NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT MAY 30 2007

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 USNATO 000348

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2017
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT MAY 30 2007

REF: SECSTATE 73696

Classified By: DCM Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY:

-- Afghanistan: The Deputy Chairman of the Military
Committee (D/CMC) reported that Operation &Adalat8 in
northern Kandahar has been delayed and that the Theater Task
Force has been redeployed to Operation Achilles to maintain
security in the Sangin area. Ambassador Nuland pointed out
this was a consequence of continued troop shortfalls in RC-S;
D/CMC concurred. The Spanish PermRep called for a debate on
ISAF strategy at the upcoming Defense Ministerial. D/CMC
highlighted the recent PRT conference in Kabul and made note
of a number of Afghanistan National Police (ANP) issues.

-- Balkans: D/CMC provided an update on the security
situation. The Turkish PermRep informed the NAC that Turkey
had assumed command of Multi-National Task Force South for
the next year.

-- Somalia: African Union (AU) officially requests NATO
airlift support for its mission in Somalia. Several PermReps
asked for rapid provision of military advice, with some
supporting a quick, positive response to the AU. The French
PermRep opposed a NATO role in coordinating airlift, while
the German PermRep expressed concerns about the security
situation in Somalia and noted that, unlike AMIS, this was
not a joint NATO-EU mission.

-- Darfur: Ambassador Nuland briefed the NAC on the new U.S.
sanctions against Sudan.

-- Response to Terrorism: D/CMC reported that a Ukrainian
ship is currently deployed in Operation Active Endeavor.
Turkish PermRep pointed to instability in Iraq as
contributing to terrorist attacks in Turkey and calls for
NATO states solidarity in combating terrorism.

-- NATO Public Diplomacy Strategy: ASG for PD Jean Fournet
briefed the NAC on the PD Division,s strategy for 2007.
Ambassador Nuland urged PDD to redouble its efforts to
rebrand the Alliance as a global security provider and also
encouraged more PD support for operations, especially ISAF.

-- CNAD and NC3B Meetings: The Assistant Secretary General
(A/SYG) for Defense Investment Peter Flory briefed the NAC on
the CNAD Meeting held on 25 April and the NC3B Meeting held
on 23 May.

-- AOB: The SYG noted on-going negotiations on the status of
NATO personnel at the Combined Air Operations Center. The
Slovenian PermRep detailed the Proliferation Security
Initiative.

END SUMMARY.

Afghanistan
--------------

2. (C) D/CMC LTG Eikenberry stated that PermReps will receive
detailed briefings at SHAPE on June 4 on Afghanistan
operations and ISAF-OEF coordination. He also said that the
decisive phase of Operation Adalat in northern Kandahar
province has been delayed until at least June 2 (ground
conditions dependent),and that the Theater Task Force (TTF)
has been redeployed in support of Operation Achilles,
specifically to maintain security in the Sangin area.

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3. (C) D/CMC noted the recent PRT conference in Kabul had
included representatives from all 25 PRTs, as well as the GoA
and the international community. The conference focused on
implementing the Afghan National Development Plan, and more
specifically on the areas of health, education and
agriculture. The Tripartite Commission also met in Kabul,
and focused on increasing coordination between Pakistan and
Afghanistan along their border. The Pakistan military
continues to investigate the incident in Kurram Agency that
resulted in the death of an ISAF soldier. D/CMC noted that
more than 60,000 Afghan police have been trained to date, and
that, over the last year, 320 have been killed in action. He
said much of the Afghan populace continues to mistrust the
ANP; however, the quality and quantity of the force is
increasing.


4. (C) The Spanish PermRep suggested the need for a debate on
ISAF strategy at the upcoming Defense Ministerial. He urged
that the position of UN representative to Afghanistan be
strengthened, in part to improve coordination between the
international actors, and also called for better coordination
between ISAF and OEF.


