NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JULY 9, 2008

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 USNATO 000241

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2018
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - JULY 9, 2008

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


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

-- Afghanistan: The Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC)
provided an update of the EUPOL mission which currently has
166 personnel deployed to Afghanistan to assist the Afghan
National Police. The SYG stated that there had been a number
of additional civilian casualty incidents in the last week
which have served to highlight the damaging effect this issue
is having on NATO's credibility and strategic messaging.
Referring to the recent report by UN U/SYG Holmes on civilian
casualties in Afghanistan, the SYG said NATO must to have up
to date, accurate numbers readily available for release to
the public and be prepared to explain the basis of these
numbers and stand by them. U.S. Charge Olson stressed that
NATO must resist the temptation to try to place blame for
civilian casualties on partners, such as OEF. The Bulgarian
PermRep announced plans to deploy 50 additional troops to
Kandahar Airfield in August and then increase their Kabul
contingent to approximately 500 troops with additional troops
set to deploy in November.

-- Balkans: The SYG highlighted the formation of new
governments in Serbia and Macedonia, saying that he hoped
that this would bring a new degree of political stability to
the region, and stressed the importance of the July 11 Kosovo
Donors Conference in Brussels. The CMC briefed the Council
on the current status of the EULEX mission and UNMIK
reconfiguration, and SHAPE reported that the overall
situation is calm and stable despite recent tensions. U.S.
Charge Olson reiterated the importance of EULEX timely
rollout and its deployment throughout Kosovo.

-- Africa - Support to the African Union: The SYG noted that
he has placed under silence a recommendation that NATO's
Senior Military Liaison Officer to the AU be a continuous
position and stressed the importance of the position for
maintaining continuity in NATO's relationship with the AU.

-- Iraq: No discussion.

-- Response to Terrorism: The SYG and Charge Olson expressed
their condolences to the Turkish PermRep for the three
Turkish police officers killed during a July 9 terrorist
attack on the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.

-- Statements on Political Subjects: The Czech PermRep
briefed Allies on his country's bilateral agreement with the
U.S. on the basing of the radar for the U.S. European Pillar
Missile Defense (MD) system. Charge Olson noted that the
U.S. wanted a missile defense system to enhance both NATO's
and the international community's security.

-- AOB: The SYG proposed a plan of action for NATO to develop
a policy in response to UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and
Security, and announced that he would present this plan to
NATO's EAPC partners later that day.


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END SUMMARY.

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


2. (C/NF) EUPOL MISSION -- The Chairman of the Military
Committee (CMC),Admiral DiPaola, reported that EUPOL's
mission is focused on providing administration and mentoring
assistance to the Afghanistan National Police, and is not
focused on training or mentoring police in the field. There
are currently 166 personnel (122 police and 44 civilian
experts) deployed to Afghanistan. The EU would like to bring
the number of personnel up to approximately 300 before the
end of 2008.


3. (C/NF) ISAF OPERATIONS UPDATE -- The SHAPE Deputy Chief of
Staff for Operations, MG Wright, reported that the bombing
outside of the Indian Embassy in Kabul was likely targeted at
the Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan. There were 42 civilian
casualties as a result of this bombing. MG Wright also
reported that while there have been incidents on ISAF's two
main supply route through Pakistan, the routes are still open
as of now. To mitigate the risk of OMF halting supplies to
ISAF, there are also northern routes used to bring in fuel
and supplies. MG Wright said that ISAF's planning efforts
remains focused on three areas: Kabul transfer of security
responsibilities, support to voter registration, and
follow-on to Operation SHAMSHIR.


4. (C/NF) The Portuguese PermRep asked whether ISAF should
assess the effects of the Indian Embassy bombing on plans to
transfer security responsibility in Kabul to the ANA. MG
Wright responded that the incident was not expected to cause
any delay in the August transfer. He noted the ANSF
responded promptly and professionally to the bombing.


5. (C/NF) CIVILIAN CASUALTIES ) Turning to the issue of
civilian casualties, MG Wright reported that since September
2007, when ISAF revised its system for reviewing claims of
civilian casualties, it had investigated 83 deaths and found
that ISAF was responsible for 44 of those. So far this year,
ISAF has accepted responsibility for 13 deaths, although four
further incidents are under investigation.


6. (C/NF) Continuing, MG Wright said ISAF was aware of the UN
humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes's assessment that the
GIRoA and international military forces are responsible for
255 deaths this year. ISAF disagrees with this figure, which
it assesses as too high. ISAF has had a constructive meeting
with UNAMA and has requested a more detailed breakdown of how
they reached their total. He said ISAF is confident in the
rigor of its investigations. Nonetheless, ISAF is currently
reviewing their procedures to check that all such incidents
are properly noted and investigated.


