C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 USNATO 000616

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NOFORN
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2017
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - NOVEMBER 21, 2007

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


1. (C/NF) Summary from the NAC Meeting:

-- Afghanistan: SHAPE reported that November through February
historically has been a period of reduced activity by
Opposing Militant Forces (OMF), but OMF would likely seek to
retain a high op tempo in limited areas. Ambassador Nuland
noted that she had asked SYG de Hoop Scheffer to explore the
possibility of using newly-provided video technology to
establish a weekly joint ISAF-Afghan press briefing, which
could be fed into European news outlets. Dutch PermRep
Schaper noted a November 21 report by the Senlis Council
which cited "54 percent" of Afghanistan under Taliban control
and questioned how NATO would push back on those allegations.
The Canadian PermRep commented that NATO had been caught
behind the curve by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Louise Arbour's comments critical of ISAF,s role in civilian
casualties in Afghanistan, which were picked up by wire
services without any response from NATO. Deputy Chairman of
the Military Committee (D/CMC) said criticism of civilian
casualties highlighted the need for NATO meet Afghan army
training commitments since experience has shown that Afghans
are much more tolerant of civilian casualties caused by their
own forces. On strategic communications, he stressed the
need to hold the Afghan government accountable for delivering
the right message to its people.

-- Balkans: The NAC received an update on Troika-led
negotiations. The SYG will travel to Kosovo prior to the
December Foreign Ministerial.

-- Darfur: D/ASYG Jochems is in Addis Ababa for talks with
African Union (AU) officials concerning NATO's current role
and future opportunities to support the AU's actions in the
region.

-- Iraq: The periodic review of the NTM-I and is now under
silence in the Policy Coordination Group. The DSYG noted
that the Italian non-paper on the future of NTM-I and NATO's
relationship with Iraq was a positive contribution. PC is

now to discuss next partner steps.

-- Autumn 2007 CNAD and NC3B Meetings: ASG Flory briefed the
Council of the autumn meetings of the CNAD and NC3B. The UK
praised the CNAD's focus on developing capabilities for use
in operations. D/CMC Eikenberry complemented CNAD on its
focus on long-term and near-term armaments support for the
warfighter and reiterated the need for Allied Ground
Surveillance (AGS). Estonia voiced support for NATO's work
on the issue of cyber defense, and Ambassador Nuland said
that the U.S. anticipates a cyber defense package for
Bucharest. ASYG Flory is trying to increase formal
interactions necessary to make NATO and the European Defense
Agency mutually supporting and complementary. The
Netherlands welcomed the expansion of defense against
terrorism (DAT) initiatives to NATO partners and questioned
how NATO could involve partners in capability development.

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Ambassador Nuland encouraged PermReps to consider the U.S.
paper on helicopters for discussion in Vilnius and welcomed
an earlier (late November) conclusion of the MD feasibility
study.

-- Response to Terrorism: The DSYG informed the NAC that the
Ukrainian ship Lutsk has completed force integration training
and will be deployed on November 24 to support Operation
Active Endeavor, pending final NAC approval. He said a
Russian ship was in the certification process now as well.

-- Statements on Political Subjects: Ambassador Nuland
previewed upcoming meetings of the UNSC, noting that the
Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a resolution
renewing the mandate of EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina and
will meet November 26 to review Secretary-General Ban's
report on the deployment of the African Union-United Nations
Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

-- AOB: Ambassador Nuland told the NAC that Iran's November
20 test of a new medium range ballistic missile had failed
mid-flight.

END SUMMARY.

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Afghanistan
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2. (C/NF) Deputy Secretary General Bisogniero chaired in SYG
de Hoop Scheffer's absence (comment: the SYG is in
Afghanistan with SACEUR, and will have Thanksgiving dinner
with U.S. troops). Bisogniero thanked Iceland for its
100,000 euro contribution to the ISAF Post-Operations
Humanitarian Relief Fund.


3. (C/NF) SHAPE DCOS Ops MG Wright provided the operations
update to the NAC. He stated that November through February
historically has proven to be a period of reduced activity by
Opposing Militant Forces (OMF) against ISAF forces, but OMF
would likely seek to retain a high op tempo in limited areas.
He noted that the Pakistani army had taken over operations
from the Frontier Corps in Swat, and said ISAF's lines of
communication through Pakistan remained open and were not
currently threatened by the political situation in the
country.


