CODEL PELOSI CITES STRONG SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000442 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2017 TAGS: OVIP PREL PTER PGOV SNAR MOPS AF SUBJECT: CODEL PELOSI CITES STRONG SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN IN THE HOUSE, NOTES DRUGS AND PAKISTAN ARE STILL ISSUES REF: STATE 4682 Classified By: AMBASSADOR RONALD NEUMANN, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Summary: During January 28 CODEL Pelosi visit to Kabul, Pakistan and poppy were dominant themes. Speaker Pelosi, Chairmen Skelton (Armed Services),Lantos (Foreign Affairs),and Reyes (Intelligence) and Sub-Committee Chairs Murtha (Defense Appropriations) and Lowey (State/Foreign Operations Appropriations),and Representative Hobson (Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee) pushed President Karzai politely but firmly to "make it work" with Pakistani President Musharraf, and also signaled future U.S. aid to Afghanistan could erode if poppy cultivation was not brought under control. In a separate meeting, Kabul Counter Narcotics Task Force Director Wankel conveyed to the CODEL the sense of the GOA's heightened commitment on eradication and explained why simply buying up Afghanistan's opium crop was not a solution to the problem. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Breakfast with the Troops: Upon the CODEL's arrival in Afghanistan on Jan. 28, CJTF-76 Commanding General, MG Freakley, hosted the Speaker and accompanying Members of Congress for breakfast with the troops in a dining facility at Bagram Airfield (BAF). MG Freakley introduced the delegation to the assembled soldiers, numbering around eighty and drawn from the states represented by the House Members. In her remarks, the Speaker lauded the commitment of the U.S. troops and thanked them for their dedication. Each Member of Congress had a chance for extensive give and take with the soldiers at the breakfast tables. ¶3. (U) Kabul Program - Meeting with Parliamentarians: The Speaker and Representatives then flew to Kabul for Embassy, ISAF and Afghan meetings. After a Country Team briefing, the delegation met with several Afghan parliamentarians. Afghan guests included Chairpersons from the Wolesi Jirga (WJ - lower chamber) Defense and Territorial Integrity Committee (Mr. Noorulhaq Olomi); Health, Physical Education, Youth and Labor Committee (Dr. Shakila Hashimi); and the Internal Security Committee (Mr. Fazal Azim Zalmai Mujaddedi) and the Deputy Chair of the International Relations Committee (Mr. Mohammed Shakir Kargar). Breaking up in small groups, the Members and Afghan MPs talked about U.S. assistance to Afghanistan, the local security situation, the need for Afghanistan to show progress, and women's rights. ¶4. (SBU) Counternarcotics Briefing: Citing growing concern in Washington, CODEL posed questions to Counter Narcotics Task Force Director Doug Wankel regarding progress on poppy and opium reduction. CNTF Director ran through each of the five pillars of our CN strategy, confirming that intensified efforts with the Afghan Government (GOA) on eradication, interdiction and economic development will be especially critical. (Note: CODEL's visit preceded President Karzai's sudden change of heart on Ground Based Spraying.) Inter-agency cooperation, including with the military, is good, Wankel said, noting, however, that additional airlift and other resources are required from NATO countries including the U.S. if the military is to be able to carry out both a counter-insurgency and a counternarcotics role. Informed that Pakistani President Musharraf had broached with the CODEL the idea of legalizing opium production for medicinal purposes as suggested by the Senlis Council, Wankel outlined the reasons why such a pr ogram would fail in Afghanistan given the Afghan government's weakness in administering nationwide programs, the huge potential for corruption, and perverse incentives for expanded opium production. ¶5. (C) Lunch with President Karzai: President Karzai greeted Speaker Pelosi and accompanying Members and said the Afghan people were re-assured by the recent announcement of the President's assistance package for Afghanistan. He noted there were a lot of good things happening in the country because of U.S. help. Meshrano Jirga (MJ - upper chamber) Speaker Mujaddedi said the Speaker's visit strengthened parliamentary-congressional relations. WJ Speaker Qanooni and WJ Chair of International Relations Committee Dr. Sayaf acknowledged continued need for governance reform and expressed appreciation for U.S. assistance. Defense Minister Wardak noted the Afghan Army (ANA) was a national symbol of KABUL 00000442 002 OF 003 the reforms in Afghanistan and that it was increasingly effective. He asked the U.S. to continue to help the ANA by providing combat enablers and increasing its mobility. With such help, "we will take over the job." ¶6. (C) Lunch - Pakistan: Speaker Pelosi said there was great regard for Afghanistan in the U.S. with strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. There were, however, issues such as drugs, corruption and rule of law, she noted. Chairman Lantos added the U.S. was committed to Afghanistan for the long run, but public perception of Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions weakened both countries and also weakened support for them in the U.S. He urged Karzai to handle his differences with Pakistan privately. President Karzai said the tensions