NEW ZEALAND INPUT TO AFGHANISTAN STRATEGY REVIEW

1. (U) Reftel request was forwarded to the Government of
New Zealand. Post received the following response from
Michael Green, the Acting Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), handling Afghanistan among
other responsibilities.

Begin GNZ response.

(C) Thanks for the offer to contribute. The following
comments have been cleared with the Minister and with
Defence. They don't really sit comfortably with the headings
you proposed but should nevertheless convey to Washington a
sense of our current thinking.

o New Zealand is about to undertake a review of its
commitments to Afghanistan as a basis for decisions about
engagement beyond the current mandates (which end on 30
September 2010). Pending the outcome of this review,
responses on some of your points must be cast in fairly
general terms;

o New Zealand seeks an Afghanistan that is sustainable as an
independent nation, free from major risk of subversion and
from being used again as a base for international terrorism;

o New Zealand supports the NATO Comprehensive Strategic
Political Military Plan and the Afghanistan National
Development Strategy, while noting that they are frameworks
only, do not guarantee success, and are currently either
inadequately resourced, or not coherently implemented. Better
civil/military coordination is necessary;

o All ISAF contributor countries, whether members of NATO or
not, must be involved in the planning and monitoring
processes of the international community;

o New Zealand considers that a sustainable Afghanistan is
only achievable on Afghan models and ultimately with Afghan
resources, and that international contributors must shape
their assistance efforts to that end;

o In particular, the Afghan polity must be supported to
produce real and increasing benefits for its people;

o Priority should be given to supporting Afghan governance
models and Afghan institutions, with priority attention to
the ANA and the ANP;

o Reconcilable Taliban must be induced through a variety of
means to join the Afghan polity as contributing elements;
irreconcilable Taliban must be reduced as a threat, at least
to manageable proportions;

o Ways to reduce the ability of the Taliban to use Pakistan
as a base must be pursued; Pakistan's support for the Taliban
must be significantly curtailed;

o Counter-insurgency military action must continue, but with
a focus on methods that minimize civilian casualties;

o The use of force in general must be carefully calibrated.
Other elements, particularly diplomacy and development, will
be crucial to success in the long term;

o Efforts to combat narcotics production and trafficking and
corruption must continue, although success in these areas
will probably be coterminous with, rather than precede,
success in other areas.

End GNZ response.



2. (C) In charge conversations with Minister of Foreign
Affairs Murray McCully and Minister of Defence Wayne Mapp, as
well as conversations with MFAT and Ministry of Defence
officials, it has been made clear that the GNZ understands
that the U.S. will be making requests for additional
resources to support efforts in Afghanistan. The GNZ says
they will consider those requests commensurate with their
existing commitments, including Afghanistan, and the small
size of their military.
KEEGAN