FLASHES OF GIROA LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001461 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/A, S/CRS, INL/AP, EUR/RPM STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR FLOURNOY CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICENT KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS MASS AF SUBJECT: FLASHES OF GIROA LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Recent media statements from MOI and MOD citing civilian casualties caused by the Taliban and supporting the presence of international troops demonstrated unusual and welcomed Afghan leadership in public communications. This may be the result of a patient and determined effort by the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) to reach out to MOI and MOD and to promote Afghan Government communications with the Afghan public. End summary. ¶2. (U) Over Sunday and Monday, May 31 - June 1, GIRoA security officials provided three separate statements to the press that put the Taliban in a bad light and supported the presence of foreign troops. This has not been common practice. ¶3. (U) One of the leading stories over the 24-hour period was the Ministry of Interior's announcement that it is ready to launch operations to take back the 10 districts that are not under government control. No specific timetable was given, and MOI spokesperson Zamary Bashari noted that the ANP will need backup from other security forces in order to ensure success. Ministry of Defense spokesperson General Azimi added that the ANA is intensifying operations to ensure election security. ¶4. (U) In a separate statement, Gen. Azimi said that the cause of violence in Afghanistan is terrorism, which requires the presence of international forces. "If the enemy wants international forces to leave the country, then the enemy should lay down its weapons and join the government," he said. ¶5. (U) A local TV channel quoted MOI Bashari as saying that in the last 7 days, 120 terrorist attacks took place across the country, killing 42 innocent civilians and injuring another 54. He went on to note the death of 85 insurgents and the arrests of an additional ¶69. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) GIRoA officials rarely make public statements blaming the Taliban and other enemies of the state for innocent deaths or to justify the presence of foreign troops. We have encouraged the positive, proactive public communication to help counter the disinformation disseminated so effectively by the Taliban. Nonetheless, most GIRoA statements have focused on civilian casualties allegedly caused by Coalition forces. ¶7. (SBU) Over the past month, Afghanistan's Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) has hosted a series of internal meetings to discuss messaging on elections security and other topics and has urged both MOI and MOD to be more proactive in communicating with the public. MOI and MOD both agreed with GMIC's dynamic young Afghan leader and staff to increase their public posture. These recent public statements evidently are the results. They illustrate the basic GMIC objective of building the status of the Afghan government with the Afghan people: GMIC put MOD and MOI publicly in the lead, rather than leaving ISAF/USFOR-A as the only voice speaking out against the insurgency within Afghanistan. ¶8. (SBU) We are also seeing other signs of improved communication among security stakeholders in Kabul outside the GMIC process. Media sources tell us that the MOI and MOD spokesmen, Mr. Bashari and Gen. Azimi, have increased their cooperation and coordination efforts over the past few months. At Minister Atmar's direction, the MOI's Public Affairs office is being more proactive in sending out positive press releases regularly. CSTC-A has assisted MOI with technical support and MOI has welcomed close coordination with USFOR-A Public Affairs office. 9 (SBU) Strengthening Afghanistan's security, governance and development to counter the insurgency require regular and effective communication, in both directions, between the GoIRA and the people of Afghanistan. In public communications as in all else, our strategic interest lies in promoting Afghan leadership, Afghan capacity, and Afghan sustainability. That means avoiding our predisposition to do Afghans' public communicating for them, out of the sense that we know best not only what the Afghan Government should say, but also how they should say it. When we do see flashes KABUL 00001461 002 OF 002 of GoIRA leadership in public communications -- as in any field-- we must subtly support and encourage it. When we don't see Afghan leadership in public communications, the answer must not be to amplify the volume and frequency of our own messages directed at the Afghan audience, but rather to develop, to influence, and to support the most authoritative and effective Afghan communicators. EIKENBERRY