would subside as soon as Pakistan stopped supporting radicalism. He told the CODEL he believed terrorism in Afghanistan was conducted with the support of the Government of Pakistan. He claimed, after the Karzai-Musharraf dinner at the White House, Afghanistan shared sources of information on terrorists with Pakistan and then Pakistan killed the sources. Karzai also admitted there were terrorist problems inside Afghanistan itself. Chairman Lantos suggested the two countries push joint interests, like fighting terrorism. Rep. Hobson asked if the terrorist fighters come from refugee camps. Karzai said that was true and he was glad Pakistan admitted training was occurring in such camps. He noted Pakistan said the camps were out of control but the senior tribal leaders of the people in the camps were in Pakistan. Chairman Lantos and Rep. Hobson pushed back and said Pakistan and Afghanistan were both friends of the U.S. - if they could not work together, it was bad for everyone. ¶7. (C) Lunch - Drugs: In a friendly but firm manner, Chairman Skelton noted that continued poppy cultivation could lead to an erosion of support for Afghanistan. Karzai said he knew the danger for Afghanistan from poppy. For example, problems in the southern province of Helmand were related to drug lords and Taliban. He admitted it was a deep problem. He promised the GOA would eradicate as much poppy as it could. He said the GOA saw that poppy cultivation dropped when the economy and security went up. Again, turning to Helmand, he said security forces and USAID would change things there. He thought the information campaign to discourage poppy cultivation started too late this year. MJ Speaker Mujaddedi said they wanted to get mullahs to preach against poppy cultivation, but claimed Pakistan would kill the mullahs and then distribute the heroin in Pakistan. Chairman Reyes pledged his support for greater intelligence to help with the problems. He urged Afghanistan to work to resolve its problems with poppy cultivation and Pakistan. He was optimistic that democracy was taking root in Afghanistan. Rep. Murtha was similarly supportive. ¶8. (C) Lunch - General Conditions/Rule of Law/Corruption: Rep. Lowey asked Karzai about progress on rule of law and women's rights. Karzai claimed the Pakistanis burned schools - 200,000 Afghan children were not in school because of the Taliban. He noted polio remained a threat in the country. He said judicial reform was making progress and the Attorney General was attacking corruption. Some progress was being made, Karzai said, but not enough. ¶9. (U) Lunch - U.S. Participants: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Ike Skelton, Chair, House Armed Services Committee Rep. Tom Lantos, Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Chair, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Rep. John Murtha, Chair, Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee Rep. Nita Lowey, Chair, State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Sub-Committee Rep. David Hobson, Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee Mr. Michael Sheehy, National Security Advisor to the Speaker Ambassador Ronald Neumann Major General Robert Durbin, Commander, Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A) ¶10. (U) Lunch - Afghan Participants: KABUL 00000442 003 OF 003 President Karzai Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga (WJ) Mohammad Yunus Qanooni Speaker of the Meshrano Jirga (MJ) Sebghatullah Mujaddedi Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta Minister of Defense General Abudul Rahim Wardak National Security Advisor Zalmai Rassould Minister of Interior Zarar Ahmad Muqbel Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ghulam Farooq Wardak National Director of Security Amrullah Saleh Chief of Staff to the President Mohammad Omar Daudzai Prof. Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayaf, Chair, WJ International Relations Committee Ms. Reda Azimi, Member of MJ International Committee Ms. Saima Khogiani, Member of the WJ Palace Spokesman Mohammad Karim Rahimi Ms. Sharifa Sharif, Deputy Spokesman of the Palace Special Assistant to the President, Shaida Mohammad Abdali ¶11. (C) Commander ISAF Briefing: COMISAF GEN Richards (UK) emphasized ISAF military operations had opened a window of opportunity for the Afghan Government and the international community to exploit. He said he was not "declaring victory," but arguing there was now an opportunity and a need to capitalize on recent military gains by providing better governance and more development assistance -- particularly near-term economic opportunity and jobs -- to Afghans. GEN Richards observed that ISAF's Operation Medusa (last fall) had demonstrated to a skeptical world that NATO could and would fight. In driving the Taliban out of the Panjwayi-Zheray corridor near Kandahar City, ISAF had achieved "psychological ascendancy." GEN Richards underlined that the additional three battalions of U.S. troops (resulting from a recently announced tour-of-duty extension for some U.S. troops in Afghanistan),plus two additional battalions -- one from Poland, and one, GEN Richards hoped, from the UK -- would demonstrate to the Ta liban and the local population the Taliban could not win. He observed that convincing the Afghan population "we will win" militarily was as important to success in Afghanistan as delivering development assistance. ¶12. (U) CODEL did not have an opportunity to clear this cable. NEUMANN