NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT FEBRUARY 14, 2007

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000098 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2017 TAGS: NATO PREL AF SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT FEBRUARY 14, 2007 Classified By: DCM RICHARD G. OLSON for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: -- Afghanistan: Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) stressed the immediate need to get ISAF X HQ fully staffed. SHAPE MG Stein detailed ISAF operational successes and plans. UK noted that the jury is still out on Musa Qala, though it believes that Taiban influence is waning. Norway will send 150 SOF to ISAF. Ambassador Nuland called on the EU to increase its police mission and briefed the NAC on Secretary of Defense Gates, visit to Islamabad. -- Kosovo: SYG announced his upcoming visit to Pristina, Mitrovica on February 15 to reinforce NATO,s commitment; CMC briefs on February 10 riots in Pristina, including KFOR support to UNMIK and Kosovar police. -- Darfur: AU PSC Djinnit plans to brief the NAC on March 2; AMIS spring battalion rotations to be fully funded. -- Iraq: CMC informed the NAC that the NTM-I National Defense University (NDU) Director was kidnapped and murdered. -- Six-Party Talks: Ambassador Nuland briefed the NAC on successful outcome of Six-Party Talks in Beijing. -- The NAC approved the Senior Resource Board,s (SRB) recommendation to form the NATO Office of Resources (NOR). END SUMMARY. Afghanistan -------------- ¶2. (C) CMC Henault made a strong plea to nations to meet commitments to the staffing of the ISAF X Composite HQ, still at only 66% manning. In particular, he highlighted the lack of a Role 1 medical facility and maintenance staffs as shortfalls that stood to impact both the health and morale of the HQ, not to mention more operational shortfalls and lack of training that detracted from mission effectiveness. SHAPE J3 MG Stein later stated that of 43 HQ slots in the counter-IED branch (IEDs are COMISAF,s top threat),only 20 were filled. ¶3. (C) In the weekly operational update, MG Stein stated that ISAF continued to assess Taliban goals as seeking to encircle Kandahar and cut off Highway 1 traffic. The ongoing Operation Oqab is paving the way for ISAF,s spring campaign, (Operation &Now Ruz8 or "New Year"),which will seek to preempt and dislocate enemy offensive operations, while supporting development and governance. The recently successful &Operation Kryptonite8 in the Kajaki Dam area, had dislodged enemy camps despite Taliban efforts to use children as human shields. Stein said that RC(S) reserves were using rotary wing mobility to precisely interdict reinfiltration attempts in the Panjwayi and Zhari districts that had been cleared during Operation Baaz Tsuka. On Musa Qala, he stated that COMISAF supported lettin the Afghan government and elders work through te current problems, but was ready to act if necesary. Planning for reconstruction and aid had ben completed, and ISAF is poised to support bothonce the security situation permitted. Finally, MG Stein added that the next Tripartite Commission meeting would be on March 14. ¶4. (C) Norway announced that in response to SACEUR,s request, it would send a contingent of 150 SOF to RC USNATO 00000098 002 OF 003 (Capital) for six months. The UK said it was cautiously optimistic regarding Musa Qala, noting if the Afghans found an Afghan solution, it would represent a large step forward, and that the UK has seen signs of decreasing Taliban influence there. Ambassador Nuland thanked Norway for answering SACEUR,s call, and urged that the Norwegian deployment be without geographical caveats. She welcomed the recent EU GAERC decision to move ahead with an ESDP police mission in Afghanistan, but hoped it was only the beginning, noting the tremendous in-theater needs and that the U.S. had deployed more than 500 police mentors compared with initial E plans for approximately 120 new trainers. She gae PermReps a brief sketch of SecDef Gates, meetig with Pakistani President Musharraf, noting Mushrraf,s commitment to regional security and our itent to help him better deliver, and encouragingAllies to respond to any Pakistani requests for echnical or training assistance for the border. Ambassador Nuland and the Spanish ambassador agreedon the need for consistent, unified messaging from NATO HQ and ISAF, with Ambassador Nuland noting the need for Afghan faces to deliver the message. Kosovo -------------- ¶5. (C) The SYG said he intends to use his trip to Kosovo February 15 to assess the security situation following the February 10 riots in Pristina and to send a strong signal of continued NATO commitment to maintaining a safe and secure