U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO DISCUSSES AFGHANISTAN,

S E C R E T PARIS 001697

SIPDIS
NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/08/2018
TAGS: PREL NATO FR AF PK SO
SUBJECT: U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO DISCUSSES AFGHANISTAN,
PAKISTAN, PIRACY AND NATO SUMMIT WITH FRENCH OFFICIALS

REF: PARIS 1696

Classified By: Pol M/C Kathleen Allegrone for reasons 1.4(b)and (d).


1. (U) This message contains an action request -- please see
paragraph 8.


2. (C) Summary. On September 5-6, U.S. Ambassador to NATO
Kurt Volker met with Francois Richier, Strategic Affairs
Advisor to President Sarkozy and Michel Miraillet, the
Director of Strategic Affairs at the MOD, to discuss NATO
operations in Afghanistan, efforts to combat piracy off the
horn of Africa, recent developments in Pakistan and next
year's 60th anniversary NATO summit to be held in the border
towns of Strasbourg and Kehl. Additional discussions on the
Russia-Georgia conflict and its impact on NATO were reported
septel. End summary.

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FIRST PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON TROOP DEPLOYMENTS
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3. (C) With both interlocutors, Amb. Volker opened the
discussion on Afghanistan by expressing USG condolences on
the August 18 loss of 10 French soldiers serving under ISAF.
Richier noted that, following the recent constitutional
changes voted into law this summer, the French Parliament
will hold a historic first vote on September 22 to approve
the French deployments to Afghanistan. (Embassy comment:
Previously, the authority to deploy troops fell solely to the
French President; with the constitutional changes, Parliament
must now approve of any troop deployments within four months.
The reform does not go into effect until 2009, but the
Sarkozy government opted to bring it into force now.) In the
debate, the French government will focus on real progress
that has been made since the pledge of additional French
troops at the Bucharest summit in April. Given the
parliamentary majority enjoyed by President Sarkozy's UMP
party, the Elysee expects to win the historic vote, but
admitted that it will have to devote further efforts to
ensure long-term support for Afghanistan within the French
parliament. Miraillet agreed, noting that the GOF needs to
do more public diplomacy generally to increase public support
for the French deployments. He added that DefMin Morin will
be accompanying the families of the dead French soldiers to
Afghanistan in the near future.


4. (C) Amb. Volker noted that there is a now a better
understanding in Europe that our mutual security depends on
what happens in Afghanistan, but NATO can still refine its
implementation strategy to provide more reconstruction and
development assistance, increase counter-narcotics efforts
and increase capacity building of the Afghan government so it
can assume greater responsibility for the situation. He
observed that while the Taliban are able to mount individual
attacks in areas throughout the country, they can only do so
in a sustained and strategic manner mainly in the south. The
Taliban is increasing its effort to target the Afghan
people's sense of personal security and to place pressure on
the weak Afghan government. Miraillet noted that NATO forces
should expect to stay in Afghanistan for a minimum of 15
years, but that French politicians are reluctant to say so.
He added that the GOF is focused on getting other countries
to remove their caveats on their troops, which contributes to
a false public perception that NATO allies may have failed in
force protection. DefMin Morin expects to travel again to
Afghanistan at the end of the year and hopes to bring his
German counterpart with him to see operations in the south.

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NATO-UNAMA COOPERATION AND COUNTERNARCOTICS
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5. (C) Amb. Volker informed both interlocutors of USG
efforts to coordinate better between ISAF and UNAMA. The
debate over the handling of a video in the hands of Kai Eide,
the UN Special Representative in Afghanistan is a case in
point. The gory video purports to report on massive civilian
casualties inflicted by NATO forces; however the veracity of
the video and its claims need to be investigated. Afghan
Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak had told Amb. Volker that
the video is the work of the Iranian intelligence services.
The coalition forces' assessment is that there were 35
casualties, seven of which were civilian, in the battle
portrayed in the video. The USG would like for UNAMA to
conduct an investigation jointly with ISAF and ANA military.
Amb. Volker also argued that it is ultimately not helpful to

dispute numbers. We should instead focus on how to prevent
civilian casualties in the future and how such incidents
should be investigated when accusations are made.


6. (C) Richier informed us that the GOF is reviewing what
NATO can do to assist counter-narcotic efforts, noting that
the Afghans do not support large-scale eradication. Amb.
Volker responded that NATO could assist in targeting drug
labs, transport networks and the high-end traffickers, which
financially support the Taliban through profits from the drug
trade. The Afghan government cannot combat these networks on
its own. Richier agreed, but noted GOF concerns that ISAF
involvement in counter-narcotics could lead to increased
civilian casualties, an already sensitive subject. Miraillet
also observed that there is a legal question about having
military forces fighting civilians (albeit armed drug
traffickers). Richier and Miraillet both said that it would
be important for any counter-narcotic operations to be a mix
of ISAF and Afghan security forces, so the effort has an
Afghan face. Amb. Volker agreed that we want Afghan
participation, but stressed that they do not yet have the
capacity to take on these tasks by themselves. Richier also
highlighted the GOF's continued interest in developing
controls for countries that produce the pre-cursor chemicals
used in the drug labs.


