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### Viewing cable 06REYKJAVIK431, ICELAND: PEACEKEEPING POLICY AT A CROSSROADS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
06REYKJAVIK431 | 2006-11-27 11:11 | 2011-01-13 05:05 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Reykjavik

`

    VZCZCXRO8954
    PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHIK RUEHKUK RUEHYG
    DE RUEHRK #0431/01 3311149
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    P 271149Z NOV 06
    FM AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3068
    INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
    RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0071
    RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE 0043
    RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
    RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
    RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0007
    RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 REYKJAVIK 000431

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    SENSITIVE

    STATE FOR P (BAME) EUR/NB EUR/RPM IO/PSC SCA/INS SCA/A
    OSLO FOR DATT
    OSD/P FOR J. HURSCH, J. KELSO
    EUCOM FOR COL FRANKLIN and LTC GREEN
    CENTCOM FOR COALITION COORDINATION CELL (KURDIAN)

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: PREL KPKO EAID NATO IC
    SUBJECT:  ICELAND: PEACEKEEPING POLICY AT A CROSSROADS

    REFTEL: REYKJAVIK 294

    ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Iceland's Foreign Minister has announced that
    Iceland will increase the number of peacekeepers sent abroad with
    the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit(ICRU), while focusing on civilian
    projects where Iceland has particular expertise and restricting
    behavior (e.g. wearing battle dress, carrying automatic weapons)
    that has dismayed the public.  The decision reflects an ongoing
    debate in Iceland - which has no military - about where to draw the
    line between being a peacekeeper and being a warrior.  Post believes
    that the GOI's "softer" peacekeeping policy is a sensible response
    to public anxiety, but risks offering unrealistic assurances that
    peacekeeping can be made safe rather than simply safer.  End
    summary.

    --------------------------------------------- -
    A softer, less ad hoc approach to peacekeeping
    --------------------------------------------- -
    ¶2. (U) Icelandic Foreign Minister Valgerdur Sverrisdottir announced
    on October 19 that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is revising its
    policy on involvement in peacekeeping, with the goal of focusing
    more on "softer" civil affairs missions where Iceland has expertise
    - such as midwife training and airport management, the latter
    proposal reflecting Iceland's experience running airports in Kosovo
    and Afghanistan.  The FM amplified these comments in her report to
    the Althingi (parliament) on Foreign Affairs on November 16, where
    she announced an MFA study of ways in which Iceland can increase its
    contribution to NATO's Afghanistan mission, pointing to the need for
    "experts in the fields of health, law enforcement, and judicial
    matters."  She further requested the Althingi's support for draft
    legislation to formalize the legal framework for the Icelandic
    Crisis Response Unit (ICRU), an MFA department overseeing Icelandic
    peacekeeping efforts.

    ----------------------------------
    Icelandic peacekeeping on the rise
    ----------------------------------
    ¶3. (SBU) According to the MFA, Iceland currently has 25 personnel
    deployed abroad under the ICRU aegis:

    --13 in Afghanistan (NATO/ISAF management of Kabul
     International Airport and training of local Afghan
     managers);
    --10 in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission,
     monitoring cease-fire implementation - ref A);
    -- 1 in Iraq (NATO Training Mission-Iraq's Public
     Affairs Officer); and
    -- 1 in Serbia (assigned to UNIFEM's Belgrade office)

    Current plans are to increase this number to 34 by the end of 2006
    through the deployment of additional personnel to Sri Lanka (1) and
    Serbia (5; 2 to UNIFEM and 3 under a new agreement with UNICEF) and
    a new deployment to Lebanon of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
    personnel from the Icelandic Coast Guard (2 EOD experts and 1
    medic).  The ICRU's stated goal is 50 deployed personnel by the end
    of 2008.  Funding continues to trend upward; the ICRU will receive
    roughly ISK 600 million ($8.6 million) in 2007, up from ISK 573
    million ($8.1 million) this year and ISK 463 million ($6.6 million)
    in 2005.

    ---------------------------------
    Crossing the line in Afghanistan?
    ---------------------------------
    ¶4. (SBU) Icelandic peacekeeping is already weighted towards "softer"
    tasks, a logical result of the fact that Iceland does not have a
    military.  Iceland's participation in foreign peacekeeping efforts
    began with the deployment of police officers and medical personnel
    to Bosnia and Kosovo; according to ICRU figures, roughly 50
    Icelanders have served in the Balkans since 1994.  The optics of
    Icelandic participation changed markedly in 2003 when Iceland
    assumed the role of lead NATO nation at Kosovo's Pristina Airport.
    Iceland chose to provide its civilian peacekeepers with uniforms,
    even ranks and rank insignia - with the aim of improving credibility
    with NATO partners.  Two armed Icelandic Coast Guard EOD specialists
    deployed to Iraq in 2003 as part of a Danish unit.