environment. In addition to Pristina, the SYG will visit Mitrovica to meet with Kosovar Serb leaders and will tour Camp Nothing Hill. Due to a Serbian holiday, the SYG has postponed his planned stop in Belgrade until the week of February 19. The CMC briefed on the February 10 riots by Kosovar Albanian radicals, noting that KFOR deployed a mission specialty company in support of the Kosovar police and UNMIK. KFOR also manned checkpoints throughout the city, conducted aerial surveillance, and placed tactical reserve units on heightened alert. He further noted, in response to PermReps, inquiries, that the KFOR unit employed tear gas in accordance with NATO/KFOR,s rules for non-lethal engagement. In response to an inquiry from the UK PermRep over the lack of information during the riots, the SYG said he had been in constant touch with SACEUR and stated that there are systems in place to increase the flow of information during a crisis. Ambassador Nuland drew PermReps, attention to the fact that the riots show that time is not on our side and that it is critical to move the Kosovo status process forward. She further reiterated what Secretary of Defense Gates stated at the Defense Ministerial in Seville -- which UNMIK should not reduce by a single person until the EU ESDP police mission is at full operating capacity. ¶6. (C) A/SYG Pardew provided an update to the NAC on the status of NATO-EU technical discussions, noting that the organizations have drafted technical agreements for the five previously identified common areas of responsibility. Further refining of the agreements will continue with the objective of formalizing an exchange of letters between the two organizations which will outline respective areas of responsibility. Pardew mentioned that NATO planners continued to conduct prudent planning for NATO,s future role based on U.N. Special Envoy Ahtisaari,s proposal and that the MC will brief the NAC on staff planning on February 28. The next round of technical discussions between NATO and the EU is scheduled for March 2. Darfur -------------- USNATO 00000098 003 OF 003 ¶7. (SBU) The SYG said that international attention is focused on the ongoing AU/UN Special Envoy,s five-day mission aimed at re-energizing the stalled peace process. This mission is being conducted in parallel with the implementation of the three-phase UN assistance package to AMIS. He reported that the UN is establishing a monitoring mission to Chad and the Central African Republic which could ease the spillover effects of the Darfur crisis. The SYG also reminded the NAC of tentative plans for AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Djinnit, to brief the NAC on March 2. CMC stated that he expects all of the spring 2007 troop rotations to be funded. Current commitments to fund the rotations include the UK (one of three Nigerian battalions), France and Germany (Gambian and Senegalese battalions). After the NAC, a UK mission officer told PolOff that the UK intends to fund the remaining two Nigerian battalion rotations, but must wait until the beginning of the UK fiscal year, April 1, to confirm. Iraq -------------- ¶8. (SBU) CMC reported that NTM-I Brigadier General Nawfal, Director of the Defense Language Institute of the National Defense University (NDU) at Ar-Rustimayah was kidnapped on February 8, and found dead on February 9. This is the second time in six months that a commanding general of NDU has been kidnapped and murdered (the previous incident took place in September 2006). It is currently unknown if the two incidents are linked. An investigation is underway and instruction on personal security outside of the compound (both of these incidents happened in private homes) is being conducted. Six-Party Talks -------------- ¶9. (U) Under Political Subjects and using information contained in State 18387, Ambassador Nuland briefed the NAC on the February 13 agreement by the Six Parties on the &Initial Actions for the Implementation of the September 2005 Joint Statement.8 She emphasized that this would not have been accomplished without the strong united effort of all parties. Ambassador Nuland told PermReps that she would circulate details of the agreement separately, following the NAC. NATO Office of Resources -------------- ¶10. (U) The NAC approved the Senior Resource Board,s (SRB) recommendation to form the NATO Office of Resources (NOR) and revisions to the resource committees terms of reference so that the Infrastructure Committee (IC) and Military Budget Committee are subordinate to the SRB. The Director of the NOR will be DASG Peltier (US). During the next three months, the SRB will review the source of the IC Chairman, currently DASG Peltier, as most nations favor a national chairman. OLSON