NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - MAY 28, 2008

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 05 USNATO 000186

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2018
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - MAY 28, 2008

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


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

-- Afghanistan: Acting Secretary General (A/SYG) Bisogniero
thanked the U.S. for arranging the May 22 brief with
COMCSTC-A MG Cone. Chairman of the Military Committee
Henault stated that 62 ANA kandaks would be fielded by August
2008, called for more political action on the problem of
Pakistani OMF safehavens, and noted that SACEUR would provide
advice on possible means of enhancing ISAF's role in
counternarcotics. Acting Senior Civilian Representative
Jochems briefed via VTC on increasing Afghan concern with a
weak Pakistani government and potential deals that would
increase cross-border infiltrations. Allies again held a
lengthy discussion on Pakistan, with the Canadian PermRep
suggesting that the Tripartite Commission be turned into a
political-military body with UN and NATO participation.

-- Balkans: The SYG is meeting in New York with the UN SYG on
Kosovo. The NATO Military Committee continues its work on
revision 3 of Balkans OPLAN based on current political
guidance.

-- Africa - Support to the AU: The A/SYG provided an update
on NATO strategic airlift support to the African Union
Mission to Somalia (AMISOM),and reported the International
Staff is consulting with AMISOM to obtain detailed
requirements for implementation of the mission.

-- Iraq: No discussion.

-- Response to Terrorism: The A/SYG reported that the
Ukrainian frigate expected to join Operation Active Endeavor
(OAE) in the Mediterranean has been repaired and certified by
SACEUR.

-- Spring 2008 CNAD and NC3B Meetings: A/SYG for Defence
Investment Flory debriefed the results of the April 24
Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) and May 21
) 22 NATO C3 Board (NC3B) meetings. Additionally, he
addressed the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program in
more detail, specifically focusing on additional criteria to
be considered for selecting the AGS Main Operating Base (MOB).

-- Statements on Political Subjects: The Slovenian PermRep
briefed Allies on the EU Council statement welcoming NATO and
EU cooperation in the areas of increased coordination, crisis
management, and military capabilities.

-- AOB: Iceland announced it will host a seminar on security
prospects in the High North on January 29, 2009, in
Reykjavik.

END SUMMARY.

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Afghanistan
--------------


2. (C) Acting Secretary General Bisogniero, chairing, thanked
the U.S. for arranging a May 22 briefing at NATO with U.S.

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CSTC-A Commander MG Robert Cone (reported septel),and
reinforced the need for nations to meet NATO's agreed
commitment to field ANA embedded trainers (OMLTs).


3. (C) Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) Henault
provided a readout of his trip to Afghanistan the prior week
with SACEUR. He cited impressive results in ANA training
over the past year: the ANA is presently manned at 72
percent, and by August 2008, 62 combat kandaks at 100 percent
manning should be in the field. This is in comparison to
only 47 kandaks at 55 percent manning in July 2007. He
reminded the NAC of the importance that COMISAF and Afghan
leaders place on NATO OMLTs. He stated that over the first
five months of 2008, 77 percent of kinetic events in
Afghanistan have taken place in only 10 percent of the
districts, which tracks with analysis from 2007. The CMC
stated that President Karzai, COMISAF, and several Afghan
ministers had raised the issue of Pakistani safehavens for
Opposing Militant Forces and their effect on long-term
stability for Afghanistan; he said that more needed to be
done from a political perspective. He characterized poppy
eradication efforts as relatively unsuccessful, and said that
SACEUR was presently considering options to enhance ISAF's
efforts in the realm of counternarcotics, and would provide
advice to the Council through the Military Committee.


