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.

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Riga Communique
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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.

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ANA Training
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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
"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.

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NATO Middle East Training Initiative
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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

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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.

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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.

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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