4. (C/NF) Looking at key operations throughout Afghanistan,
MG Wright briefed that HQ ISAF had issued orders for the
redeployment of both the Theater Task Force (TTF) and the
RC-Capital Portuguese Quick Reaction Force to RC-South. The
Portuguese QRF will see action in Zabul province. MG Wright
complimented Operation HAREKATE YOLO II, which had
successfully created the conditions in the region on the
border of RC-West (Badghis province) and RC-North (Faryab
province) for ANSF to establish a permanent presence. Both
RC-West and RC-North commanders had cooperated closely on the
planning and execution of this operation, which had seen

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Afghan forces take the lead, with ISAF support in clearing
out OMF, and delivering aid to the local population. In
RC-South, he noted Task Force Helmand is focused on cutting
off OMF reinforcements in the Sangin and Gereshk areas, as
well as continuing operations by the ANA 201st Corp in Tora
Bora. On counternarcotics, MG Wright stated that ISAF forces
continue to support IRoA efforts, to include information
operations, logistics support, in extremis support, and
intelligence sharing; he pointed to particularly good
cooperation in RC-East.


5. (C/NF) Ambassador Nuland noted that she had asked SYG de
Hoop Scheffer, while in Afghanistan this week with SACEUR, to
explore the possibility of using the new 1-star ISAF
spokesman together with new U.S.- and Danish-provided video
technology to establish a weekly joint ISAF-Afghan press
briefing, which could be fed into European news outlets.
Dutch PermRep Schaper noted a November 21 report by the
Senlis Council which cited "54 percent" of Afghanistan under
Taliban control and a crisis-level security situation.
Schaper wryly questioned the report's credibility, but was
joined by Italy, Canada, and Germany in asking how NATO would
push back on those allegations, and whether NATO had figures
and analysis to counter these charges. MG Wright stated that
SHAPE could provide a relevant intelligence brief. The
Norwegian PermRep stated that his embassy in Kabul had
reported some grumbling from UNAMA over a lack of
coordination by ISAF in planning Operation HAREKATE YOLO II,
which resulted in substandard assistance being delivered in
its aftermath, and asked for some of the back-story to this
from MG Wright. MG Wright cited the lack of UNAMA presence
throughout Afghanistan as well as the lack of a single point
of contact on development and assistance issues among the
international community with whom ISAF can coordinate as
limiting factors, but assured the Norwegian of SHAPE and
ISAF's commitment to the most effective civ-mil cooperation
possible.


6. (C/NF) The Canadian PermRep commented that NATO had been
caught behind the curve again as UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights (UNHCHR) Louise Arbour's comments critical of
ISAF's role in civilian casualties in Afghanistan were picked
up by wire services without any response from NATO. UK
PermRep Eldon, supported by Turkey, suggested that NATO reach
out to UNHCHR to try to set the record straight, and work on
some of the institutional perceptions that inform unhelpful
comments such as those issued by Arbour. Eldon also
announced UK plans to pay for the transport of donated Czech
helicopters to Afghanistan, and urged Allies to make a
greater effort on equipment support to the Afghan army. The
German PermRep expressed concern that all signs pointed to
OMF using the Musa Qala district center in Helmand as a
sanctuary, and asked if SHAPE had signs of similar situations
elsewhere in Afghanistan.


7. (C/NF) Taking an overarching approach to the questions,
D/CMC Eikenberry reminded the Council to look not only at a
sanctuary such as Musa Qala within Afghanistan, but also to

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sanctuary being provided to OMF outside of Afghanistan, such
as Pakistan. He strongly questioned the credibility of the
Senlis Council report. He showed the link between the
controversy of civilian casualties and NATO's inability to
meet Afghan army training commitments: experience has shown
that Afghans are much more tolerant of civilian casualties
caused by their own forces as opposed to those caused by
foreign forces. On strategic communications, he stressed the
need to hold the Afghan government accountable for delivering
the right message to its people.


8. (C/NF) Ambassador Nuland strongly supported D/CMC's
comments, noting that, disappointingly, during both the
Senlis Council press release and Louise Arbour's comments,
the Government of Afghanistan has been silent.

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Balkans
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9. (C/NF) The DSYG updated the Council on the November 20
Troika negotiations with the parties in Brussels saying
although it was the most constructive meeting to date, there
were no breakthroughs and the chances of achieving a
settlement appear slim. He said the next round of talks
would take place in Austria around November 28. He also
noted the relative calm during the November 17 elections in
Kosovo and said the preliminary results show the Democratic
Party of Kosovo led by Hashim Thaci in the lead. The D/CMC
updated the Council on the security situation saying that the
German operational reserve unit had deployed to support
Multi-National Task Force-East,s increased patrolling along
the Macedonian border rather than Multi-National Task Force-
North as initially planned. He further noted that NATO,s
international military staff on November 15 received SHAPE's
autumn 2007 operational update for the Balkans joint area of
operations. In response to the U.S. request for more
information on the Troika-led discussions, DASYG Pardew
provided a further readout noting the more positive tone of
the meeting, but lack of substantive progress. Pardew
reiterated the slim chances for an agreement. He also
mentioned that Serbia, led by Prime Minister Kostunica,
harshly rejected the Troika idea of a "status neutral"
agreement. This drew a response from the Greek PermRep, who
said that it was Russia who had prevented the Troika from
formally presenting the proposal during the talks so Serbia
did not reject it. Pardew stated that Russia's rejection was
not reflected in the reporting to the Contact Group and that
the report they received from the Troika asserted that the
Kostunica very sharply rejected the status-neutral proposal.
The DSYG concluded by saying that the SYG will be traveling
to Kosovo at some point before the upcoming NATO Foreign
Ministers' meeting on December 6-7.

