Cablegate: Polish Military Intelligence Reform: Casting Out

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Anne W McNeill 10/20/2006 02:48:48 PM From DB/Inbox: Search Results

Cable
Text:

UNCLAS WARSAW 01171

SIPDIS
CXWARSAW:
ACTION: POL
INFO: AMB ORA ODC ECON AGRI MGT PASC RSO FCS DCM DAO
CONS

DISSEMINATION: POLO
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: POL:MCURTIN
DRAFTED: POL:JGORKOWSKI
CLEARED: DAO: HNOWAK

VZCZCWRI554
PP RUEHC RUEHZG RUEHKW RUEKJCS RHMFISS RUEKJCS
DE RUEHWR #1171/01 1651207
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141207Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1036
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW PRIORITY 1149
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ACFT TABLE// PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 001171

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EUR AND EUR/NCE
SECDEF FOR ISP
JOINT STAFF FOR J5
EUCOM FOR ECJ4 AND ECJ5

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MASS MCAP PGOV MARR PL
SUBJECT: POLISH MILITARY INTELLIGENCE REFORM: CASTING OUT
SIN WHILE MAINTAINING CAPABILITIES

REF: WARSAW 497

1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On June 9, President Lech Kaczynski signed
into law three bills that will liquidate Poland's existing
Military Information Services (WSI) on September 30, 2006 in
order to create two new services on October 1, 2006, the
Military Intelligence Service (SWW) and the Military
Counterintelligence Service (SKW). The laws were a
centerpiece of PiS's campaign promise to eliminate the
vestiges of communism and corruption from Polish military
intelligence. The laws do not appear to eliminate any
existing military intelligence functions and so Post sees no
reason to fear disruption of any ongoing cooperation with
Polish military intelligence. Zbigniew Wassermann, Minister
Coordinator for the Special Services (MKSS), will define the
scope of operations for the two new services in consultation
with the Minister of Defense (DefMin), Radek Sikorski, under
guidelines approved by the Prime Minister (PM), Kazimierz
Marcinkiewicz. True to their Law and Justice (PiS) inspired
roots these fundamentally practical reforms are cast in the
language of purifying the state. END SUMMARY.

----------------------------------------
New PiS Rulers Saw Sin in Old SLD System
----------------------------------------

2. (SBU) Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz first tabled
legislation to liquidate WSI (Military Intelligence Service)
in November 2005 at the behest of the Law and Justice Party
(PiS) which was then recently victorious in national
elections. PiS insiders, such as Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the
President's brother and party leader, openly declared that
abolishing WSI was necessary to repair the Polish state. In
their eyes, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the leading
party in Poland's previous governing coalition, had shielded
the WSI from oversight so that the WSI could protect the SLD
from political enemies through espionage. According to PiS
cadres, this arrangement lead to "pathologies" within the WSI
that not only stifled political dissent but also enriched WSI
operatives at state expense. They argued that WSI officers
exploited their unsupervised access to sensitive information
about government privatization of state run enterprises (such
as the privatization of WSK Mielec) and pending procurement
orders to earn personal profit.

--------------------------------------------- -
New Laws Begin An Inquisition With Confessions
--------------------------------------------- -

3. (SBU) Under the new legislation, WSI will vanish on
September 30, 2006 while SKW and SWW will emerge on October
1, 2006. The MKSS, Zbigniew Wassermann, will define the
scope of operations of the two new services in consultation
with the DefMin, Radek Sikorski, under guidelines approved by
the PM, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. The two new "civilian"
services will operate as "central agencies of government
administration," except in times of war when they transfer to
the Polish armed forces. The continuity of agreements with
allies is assured by Article 74 of one of the three laws on
the WSI reform which states: "Decisions, security
confirmations, certificates as well as agreements and accords
concluded and signed by the head of the Military Intelligence
(WSI) maintain their validity unless they expire or are
revised."

4. (SBU) Together, the two new services might employ up to
1,300 people. The DefMin will propose candidates for each
service's chief. However, the PM offers final approval in
consultation with the government council for special services
and the relevant Sejm committee. What's more, according to
the new law, former WSI servicemen who want to work in SKW or
SWW must declare, among other things, that they neither
revealed nor profited from state secrets. Interestingly, a
24-member "Verification Commission," half appointed by the PM
and half by the President, stands ready to investigate these
applicants.

5. (SBU) Interestingly, the new laws do not require a MKSS, a
position PiS reinstated after coming to power last fall.
But, they consistently say, "in the case of the appointment
of a Minister Coordinator for Special Services," and then go
on to define his/her duties in the given case. Should there
be no MKSS, all his/her duties revert to the DefMin. In
February 2006, these laws, then in draft form, went to
President Lech Kaczynski after a much publicized split
between MKSS Wassermann and DefMin Sikorski over who would
lead the two new services. The final text allows the MKSS to
define the scope of operations of the two new services in
consultation with the DefMin and so seems a compromise
between the MKSS and DefMin. But it reflects the leading
role that Wassermann personally plays in PiS' plan to reform
Poland by cleaning out the security services.

6. (SBU) Comment: Questions remain about how the government
will implement the law, in particular how draconian it will
be in forcing out officers with communist pasts. However, it
appears that the rigors of the legislative process and strong
DefMin advocacy have enabled PiS to understand the imperative
to maintain a serious military intelligence capacity able to
operate with its allies. END COMMENT.
HILLAS

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