NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JUNE 4, 2008

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 07 USNATO 000199 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2018 TAGS: NATO PREL AF SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JUNE 4, 2008 Classified By: A/DCM W. S. Reid, III, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary from the NAC Meeting: -- Afghanistan: Former COMISAF General McNeill commended Allied unity and enhanced efforts in ISAF over the course of his command, but stressed the need for Allies to fill ISAF force requirements, open a political avenue to address the challenge of Pakistani sanctuary for insurgents, and take a hard look at expanding ISAF's counternarcotics support tasks in the face of overwhelming linkages between the narcotics industry and the insurgency (full report septel). Chairman of the Military Committee General Henault noted stalled NATO progress in providing equipment donations to the Afghan army as well as in resourcing training initiatives. The Secretary General stated that he will send Defense Ministers a note on implementation thus far of ISAF's "Comprehensive Strategic Political-Military Plan" for their June 12 meeting in Brussels. The IMS expressed continuing concerns about Pakistan's policy of concluding peace deals with militants in Pakistan's border regions. -- Balkans: The Secretary General reported that Turkey had broken silence again in the Military Committee on revision 3 of the Balkans Joint Operations Plan and many Allies expressed frustration over Turkey's position. -- Africa - Support to the AU: The NAC approved airlift and capacity building assistance to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in response to a new AU request. -- Iraq: The UK PermRep noted the slow progress being made on the NATO Training Mission - Iraq (NTM-I) Periodic Mission Review (PMR),to which the SYG replied that the PCG will meet on June 16 to discuss the document. Ambassador Nuland highlighted General Petraeus' comments that the number of security incidents in Iraq last month was the lowest in four years. -- Response to Terrorism: The Danish PermRep briefed Allies on the recent terrorist attacks against his country's embassy in Pakistan and thanked them for their sympathy and support. Turkey praised the U.S. designation of the PKK/KG under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act -- Initial Proposals on Defence Planning: The NAC approved a report for consideration at the June 12-13 Defense Ministers meeting with initial proposals to improve NATO defense planning. -- Noise Mitigation Measures at Geilenkirchen Airbase: The Dutch PermRep informed Allies of domestic opposition to the noise pollution coming from Geilenkirchen Airbase and expressed a desire to complete a final study that would offer a way ahead to solve this issue. -- Statements on Political Subjects: The Danish PermRep USNATO 00000199 002 OF 007 announced that a meeting was held in Greenland on May 28 which discussed the challenges that climate change posed in the Arctic region. Ambassador Nuland reported on several developments in the United Nations Security Council, including a recently adopted resolution allowing states to interdict pirates in Somali waters and expected consideration of a resolution calling for increased international cooperation to prevent precursor chemicals for heroin production from reaching Afghanistan. END SUMMARY. -------------- Afghanistan -------------- ¶2. (C) Former COMISAF General Dan McNeill, who turned over ISAF command to General David McKiernan on June 3, commended Allied unity in Afghanistan during his farewell address to the NAC and ISAF Partners, noting the increases in both force levels and capabilities during his time as COMISAF that began in December 2006. Nevertheless, he reminded Allies that NATO's failure to fill completely ISAF's force requirements prolonged the mission and warned that political support for ISAF, both in contributing nations and in Afghanistan, was not a given for perpetuity. McNeill cited a 50 percent increase in insurgent attacks in RC-E in April and said that analysis shows a link between increased violence in Afghanistan and negotiations with militants in Pakistan. He called for NATO to have "unrelenting political dialogue" with the Pakistani government on the problems in Pakistan's border regions. He urged a frank discussion by the NAC on ISAF's role in the counternarcotics effort in Afghanistan and suggested an expansion of ISAF's role to allow it to better support Afghan eradication forces and to engage in expanded interdiction. A full report of General McNeill's well-received briefing will follow septel. ¶3. (C) In a separate NAC at 26 following Gen. McNeill's brief, Chairman of the Military Committee General (CMC) Henault told the NAC that SHAPE had held a conference on NATO's training and equipping support to the Afghan army on June 9-10. Fifteen Allied equipment donations have been accepted by CSTC-A, but are still pending transportation due tolack of Allied funding to support airlift. NATO's short-term ANA training initiatives (OMLTs, functonal area mentoring, mobile education and training teams, schools and courses, and NATO positions in CSTC-A),approved in February 2007, remain unresourced. ¶4. (C) The Secretary General informed the NAC that the ISAF Spring 2008 Periodic Mission Review is under silence for the NAC's provisional approval. He stated his intent to provide Defense Ministers a written "short, strategic" overview of implementation of the Comprehensive Strategic Political-Military Plan prior to the June 12-13 Defense Ministerial. USNATO 00000199 003 OF 007 ¶5. (S) In his operational update, IMS AD for Operations MG Li Gobbi pointed to the "unfortunate" proliferation of peace deals by the Pakistani government with militants in both the North West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the likelihood that the resulting expanded safehavens will increase the ability of insurgents to operate in Afghanistan. He stated that NATO intelligence believed insurgent interest in recapturing Musa Qala had waned in the face of continued ISAF and ANSF operations, particularly the clearing operation in southern Helmand of the U.S. 