AUGUST 26 NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING: ALL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000373 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2019 TAGS: PREL NATO MARR MOPS AF PK XG SUBJECT: AUGUST 26 NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL MEETING: ALL AFGHANISTAN Classified By: A/PolAd Brian Greaney. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C/REL NATO) Summary: This is a summary of the August 19 meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC). -- AFGHANISTAN: The Deputy Secretary General (DSYG) urged continued Allied restraint against public reactions to preliminary Afghan elections' results. He announced the flags to post conference for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan had been successful, but additional resources, particularly police and army training teams, would be critical to its success. PermReps continued debate on the revised Afghan Shi'a Law. The DSYG announced that the UAE had decided to replace a planned new round of AWACS-basing talks by sending a letter outlining their position. SHAPE gave updates on Border Coordination Center construction and on operations. Canada requested that NATO's Media Operation Center provide press lines that Allies would be able to use uniformly at the release of COMISAF's 60-day review. -- There was no discussion of other regions or items. End Summary. ¶2. (C/REL NATO) Afghanistan: (C) At the August 26 meeting of the North Atlantic Council Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero (DSYG) announced that Afghan Foreign Minister Daftar Rangin Spanta had sent a letter thanking NATO for ISAF's security support to August 20 elections. The DSYG advised that Allies "avoid getting drawn into reacting publicly to preliminary results." He urged that the Afghan Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and Election Complaints Commission (ECC) should retain the lead on counting, resolving fraud allegations, and announcing results. Responding to a question from Germany, the DSYG said that while the IEC's plan to "dribble out" results for every 10 percent of polling stations tallied might not be ideal, NATO should support the procedure because it was the Afghans' agreed plan. Spain and Germany noted discomfort at not engaging the press about allegations of fraud in the elections, but said they would respect the Afghan lead on communications. The DSYG said NATO would release press lines to Allies, and Ambassador Daalder underscored the importance of Allied restraint against predicting the presidential election's outcome. Major General Rudy Wright of SHAPE assured the Council that ISAF was prepared for either demonstrations contesting the elections' outcome or a follow-on second round vote, again providing third tier support to the Afghan Army and Police. ¶3. (C/REL NATO) NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A): The DSYG applauded the results of the August 14 manning conference for the NTM-A headquarters' senior officer USNATO 00000373 002 OF 003 billets, which have all been filled by NATO and partner nations. He said the final flags-to-post plot should be available to nations in September, and the establishment of the headquarters was on track for opening September 10 and reaching initial operating capability by September 15. Chairman of the Military Committee Admiral Di Paola reminded Allies of the September 2 follow-on manning conference to fill Lieutenant Colonel-level headquarters positions and below, but drew attention to the more critical need to fill training requirements. Di Paola said the NTM-A's specific Combined Joint Statement of Requirements would be available to nations in mid-September, but would include needs for 179 Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) and 469 Police OMLTs. The U.S. would fill 273 POMLTs, he said, but nations would need to additionally field 38 this year, 105 in 2010, and 53 in 2011. Di Paola also said the funds required for 2009 (12.7 million Euros) and 2010 (5.4 million Euros) would be critical to standing up the NTM-A. Ambassador Daalder echoed the Di Paola's call for POMLT and OMLT contributions. ¶4. (C/REL NATO) Shi'a Law: Following up Council discussion on August 21, the DSYG said NATO's Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) Ambassador Fernando Gentilini was consulting with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and working to obtain additional information and a formal translation of the revised Shi'a Law. Deputy PermReps from Spain and Germany noted intense press coverage in their capitals of the Shi'a Law, and indicated that NATO should prepare to take some action once it had more complete information on the content of the revised law. Ambassador Daalder focused on the SCR's approach in reaching out to civil society actors including human rights and women's groups for their reactions, and pointed out the importance of the Council considering the local Afghan context and reception of the law prior to deciding to take any actions. The DSYG supported this position. ¶5. (C/REL NATO) AWACS: The DSYG reported that, although the next round of talks with the UAE was supposed to have begun during the week of August 24 to resolve AWACS basing in support of ISAF, the UAE had backed out and indicated it would send a letter outlining its thoughts on the negotiations. The German Deputy PermRep alerted the Council that "the credibility of ISAF demands was being tainted by the AWACS issue politically in Germany," where the Bundestag's domestic debate on ISAF would likely begin in October following elections. The German asked that the basing issue be resolved urgently. Ambassador Daalder suggested that the NAC could benefit from a briefing on how AWACS could contribute to operations in Afghanistan. ¶6. (C/REL NATO) Border Coordination Centers (BCCs): SHAPE gave a status update of BCCs including the following: Khyber USNATO 00000373 003 OF 003 reached full operating capability in August 2008. BCCs Lwara and Spin Boldak were under construction and should reach initial operating capability in September and October 2009, respectively. BCCs at Bari Kowt, Nawa Pass, and Khar Lachi are planned for 2010. The UK asked about delays in setting up similar centers on the Pakistani side of the border. MG Wright said the delays were primarily due to financing, and two initially planned BCCs for Pakistani territory might move to the Afghan side. ¶7. (C/REL NATO) Operations Update: MG Wright noted a marked spike in violence on Afghan election day, but said attacks were neither concentrated nor coordinated. The day's violence had affected fewer than two percent of polling sites directly, though Wright acknowledged that the psychological indirect effect of insurgent activities may have been greater. SHAPE assessed that ISAF should not expect any reduction in violence during Ramadan. He said that five upcoming post-election ISAF operations would target: Marjah in Helmand province, IED networks in Wardak and Lowgar provinces, insurgents in Kunduz and Baghlan, Baghdis province, and the Surobi district of Kabul city. SHAPE reported that the Pakistani Taliban leadership remained in disarray after the death of militant leader Baitullah Mehsud. Working from a position of strength, Wright continued, the Pakistan Military had refused an offer made by an insurgent sub-commander to cease fire during Ramadan in Waziristan tribal areas. ¶8. (C/REL NATO) Canada requested that NATO's Media Operation Center provide press lines that Allies would be able to use uniformly at the release of COMISAF's 60-day review. ¶9. (C/REL NATO) Kandahar bombing: Responding to a question from Canada, the DSYG said the Secretary General would issue a condemnation of the August 25 bomb attack in Kandahar that killed and wounded up to 100 individuals as a brutal targeting of civilians. DAALDER