VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTA #0445 0720939
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 130939Z MAR 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4894
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 0918
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0831
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ASTANA 000445 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM THE AMBASSADOR FOR INL A/S DAVID JOHNSON 
STATE ALSO FOR SCA/FO, SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, F, G/TIP, S/SRAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL APER EAID SNAR KCRM KTIP AF KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  REQUEST FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR EMBASSY 
ASTANA INL OFFICER POSITION 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Assistant Secretary Johnson, I want to express my great 
appreciation for INL's support for counter-narcotics, 
counter-trafficking in persons, and other law-enforcement programs 
in Kazakhstan.  We have a fine INL officer posted at Embassy Astana, 
Anthony Beaver, who has done outstanding work implementing INL's 
programs.  He is a credit both to our Embassy and your worldwide INL 
team. 
 
¶3. (SBU) I learned that INL is considering eliminating Beaver's 
position after his summer 2010 departure from Astana because 
Kazakhstan's funding for INL programs -- which comes exclusively 
from the FSA budget, rather than the INCLE account -- is relatively 
limited, and INL believes it is not sufficient to justify the 
support costs for our INL officer slot. 
 
¶4. (SBU) I want to be absolutely frank.  Losing our INL officer 
would be disastrous for our Mission to Kazakhstan -- a country which 
is our most important partner in Central Asia.  INL programs are a 
top priority for us.  Kazakhstan is a major transit country -- and 
increasingly a destination one -- for narcotics originating in 
Afghanistan.  Trafficking in persons is a very serious problem here, 
too.  In fact, it is specifically because of INL funding for TIP 
prevention, prosecution, and protection activities that Kazakhstan 
is making dramatic improvements in its counter-TIP efforts.  (The 
improvements were recognized last year when the Department raised 
Kazakhstan's ranking in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report 
from "Tier 2 Watchlist" to "Tier 2.")  Our efforts are paying off in 
other areas too.  INL is assisting the Kazakhstanis, finally, to 
establish a financial intelligence unit, and we are on the cusp of 
getting them to ratify new anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism 
finance (AML/CTF) legislation.  INL is also helping Kazakhstan bring 
its forensics laboratories up to international standards through 
linkages with U.S. partners. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Based on the hours Anthony Beaver routinely works, his job 
is more than full-time.  That's not surprising, since he is 
overseeing six separate INL-related programs:  counter-narcotics, 
drug-demand reduction, TIP, money laundering, and forensics. 
Kazakhstan is a vast country -- the world's ninth largest by area, 
with lengthy borders with Russia, China, and several Central Asian 
states -- and Anthony Beaver spends approximately one-third of his 
time on domestic travel outside of Astana.   There is simply no way 
that we could effectively cover these programs and the travel they 
entail with other existing personnel if our INL officer slot were 
lost.  What we would lose first are those critical relationships 
with the Ministry of Interior and other law enforcement bodies that 
Anthony Beaver and his predecessors have built up over many years. 
And without those relationships, we'd find progress on all these 
fronts a much tougher slog.  We and Washington would also lose a 
valuable reporting resource that helps us understand the realities 
of this huge and complex country. 
 
¶6. (SBU) It is unfortunate, but we are dealing with annually 
declining FSA budgets for Kazakhstan.  That said, we have tried to 
do our part by repeatedly recommending FSA increases for our INL 
programs through our Mission Strategic Plans.  We asked for $2.500 
million for INL for FY2010 -- a major increase from the $1.214 
million we received in FY2008 and the $1.150 million expected for 
FY2009.  However, that FY2010 request was cut to $1.500 million by 
Washington.  For FY2011, we have asked again for an increase, this 
time to $1.800 million.  We will continue to press for more funds at 
every opportunity, and would welcome your assistance in making our 
case. 
 
¶7. (SBU) I want to ask for your personal intervention to ensure that 
we find a successor for Anthony Beaver, so that we can continue to 
give our INL programs in Kazakhstan the attention they deserve. 
They are critical to our own national security, and, on the 
counter-narcotics side, to our stabilization and reconstructions 
efforts in Afghanistan. 
 
HOAGLAND