4. (C/NF) Acting Senior Civilian Representative Maurits
Jochems briefed via VTC from Kabul on a topic of increasing
prominence in Council deliberations - Pakistan - reporting on
the perspectives of his Afghan interlocutors. He commended
recent statements by the NATO Spokesman that were critical of
possible peace deals in the Pakistani border areas, and
stated that Afghans were as concerned about the negative
effects of such deals on Afghanistan as NATO Allies were.
Noting that the grasp of many Afghan Parliamentarians of
international affairs was low and the tendency toward
conspiracy theories high, he stated that many of his contacts
in Parliament cannot understand why NATO does not do more on
the Pakistani side of the border. He judged that optimism
had been high in Kabul after Pakistani elections earlier this
year, but the mood was souring and many interlocutors viewed
the Pakistani government as weak, divided, and unable to deal
with challenges in the border region. He relayed a
conversation he had with Afghan NSA Rassoul, in which Rassoul
expressed concern that the Pakistani government sees a U.S.
unable to deal forcefully with Pakistan due to upcoming U.S.
elections, and that therefore NATO would not act, either.
Jochems stated that his current terms of reference forbid him
from traveling to Islamabad, leaving him to deal with an "old
school" Pakistani diplomat in Kabul, and suggested that the
NAC review this during an upcoming discussion of NATO's
engagement strategy with Afghanistan's neighbors.


5. (C) A lengthy discussion on Pakistan ensued for the second
straight week. A/SYG Bisogniero briefed on recent
NATO-Pakistan interaction: SYG de Hoop Scheffer met with
Pakistani Senate Chairman Soomro in Berlin on May 27;
Pakistan requested a meeting between the SYG and FM Qureshi
on the margins of the Paris Support Conference on June 12;
and NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jim Pardew will
travel to Pakistan in June for discussions on longstanding
transit and liaison agreement negotiations between NATO and

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Pakistan. (Note: The Private Office informed USNATO late May
28 that the Pakistani NSA announced he will brief all NATO
Ambassadors resident in Islamabad within the next two weeks.
End Note.)


6. (C) Canadian PermRep McRae again led the charge, asking
A/SCR Jochems if the Tripartite Commission (TPC) should be
"put on a broader political-military basis" to include NATO
and the UN. He also asked if recent riots at PRT Chagcharan
were indicative of the mood in the rest of Afghanistan, or an
isolated event. Turkish PermRep Ildem defended the Pakistani
government's "multifaceted strategy" against terrorism and
extremism in the border areas, urged NATO to look at
expanding a long-term pol-mil partnership with Pakistan, and
called for the SCR to play a more direct political role with
Islamabad, but cautioned strongly against the Canadian call
for NATO to get involved in Pakistan's internal policies
vis-a-vis the tribal areas. The UK Charge briefed on MOD
Browne's recent stop in Islamabad, where his Pakistani
interlocutors defended their negotiations in the border
areas, and Browne had reinforced the importance of seeing
results. The Spanish PermRep urged that NATO be cautious
lest it find itself dragged into the turmoil of Pakistani
politics. Netherlands PermRep Schaper asked about the status
of Afghan planning for voter registration for upcoming
elections, and whether ISAF had been consulted. CMC Henault
reiterated that NATO relations with the Pakistani military
are developing and that the Pakistanis have asked for more
access to NATO's educational and training infrastructure.
Bulgaria announced a 100,000-euro contribution to the ISAF
Post Operations Humanitarian Relief Fund.


7. (C/NF) A/SCR Jochems deferred questions about the TPC and
elections security to COMISAF, who will brief the NAC in his
farewell address on June 4. On PRT Chagcharan, he noted that
the riots seemed suspiciously well organized and that many of
the young people involved were the products of extremist
educational systems in the area. (The Lithuanian PermRep
came in to state that poor community relations with the
police were a factor as well, and to reinforce an oft-made
Lithuanian point on the need to increase development
assistance in underfunded areas, such as Ghor.) Describing
his relationship with the Pakistani Charge in Kabul, Jochems
noted the typical message he receives when he raises border
issues is for ISAF to do more about poppies in the south,
"the real cause of the problem" according to the Charge; an
admonition to put troops on the border as Pakistan has done;
and a reminder that Pakistan was one of the few nations to
have helped with the Afghan refugee problem following the
Soviet invasion.

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Balkans
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8. (C) The A/SYG mentioned that the SYG was in New York
Wednesday meeting with the UN SYG on Kosovo. The A/SYG noted
that the SYG would inquire about UNMIK's plans for transition
following June 15 and seek more information about UNMIK's
planned force posture. The CMC reiterated his request for
additional political guidance from the NAC with regards to
moving toward military committee approval of revision 3 of

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the Balkans Joint Operations Plan. In response, the NAC
approved a decision directing the Military Committee to
continue its work based on current political guidance from
the NAC Initiating Directive, setting aside any outstanding
political issues for the NAC to resolve. The A/SYG informed
PermReps that the SYG has scheduled a Friday, May 30, coffee
discussion in order to provide a readout from his New York
trip.

