NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JUNE 4, 2008

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 07 USNATO 000199

NOFORN
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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

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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.

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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.


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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.

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Balkans
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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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