NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JANUARY 9, 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 USNATO 000015 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2018 TAGS: NATO PREL AF SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JANUARY 9, 2008 REF: KABUL 00019 Classified By: CDA Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C/NF) Summary from the NAC Meeting: -- Afghanistan: The SYG reported that President Musharraf may come to NATO on his upcoming visit to Brussels, and the NAC will visit Afghanistan February 19-21. He urged Allies to nominate candidates for the unfilled NATO Senior Civilian Representative slot in Kabul and said a temporary replacement would soon be in place. Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) General Henault said the Tri-Partite Commission, the Border Security Subcommittee, and the Joint Intel Ops Center have improved cooperation on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In the operational brief, General Wright reported that 60 percent of Significant Activities (SigActs) have occurred in RC-South, told the NAC about increasing stability in Musa Qala, and briefed on the ANP Focused District Development Program and investigations of incidents of civilian casualties. The NAC gave final approval to the autumn 2007 ISAF Periodic Mission Review. The Polish PermRep announced Poland will increase its contribution to ISAF by 400 troops. -- Balkans: The SYG reported that a revised version of the authorization for KFOR planning for new tasks (standing up the Kosovo Security Force and standing down the Kosovo Protective Corps) is under silence in the NAC until January 10 following the PermReps' discussion the day before (NOTE: it passed.) SHAPE reported the Italian Operational Reserve Force Battalion will deploy to Kosovo January 21. -- Darfur: The SYG reported that following the transfer of AMIS to UNAMID on December 31, NATO's support to the AU force in Darfur has been successfully completed, although support to AMISOM (Somalia) and the AU Standby Force development process continues. -- Iraq: No discussion. -- Maritime Operations: The CMC reported that Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) continues operations in the Mediterranean with four vessels. The Russian Kuznetsov Carrier Task Group entered the Mediterranean on December 20 and is now on its 36th out-of-area day. -- Response to Terrorism: Turkish PermRep Ildem briefed on the January 3 PKK bombing in Turkey. -- NATO Special Committee: The SYG welcomed Michael Evanoff (U.S.),the new Director of the NATO Office of Security. 
Greek National Intelligence Service Director Ioannis Corantis (outgoing Special Committee chair) reviewed the 2007 activities of the Committee, and Hungarian National Security Service Director General Sandor Laborc (incoming chair) reviewed the 2008 work plan. USNATO 00000015 002 OF 006 -- Activities of the Senior NATO Logisticians' Conference (SNLC): The co-chairmen of the SNLC briefed on the outcome of the Autumn SNLC and stressed progress made in multi-national logistics. -- AOB: Luxembourg Military Update -- The Luxembourg Perm Rep reported the Parliament adopted two laws on December 19 creating a new military planning organization and making it easier for Luxembourg to participate in multilateral military operations. -- AOB: Iran's harassment of U.S. Navy ships in the Straits of Hormuz -- Charge Olson briefed PermReps on the January 6 harassment of three U.S. naval vessels by five fast boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy. END SUMMARY. -------------- Afghanistan -------------- ¶2. (C/NF) The SYG stated he is preparing a January briefing on Pakistan for the NAC, adding that President Musharraf may come to NATO on his upcoming visit to Brussels. The NAC will visit Afghanistan on February 19 - 21, though weather and airlift concerns could limit the scope of the visit. The SYG stated that the NATO Senior Civilian Representative's (SCR) office in Kabul is understaffed; SCR Everts and some of the Polads having completed their tours. The SYG will send D/ASG Maurits Jochems to serve temporarily as SCR, saying that with UNSYG Ban about to name a new UN representative for Afghanistan, it is important that NATO have representation in Kabul now. He added that the UN SCR's Terms of Reference are now being discussed with the UN SYG. All these topics will be discussed at greater length next week by PermReps. ¶3. (C/NF) CMC General Henault reviewed the state of the Tri-Partite Commission, the Border Security Subcommittee, and the Joint Intel Ops Center, saying they have improved cooperation on both sides of the Afghan/Pakistani border and the dialogue is ongoing and useful. He reported that the situation in Pakistan is likely to remain relatively stable as parties prepare for the February 18 elections. There has not been an increase in Opposing Militant Forces (OMF) cross-border activity in recent weeks, likely due to weather and increased attention by OMF on the situation in Pakistan. ¶4. (C/NF) SHAPE DCOS Ops MG Wright's operational brief stated that the threat levels in the five Regional Commands are unchanged, and 60 percent of Significant Activities (SigActs) have occurred in RC-South. Some 300-500 OMF fighters are believed to be massing in the Farah "triangle" area. ISAF has been conducting