Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USNATO361
2009-08-20 19:51:00
SECRET
Mission USNATO
Cable title:
AUGUST 19 NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING:
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000361
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2019
TAGS: PREL NATO MARR MOPS AF PK UK XG RS
SUBJECT: AUGUST 19 NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING:
AFGHANISTAN AND RUSSIA
REF: A. USNATO 359
B. USNATO 348
Classified By: A/PolAd A. "Hoot" Baez. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).
(C) SUMMARY: This is a summary of the August 19 meeting of
the North Atlantic Council (NAC):
-- Afghanistan: Preparations for the August 20 elections
dominated the discussion, with the Secretary General arguing
that the elections represented a milestone in the ability of
Afghan's to deliver their own governance. The Director of
the International Military Staff confirmed that 100 percent
of all election support forces had arrived in Afghanistan and
were fully operational. The International Military Staff
presented a briefing on the IED threat to ISAF forces. NATO
hopes to meet next week with the UAE for further negotiations
on AWACS basing. A discussion of the Shia law was reported
ref A.
-- Russia: The Secretary General said he found his first
meeting with Russian Ambassador Rogozin to be "overall
positive." He intends to schedule an informal PermRep
discussion of NATO-Russia relations soon after the August
break. The U.S. expressed concern about statements by
Rogozin that suggest Russia is not committed to real reform
of the NATO-Russia Council. The U.S. also noted the need to
remain firm on the Alliance's position of Georgian
territorial integrity.
END SUMMARY
Afghanistan
--------------
2. (C/REL NATO) Elections: At the August 19 meeting of the
North Atlantic Council, NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said
that the situation in Afghanistan was being dominated by the
preparations for the August 20 elections. In this regard, he
praised the efforts of the Afghan National Security Forces
(ANSF) and ISAF. He argued that, despite certain
short-comings, the elections were a milestone in
Afghanistan's history: the Afghan-led elections demonstrated
the Afghan's capacity to deliver their own governance.
3. (C/REL NATO) Elections Continued: The Director of the NATO
International Military Staff (DIMS) confirmed that 100
percent of all election support forces had arrived in
Afghanistan and were fully operational. He was confident in
post-election contingency planning, citing strong commitments
from Allies and increased ANSF capabilities. In Badghis
province, local elders brokered a ceasefire deal between
Taliban groups and the Afghan government to increase Pashtun
participation in elections. In response to Germany,s
USNATO 00000361 002 OF 003
question on whether President Karzai,s brother Ahmid Wali
Karzai had done the same in the south to allow more Pashtuns
to vote, DIMS did not deny nor confirm, citing a lack of
evidence.
4. (S/REL NATO) Afghanistan IED Threat. In response to
Allied questions in previous NAC meetings, the International
Military Staff's Assistant Director for Intelligence, Karen
Laino, provided a briefing on the improvised explosive device
(IED) threat faced by ISAF forces in Afghanistan. She noted
that IEDs had increased 88 percent when comparing the first
six months of this year with the first six months of 2008.
At the same time, she noted that civilian casualties from
IEDs had not significantly increased, adding that was
probably due to instructions from insurgent leadership. She
said that most IEDs were rather basic and that the primary
threat was from better employment of IEDs by the insurgents,
rather than more sophisticated IEDs. At the same time, she
acknowledged that there was evidence that Iran had provided
some material support to the insurgent IED capability. Both
DIMS and Laino said increasing ANSF support and NATO
pre-deployment IED training was the best way to counter the
IED threat. She noted some additional steps NATO could take
to better counter this threat, including creating a NATO-wide
IED database and working toward accreditation of a Center of
Excellence on the subject in Spain.
5. (C/REL NATO) AWACS. In response to a question from the
German Ambassador on the current status of AWACS deployment,
NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations, Ambassador
Rossin, said that his staff was trying to arrange talks with
the UAE for the following week, but that it was not clear
whether or not that would in fact take place. He said that
the next round of talks should make clear whether the UAE's
political will to conclude an agreement will provie
sufficient flexibity in its position. If it does, Rossin
hopes to be able to go back to the NATO Political Committee
with an ad ref agreed arrangement. If it does not appear the
UAE will have sufficient flexibility, he will said he would
talk to the Secretary General about proposed next steps.
