DIAG PLENARY: "IT'S TIME FOR HONESTY"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 001356

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR AF
SUBJECT: DIAG PLENARY: "IT'S TIME FOR HONESTY"

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Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ANGUS SIMMONS, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) A
ND (D)


1. (C) Summary: Reviewing the status of the DIAG
process, UNAMA Deputy SRSG Alexander told the DIAG
Steering Committee that the time has come for
honesty. He said there has been little progress
since the Parliamentary elections last September,
and that until the GOA shows political commitment at
the highest level ) including countering the
opposition of powerful local leaders ) the process
will not move forward. GOA Ministers at the meeting
replied with their own set of objections, saying
they feel closed out of the planning process and
that coordination with the international community
is lacking. While the meeting was a valuable airing
of views, it also showed how much work remains to be
done. End summary.


2. (C) At the March 26 DIAG Steering Committee
meeting, chaired by Second Vice President Khalili,
UNAMA Deputy SRSG Alexander said there has been
little progress since the September elections. He
pressed the GOA to produce lists of IAGs for the
five initial provinces, and emphasized that the
lists needed to be put together on the basis of
facts, not political lobbying. He added that once
the lists have been produced they will have to
receive support at the political level. Alexander
mentioned in particular two prominent political
figures with government appointments, Energy
Minister Ismael Khan and Military Chief of Staff
Abdul Rashid Dostum. So long as people like these
high up in the GOA oppose the DIAG process, he said,
it cannot succeed. &If we talk openly,8 Alexander
said, &they cannot oppose us. But if we pretend
that these obstacles don,t exist, they will.8


3. (C) Japanese Charge Kato (Japan is the lead DIAG
nation) also announced that Japan would host a DIAG
Conference in Tokyo in July, and hoped President
Karzai would be attending. Kato said it would be
important to have significant DIAG successes leading
up to the Tokyo Conference to maintain momentum and
that Japan was looking to make a substantial budget
pledge toward DIAG at that time.


4. (C) More generally, drawing on the discussion at
the DIAG Principals, meeting held immediately before
the Steering Committee meeting, Alexander requested
that the GOA raise the political profile of the DIAG
process. For example, he noted the international
community,s concern that the workshop for governors
of the five initial provinces, scheduled for March
26, had been canceled because the governors had
intended to send second or third-line staff rather
than attending themselves. (Note: In fact,
haphazard conference planning and failure to
adque/ately vet the date set immediately after the
Nowruz holiday may have been at fault. End note.)
Alexander pointed out that unless governors fully
understand that the GOA considers DIAG a top
priority, they will not make the effort needed to
bring it about.

GOA Perspective
--------------


5. (C) In the same spirit of open discussion,

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Defense Minister Wardak raised several points that
he said had been discussed in the internal GOA
meeting prior to the Steering Committee session. He
said the GOA wants more visibility into planning and
budgets for the DIAG process. In particular, he
said, it would like the opportunity to evaluate
plans at an early stage rather than being presented
with completely developed proposals from the
international staff and asked for their approval.
Wardak also requested that ANBP make funds available
to governors for workshops on DIAG. When ANBP
representative Peter Babbington responded that funds
are already being given for this purpose, the GOA
Ministers said they had not been informed of it.


6. (C) Wardak also claimed that international
efforts to publicize the program have been deficient
and expensive ) he suggested that the GOA take on
the publicity effort rather than leaving it to
contractors. He said that this would be an
excellent way to build capacity within the GOA.
Babbington replied that ministry public affairs
offices have for the past six months been invited to
attend Joint Secretariat meetings to plan publicity
efforts, but they have chosen not to participate.


7. (C) Minister Wardak also raised the case of the
recent explosion at Jebel As-Suraj of 100 tons
ordnance collected through DDR, in which two
civilians were killed and 74 Afghans (16 ANA
soldiers and 58 civilians) were injured. He said
the GOA investigation had determined that the
incident was due to negligence rather than sabotage.
He noted, however, that the event showed a lack of
coordination between the ANBP, the ANA, and Halo
Trust (the implementing NGO). Babbington responded
that the depot was inside an ANA base, rather than a
more isolated location, at the insistence of the ANA
itself, and that the remaining explosives at Jebel
As-Suraj have now been transported to the main
destruction site at Khairabad. He said that ANBP
was looking into the issue of compensation for the
victims.


8. (C) In the course of a general discussion,
commentators from the Afghan side noted that while
DIAG is institutionally strong (the committee,
chaired by the Second Vice President, includes
Minister or Deputy Minister-level representation
from relevant GOA ministries),it lacks monitoring
and evaluation capability. Investigators will be
required for cases of non-compliance with
disbandment orders, which will require more budget
resources, one attendee noted.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) This surprisingly frank discussion shows the
frustration with the present state of the DIAG
process on the part of both the international
community and the Afghan participants. In our pre-
meeting, internal discussion on the international
side focused on the lack of commitment on the part
of the GOA and the problems of corruption and non-
cooperation DIAG program implementers are facing in
the provinces. In the Steering Committee meeting,
the GOA side argued that it has been closed out of
the process at the planning level and that serious

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disconnects remain among the various participants.
Deputy SRSG Alexander,s remarks about Ismael Khan
and General Dostum were interesting, and among the
frankest ever spoken in a DIAG plenary meeting.
Without GOA pressure and supportive political
negotiations by the highest level with power brokers
like these, the DIAG process will only achieve
Potemkin victories.


10. (C) Meanwhile Japan, as the lead DIAG nation, is
clearly anxious to see progress, and wants to have
something to show for GOA and international
community efforts before it goes to the expense of
hosting a major conference in Tokyo. End comment.

NORLAND