RFG: COMMANDER OF ISAF BRIEFS NAC ON ASSESSMENT;

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000392

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2019
TAGS: PREL NATO MARR MOPS UN AF PK
SUBJECT: RFG: COMMANDER OF ISAF BRIEFS NAC ON ASSESSMENT;
SAYS RESOURCE REQUEST IS READY

Classified By: DCM John Heffern. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) This is a request for guidance. See paragraph 10.


2. (S/NOFORN) SUMMARY: At the September 16 meeting of the
North Atlantic Council, the commander of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan
(COMISAF),U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, briefed NATO
PermReps for the first time on the 60-day review via video
teleconference. Terming the situation in Afghanistan
"serious," McChrystal said that that the mission could still
be accomplished. He added, however, that this was only
possible if we changed the way we do things. Twice during
the brief, McChrystal said that his follow-up report
requesting additional resources was ready to submit.
Ambassador Daalder urged the Council to maintain the secrecy
of the report. He said the Council should cohesively
maintain a public line that NATO is undergoing a review of
the report without alluding to details or expressing
conclusions on the report. Rasmussen said NATO would not
make any public statements or recommendations on the report.
The Secretary General will distribute the assessment to
Allies on September 17 and has scheduled a NAC discussion of
the assessment for Friday, September 18. Mission requests
guidance for that meeting. End Summary.


3. (S/NOFORN) At the September 16 North Atlantic Council
Meeting, Gen. McChrystal briefed Perm Reps for the first time
on his 60-day assessment report. The report was an
assessment of all U.S and ISAF military operations in
Afghanistan. McChrystal was tasked to complete this
assessment by the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the North
Atlantic Council in June. This assessment focused on
regaining the initiative, demonstrating greater partnership
between the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and ISAF,
and supporting Afghan governance at all levels. McChrystal
said building the ANSF through partnering is not a stand
alone option to solving Afghanistan's security development
needs. Instead, it is one of many options that requires
NATO's resolve and a long-term commitment. Prioritizing
support for Afghan governance at the central, provincial,
district, and local levels was critical in his view.
McChrystal said NATO must focus resources and prioritize them
in areas where the Afghan population is most threatened by
the insurgency.


4. (S/NOFORN) McChrystal said Afghans are frustrated by a
lack of progress by the Afghan government and the
international community. He stated that the situation in
Afghanistan was deteriorating and to achieve proper success,
proper resources are required. He acknowledged that delays in
announcing final election results have created an atmosphere
of uncertainty in the minds of the Afghan government and the
Afghan people. Time is of the essence, according to
McChrystal, immediate resources are required. COMISAF
repeated twice that his follow-up report requesting
additional resources was ready to submit when requested.


5. (S/NOFORN) COMISAF said the need to partner with the ANSF
at every level, from the Minister level to the infantry
level, and modify all existing organizations, if necessary,
to achieve success. COMISAF said that there is a cultural,
physical, and psychological gap between ISAF forces and the
Afghan public. Portugal and Italy expressed concern with
closer partnering with the ANSF and the effect on ISAF force
casualties. COMISAF said that the short-term risks
associated with ISAF and ANSF partnering would be outweighed
by the long-term gains of building ANSF security capacity.
He said to achieve the civ-mil balance there is a
prerequisite to establish security in some areas before the
full potential of civilian efforts can be achieved.

USNATO 00000392 002 OF 002




6. (S/NOFORN) Germany, Canada, and the U.K. agreed with
McChrystal that there is a need to achieve a civ-mil balance,
only the Afghans can defeat the insurgency, and it is up to
ISAF to help them accomplish this goal. McChrystal said that
the situation in Afghanistan is difficult but NATO can
achieve its goals. He said his report recommends accelerating
the training of the Afghan National Security Forces and
increasing their size to 400,000 forces over the next four
years. At the same time, he stressed that there was a limit
to how much acceleration could take place, for example, in
the speed of recruitment. He also said that the training of
leaders was finite because they needed to gain experience.
To meet this goal he recommends prioritizing resources and
forces in areas where the Afghan population is at the most
risk by the insurgency. Italy asked whether it wouldn't be
better for now to stay within the authorized limits for the
ANSF, given recruitment and funding concerns. The Czech
PermRep noted that the aggressive increase in ANSF numbers
would need to be matched by a similar increase in equipment
and asked how this would be made sustainable over the
medium-to-long term. Norway echoed this, noting that Allies
will need a process to discuss the resource requirements and
our ability to meet those requirements. McChrystal stressed
that he had provided the best military advice he could on the
size of the ANSF that would be needed for the Afghans to be
able to take on an increasing amount of their own security
and combat the insurgency. At the same time, he acknowledged
that the Afghans themselves would be unable to pay for this
force.


7. (S/NOFORN) In response to Canada asking if Pakistan was
included in the report, COMISAF said that Pakistan military
efforts on counterinsurgency have increased in the past six
months, which will have a good effect on Afghanistan, but not
a decisive one. He did not recommend attempting to seal the
Af/Pak border, arguing that this was probably not possible in
any case.


8. (S/NOFORN) COMISAF said he accepted full responsibility
for every word and every conclusion in the report.
McChrystal said he made each recommendation based upon what
he thought was required to achieve visible, measurable
results in Afghanistan in consultation with the Afghans and
his military experts.


9. (S/NOFORN) The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee,
Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, said COMISAF, SACEUR, and all
CHODS would meet in Lisbon the weekend of September 18 and
discuss the initial assessment. He said, as a result, the
group would provide collective feedback through his
chairmanship to the NAC on the assessment.

Guidance Request
--------------


10. (C/NOFORN) Guidance Request: The Secretary General has
said that he would distribute the assessment on Thursday,
September 17. He said that the NAC would then meet on
Friday, September 18, to have an initial steering discussion
of the assessment. Mission requests Washington guidance NLT
COB Washington-time on September 17 for that meeting,
including how to handle any calls by Allies to request the
resource document referenced by McChrystal.
DAALDER