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. ¶6. (C) During discussion, Spanish PermRep Benavides expressed consternation with President Karzai's remarks earlier in the week criticizing western forces, and urged that Allies use the Paris Support Conference to send him an unvarnished political message that the western security presence and western aid needs a strong Afghan counterpart. Italian PermRep Stefanini, following up on General McNeill's earlier comments about the link between Pakistani peace deals with militants and the spike in violence in RC-E, asked for data. CMC Henault said the IMS would try to get it, and Ambassador Nuland reminded the NAC that the U.S., both politically and militarily, is working hard to address border infiltration. Norwegian PermRep Traavik expressed concern that the number of NGO workers killed in the first quarter of 2008 allegedly exceeded the total killed in all of 2007, and asked if ISAF could conceivably help provide security to NGOs. Ambassador Nuland noted that RC-E reaches out to NGOs and provides security consultations, without actually providing physical security, but the level of interaction depends largely on each NGO. -------------- Balkans -------------- ¶7. (C) The SYG mentioned that work continues between the UN and EU on future arrangements in Kosovo and that UNMIK reconfiguration continues. He further noted that the UN Security Council has tentatively scheduled a discussion of Kosovo for June 9. He emphasized the importance of following the issue of UNMIK's reconfiguration and transition to EULEX closely as it directly impacts KFOR. Lastly, the SYG mentioned that the International Steering Group will meet on Thursday, June 5, in Pristina at the level of ambassadors and that support for the group remains essential for implementing the Ahtisaari plan. General Li Gobbi from NATO's IMS provided the weekly situational and operational update on Kosovo, saying that generally Kosovo remains calm, but that acts of violence could occur during and after June 15. General Li Gobbi also informed the Council that the UK's operational reserve battalion has fully deployed to Kosovo and that the German reserve unit has returned home following completion of its operational rehearsal. ¶8. (C) The SYG, followed by the CMC, expressed his USNATO 00000199 004 OF 007 disappointment with the current status of revision 3 of the Balkans joint operations plan following Turkey's break of silence in the Military Committee (MC). Characterizing the break as focused exclusively on political issues and "bringing us back to square one," the SYG underscored the urgency of the situation that NATO finds itself in and urged maximum flexibility from all Allies in order to try and have an agreed OPLAN by the June 12-13 Defense Ministerial. The CMC noted that he spoke to SACEUR, who stressed that the troops in the field needed guidance, particularly on the new tasks following the Kosovo constitution entry into force. ¶9. (C) The UK, U.S., Germany, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovenia all supported the SYG's and CMC's remarks and highlighted their frustration with the break of silence, especially with June 15 approaching. Quint Ambassadors firmly stated that the break contradicted what PermReps had agreed during two previous discussions, which was to have the MC focus exclusively on resolution of military issues and allow the NAC to address the remaining political issues. The UK suggested that, if the MC could not agree, then the NAC should hold a political discussion as soon as possible and if the NAC could not achieve consensus then the issue should be brought to defense ministers ) a point that received support from Italy and France. Ambassador Nuland strongly asserted that the break of silence represented the injection of politics into the Military Committee and a lack of trust between political and military authorities. She emphasized that nothing can be done to address the political concerns until the MC is allowed to complete its work and the OPLAN is forwarded to the NAC. ¶10. (C) Turkey confirmed its break of silence on the OPLAN, saying that Ankara remains sensitive to how NATO will cooperate with the EU and that there cannot be any new arrangements that undercut previous agreements. Noting that Turkey also wants to see the OPLAN completed by the ministerial, the Turkish PermRep confirmed again that Ankara saw no problem with cooperation on implementing the new tasks and agreed on the need for urgency over the military issues. However, noting the uncertainty over the UNMIK reconfiguration and the transition to EULEX, Ankara did not see urgency on trying to re-define cooperation with international actors. Turkey, appearing to have been taken aback by U.S. comments, responded by noting the history of the issue and firmly rejected any insinuation that the political and military authorities in Ankara were not on the same page. The Turkish PermRep further said that while Ankara understood that the NAC would address political issues, the MC