Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08USNATO15
2008-01-10 17:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Mission USNATO
Cable title:  

NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JANUARY 9, 2008

Tags:  NATO PREL AF 
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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)

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