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Darfur
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10. (C/NF) The DSYG reported that D/ASYG Jochems was in Addis
Ababa for talks with African Union (AU) officials concerning
NATO's current role and future opportunities to support the
AU's actions in the region.

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Iraq
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11. (C/NF) The DSYG noted that the periodic mission review of
the NTM-I was under silence following the Policy Coordination
Group's (PCG) review. The DYSG also commented that as
indicated by the SYG a report would be forthcoming and
circulated to Allies on the SYG's meeting with Iraqi Foreign
Minister Zebari.


12. (C/NF) On the issue of the Italian non-paper on future
additional training at NTM-I and a possible future NATO
partnership relationship with Iraq, the DSYG asked for the
NAC's consent (which was given by silence), to direct the PCG
to draft recommendations for the NAC on future training and
the Political Committee to do the same on partnership tools
that could be opened to Iraq.

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Autumn 2007 CNAD and NC3B Meetings
--------------


13. (C/NF) ASG Flory briefed on the autumn meeting of the
Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) and the
NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3B). The UK
PermRep said that the CNAD meeting had been one of the most
productive yet and welcomed the focus on capabilities for
operations. D/CMC Eikenberry complimented CNAD for its focus
on long-term and near-term armaments support for the
warfighter and reiterated the need for Allied Ground
Surveillance (AGS). Spain said that since the primary AGS
acquisition is in one country (the U.S Global Hawk UAV), cost
share should equal work share so the remaining nations do not
have to pay more. Ambassador Nuland stated that the U.S. had
invested billions in the development of the Global Hawk and
that the U.S. would not pass these costs on to NATO, but
would also not pay twice. Poland asked if AGS could be used
to complement other Alliance programs such as treaty
verification. France noted it withdrew from AGS at the CNAD
meeting for financial reasons. Italy requested clarification
of the basing for AGS and was told it was in process.


14. (C/NF) Estonia supported NATO's work on the issue of
cyber defense. Ambassador Nuland welcomed progress in cyber
defense and expressed the hope there would be a cyber defense
package ready in time for the Bucharest Summit. The UK noted
the European Defense Agency's (EDA) participation in the CNAD
meeting (the EDA Deputy Executive Director attended the PfP
session) and encouraged more NATO-EDA coordination. ASYG
Flory said he is trying to increase formal interactions
necessary to make NATO and the EDA mutually supporting and
complementary. The Netherlands welcomed the expansion of

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defense against terrorism (DAT) initiatives to partners and
questioned how NATO could involve partners in capability
development (i.e., Turkey remained silent). No nations
objected to the statements regarding closer NATO-EDA ties and
more involvement of partners in DAT or capability
development. Ambassador Nuland encouraged PermReps to
consider the U.S. paper on steps to address NATO's helicopter
shortfall that had been distributed that day. She noted that
ASYG Flory had said that the CNAD's Missile Defense work,
considering how NATO work fits with the U.S. MD efforts, will
be completed by the end of November, ahead of schedule.

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Response to Terrorism
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15. (C/NF) The DSYG informed the NAC that the Ukrainian ship
Lutsk has completed force integration training and would
participate in Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) from November
24 to December 11, subject to the NAC's final political
approval. D/CMC Eikenberry noted that he expected SACEUR's
letter of approval to be submitted to the NAC today. He also
reported that a Russian ship is in the certification process
and this issue soon will be brought to the NAC for
expeditious approval to maximize the amount of time it could
deploy with OAE.

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Statements on Political Subjects
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16. (C/NF) Ambassador Nuland reported that the UNSC is
scheduled to vote today on a resolution renewing the mandate
of EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, she
reported that the UNSC will meet on November 26 to review
Secretary-General Ban's report on the deployment of the

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African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur
(UNAMID) and that NATO's support of peacekeeping forces in
Sudan remain an important element of international peace
efforts. Finally, Ambassador Nuland noted that the UNSC will
hear a report on efforts to implement UNSCR 1701 on Lebanon
on November 27.

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AOB
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17. (C/NF) Ambassador Nuland told the NAC that Iran's tested
of a new medium range ballistic missile on November 20 had
failed mid-flight.
NULAND