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Viewing cable 09HELSINKI360, FINNISH COMMITMENT TO AFGHANISTAN WEATHERS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09HELSINKI360 2009-10-01 07:12 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Helsinki
VZCZCXYZ0003
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHHE #0360/01 2740712
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 010712Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5189
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0098
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 8677
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0977
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUCJACC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000360 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2019 
TAGS: AF FI MOPS PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: FINNISH COMMITMENT TO AFGHANISTAN WEATHERS 
FIREFIGHTS IN MAZAR-E-SHARIF AND SNIPING IN HELSINKI 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Bruce J. Oreck For Reasons 1.4B and D 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  The GOF has been a partner in Afghanistan 
with boots on the ground since 2002, and its political 
leaders, with few exceptions, continue to demonstrate their 
commitment to the mission both publicly and privately. 
However, having suffered only one fatality so far, Finland's 
political consensus has not yet been seriously tested.  A 
series of firefights involving Finnish ISAF troops deployed 
in Mazar-e-Sharif starting in July and peaking in late August 
caused some debate as some commentators, some members of 
parliament, and a retired general have argued that Finland is 
now at war rather than taking part in a peacekeeping mission. 
 The government and President responded by denying that they 
have led the nation to war and affirming its commitment of 
troops and civilian personnel to Afghanistan.  Minister 
Vayrynen was the sole dissenting voice in government, though 
he urged only the withdrawal of Finnish soldiers, not 
civilian personnel.  The disturbing reports of fraud in 
Afghanistan's presidential election and continuing concerns 
over corruption and human rights there present an unfavorable 
backdrop as parliament holds an open debate on Afghanistan on 
October 1.  That said, post assesses that the GOF would 
entertain requests for more contributions to Afghanistan that 
did not involve additional military boots on the ground. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
LESS PEACE, MORE FIGHTING FOR FINNS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
2. (SBU) In July and August, media in Finland reported on the 
increasingly difficult security environment around 
Mazar-e-Sharif, the base of operations for Finnish ISAF 
forces (always referred to here as "peacekeepers") which are 
co-located with the Swedish-led PRT.  According to the media, 
Finnish patrols were exchanging fire with insurgents up to 
several times a week, a marked increase which might have been 
related to more energetic ISAF activity in the run-up to the 
presidential poll as well as a more active Taliban presence 
in the north.  Some of the attacks also involved IEDs. 
Neither the Swedes nor the Finns suffered casualties in these 
engagements though they reported killing or wounding several 
unidentified attackers.  The Finnish ISAF commander indicated 
publicly that he didn't believe that the attacks would stop 
his troops from continuing their patrols.  Recruiting of 
volunteers to deploy has also apparently continued without 
missing a beat.  A survey conducted by the Finnish Officers' 
Union concluded that troops heading to Afghanistan were doing 
so with high morale, though concerns were raised about the 
sufficiency of benefits. 
 
--------------------- 
WAR BY ANY OTHER NAME 
--------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Some voices in the Finnish media and commentariat 
reacted to the increasing violence in Mazar-e-Sharif, and 
Afghanistan in general, by questioning whether Finland might 
actually be involved in a war rather than the peacekeeping 
and reconstruction mission which they originally signed onto 
in 2002.  In late July a commentator in the weekly Suomen 
Kuvalehti argued that it was "tragicomic that the usage of 
the term war has not been discussed in Finland any sooner . . 
. Apparently Finland's political leaders need a few body bags 
before they're willing to face the facts."  One of the 
sharpest critiques was penned by Finnish Institute of 
International Affairs researcher Charly Salonius-Pasternak, 
who wrote in Helsingin Sanomat in late July that "(T)hough 
Finnish soldiers don't participate in offensive operations, 
from the viewpoint of the opponent and international law they 
are clearly a party to the conflict." 
 
4.  (SBU) A retired commander of the Finnish Defense Forces 
(1994-2001), General Gustav Hagglund, bluntly asked in the 
pages of the daily Aamulehti in mid-September "what does it 
matter to us if the Taliban are in charge (in Afghanistan) or 
not?".  He continued: "We don't belong in battles in which 
you have to attack and kill people.  . . . To the Americans 
the war on terror is motivation to be there, but I don't 
understand what we Europeans are doing there."  Notably, 
though, even General Hagglund did not call for a unilateral 
withdrawal of Finnish troops, instead urging that Finland 
work towards a general withdrawal of all international 
forces.  Hagglund's comments drew both support and ridicule, 
 
some of which reminded Finns just what kind of regime the 
Taliban were when they were in power. 
 
