C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000487

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2017
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - SEPTEMBER 5, 2007

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


1. (C) Summary from the NAC Meeting:

-- Afghanistan: PermReps recapped the NAC,s meeting that
morning with UNODC Director Costa (reported septel) and
agreed to hold an informal meeting to discuss what more NATO
might do within the existing ISAF OPLAN to assist the Afghans
in counter-narcotics efforts.

The Chairman of the Military Committee noted that SHAPE had
recommended outsourcing to fill the airlift shortfall ISAF
will face in January. The SYG commented it was a shame to
have to take this step in the face of the lack of Allied
contributions to meet airlift requirements. Ambassador
Nuland said the U.S. uses contract airlift for some of its
resupply flights in RC-East, but noted that the SHAPE
outsourcing proposal would not cover all of the shortfall and
Allies would still need to meet the rest of the airlift
requirement. The Danish Perm Rep called for streamlining
ISAF's procurement rules to make it easier to buy local goods
and hire local employees. In the operational brief, SHAPE
Operations Director MG Wright noted Opposition Military
Forces (OMF) were using the area around Dai Kundi as a safe
haven and transit route due to the limited Afghan National
Army (ANA) presence there. ISAF's main focus remained
RC-East. Wright also said the shortfall in Operational
Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) risked hindering future
ANA-led operations, such as operation KYBER, which is
reaching its decisive phase in RC-East.

-- Balkans: The SYG noted that LTGEN Xavier Bout de Marnhac
had assumed command of KFOR. The UK expressed concern about
anti-NATO statements from Serbian leaders and "schizophrenic"
statements expressing support for joining PfP, but not NATO.

-- Darfur: The SYG informed the Council that the AU has
requested NATO assistance on a study to evaluate the
operational readiness of African Stand-by Force Brigades.
The SYG asked the Council to approve this NATO assistance
under a short silence procedure to close at 1800 on September

5.

-- Iraq: No Discussion

-- AOB: The CMC briefed on the CHOD's September 5-9 meeting
in Canada. The CHOD's will discuss current operations, the
review of NATO's peacetime command structure, and the NATO
Response Force.

END SUMMARY.

Afghanistan
--------------
2.(C) PermReps recapped the NAC,s meeting that morning with
UNODC Director Costa (reported septel) and agreed to hold an
informal meeting to discuss what more NATO might do within
the existing ISAF OPLAN to assist the Afghans in
counter-narcotics efforts.

3.(C) The SYG raised the NATO International Staff's proposal
to restructure and expand the Senior Civilian
Representative's (SCRs) office in Kabul and commonly fund it.
He said the issue would be given to the Policy Coordination
Group (PCG) to consider the proposal and report back to the
NAC.

4.(C) The SYG noted that SHAPE would host a briefing on
September 18 on ANA equipment and training. He hoped the
briefing would help clear up some confusion he had seen over
who was doing what in ANA equipping and training and clarify
priorities.

5.(C) Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) Henault noted
that ISAF would face a shortfall of over 20 aircraft at the

USNATO 00000487 002 OF 003


end of January when the U.S. bridging force would be
withdrawn. In the absence of any Ally offering to fill the
shortfall, SHAPE had proposed outsourcing to fill requirement
(at a 45 million Euro annual cost) in a plan that called for
leasing both fixed and rotary wing aircraft. This proposal
would soon be formally sent to the Military Committee. In
order to have contractors in place by January, a decision to
pursue this option would have to be made by early October.
The SYG commented that having to resort to contractors for
such a critical need was a shame. While he understood the
need to contract for helos given the shortage in Allied
inventories, having to also contract for fixed-wing aircraft
when similar planes exist in some Allies inventories was a
shame.

6.(C) MG Wright provided the Operations Brief, noting that
Central Afghanistan in the area of Dai Kundi and the Sangin
Valley remains an area of limited ANA presence. The area is
increasingly important to OMF, who use it as a safe haven and
transit route. The area was playing an increasingly
important role for the Taliban expansion into Badghis
province and western Faryab province. The area was "not a
hotbed" of OMF activity, however, since Pashtuns, the
traditional supporters of the Taliban, remain in the
minority. Intelligence indicated that the Iranian al-Qods
force was trying to foster cooperation between the majority
Hazaras and the Taliban in this area, however. Traditional
tension between the two groups made significant cooperation
unlikely, but the Hazaras already had facilitated some
Iranian-source weapons shipments in the area.