6. (C/REL NATO) Next NAC: Rasmussen announced that he had
called for an extraordinary meeting of the Council on August
21 to discuss the August 20 elections. He said the the
Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance
Force and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Kabul
will address the NAC via video-teleconference.
7. (C/REL NATO) A discussion of the Shia law was reported in
ref A.
Russia
--------------
USNATO 00000361 003 OF 003
8. (C/NF) Rasmussen drew Allies attention to the report he
had circulated on his first meeting with Russian Ambassador
to NATO Rogozin (ref B). He said that he viewed the meeting
as overall positive, adding that it appeared from the media
coverage that Rogozin felt the same. He said, however, that
he also felt the Alliance needed to remain firm in its
discussions with Russia, noting that he had raised the
Alliance's continuing commitment to an Open Door policy.
Rasmussen said that he intended to raise NATO-Russia
relations in one of PermReps' first informal meeting sessions
after the August holiday. He said that he hoped that
capitals will have had a chance to review the non-paper
Rogozin provided him by that point.
9. (C/NF) Charge Byrnes noted concern with Rogozin's
statements that Russia did not want to eliminate any
NATO-Russia Council (NRC) Working Groups, suggesting that
this might indicate that Russia was not serious about taking
forward the NRC reforms proposed in the draft "way forward"
paper which Ministers had agreed at Corfu to continue to work
on. She also said that it was important when remaining firm
and talking frankly with Russia to remind Russia of the
Alliance's position on Georgian territorial integrity. In
response, Rasmussen said that he intended to press for reform
of the NRC, while recognizing that this would not be easy.
He failed to respond, however, to the issue of Georgian
territorial integrity.
10. (C/NF) Canada urged that the forthcoming PermRep
discussion of NATO-Russia relations include the issue of
Russia-Ukraine relations.
BYRNES
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2019
TAGS: PREL NATO MARR MOPS AF PK UK XG RS
SUBJECT: AUGUST 19 NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING:
AFGHANISTAN AND RUSSIA
REF: A. USNATO 359
B. USNATO 348
Classified By: A/PolAd A. "Hoot" Baez. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).
(C) SUMMARY: This is a summary of the August 19 meeting of
the North Atlantic Council (NAC):
-- Afghanistan: Preparations for the August 20 elections
dominated the discussion, with the Secretary General arguing
that the elections represented a milestone in the ability of
Afghan's to deliver their own governance. The Director of
the International Military Staff confirmed that 100 percent
of all election support forces had arrived in Afghanistan and
were fully operational. The International Military Staff
presented a briefing on the IED threat to ISAF forces. NATO
hopes to meet next week with the UAE for further negotiations
on AWACS basing. A discussion of the Shia law was reported
ref A.
-- Russia: The Secretary General said he found his first
meeting with Russian Ambassador Rogozin to be "overall
positive." He intends to schedule an informal PermRep
discussion of NATO-Russia relations soon after the August
break. The U.S. expressed concern about statements by
Rogozin that suggest Russia is not committed to real reform
of the NATO-Russia Council. The U.S. also noted the need to
remain firm on the Alliance's position of Georgian
territorial integrity.
END SUMMARY
Afghanistan
--------------
2. (C/REL NATO) Elections: At the August 19 meeting of the
North Atlantic Council, NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said
that the situation in Afghanistan was being dominated by the
preparations for the August 20 elections. In this regard, he
praised the efforts of the Afghan National Security Forces
(ANSF) and ISAF. He argued that, despite certain
short-comings, the elections were a milestone in
Afghanistan's history: the Afghan-led elections demonstrated
the Afghan's capacity to deliver their own governance.
