17 OCTOBER COFFEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000622 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2016 TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR MCAP NATO SUBJECT: 17 OCTOBER COFFEE REF: USNATO 604 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.5(b) and (d). ¶1. SUMMARY: -- Riga Communique: PermReps endorse notion of a short and crispy document, SYG will circulate a strawman outline of key subjects o/a 31 October. -- ANA Training: SYG intends to circulate under silence a tasking to NATO Military Authorities (NMAs) on Afghan National Security Forces Training. PermReps broadly supportive, but the French raised red flags. -- Middle East Training Initiative: SYG will circulate a paper for further discussion next week. -- Afghanistan/Pakistan: UK reports on withdrawal from center of Musa Qaleh, also reported on General Richards's meeting with Musharraf, in which latter made the right noises about cooperation with NATO. END SUMMARY. -------------- Riga Communique -------------- ¶2. (C) SYG proposed a "declaration type communique," a single overarching, concise document covering only what Heads discussed, starting with a NATO vision section, followed by three "chapters": (1) Operations, especially Afghanistan, (2) Political transformation including Global Partnerships and Englargement, and (3) Defense transformation. SYG cautioned against turning communique into a "Christmas tree" or "shopping list." The French PermRep endorsed this approach. Ambassador Nuland advocated arranging the communique in a narrative flow, rather than breaking it into chapters. Most PermReps endorsed the SYG's concept and Nuland's approach and while most also supported a spare communique, a number nonetheless proposed Christmas tree ornaments. SYG concluded by proposing to draft and circulate a strawman outline of communique topics o/a 31 October. This would be discussed at the Ambassador level then sent to the SPC for negotiation. -------------- ANA Training -------------- ¶3. (C) SYG announced that he intended to circulate under silence a tasking to NMAs for expanding training assistance to the ANA and ANP based on the idea in SACEUR's October 2 letter to the SYG (emailed to EUR/RPM). The French PermRep was broadly supportive (and did not object to inclusion of police training) but asked for clarification on the proposed NATO liaison officers to CSTC-A, said OMLT concept needed to be looked into, opposed common funding, and requested a �00A;"snapshot" of current state of training efforts. In response to latter, Amb Nuland offered to facilitate a U.S. briefing on ANA and ANP training led by CFC-A. Nuland also flagged that after the U.S. takes command of ISAF In February, we would likely come back to the NAC with a proposal to "NATO-ize" ANA training with U.S. as NATO lead nation. A subsequent conversation between SYG Private Office and the French delegation indicates the French want to insert these questions into the tasking to NMAs. -------------- NATO Middle East Training Initiative -------------- ¶4. (C) SYG said he intended to circulate in next few days a document showing an "evolutionary" approach to be discussed by PermReps informally next week, mentioning in passing the possibility of mobile training teams in the Middle Eastern region. Spain advocated having the NAC meet with Med Dialogue Partners to discuss the proposal. SYG noted the chicken and egg problem of talking to Partners before the proposal had been fully developed at NATO. Amb Nuland said that the meeting should include ICI partners, and that the NAC also needed to meet with EAPC partners to discuss the USNATO 00000622 002 OF 002 concept of global partnerships. French PermRep made an unhelpful intervention advocating a "gradual, prudent approach," and emphasized that while the NAC could meet with partners, the NAC could not generate demand for the project, and that MD and ICI partners should be met separately because of their supposed sensitivities about being mixed together. -------------- Pakistan -------------- ¶5. (C) UK PermRep reported on COMISAF's meeting with President Musharraf. Musharraf was reportedly unhappy at being seen by NATO as "an enemy," and urged the Alliance not to be publicly critical of Pakistan. The Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) was under orders not to support the Taliban, but Musharraf did not rule out the possibility of rogue operations. He acknowledged that the Waziristan peace deal might not work, but urged it be given a chance. The Pakistani president also said that Pakistanis perceived India's involvement in Afghanistan as a malign influence. SYG said he will be meeting with the Pakistani CHOD. -------------- Musa Qaleh -------------- ¶6. (C) UK PermRep reported that the British component in ISAF was redeploying away from the center of Musa Qaleh (northern Helmand) after consultation with the GOA and tribal elders. ¶7. (C) Deputy Treasury Secretary Kimmit's briefing on the Iraq Compact will be reported SepTel. NULAND