an "operational pause" in its Ring Road security operations since December 18, but these operations will restart in the spring. UNAMA assesses that the areas of USNATO 00000015 003 OF 006 Badghis province that were the site of recent fighting are not stable enough for relief agencies to operate. ¶5. (C/NF) MG Wright said stability has been increasing in Musa Qala since the ANA and ISAF retook the town in December. FOB Edinburgh is now completed as are three ANSF checkpoints. Two ANA kandaks remain in the area, plus ISAF's Theatre Task Force. In the end state, the ANP will secure the district center, with an outer perimeter secured by the ANA, while ISAF conducts operations in the area as appropriate. Eight shuras have been held, but some key local leaders have not participated, reflecting either a lack of confidence in the security situation or an unwillingness to be seen taking the side of the Government of Afghanistan. There is a highly-visible Government of Afghanistan presence now in Musa Qala, with reconstruction efforts (mosque, high school, etc.) funded by the GoA, with ISAF funding support. The appointment of District Chief Mullah Salaam is seen as a positive. The total pledged funding for 2008 is $13.8 million. There is also a marked absence of UNAMA and NGOs, with only USAID and UK's DFID being the only development agencies active. There have been 21 narcotics seizures in compounds, with three of them considered "significant." and a shifting of narcotics activities to nearby Kandahar. ¶6. (C/NF) MG Wright reported the first cycle of training under the ANP Focused District Development Program began in late December, with police officers from one district from each of the five regional commands. The ANP are taken off the line, trained for two months at regional training centers, and then returned to their posts. It will take seven years to train ANP in all 398 Afghan districts, and a key limitation is the lack of mentors to work with the units after training. Only 1,400 of a required 3,300 mentors are now in place. ¶7. (C/NF) MG Wright also briefed on investigations of incidents of civilian casualties, noting that two cases (October 7 at FOB Salerno, and January 4 in Uruzgan) are now under investigation. Defense Minister Wardak recently spoke positively about the improved measures to avoid civilian casualties and better coordination between ISAF and ANSF. ¶8. (C/NF) The SYG reviewed the status of the autumn 2007 ISAF Periodic Mission Review (PMR),stating that non-NATO troop contributors have now been fully briefed and associated themselves with the paper, and he noted the Swedish letter requesting to be consulted on key elements of the PMR. The NAC then gave final approved to the PMR. ¶9. (C/NF) Charge Olson stated that there has also been an improvement in Pak-Afghan relations at the political level. Regarding Musa Qala, he drew on reftel to report that USAID and UK's DFID are working on several areas of reconstruction: refurbishing local government offices, improving the local electric grid, providing $1 million for seeds and other agricultural support, CSTC-A is rebuilding the police USNATO 00000015 004 OF 006 station, and USAID is funding a charter flight from Kabul to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, to support the increased Afghan government attention to the area. This is a total of $3 million in short-term funding. ¶10. (C/NF) Polish PermRep Winid reviewed his recent visit to Afghanistan along with his Defense Minister. He said locals were increasingly providing tips on IEDs to Polish forces, which he interpreted as an indication of increased support among the population. He announced a Polish force increase of 400 troops, of whom 100 will support eight new helicopters that will arrive in Afghanistan in March/April. He also stated the Polish desire to consolidate its troops in Paktika (in RC-E),which are currently spread across Afghanistan, for logistical reasons. -------------- Balkans -------------- ¶11. (C/NF) The SYG reported that a revised version of the document on "KFOR Planning -- NATO,s New Tasks" was under silence in the NAC until January 10, and that revisions were intended to meet Romanians concerns without changing the essential tasking in the document. He hopes that with this approved document on planning, NATO's military authorities will have a solid package of guidance that will allow them to conduct the formal planning for the transition period and after status resolution. The SYG also noted the formation of the new government in Pristina that will be headed by the new Prime Minister, Hacim Thaci. The CMC provided an update on the status of KFOR reserve forces noting that the Italian operational reserve battalion will deploy to Kosovo on January 21 for one month, replacing the German battalion that recently rotated back to Germany. The CMC also pointed out that there were no major incidents over the holidays and that COMKFOR continues to maintain an increased OPTEMPO to keep forces visible and engaged. -------------- Darfur -------------- ¶12. (C/NF) The SYG reported that following the transfer of AMIS to UNAMID on December 31, NATO's support to the AU force in Darfur has been successfully completed. Since the start of the mission in June 2005, NATO has helped to provide air transport for some 37,500 AMIS troops and personnel. NATO