7. (C/NF) MG Wright reminded the Council that all ISAF forces
operate under tight Rules of Engagement and in full respect
of the Laws of Armed Conflict as well as the Tactical

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Directive issued last September on avoiding civilian
casualties. Since the Tactical Directive was issued, there
has been a steep decline in civilian deaths caused by ISAF.
Civilian deaths caused by insurgents have escalated over this
same time period, reflecting their increasing use of
indiscriminate tactics. This year ISAF records indicate that
insurgent forces have killed more than 350 civilians and
wounded a further 800.


8. (C/NF) The SYG stated that there have been a number of
additional incidents in the last week which have served to
highlight the damaging effect civilian casualties have on
NATO's credibility and strategic messaging. The Tactical
Directive made a difference; but the problem has not gone
away. He stated there is little, if any, distinction being
made between the different element of the international
military presences in Afghanistan when it comes to civilian
casualties and particularly those caused by air strikes. The
SYG continued by commenting that, whether the NAC agrees or
not, NATO is perceived as being responsible for civilian
casualties resulting from all military operations. He
concluded that there is a growing divergence between
perceptions and the reality on the ground, which is a policy
issue that needs to be addressed at the political level. The
SYG said that the UN's John Holmes had not been at all
helpful in going public with his numbers prior to discussing
them with NATO. He stressed it is important for the NATO
spokesman to have up to date, accurate numbers readily
available for release to the public.


9. (C/NF) The Spanish PermRep reminded the NAC that civilian
casualties are a strategic risk mentioned in the OPLAN. He
noted SACEUR's letter regarding last year's Tactical
Directive directed an early public reaction from ISAF to any
incident involving civilian casualties. He added that NATO
did not need to engage in a public debate over which forces
were at fault. Additionally, the UNSCR authorizes both OEF
and ISAF, so the point is both forces are called upon to
engage responsibly.


10. (C/NF) U.S. Charge Olson, deploying interagency cleared
guidance, said that OEF, like ISAF, makes every effort to
avoid civilian casualties and that OEF also adopted the ISAF
Tactical Directive on avoiding civilian casualties. He
stressed that Opposing Militant Forces (OMF) attack from
civilian areas, retreat into civilian areas, and conceal
themselves as civilians while continuing fire upon Afghan and
international forces. Charge Olson said that while NATO and
the UN may disagree on the number of civilian casualties,
Holmes also said in his report that most civilian casualties
are caused by the insurgents, that it is clear that the
international military forces are making every effort to
minimize civilian casualties, and that the proportion of
civilian casualties caused by security forces has dropped by
nearly half from last year. NATO needs to also push back
against any attempt to draw a moral equivalence between
civilian casualties caused unintentionally by international
forces and those caused intentionally by insurgents. NATO
must also resist the temptation in our public discussions to

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blame partners, such as OEF, but should stress that all
international forces are taking every appropriate precaution
to avoid civilian casualties.


11. (C/NF) The UK PermRep said NATO should not get into a
numbers game in the press and that it is important in the
media to play on the similarities with the UN report, as
mentioned by the U.S. The Norwegian PermRep said NATO needs
to respond more rapidly in the press, since many in the media
are already treating the UN figures as authoritative. The
Belgian, Canadian and Italian PermReps both added that NATO
must have a sound methodology for accounting of civilian
casualties and then be able support our figures publicly and
in a timely manner.


12. (C/NF) OTHER COMMENTS -- Canada requested an update on
the NATO/Pakistan relations. The Canadian PermRep also made
an impassioned plea for the upgrade of Kandahar's role 3
military hospital (note: a request that has been blocked in
NATO's Infrastructure Committee by the French. End Note.) He
said the hospital is plagued with deficiencies and must be
upgraded by the next fighting season. Should the situation
remain unresolved, its inadequate nature risks becoming a
political liability in Canada, beyond its current nature as a
serious operational and troop morale issue.


13. (C/NF) The UK PermRep requested that the SYG ask SHAPE
for an ISAF election support update. He also concurred with
Canada's plea for upgrade of the Kandahar military hospital,
read graphic excerpts from a UK report on the facility's
serious shortcomings, and stated that the British Surgeon
General called the facility "inadequate."


14. (C/NF) The Bulgarian PermRep reported Bulgaria will
deploy 50 additional troops to Kandahar Airfield in August
and then bring their Kabul contingency up to approximately
500 with additional troops set to deploy in November.