5. (C) Ambassador Nuland noted that the Afghan delegation to
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, in a meeting with U.S.
counterparts, was very supportive of the ISAF presence. The
Afghans suggested that ISAF carry out more operations in
coordination with the ANA, and expressed concern that, rather
than staying too long in Afghanistan, ISAF might leave too
soon. Ambassador Nuland asked whether the Operation Adalat
delay, because the Theater Task Force was still needed for Op
Achilles, indicated that insufficient forces are deployed in
RC-S. D/CMC said it was clear that increased maneuver forces
in RC-S would increase the likelihood of success for
Achilles, while also allowing Adalat to proceed.

Balkans
--------------

6. (C) Kosovo: SYG noted the intense diplomatic activity in
the U.N. Security Council on Kosovo. D/CMC provided an
update on the security situation in Kosovo, reporting that
the frequency of inter-ethnic tensions has decreased, but
that COMKFOR continues to review contingency planning. The
Turkish PermRep informed the NAC that Turkey has taken
command of Multi-National Task Force South for a period of
one year. He noted that the Turkish contingent would
increase its complement of personnel by 300 troops (to 750
total) and assign three additional UH-1 helicopters to
MNTF-S.

Somalia
--------------

7. (C) The SYG noted the AU,s May 22 Note Verbale request to
NATO for airlift support for its mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
He pointed out that NATO has considerable relevant
experience through its support to AMIS over the previous two
years, and that no NATO troops would need to be on the ground
in Mogadishu in order to carry out this mission. He stressed
that NATO needed to act quickly in order to support Burundi
troop and equipment movements soon (as requested in the Note
Verbale).


8. (SBU) D/CMC said the proposed airlift would require
minimal resources from the NATO command structure. He
suggested as a possible arrangement that the Air Mobility
Coordination Center in SHAPE first solicit support from
nations, after which air movements could be coordinated

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through the NATO liaison team in Addis Ababa. From a
military perspective, he said, there would be no need for a
new mission order.


9. (C) The Danish PermRep called for a &swift, positive8
response to the AU request. The UK and Canada supported the
Danish position. The German PermRep expressed concern about
the security situation in Somalia, adding that the AU request
differs from the AMIS arrangement in that it would not be a
joint action with the EU. He said military advice was
needed, concluding that Germany was not yet able to commit to
this mission. The French PermRep said France has &no
objection to allies providing strategic support8 and said
that France intends to provide 500,000 euros bilaterally to
Burundi to transport all or part of its contingent. He
suggested that the AU prefers that assistance be provided
directly to troop contributors, rather than thorough AU HQ;
therefore, he concluded that any coordinating structure in
NATO would ¬ be useful.8


10. (C) The UK PermRep said that despite the lack of clarity
in the AU,s request, the need on the ground was &clear and
urgent.8 He called for military advice to be provided
quickly and be focused solely on the needs of the potential
mission, rather than a broad assessment of the situation in
Somalia. Ambassador Nuland agreed that the AU,s request was
important, and urged PermReps to first seek military advice
before prejudging what NATO might coordinate. The SYG
pointed out that the Note Verbale was addressed to NATO, not
to individual countries, and therefore required a NATO
response. He urged military authorities to provide advice
rapidly.

Darfur
--------------

11. (SBU) Ambassador Nuland briefed on new U.S. sanctions
against Sudan outlined May 29 by President Bush (reftel).
She explained these sanctions were in response to Sudanese
intransigence on allowing the AU-UN &hybrid8 force to
deploy, as well as Government of Sudan attacks in Darfur and
support for the janjaweed militias. She said the U.S. will
seek to &multilateralize8 these sanctions in the UNSC,
beginning later this week, and that the U.S. would distribute
details of the sanctions to delegations.

Terrorism
--------------

12. (C) D/CMC noted that the Ukrainian ship was fully
certified and has been operating under NATO command in
Operation Active Endeavor since May 25. The next Russian
ship will deploy August 1 for training and certification, and
the next Ukrainian ship will deploy in the October-November
timeframe.


