NATO-AFGHANISTAN: ISAF CAVEATS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001487

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2013
TAGS: PREL MARR AF CA NATO
SUBJECT: NATO-AFGHANISTAN: ISAF CAVEATS

REF: A. (A) OTTAWA 1410

B. (B) OTTAWA 1022

C. (C) STATE 60862

Classified By: POL M/C BRIAN FLORA. REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) In a diplomatic note (No. IDR0258) dated May 17, 2005,
Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC) provided a formal response to
our demarche on ISAF caveats (ref (c)),delivered April
5,2005. Text follows:


2. (C) Begin text.

Canada recognizes the potentially detrimental effect national
caveats can have on the effectiveness of a military mission.
The two caveats placed by the Canadian Forces for its
contribution to the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) have been places as a result of legal
and operational requirements. Canada believes, however, that
they are limited and do not adversely affect the ability of
NATO to carry out its mission. Nevertheless, Canada is in the
process of reviewing the continued validity of retaining
these two caveats for future Canadian deployments to ISAF.

Canada is currently reviewing the legal and policy basis for
expanding the Canadian Forces' Area of Operation (AOO)
throughout the ISAF AOO, particularly as we prepare to deploy
to other parts of Afghanistan. In the meantime, Canadian
Forces can, depending on the nature of the operation, be
temporarily deployed outside the designated Kabul AOO if
approval is obtained from the Canadian Commander Task Force
Kabul or the Chief of the Defence Staff. Such approvals have
been granted in the past.

With regards to the rules of engagement (ROE) on the use of
Canadian Forces personnel to control civil disturbances,
Canadian troops currently in Afghanistan are trained for
limited crowd control operations only and will not undertake
deliberate civil disturbance control tasks as a front line
responsibility. Deliberate crowd control operations should
be the responsibility of the host state's security
institutions. Canadian Forces will, however, engage in crowd
control for the purpose of extricating or protecting Canadian
or NATO personnel. The Canadian Forces are reviewing whether
greater crowd control techniques could be included into the
curriculum of training for future deployments.

Canada looks forward to working with the United States and
others in ISAF to limit the amount of caveats placed by
nations as it expands its operations throughout Afghanistan.

End text.

Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa
DICKSON