    ¶5. (SBU) This "paramilitarization" took place largely out of public
    view until 2004, when the ICRU took on the running of Kabul

    REYKJAVIK 00000431  002 OF 003

    International Airport.  In line with the more severe threat
    environment in Afghanistan, the ICRU personnel took to wearing
    helmets and body armor and carrying automatic weapons while
    patrolling their perimeter - a far cry from most Icelanders' idea of
    civilian peacekeeping.  Icelandic media reports helped to create an
    image of Icelandic peacekeepers as overgrown teenagers playing
    soldier, with some questioning whether an Icelandic Army of had been
    created without citizens' knowledge.

    ¶6. (SBU) These questions turned to dismay (and a certain amount of
    "I told you so") in October 2004 when three uniformed Icelanders
    were injured (and an Afghan and an American civilian killed) in a
    grenade/suicide bomb attack when the ICRU members lingered in
    Kabul's dangerous Chicken Street market.  Press and public concern
    mounted when the Icelandic unit's commander in Kabul as well as the
    Icelandic victims cavalierly shrugged off press inquiries about
    their judgment: "[Stuff] happens."

    ---------------------------------
    No guns, please - we're Icelandic
    ---------------------------------
    ¶7. (SBU) After the "Chicken Street Incident," the MFA became
    increasingly sensitive to accusations it was putting Icelanders at
    excessive risk.  Iceland handed the Kabul Airport mission over to
    another ISAF nation in February 2005, four months early.  Iceland
    fulfilled a commitment to deploy armed mobile observation teams
    ("jeep gangs" in Icelandic parlance) to two Provincial
    Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Afghanistan in 2005 and 2006, but in
    both cases withdrew its personnel when security worsened.
    Similarly, when Iceland agreed in January 2006 to resume the Kabul
    Airport mission, it did so with the caveat that Icelanders' roles be
    limited to airport operations and training, with other peacekeepers
    pulling guard duty.

    ¶8. (SBU) The discussion continued when in August 2006 Iceland agreed
    to boost its share of the workload in the Sri Lankan Monitoring
    Mission (Ref A). Commentators asked whether Icelanders had the
    experience to deal with armed conflict, and argued that "we should
    confine ourselves to those fields where we have relevant
    expertise."

    -----------------------------
    Midwives yes, "Rat Patrol" no
    -----------------------------
    ¶9. (SBU) Given this backdrop, most local commentators welcomed the
    Foreign Minister's announcement of a more "civilian-oriented" ICRU;
    with most media headlining her comment that the new policy
    represented "midwives in place of jeep patrols."  Opposition
    lawmakers on the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee declared
    approval; one Social Democratic Alliance MP expressed hope that
    henceforth "we'll choose the projects we take part in, rather than
    the projects choosing us."

    ¶10. (SBU) The GOI is keen to remain active in peacekeeping.  ICRU
    Director Anna Johannsdottir emphasized to Poloff November 2 that
    Iceland intended to live up to its commitments to NATO and would not
    bring home its Afghanistan contingent early.  Asked to explain the
    distinction between "more civilian" ICRU missions and work carried
    out by the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA),
    Johannsdottir allowed that the two entities - both under the Foreign
    Minister's authority - will now have more in common than previously,
    but that the ICRU would focus on post-conflict response and ICEIDA
    on long-term development and poverty alleviation.

    --------------------------------
    An inherently dangerous endeavor
    --------------------------------
    ¶11.  (SBU) MFA officials have confided to post that they do not
    believe the public is ready for the death of an Icelandic
    peacekeeper, which would raise questions "about the value of the
    mission and whether we should be doing these things," according to
    one.  A senior MFA official expressed unhappiness with the way the
    Chicken Street Incident was handled, noting to the Ambassador that
    those in charge had tried to "sweep the problem under the rug."
    This made the MFA and ICRU look amateurish when the full story
    emerged.  The official acknowledged the MFA's need to learn to be
    more frank to ensure the public understands the inherent risks of
    peacekeeping in case something unfortunate occurs.

    REYKJAVIK 00000431  003 OF 003

    -------
    Comment
    -------
    ¶12.  (SBU) The Icelandic Government's desire to codify its policy on
    peacekeeping brings needed clarity to what has been a largely ad hoc
    exercise, and should strengthen support across the political
    spectrum for the idea of Icelanders serving abroad.  That said, the
    move carries with it some downsides for the GOI and its
    international partners.  It will become harder to encourage the GOI
    to assist in areas it has not deemed within its area of competence.
    So long as the GOI remains willing to include within its definition
    of acceptable operations such high-value ops as airport management
    (as in Kosovo and Afghanistan), peace monitoring (as in Sri Lanka),
    and EOD (albeit increasingly in relatively permissive environments
    such as Lebanon but no longer in hot spots like Iraq), we should
    remain satisfied with Iceland's contribution.

    ¶13. (SBU) The larger risk is posed by the apparently widespread
    public conception - which the MFA has not addressed head on - that
    by assigning its personnel only to civil affairs projects, Iceland
    can largely eliminate the risk of casualties.  Post has cautioned
    host officials of the importance of presenting the public with a
    realistic assessment of the inherent dangers of all peacekeeping,
    lest the next casualty leave the public and opposition too rattled
    to continue.

    VAN VOORST

`