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Africa - Support to the AU
--------------


9. (C) The A/SYG provided an update on NATO strategic airlift
support to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM),as
requested by Ambassador Nuland last week. The A/SYG informed
the NAC that the International Staff is consulting with
AMISOM to obtain detailed requirements for implementation of
the mission.

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Response to Terrorism
--------------


10. (C) The CMC reported that the Ukrainian frigate expected
to join Operation Active Endeavor (OAE) in the Mediterranean
has been repaired and certified by SACEUR. The CMC drew
attention to a letter sent Wednesday from SACEUR to the SYG
requesting approval for the ship to join OAE from 30 May to 2
August.

--------------
Spring 2008 CNAD and NC3B Meetings
--------------


11. (S/NF) A/SYG for Defence Investment Flory debriefed the
results of the April 24 Conference of National Armaments
Directors (CNAD) and May 21 ) 22 NC3B meetings. Flory also
addressed the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program in
more detail, specifically focusing on additional criteria to
be considered for selecting the AGS Main Operating Base (MOB).


12. (C) Regarding Missile Defense, CNAD is working on
defining architecture options to extend coverage to all
Allied territory and populations in accordance with the
Bucharest Summit tasking. It was also noted that the ALTBMD
IOC projection has slipped until November 2011. Regarding
cyber defense (CD),NC3B initiatives will improve NATO's
cyber defense capabilities to include standing up of a NATO
Cyber Defense Management Authority (CDMA),developing a CDMA
concept of operations (3Q08),and organizing recurring cyber
defense exercises.


13. (C) Regarding AGS, Flory focused on the status of efforts
required to move the program forward to include the release
of the Program Memorandum of Understanding (PMOU),the
release of the Request for Proposal to industry, the approval
of the NAGSMO charter, solving the issue of what is eligible
for common funding, and the selection of the main operating
base (MOB).


14. (C) Flory informed Allies it was imperative to choose the

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MOB and finalize funding decisions in order to meet the 2012
target for IOC. Eight nations have submitted 10 locations
for the MOB. The Chairman of the Military Committee and
Allies (Germany, Poland, Estonia, Canada, Turkey, Spain,
Bulgaria, Italy, and the United States) reiterated the need
for the AGS and the importance of increasing contributions
and quickly choosing a MOB. Spain in particular criticized
the unfairness of the current funding system by arguing that
the 19 contributing Allies must absorb the other seven's 32
percent share of AGS. Ambassador Nuland also urged Allies to
complete this project by noting that the United States'
current 95 percent share of surveillance capability in
Afghanistan was unsustainable. She stated that the U.S.
supported a quick decision on basing in order to move forward
with all the other related activities and that the U.S. would
make its decision based on financial, operational, and
proximity to theater criteria focusing on the top tier
options (and reiterating that, since all nations will benefit
from the capability, all nations should participate in
funding the operations and support phase). France questioned
the notion that AGS was to be a "NATO Owned and Operated"
capability and reiterated that they believe it to be a
multi-national program, not a NATO program. Germany, Italy,
and Turkey all advocated for their bases, while Poland
conceded its candidate base (Powidz) did not meet the
criteria and supported Germany. The A/SYG concluded by
recommending the NAC note the military advice, agree that an
urgent decision on the location of the MOB was needed in
order to meet an IOC of 2012, and to request that the SYG
recommend an MOB location taking into account all criteria
discussed.

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Statements on Political Subjects
--------------


15. (C) Slovenia also briefed Allies on the EU Council
statement welcoming NATO and EU cooperation in the areas of
increased coordination, crisis management, and military
capabilities.

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AOB
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16. (C) Iceland will host a seminar on security prospects in
the High North in Reykjavik on January 29, 2009. Norway
spoke in support for this conference by urging Allies to
attend.
NULAND