3. (C/REL NATO) Elections Continued: The Director of the NATO
International Military Staff (DIMS) confirmed that 100
percent of all election support forces had arrived in
Afghanistan and were fully operational. He was confident in
post-election contingency planning, citing strong commitments
from Allies and increased ANSF capabilities. In Badghis
province, local elders brokered a ceasefire deal between
Taliban groups and the Afghan government to increase Pashtun
participation in elections. In response to Germany,s
USNATO 00000361 002 OF 003
question on whether President Karzai,s brother Ahmid Wali
Karzai had done the same in the south to allow more Pashtuns
to vote, DIMS did not deny nor confirm, citing a lack of
evidence.
4. (S/REL NATO) Afghanistan IED Threat. In response to
Allied questions in previous NAC meetings, the International
Military Staff's Assistant Director for Intelligence, Karen
Laino, provided a briefing on the improvised explosive device
(IED) threat faced by ISAF forces in Afghanistan. She noted
that IEDs had increased 88 percent when comparing the first
six months of this year with the first six months of 2008.
At the same time, she noted that civilian casualties from
IEDs had not significantly increased, adding that was
probably due to instructions from insurgent leadership. She
said that most IEDs were rather basic and that the primary
threat was from better employment of IEDs by the insurgents,
rather than more sophisticated IEDs. At the same time, she
acknowledged that there was evidence that Iran had provided
some material support to the insurgent IED capability. Both
DIMS and Laino said increasing ANSF support and NATO
pre-deployment IED training was the best way to counter the
IED threat. She noted some additional steps NATO could take
to better counter this threat, including creating a NATO-wide
IED database and working toward accreditation of a Center of
Excellence on the subject in Spain.
5. (C/REL NATO) AWACS. In response to a question from the
German Ambassador on the current status of AWACS deployment,
NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations, Ambassador
Rossin, said that his staff was trying to arrange talks with
the UAE for the following week, but that it was not clear
whether or not that would in fact take place. He said that
the next round of talks should make clear whether the UAE's
political will to conclude an agreement will provie
sufficient flexibity in its position. If it does, Rossin
hopes to be able to go back to the NATO Political Committee
with an ad ref agreed arrangement. If it does not appear the
UAE will have sufficient flexibility, he will said he would
talk to the Secretary General about proposed next steps.
6. (C/REL NATO) Next NAC: Rasmussen announced that he had
called for an extraordinary meeting of the Council on August
21 to discuss the August 20 elections. He said the the
Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance
Force and the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Kabul
will address the NAC via video-teleconference.
7. (C/REL NATO) A discussion of the Shia law was reported in
ref A.
Russia
--------------
USNATO 00000361 003 OF 003
8. (C/NF) Rasmussen drew Allies attention to the report he
had circulated on his first meeting with Russian Ambassador
to NATO Rogozin (ref B). He said that he viewed the meeting
as overall positive, adding that it appeared from the media
coverage that Rogozin felt the same. He said, however, that
he also felt the Alliance needed to remain firm in its
discussions with Russia, noting that he had raised the
Alliance's continuing commitment to an Open Door policy.
Rasmussen said that he intended to raise NATO-Russia
relations in one of PermReps' first informal meeting sessions
after the August holiday. He said that he hoped that
capitals will have had a chance to review the non-paper
Rogozin provided him by that point.
9. (C/NF) Charge Byrnes noted concern with Rogozin's
statements that Russia did not want to eliminate any
NATO-Russia Council (NRC) Working Groups, suggesting that
this might indicate that Russia was not serious about taking
forward the NRC reforms proposed in the draft "way forward"
paper which Ministers had agreed at Corfu to continue to work
on. She also said that it was important when remaining firm
and talking frankly with Russia to remind Russia of the
Alliance's position on Georgian territorial integrity. In
response, Rasmussen said that he intended to press for reform
of the NRC, while recognizing that this would not be easy.
He failed to respond, however, to the issue of Georgian
territorial integrity.
10. (C/NF) Canada urged that the forthcoming PermRep
discussion of NATO-Russia relations include the issue of
Russia-Ukraine relations.
BYRNES