15. (C/NF) The SYG welcomed yesterday's NAC approval of the
PRT Implementation Guidance. He closed by mentioning the SCR
will join next week's NAC via VTC and that on July 22 SHAPE
will brief the status of ISAF election support planning.

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Balkans
--------------


16. (C/NF) The SYG highlighted the formation of new
governments in Serbia and Macedonia, saying that he hoped
that this would bring a new degree of political stability to
the region. The SYG also stressed the importance of the July
11 Kosovo Donors Conference in Brussels, stating that the
International Civilian Representative, Peter Feith, and
Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci would attend. Deputy Assistant
Secretary General for Operations Pardew will represent NATO
at the conference. The CMC briefed the Council on the
current status of the EULEX mission and UNMIK
reconfiguration, saying that the planned reconfiguration does
allow for flexibility and that EULEX is considering

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increasing the number of formed police for minority and
border areas. The CMC also said that currently there are 267
EULEX personnel on the ground in Kosovo. MG Wright reported
that the overall situation is calm and stable despite recent
tensions. He informed the Council that the UK's operational
reserve battalion has redeployed from Kosovo and currently
COMKFOR has 54 maneuver companies in theatre, but has
multiple response options should the security situation
deteriorate.


17. (C/NF) MG Wright provided an update on the status of
NATO's implementation of the new tasks in Kosovo, saying that
manning shortfalls in the MCAD-NTT (Military Civil Advisory
Division and NATO Training Teams) were likely to negatively
impact NATO's ability to fulfill its commitments unless
nations provided the necessary resources. Wright said there
are 44 unbid positions out of a requirement of 158. NATO is
planning to begin vetting of the Kosovo Protection Corps
(KPC) personnel for their potential integration into the new
security force (KSF) in August, followed by the commencement
of training in November. NATO expects that the new KSF will
reach initial operating capability no later than September

2009. MG Wright also informed the NAC that invitations to
donate to both the KPC Stand-Down and KSF Stand-Up Trust
funds have been sent to nations, but to date both accounts
have zero balances.


18. (C/NF) U.S. Charge Olson thanked the CMC for his briefing
regarding the status of the EULEX mission and reiterated the
importance of EULEX deploying throughout Kosovo in a timely
manner. Led by Hungary, Greece, Norway and Spain all praised
the formation of the new government in Serbia, stressing its
European credentials and its desire to pursue further EU
integration. (See septel on Serbian remarks at same day's
EAPC, where the Serbian Ambassador, while noting publicly
stated Tadic interest in working with PfP, criticized KFOR's
"new tasks" and said that KFOR/Serb military MTA coordination
had been reduced as a consequence of NATO moving "beyond
(UNSCR) 1244 into areas where it had no authority.") These
four Allies also remarked that NATO should continue to stand
ready to provide the assistance proffered under PfP. Norway
and Italy mentioned that their nations stand ready to
contribute to the trust funds, but their capitals needed
further fidelity and clarity on the requirements for both.
MG Wright, in response, acknowledged that there was still
work to be done at SHAPE, but assured PermReps that SHAPE
soon would provide the necessary details.

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


19. (C/NF) The SYG noted he has placed under silence
procedure SG(2008)0577, which proposes maintaining a NATO
Senior Military Liaison Officer (SLMO) to the African Union
(AU) in Addis Ababa on a continuous basis. Currently, the
position is based on a 6-month renewable term, and the
officer is already in Addis.


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


20. (C/NF) The SYG and Charge Olson expressed their
condolences to the Turkish PermRep for the three Turkish
police officers killed during a July 9 terrorist attack on
the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul. After accepting the
condolences, the Turkish PermRep also noted that three
perpetrators died during the attack.

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


21. (C/NF) The Czech PermRep briefed Allies on his country's
bilateral agreement with the U.S. on the basing of the radar
for the MD system. Charge Olson highlighted that the U.S.
wanted a broad missile defense system to enhance both NATO's
and the international community's security.

---
AOB
---


22. (C/NF) The SYG raised the issue of NATO's response to
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women,
Peace and Security. He proposed a three-part plan that
called upon NATO's two strategic commands (ACO, ACT) to
provide implementation guidelines: the International Staff
and International Military Staff to work with interested
Allies to develop political-military guidance; and the NAC to
consider the proposed guidance for approval. He also said
that this policy would need to be developed within a limited
timeframe. Since no objections were raised in response to
this plan, the SYG announced that he would present it to
NATO's partners in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.
OLSON