7.(C) In RC-Capital, successful information ops and civil
military cooperation activities conducted under the umbrella
of Operation SHUKRAN were assessed to have resulted in an
increasingly friendly attitude of the population toward ISAF.
However, there was an increase in IED attacks that were
apparently aimed at the entire international community. In
RC-North, operation HAREKABE YOLO II, designed to prevent OMF
freedom of movement, had begun. In RC-South, the main
tactical, Operation GARANDAY ZMARAY, had commenced in
Kandahar province. RC-East continues to be the focus of
ISAF's main tactical effort. Operation KYBER, an ANA-led
operation supported by ISAF, is in its decisive phase and
aims to set the conditions to enable economic and political
progress throughout Paktya, Paktika, and Khost provinces.
Continuing this type of ANA-led operation will require
increased contributions of Operational Mentoring and Liaison
Teams (OMLTs). The shortfall in OMLTs remains large and will
continue to grow as more ANA units complete training. MG
Wright reiterated the invitation to the September 18 SHAPE
briefing on ANA equipping and training, noting that while
donated equipment continues to be delivered, currently 3
million Euros worth of approved donations is awaiting
delivery.

8.(C) Danish PermRep Poulsen-Hansen said ISAF could enhance
Afghanistan economic development by purchasing more local
products and hiring more local employees. He suggested the
Infrastructure Committee review ISAF procedures to remove
obstacles to local procurement. Responding to the briefing
on the rotary wing shortfall, Ambassador Nuland noted the
U.S. contracts about 20 percent of its airlift requirements
in RC-East, mainly for resupply runs but not combat missions.
This arrangement has proven to be cost efficient and, in the
absence of alternatives, Allies should look seriously at the
SHAPE outsourcing proposal. She noted, however, that the
SHAPE proposal would only cover 20 percent of the airlift
shortfall, so Allies will still need to fill the remainder of
the requirement. She supported Poulsen-Hansen's comment on
local procurement, citing as an example the U.S. contract
with an Afghan provider to provide all drinking water for the
U.S. in RC-East.

9.(C) Czech PermRep Fule reported that the Czech government
decided to set up and lead a PRT in Logar province. An

USNATO 00000487 003 OF 003


advance team would arrive in Logar in September and they
expected the PRT to be fully operational in March 2008.

Balkans
--------------
10.(C) The SYG said there would be intensive diplomatic
activity in the run-up to the September 27 Contact Group FMs
meeting in New York with the Serbian and Kosovar leadership.
On August 31, KFOR conducted its planned change of command
with French LTGEN Xavier Bout de Marnhac taking over command
from LTGEN Roland Kather. The SYG said he thought Gen.
Kather had performed superbly and had invited him for the
traditional outbrief with the NAC. CMC said KFOR's op tempo
was steady and the security situation in Kosovo was stable,
but not calm. KFOR continued to conduct contingency planning
for all possible scenarios.

11.(C) UK Deputy PermRep Kidd said DSS leaders in Serbia
continued to make "schizophrenic" statements about NATO, in
which they support Serbia's membership in PfP, but explicitly
oppose NATO membership. The Serbian Interior Minister had
complained of the possibility that in December Kosovar
Albanians could declare independence unilaterally, and Kosovo
would become the "first NATO state." He noted the UK
intended to raise these statements when the NAC met that
afternoon with Serbian FM Jeremic (septel). Italian PermRep
Stefanini said he thought it would be a mistake to make too
much of Serbia's statement against joining NATO since there
was no contradiction to wanting to join PfP but not NATO.
Italy was concerned, however, about the public statements of
Serbian leaders on Kosovo.

Darfur
--------------
12.(C) The SYG informed the NAC that UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-Moon is currently on a week-long tour of Sudan, Chad and
Libya, and is pressing for a political solution in Darfur and
quick deployment of the AU-UN hybrid mission. He also
informed the NAC that a new UN special envoy for Sudan,
Ashraf Qazi, has been appointed. Qazi succeeds Jan Pronk who
was PNGed by the GOS in Oct 2006.

13.(C) The SYG informed the Council that the AU has requested
NATO assistance on a study to evaluate the operational
readiness of African Stand-by Force Brigades. The SYG asked
the Council to approve this NATO assistance under a short
silence procedure to close at 1800 hrs on September 5.

CHOD Meeting in September
--------------
14.(C) Under AOB, CMC briefed on the CHOD's September 5-9
meeting in Canada. The CHOD's will discuss current
operations, the review of NATO's peacetime command structure,
and the NATO Response Force.


OLSON