MINISTERS CITE MEASURABLE RESULTS IN AFGHAN MISSION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 002251



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E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL, EAID, PTER, AF, CA

SUBJ: MINISTERS CITE MEASURABLE RESULTS IN AFGHAN MISSION



REF: Ottawa 1903



1. (SBU) Summary: Foreign Minister Bernier and International

Development Minister Oda appeared before the House of Commons'

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee on December 11 to

describe progress in Afghanistan. The ministers insisted that the

resolve of NATO partners is strong, that development efforts are

yielding measurable results, and that Canada is "well on track" to

reaching its goals of stability, good governance, and lasting peace

in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, with the Manley Panel's report on

Canada's future role in Afghanistan (reftel) due in late January,

the government and the opposition are preparing for what could be

the most contentious parliamentary debates of 2008. End summary.



NATO COMMITED, ARMY AND POLICE ON TRACK

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2. (U) Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier told the parliamentarians

that NATO's commitment to the Afghan mission remains "very strong"

and that NATO partners at the December 6-7 NATO Foreign Ministerial

in Brussels were "united in the conviction" that there could be no

reconstruction without security. He said that Canada's 350-person

Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar is yielding results

in training of police, developing justice capacity, and promoting

governance.



3. (U) Canada will take the military lead in Regional Command South

(RC-S) from February 2008 and Canadian Forces are "well on track" to

reaching their goal of training the Afghan army and increasing its

capacity to mount independent actions, according to Bernier. Canada

is also taking a comprehensive approach to reform of the Afghan

police, and providing strategic advice, equipment, salaries, and

uniforms, as well as building infrastructure (such as police

sub-stations),mentoring, and training, he added. Forty-six

Canadian civilian and Military Police trainers are currently on the

ground in Kandahar. Between 2002 and 2008, Canada will contribute a

total of $39.8 million in wages for the Afghan police.



RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT DELIVERS RESULTS

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4. (U) Minister Beverley Oda announced that in 2008 the Canadian

International Development Agency (CIDA) will increase the number of

its field staff in Kandahar to 35. Under the terms of the Afghan

Compact, she said, Canada will spend $1.2 billion on reconstruction

aid for Afghanistan by 2011. Both ministers cited "significant

achievements" and "real results" in Canada's efforts to promote

access to education and basic health care in Afghanistan,

particularly for women and girls. They also noted that Canada had

recently increased its already significant contribution to de-mining

by an additional $80 million over four years.



NEARING ANOTHER VOTE

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5. (U) Regarding the future of Canada's mission in Afghanistan,

Minister Bernier said that the government is committed to holding

another vote in the Commons in 2008, but that the government does

not believe that Canada should abandon Afghanistan after 2009. He

said the government wants the debate to be "as non-partisan as

possible" and denied that the government had already made up its

mind and is "gearing up" to impose its vision on Parliament. He

stated the government's action on this issue has been "transparent

and clear," that -- in a minority position -- the government will

have to listen to opposition parties, and that it would carefully

consider the advice of all MPs and of the independent Manley panel,

Qconsider the advice of all MPs and of the independent Manley panel,

and arrive at a consensus in the House of Commons.



COMMENT

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6. (SBU) Ministers Bernier and Oda's briefings were firmly "on

message," insisting that the Afghan mission is yielding measurable

results, that development is happening, and that the mission's

balance of development and security will improve as the security

situation stabilizes. Probably to the disappointment of the

government, there was little or no significant press coverage of

these positive iterations about the accomplishments of the current

mission. Both parliamentarians and the public may be looking more

toward the recommendations of the Manley Panel (due in late

January),although many opposition MPs have told us privately that

nothing the panel could propose would change their parties'

positions on the future of the Afghan mission. Expectations are

that the debates in the Foreign Affairs Committee and in the full

House on the next resolution about the fate of Canadian Forces in

Afghanistan after February 2009 will be heated and have the

potential to spark the most divisive Parliamentary discussions in

2008.



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