. He said that 
permitting the US forces to use the Rota naval station and 
Moron air base is the most important military support that 
Spain gives to the US, and emphasized that Spain has never 
wavered on this issue.  Perez Ramirez said that Spanish 
military feels a stronger connection to the US than to other 
NATO countries because the Spain-US relationship is older. 
The US military worked with the Spanish military when no one 
else would.  Spain got used to US military training and 
adopted US procedures for years before joining NATO.  Perez 
Ramirez also noted that the Spanish military is a good 
customer of US technology (most recently purchasing AEGIS for 
Spain's new frigates; weapons system for Spain's new S-80 
submarines; and Tomahawk missiles) but said that Spain would 
like to see defense sales as a two-way street with US 
purchasing more from Spain (aside from CASA CN-295 airplane 
sale to USCG and defense satellite system). 
 
¶3. (C) According to Perez Ramirez, the MOU on force 
protection that Spain and the US signed in April 2002 - just 
months after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the US - showed 
that Spain is willing and able to move quickly to address 
emerging threats.  The US made a request and Spain delivered. 
 Perez Ramirez said that Spain would be happy to make 
revisions to the force protection MOU if the US is concerned 
about new terrorist threats.  He pointed out that during the 
past 30 years of terrorist attacks in Spain, which caused 
over one thousand deaths, there has been no terrorist attack 
on a military base.  (NOTE:  He referred to approximately 800 
deaths attributed to ETA, plus some 200 caused by the March 
11, 2004 train bombings.  END NOTE.)  Perez Ramirez said that 
MOD cooperates closely with Ministry of Interior on 
anti-terrorism and force protection issues. 
 
¶4. (C) Perez Ramirez said that MOD is willing to discuss any 
issue or need with the US, but wants the US to be considerate 
and not to try to impose US procedures or give orders.  He 
asked for appropriate interaction between sovereign nations 
and suggested that the US side has at times shown a lack of 
respect, the current NCIS/OSI MOU proposal being a prime 
example of such disrespect. 
 
------------------------------ 
ISSUE OF THE DAY: NCIS/OSI MOU 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (C) Perez Ramirez said that the US had agreed in 2002 in 
the ADC (Article 17.6) to negotiate a memorandum of 
understanding (MOU) to regulate the activities of the US's 
Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and USAF Office of 
Special Investigations (OSI) in Spain, but four years later, 
there continues to be US opposition to concluding such an 
agreement.   Nonetheless, he said that the political decision 
- to allow NCIS/OSI to conduct its force protection reviews 
and criminal investigations in Spain - was made in 2002 and 
it is just a matter of implementing that policy decision via 
the MOU. 
 
-------------------------- 
FUTURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP 
 
MADRID 00000499  002 OF 002 
 
 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Perez Ramirez said that the Permanent Committee (PC), 
where US and Spanish military staffs sit side-by-side, is 
critical because the bilateral Agreement on Defense 
Cooperation is complex and requires dedicated staff for 
implementation.  He pointed to the ability of the PC to 
respond quickly (e.g., to provide emergency flight 
clearances) because the two staffs know each other and are 
physically co-located.  He went on to say that the MOD 
believes that the High Level Defense Committee (HLDC) is just 
as important as the PC.  The HLDC sets policy; the PC 
implements.  He expects the HLDC to meet this year, but said 
that it might be "before the summer or after."  (NOTE:  A 
HLDC meeting was canceled last fall, but one took place in 
the US in May 2005 on the margins of MOD Bono's meeting with 
SecDef.  Spain had hoped to have a meeting this spring.) 
Perez Ramirez offered several possible discussion topics for 
the next HLDC, including the oft-repeated need to ensure that 
Spanish military personnel in the US enjoy the same benefits 
as US personnel in Spain.  He also talked about the need for 
written agreements to replace "gentlemen's agreements" 
regarding potential port calls by nuclear and prepositioned 
crisis response ships. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (C) MOD's insistence on finalizing an NCIS/OSI MOU seems 
not to be a direct reaction to any particular event but 
simply an attempt to assert itself as an equal partner in the 
relationship with the US. This is a theme in the US-Spain 
political-military relationship that spans both the Zapatero 
and Aznar governments. 
AGUIRRE