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PAKISTAN
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7. (C/NF) Miraillet noted that the French are very concerned
about Pakistan; Musharraf is leaving but the political
parties are focused on fighting amongst themselves.
Pakistani Army Chief General Kayani has reported that the
morale within the Pakistani army is low following several
defeats in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Miraillet informed us that the French and UK experts will be
meeting again this week and suggested setting up a permanent
trilateral dialogue with the UK, France and U.S. on
Afghanistan and Pakistan issues.


8. (S/NF) Richier informed us that the GOF expects to have
high-level meetings soon with Pakistanis and emphasized that
France would like to coordinate its message with the USG.
Specifically, the GOF is interested in obtaining any briefing
papers or talking points that were used by General Petraeus
in his recent meeting with Pakistan's Army Chief General
Kayani. (ACTION REQUEST: Post would appreciate receipt
soonest of any talking points or other information that we
can share with the French President's office. END ACTION
REQUEST.) Richier also referred to a recent conversation
with the NSC, asking for the rationale for eliminating the
Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Amb.
Volker said we would try to get French interlocutors more
information from our perspective on Pakistan, noting that the
government and military share our goals in combating
extremists, but their capabilities are limited.

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PIRACY ALONG AFRICAN COAST
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9. (C) Amb. Volker stated that the rising problem of piracy
off the horn of Africa is an important issue. He observed
that if the EU is prepared to mount a naval mission to combat
piracy, the USG could support such an initiative, though we
would assume that such a mission would bring new naval assets
to the table. To the extent that such a mission would rely
on existing naval forces, currently the CTF-150 and NATO's
Standing NAVAL Maritime Group (SNMG),however, we would want
NATO authorities to examine the implications and provide
advice. Richier reassured us that the Presidency is focused
on obtaining additional ships to provide a security convoy as
soon as possible; they have no interest in getting into an
institutional debate over whether that mission should be
under NATO or the EU. The issue is particularly sensitive in
France, which just had two more citizens taken hostage.
Currently, the GOF is pursuing discussions within the EU,
because their EU counterparts have informed them that new
capabilities would only be possible if the anti-piracy
mission is under the authority of the ESDP. However, Richier
stated firmly that the French delegation at NATO has received
precise guidance not to block discussion on this issue. He
added that the EU should make a decision on this ESDP mission
by September 15. He noted the concern of some within the GOF
that a NATO tasking would divert the discussion within the EU

and delay approval of the ESDP mission.


10. (C) Amb. Volker said that the USG supports a 2-part
tasking to NATO that would: (1) assess the impact that any
potential loss of assets would have on NATO missions in the
area, should ships be taken out of CTF-150 or the SNMG to
provide support for an ESDP mission; and (2) assess what NATO
can do (taking into account what others, such as the EU, are
doing as well). Richier said that the two proposals are
eminently practical. He observed that the TF-150 was
established in 2001 to combat terrorism, but since that time
no terrorist had been apprehended. It may be worth
considering to expand the mission of the TF-150 to combat
piracy as well. Amb. Volker said that since the SNMG will be
there anyway, maybe we should task it with anti-piracy
activities, rather than pull ships from it to create a new
mission. Miraillet noted that some countries may have legal
problems with expanding the SNMG or CTF-150 missions, such as
Spain, which doesn't have a law against piracy on its books.
(Background note: Spain supports the EU initiative to counter
piracy given that a large number of Spanish fishing boats
have been recent victims of piracy in these waters). Amb.
Volker noted that this argument would seem to apply whether
it was a NATO, EU or coalition operation.

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60TH ANNIVERSARY NATO SUMMIT
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11. (C) When Amb. Volker inquired about planning and
preparations for the 60th anniversary NATO summit to be held
in April 2009 in Strasbourg and Kehl (towns on both sides of
the French-German border),Richier admitted frankly that
until now the GOF is focused on the French Presidency of the
European Union. However, the GOF would like the summit to be
an introspective look at NATO's future, to include a
declaration to launch the process for a new strategic concept
to give direction to NATO's transformation. Richier hoped
that France's return to NATO would help energize this
process. Amb. Volker stressed our desire to work closely
with France in preparing the Summit.

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NATO RESPONSE FORCE
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12. (C) Miraillet said that DefMin Morin will travel to
London for the September 18-19 informal meeting of NATO
Defense Ministers and he will likely attend the dinner and
the roundtable on force generation that will discuss the NATO
Response Force (NRF). Amb. Volker inquired whether the GOF
is considering lowering the threshold for an NRF deployment.
Miraillet responded that for the French, the NRF must meet
two principles: (1) The NRF must be able to deploy quickly;
and (2) the NRF must only be deployed for a limited period of
time. Amb. Volker observed that we face a dilemma: if the
NRF is filled, then force generation sometimes fails; on the
other hand, if countries make forces available for current
operations, then they are not available for the NRF. We
therefore need more flexibility and deployability. Miraillet
agreed, but then noted (in a flash of honesty) that some
countries would not add forces to the NRF if they would
actually be used.


13. (U) Ambassador Volker has cleared this message.

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