does not operate in a vacuum and NATO will not be able to reach a consensus given the lack of cooperation from entities outside of NATO. Turkey reiterated that the only plausible way out would be for the MC and the NAC to focus only on implementation of the new tasks. ¶11. (C) The SYG concluded the discussion by noting the UK suggestion of holding a political discussion at some point USNATO 00000199 005 OF 007 and said he would discuss this option with the CMC following Wednesday's meeting of the MC. The SYG reiterated again the importance of having an agreed OPLAN, noting it impacted on NATO's relevancy, and expressed the urgency of the situation not only from an operational but also from the standpoint of public perception. -------------- Africa - Support to the AU -------------- ¶12. (C) The NAC approved airlift and capacity building assistance to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in response to an AU request. Two NATO officers will be dispatched from JFC Lisbon to the AU's headquarters in Addis Ababa for six months to work on air movement and personnel management. The NATO staff also will travel to Somalia as required. This new AU request is a continuation of ongoing NATO assistance to AMISOM, currently authorized until 21 August 2008. -------------- Iraq -------------- ¶13. (C) The UK PermRep noted the slow progress being made on the NATO Training Mission - Iraq (NTM-I) Periodic Mission Review (PMR),which he observed passed silence at the Military Committee on March 28 and has only been discussed once since then in the Policy Coordination Group (PCG). He urged the SYG to make sure that the NATO system was ensuring a smooth review process and that the necessary paperwork was being produced in a timely fashion. The SYG replied that the PCG will meet on June 16 to discuss the NTM-I PMR and that any delay has been caused by ongoing bilateral discussions. Ambassador Nuland intervened to highlight General Petraeus's comments that the number of security incidents in Iraq last month was the lowest in four years. She noted that the General attributes this success to recent GOI operations in Baghdad, Basrah, and Mosul, with coalition forces playing a supporting role in each case. -------------- Response to Terrorism -------------- ¶14. (C) The Danish PermRep briefed Allies on the recent terrorist bombing of his country's embassy in Islamabad which killed staff members and Pakistani security personnel. Additionally, he thanked Allies for their sympathy and support and noted that, despite this bombing, Denmark would not change its policies because of terrorism. ¶15. (C) Turkey also thanked the United States for designating the Kurdistan Workers' Party/Kongra Gel (PKK/KG) under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, noting that drug trafficking often provides revenue to terrorist USNATO 00000199 006 OF 007 organizations. Turkey, deeming this U.S. step as an act of Allied solidarity in the face of terrorism, called on other Allies to follow suit. -------------- Initial Proposals on Defence Planning -------------- ¶16. (C) The NAC agreed to forward for Defense Ministers' endorsement an Executive Working Group report with initial proposals for developing the Alliance defense planning process in a more coherent and integrated way, and that work on this process should be completed prior to the April 2009 NATO Summit. -------------- -------------- Noise Mitigation Measures at Geilenkirchen Airbase -------------- -------------- ¶17. (C) The Dutch PermRep informed Allies of the continued pressures from the Dutch Parliament to reduce noise pollution from Geilenkirchen Airbase by placing flight limitations, diverting flight patterns, or upgrading the engines for the NATO EA3C (AWACS) based there. He proposed completing a final study of this issue which would take into account economic, environmental and operational considerations. ¶18. (C) Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland all supported the Dutch position, with the Polish PermRep reiterating his country's offer to host the AWACS at a forward operating base. D/CMC Eikenberry noted that while the annual ceiling for cargo flights from Geilenkirchen was 3,600, there had only been 2,785 last year. Additionally, the Netherlands used 14 percent of the available space on NATO cargo flights from Geilenkirchen last year for its national armed forces use, primarily to support its ISAF mission. The SYG concluded the discussion by stating that NATO must be a good neighbor and help reduce any noise pollution coming from this base. The NAC agreed that the NACMO Board of Directors would perform a study as requested by The Netherlands and consider more simulator use to decrease flights for training and crew certification. -------------- Statements on Political Subjects -------------- ¶19. (C/NF) The Danish PermRep announced that a meeting was held in Greenland on May 28 in which the five nations bordering the Arctic Ocean (Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the U.S.) discussed the challenges that climate change posed in the Arctic region. All participating nations agreed to pursue further cooperation to preserve the Arctic marine environment through existing international legal frameworks. ¶20. (C/NF) Ambassador Nuland reported on several developments in the United Nations Security Council, including adoption of USNATO 00000199 007 OF 007 a resolution that allows states to interdict pirates in Somali territorial waters, and the submission of a draft resolution calling for increased international cooperation to prevent precursor chemicals for heroin production from reaching Afghanistan. NULAND