5. (SBU) Foreign Minister Stubb and Defense Minister Hakamies 
forcefully denied claims that Finland was at war, reinforcing 
the government's line that Finland was participating in a UN 
operation, though an especially tough one.  In a mid-August 
interview on Finnish public broadcaster YLE, Stubb described 
the mission in Afghanistan "as one of difficult crisis 
management work, in which Finnish soldiers are working to 
return peace and stability to Afghanistan working under a UN 
mandate."  Hakamies defensively shot back at critics that "a 
statement that Finland is at war and that decision-makers are 
unaware of it is baseless." 
 
---------------------------------------- 
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT JOIN PUBLIC DEBATE 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Some members of parliament joined the sniping at the 
government's line during the August spike in violence.  At 
the extreme end, Left Alliance MP Jaakko Laakso, a member of 
the Defense Committee, compared Finnish help to the U.S. to 
its efforts to please the Nazis during World War II.  Social 
Democratic (SDP) MP Eero Heinaluoma from the Foreign Affairs 
Committee called for a political solution, including 
negotiations with moderate Taliban, rather than relying on 
military means.  However, the debate has not broken down 
strictly along party lines.  SDP leader Jutta Urpilainen 
voiced support for Finland's participation in ISAF, "which 
has a UN mandate and is supported by the international 
community." 
 
7. (C) Even governing coalition MPs sounded more circumspect. 
 Center Party MP Markku Laukkanen, vice-chair of the Foreign 
Affairs Committee and leader of the Finnish-American Caucus, 
declared the ISAF operation to be in crisis and called for 
post-Afghan election consultations among ISAF contributors to 
find an exit strategy.  However, in a private meeting with 
the Ambassador, he confidently stated that Finnish troops 
would remain and that Finland would be prepared to provide 
even more help, though preferably in civilian form.  Center 
Party MP Juha Koreaoja, chair of the Defense Committee, 
emphasized Finland's tradition of taking on international 
responsibility and declared that it would never be the first 
to withdraw from a crisis situation, but he also made clear 
that Finland's election surge of about 100 extra troops 
should return home when the election was concluded and that 
any extra effort should take the form of civilian assistance. 
 
8. (SBU) President Halonen and Prime Minister Vanhanen, not 
always of the same viewpoint on policy issues, have also 
publicly closed ranks behind Finland's commitment in 
Afghanistan.  Halonen publicly rejected the idea of reducing 
the number of Finnish peacekeepers and the idea that Finland 
was in a war, while Vanhanen emphasized that the government 
had weighed the risks before sending troops:  "There is a 
possibility of the situation worsening before the election. 
That is exactly why more troops were needed." 
 
9. (SBU) The sole exception from within the government has 
been Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Vayrynen, who 
publicly called for the withdrawal of Finnish troops, 
although even he called for Finland to maintain its civilian 
development assistance in Afghanistan.  Former President and 
Nobel Laureate Martti Ahtisaari cut through the war of words 
about whether Finland was at war, clearly pointing out the 
necessity of staying the course: "Afghanistan faces a 
situation where much of the country is ruled by groups that 
use terrorism as a weapon, fund their operations with the 
drug trade and favor widespread crime."  He also reminded 
Finns that the world is watching them especially closely as 
they seek a rotating seat on the UN Security Council in 2013. 
 
10. (SBU) Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees 
will debate Afghanistan policy later this month, and there 
will be a rare  open plenary session on Afghanistan October 
1.  The last open debate on foreign policy was over a year 
ago following the Russian attack on Georgia.  There is no 
decision regarding Afghanistan before the Parliament, but the 
debate will be an indicator of how strong the government 
backbenchers support Finland's current commitments. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
 
------- 
 
11. (C) A strategy for Afghanistan that shows a path leading 
to Afghanis taking responsibility for their own security is 
what Finnish leaders would most like to see after seven years 
with Finnish troops and civilians deployed there.  We assess 
that the Finnish government is strongly committed to staying 
the course in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, 
although it would be politically difficult to deploy 
additional troops or for the current election surge force to 
remain after the election.  However, requests for additional 
forms of civilian support (for example, more police trainers) 
or more military assistance that does not involve more 
Finnish boots on the ground (such as training for OMLTs as 
well as Afghan personnel in Finland, projects which are 
already ongoing or planned) would certainly be considered. 
Such requests will be more palatable to them if they can be 
framed as part of a transition to the Afghan government 
taking more responsibility and as part of a team effort in 
which other European partners are also contributing more. 
ORECK