VZCZCXRO2749
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHOT #0005 0071832
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 071831Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0234
INFO AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/USCENTCOM POLITICAL ADVISOR MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0006
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000005 
 
SENSITIVE 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR SCA/A, S/SRAP, AND WHA/CA 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/07 
TAGS: PREL MOPS NATO MARR AF CA
SUBJECT: Canadian review almost complete of MOU for Support to U.S. 
Civilians in Afghanistan 
 
REF: 09 STATE 129187; 09 OTTAWA 889 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Bellard, Political Minister Counselor, 
Department of State, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (C/NF)  On January 7, Jamie Pennell of the Bilateral Relations 
and Operations Division of the Afghanistan Task Force within the 
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) 
provided an update on the status of the draft MOU for life support 
and security to U.S. civilians operating from the Canadian PRT in 
Kandahar.  Pennell apologized for the delay in responding to the 
draft text (reftels), explaining that there had initially been a 
considerable delay in transmission from the Canadian Embassy in 
Kabul.  Subsequently, Canadian officials in Kandahar and at DFAIT 
had been focused on ensuring care for a DFAIT officer seriously 
wounded in the December 30 IED strike, which also killed four 
Canadian soldiers and one Canadian reporter. 
 
 
 
¶2. (C/NF)  Pennell promised that the Canadian response should be 
ready during the week of January 11.   Pennell noted that one of 
the remaining legal questions is whether the MOU should be between 
the U.S. and Canadian Embassies in Kabul, as currently formulated, 
or between the U.S. and Canadian governments, while acknowledging 
the desirability of retaining the greatest possible flexibility and 
leaving the implementation of the agreement to respective Canadian 
and U.S. leadership in the field.  He expressed the hope that we 
could avoid making the agreement overly legalistic, given that it 
is designed as a non-binding understanding.  Pennell commented that 
it was important to "get this right," because Canada may find 
itself in the "reverse position" (with U.S. or other ISAF troops 
likely providing security for Canadian civilians at the PRT) after 
¶2011.  (Septel will report on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 
reiteration on January 6 that Canadian troops will indeed depart 
Afghanistan by the end of 2011 and that Canada's mission thereafter 
will be purely civilian.). 
JACOBSON