13. (C) The Turkish PermRep thanked the SYG once again for
the May 22 statement condemning the terrorist attack in
Ankara. He provided further details of the investigation,
including alleged PKK links of the suicide bomber. More
generally, he stated that terrorists in Turkey were
benefiting from instability in Iraq, including in particular
the ability to more easily obtain explosives and small arms.
He called on NATO states to demonstrate solidarity in
fighting terrorism that goes beyond statements made after a
terrorist attack; for example, in implementing UNSCRs on
combating financial and logistical support for terrorism.
Public Diplomacy Strategy
--------------

14. (SBU) ASG for PD Jean Fournet briefed the NAC on the PD

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Division,s strategy for 2007. Fournet highlighted the
division,s three main priorities for 2007: NATO,s mission
in Afghanistan, the western Balkans, and Russia. Providing
few details, he touched lightly on a number of ongoing
programs, including visitor programs (nearly 12,000 visitors
to HQ),flagship events at the Riga summit, programs to reach
opinion makers in the MedD/ICI and EAPC countries. He also
highlighted the division,s trend to move from old
technologies to new, moving resources from printed products
to on-line, providing media with more video materials (he
mentioned a video team in Afghanistan that would emphasize
&NATO as a security enabler8),and updating the NATO,s
internet website to carry more video streaming.


15. (SBU) A lively discussion followed, with 20 PermReps
intervening. Most thanked Fournet for his 4 years of service
(he leaves in Sept.),and supported the division,s move from
old media to new. The Polish and Hungarian PermReps called
for making Ukraine a higher priority in the strategy.
Several PermReps, (Lithuania, The Netherlands, Canada, UK),
called for PDD to come up with an action plan to provide NATO
and ISAF with a strategic communications capability.
PermReps from Belgium, Lithuania, and Portugal chided PDD for
not doing enough with NATO,s main NGO partners, the Atlantic
Treaty Associations (ATA) in alliance states. The
Netherlands PermRep, supported by several other ambassadors,
also questioned the focus of efforts in non-Alliance states,
rather than in NATO countries themselves, saying that,
&...survival of our Alliance depends not on what Omanis and
Algerians think, but on what our own publics think.8


16. (SBU) In her intervention, Ambassador Nuland thanked
Fournet for putting NATO,s public diplomacy priorities on a
better track, but added that PDD must redouble its efforts to
rebrand the Alliance as a global security provider and to
bring NATO issues &from the summit table to the kitchen
table.8 She also stressed increased support for operations,
especially ISAF, and urged PDD to provide a funding plan for
a strategic communications effort, particularly a satellite
uplink capability, a more interactive, real-time website, and
a 24/7 Media Ops Center. She agreed that HQ should do more
with ATAs and their youth branches (YATA). Finally, she
called on PDD to be more transparent with nations on its
budget plans, and called for a top-to-bottom review of PDD,s
budget to ensure that its programs reflected the changing
political priorities of the Alliance.

CNAD and NC3B Meetings
--------------

17. (SBU) Assistant Secretary General Peter Flory briefed the
NAC on the outcome of recent meetings of the Conference of
National Armaments Directors (CNAD) and the NATO
Consultation, Command and Control Board (NC3B). He
highlighted principal focus areas of both committees,
including their contributions to NATO military operations,
particularly ISAF, and their support for military
transformation through Defense Against Terrorism (DAT)
initiatives and the development of a NATO Network Enabled
Capability (NNEC). Other key CNAD and NC3B work addressed by
Flory includes efforts to resolve missile defense technology
issues; defense of NATO and national information systems
against cyber attack; and key issues of concern to NATO
regarding military radio frequency allocations, which will be
addressed at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference
2007 (WRC-07). Flory urged nations to continue their active
involvement in these important CNAD and NC3B activities.

AOB

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---

18. (C) The SYG noted that DASG Bob Simmons was currently in
Qatar to carry out negotiations on the status of NATO
personnel at the Combined Air Operations Center. The
Slovenian PermRep reported that a Proliferation Security
Initiative exercise took place off the coast of Slovenia. In
addition to eleven Allies, Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro
participated.


OLSON