has also trained and mentored over 250 AMIS officials. ¶13. (C/NF) The CMC remarked that although NATO support to AMIS has concluded, NATO support to AMISOM (Somalia) continues through February 21, and JFC Lisbon continues to provide staff assistance to the AU Standby Force development process. -------------- USNATO 00000015 005 OF 006 Maritime Operations -------------- ¶14. (C/NF) CMC Henault stated that Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) forces continue their operations in the Mediterranean with four vessels. The Russian Kuznetsov Carrier Task Group, from the Russian Northern fleet, entered the Mediterranean on Dec 20 and is now on its 36th out-of-area day. The Group will conduct exercises with French, Italian, and Portuguese navies and will continue on to a port call in Syria, where President Putin may visit the Group on January 13. In response to questions from Iceland, Latvia, and Denmark, General Henault undertook to provide more information on the Russian Northern fleet, its Baltic operations, and Russian facilities in Syria. -------------- Response to Terrorism -------------- ¶15. (C/NF) The SYG expressed condolences to Turkey for its losses in the January 3 PKK bombing in Diyarbakir, Turkey. In turn, Turkish PermRep Ildem briefed Allies on the January 3 PKK bombing in Diyarbakir, Turkey, and underscored the importance Turkey places in receiving NATO and international support in the face of the PKK attacks. -------------- NATO Special Committee -------------- ¶16. (C/NF) The SYG welcomed Michael Evanoff (U.S.),the new Director of the NATO Office of Security. The SYG then introduced the annual report of the Special Committee: Greece (outgoing Special Committee chair) National Intelligence Service Director Ioannis Corantis reviewed the 2007 activities of the Committee, highlighting its work with NATO partners and the five threat assessment reports completed over the year. Hungary (incoming chair) National Security Service Director General Sandor Laborc reviewed the 2008 work plan, focusing on continuing the work with NATO partners, particularly the Med Dialogue, ICI, and Ukraine, as well as cooperative work with Australia. He noted five more threat assessments are planned for 2008. German PermRep Brandenburg welcomed the Special Committee's cooperation with the NATO Intelligence Board, and the Canadian Charge welcomed further assessments of Afghanistan. -------------- -------------- Activities of the Senior NATO Logisticians' Conference -------------- -------------- ¶17. (C/NF) Ambassador Sedivy and LTG Eikenberry, co-chairmen of the SNLC, briefed the NAC on the outcomes of the Autumn SNLC. They highlighted the SNLC's efforts in ensuring its work is focused on multi-national solutions not only as a way to save resources, but also to draw upon Alliance and partner USNATO 00000015 006 OF 006 nations' capabilities and experiences in current operations. Ambassador Sedivy,s focused on the SNLC vision and objectives for 2009-2018, intra-theater supply and transport visibility, and the contributions of smaller nations. Each of these topics was the subject of separate Senior Logistic Steering Boards that nations participated in during the SNLC. LTG Eikenberry addressed support to ongoing operations, logistic support to the NRF and multinational logistics. Both briefers stressed accomplishments in creating multi-national synergy and in transforming NATO logistics to meet the needs of an expeditionary alliance. The successes in contracting much of the support at Kandahar Air Field was highlighted as an example of successful contracting and could be used as a lesson in Alliance cooperation. The briefing was embraced by the PermReps; amongst them, the U.S., UK, Norway, the Czech Republic and General Henault echoed that logistics is a key enabler and must be not be neglected. -------------- Other Political Subjects -------------- ¶18. (C/NF) The Spanish PermRep, representing the OSCE as outgoing Chairman in Office, reported on the December 21 OSCE decision, with the concurrence of OSCE member state Russia, to renew the mandate of the OSCE,s Kosovo mission until January 31. Thereafter, the mandate will automatically renew monthly unless the Chairman in Office receives a written objection from an OSCE member state. --- AOB --- ¶19. (C/NF) Luxembourg Military Update: Luxembourg's PermRep reported that the Luxembourg Parliament adopted two laws on December 19 that create a new military planning organization and implement measures to make it easier for Luxembourg to participate in multilateral military operations. Under the new legislation, Luxembourg would always participate in NATO operations in a partnership with a Belgian or French military unit. ¶20. (U) Iran's harassment of U.S. Navy ships in the Straits of Hormuz: Drawing from DoD briefings, Charge Olson briefed PermReps on the January 6 harassment of three U.S. naval vessels by five fast boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy. Olson said the Iranian boats approached within 500 yards of the U.S. ships, issued a threatening voice transmission, "I am coming at you...you will explode in a couple minutes," shortly before placing floating white boxes in the water, some of which were in the path of one U.S. naval vessel. He reported that the U.S. ships refrained from firing warning shots. OLSON