DEPUTY SECRETARY'S MEETING WITH BALKH GOVERNOR ATTA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000881

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TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM AF

SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY'S MEETING WITH BALKH GOVERNOR ATTA


1. (SBU) Deputy Secretary Jacob Lew, accompanied by CDA Francis J.
Ricciardone and DCM Christopher W. Dell, met Balkh Provincial
Governor Atta Mohammed Noor in the governor's office on April 3.
They discussed development assistance to northern Afghanistan, the
governor's vision for Balkh province, the proposed opening of an
embassy office in Mazar-e Sharif, the governor's frustration with
the Swedish-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Mazar, and
security and stability in the north.


2. (U) Governor Atta began the meeting by thanking the United
States for its continued strong military and development assistance
to Afghanistan in spite of the heavy loss of life its troops have
suffered. He saw the visit of the Deputy Secretary as removing what
he called a "feeling of isolation from the United States" in the
north. Atta said that Afghanistan and the U.S. are "natural
friends" fighting a common enemy in the Taliban. He said that the
northern people's expectations were very high since they believed
that as the first group of Afghans to fight the Taliban, they would
be the first to receive assistance from the U.S., but "that did not
happen."


3. (U) Deputy Secretary Lew reaffirmed the importance to the U.S.
of demonstrating interest throughout all regions of Afghanistan. He
said the U.S. is looking forward to continued cooperation with
Governor Atta to take advantage of peaceful conditions in the north.
The Deputy Secretary told Governor Atta the U.S. is proud to
participate in the Swedish-led PRT and to support development
projects in the area.


4. (U) Governor Atta noted that despite the progress made with ISAF
support over the past seven years in furthering peace and security
in Balkh and the region, many development projects remain
unrealized. While acknowledging that the Afghan government bears
responsibility for the slow pace of development in the north, the
international community is also to blame due to the lack of
attention it pays to stable provinces like Balkh. Atta said that
despite his outreach to the central government and international
donors, he has not been successful at drawing their development
dollars. He accused Iran of not supporting Afghanistan with
development assistance because of Afghanistan's ties to the West.
Atta said the Russians do not help because of the role the
mujahideen played in fighting the Soviets. And the U.S., Atta said,
channels its assistance to those areas in the south and east
afflicted by insurgency. He asked rhetorically why tension and
violence should be preconditions for receiving development
assistance.


5. (U) Atta continued by naming the successes Balkh has achieved in
the areas of poppy eradication, disarmament, disbandment of illegal
armed groups, and rule of law. Balkh was also the first province to
develop a five-year development plan, he said. He called upon the
U.S. to revise what he termed its policy of pouring resources into
areas where there are active insurgencies while ignoring stable
provinces in the north. Atta would like to see Balkh become a model
of development for the rest of the country and a hub for military
operations given its central location in the region. While Atta
supports the government's centralized funding system in which money
to provincial line departments trickles down from central government
ministries, he believes that some ministries lack the requisite
administrative capacity to do this effectively. He suggested that
in provinces that have high capacity, good planning and permissive
security environments, donors should directly fund projects from
provincial development plans rather than send their development
assistance through the central government.


6. (U) Atta expressed his pleasure at what he termed the decision
of the U.S. to open an office in Mazar-e Sharif, and said he hopes
that it will be a permanent facility, not a temporary container
village. He then turned his attention to the reconstruction work
being conducted by PRTs, citing the work being done by the Czechs in
Logar, the Italians in Herat, and the Canadians in Kandahar as fine
examples. Atta was pointed in his criticism of the British during
their control of the PRT in Mazar, and of the Swedes, who now head
it, chastising both for not having done reconstruction in the
north.


7. (U) Helping to bring about relative security and stability in
the north is the biggest achievement for the international
community, Atta maintained. He added that if the international
community fails to build on those successes and the situation
deteriorates in stable provinces, then it will have little to show
for its efforts over the past seven years.


8. (U) The Deputy Secretary said he would carry the governor's
message back to Washington, and noted that while we had begun
initial planning, the decision to open an embassy office in Mazar
was not yet final. He went on to thank Atta for his efforts at

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promoting poppy eradication, highlighting the $1 million Balkh
received just one day earlier from the U.S.-funded Good Performers
Initiative for maintaining poppy-free status in the province. The
Deputy noted that President Obama's Strategic Review calls for the
U.S. to focus its efforts in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but
that the U.S. also wants to remain involved in other parts of the
country, especially in Mazar, where there have been many positive
developments to be proud of in recent years. Through the Strategic
Review, the U.S. is reaffirming its friendship and long-term
commitment to GIRoA and its people.


9. (U) The Deputy told Atta that he had come from the Hague
Conference at which the U.S. asked other donors to step up their
development assistance to Afghanistan. All the problems facing
Afghanistan cannot be dealt with simultaneously by the U.S., and
that is why more coalition support is needed.


10. (U) The Deputy Secretary did not have an opportunity to clear
this cable.

RICCIARDONE