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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000520 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017 
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 
 
Classified By: DCM Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4 (b) and...

123022
2007-09-20
07USNATO520
Mission USNATO
SECRET//NOFORN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000520 

SIPDIS 

NOFORN 
SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2017 
TAGS: NATO PREL AF
SUBJECT: NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL READOUT - SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 

Classified By: DCM Richard G. Olson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 

¶1. (C) Summary from the NAC Meeting: 

-- Afghanistan: The Secretary General )- supported by U.S. 
and UK )- urged the Military Committee to resolve breaks of 
silence on the ISAF contract helicopter lift initiative; The 
Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC) reported he was 
assured of Australia,s commitment to ISAF during recent trip 
to Canberra; SHAPE urged nations to provide soldiers with 
better counter-IED training prior to deployment; UK briefed 
on seized Iranian weaponry shipments to the Taliban. 

-- Balkans: The SYG announced that the Troika will brief the 
NAC the week of October 15; the NAC will hold an informal 
discussion in early October on the implications for KFOR of 
likely post-December 10 Kosovo scenarios; NATO will provide 
cluster munitions data to Serbia next week. 

-- Darfur: The Portuguese PermRep informed the Council that 
Chad has accepted the deployment of international 
peacekeepers to eastern Chad. 

-- Iraq: CMC announced that NTM-I started to conduct naval 
training for Iraqi senior non-commissioned officers aboard a 
British ship off the coast of Iraq. 

-- AOB: The CMC reported that CHODs agreed at their 
September 9-10 meeting to approve &Option II8 for reforming 
the NRF, which calls for graduated force levels, and reached 
a compromise agreement on Phase I of the Peacetime 
Establishment review. 

END SUMMARY. 

¶2. (C) Afghanistan: Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer 
expressed worry at the breaks of silence by two nations 
(comment: France and Spain) in the Military Committee (MC), 
which threaten MC approval of a proposal that would 
common-fund contract helicopter transport lift for ISAF and 
address one of the mission,s longstanding weaknesses. He 
implored nations to resolve the breaks of silence urgently. 
In their later interventions, both Ambassador Nuland and UK 
Ambassador Eldon strongly supported the SYG, with Ambassador 
Nuland also noting the beneficial effect the initiative could 
have by eventually providing lift for ANA units to do more. 
The SYG also informed Allies he would attend a high-level 
JCMB meeting with UN SYG Ban and President Karzai on the 
margins of the UNGA on September 23. He also urged relevant 
nations to support ISAF,s UN mandate renewal, currently 
under negotiation in the Security Council. 

¶3. (C) CMC Henault briefed on his recent trip to Australia, 
the first ever by a Chairman. He stated the Foreign 
Minister, Defense Minister, and CHOD all assured him of 
Australia,s firm commitment to ISAF, and noted the 
likelihood of Australia extending its mandate beyond its 
current expiration date of March 2009. He described 
Australian satisfaction with their relationship with the 
Netherlands in Uruzgan, but concern at overall force levels 
in RC-South and the ability of the Taliban to return to areas 
cleared by ISAF in the absence of capable Afghan security 
forces. Australia is the 10th largest contributor to ISAF 
and the leading contributor among NATO partners. 

¶4. (C) Alluding to September 19 press reports of a new major 
ISAF operation in the South, SHAPE DCOS for Operations MG 
Wright noted to PermReps this was just a continuation of 
ongoing operations in the Upper Gereshk Valley. He told the 
NAC that the sub-national consultations portion of developing 
a final Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS) had been 

USNATO 00000520 002 OF 003 


completed, and the ANDS was on track to be issued in March 
2008: ISAF had received a list of priority development 
projects from the Afghan government. He also stated that 
with a recent agreement allowing USAID to share data with 
ISAF,s Afghan Country Stability Picture database and with 
new additional staffing, the ACSP database would be an even 
greater tool for mapping development progress across 
Afghanistan. MG Wright supported the SYG by re-emphasizing 
the importance of the helicopter initiative to ISAF,s 
operational success, and urged nations to do better on 
counter-IED training for personnel deploying to Afghanistan. 
IEDs are the most lethal threat to ISAF personnel, he stated, 
and nations continue to send personnel to the theater with 
inadequate training. Training is a national responsibility 
according to NATO doctrine, Wright said, but NATO would start 
developing its own counter-IED training syllabus in view of 
the training,s importance and weaknesses in Allied nation 
programs. 

¶5. (S) UK Ambassador Eldon gave a lengthy brief on the 
September 6 interdiction by ISAF forces of a munitions 
shipment from Iran into Afghanistan containing Explosively 
Formed Penetrator (EFP) technology. He said analysis of the 
munitions )- including observation of the shipment crossing 
the Iranian-Afghan border -- showed a clear link to Iran and 
weapons the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force has 
sent to insurgents in Iraq. Ambassador Eldon asserted the 
IRGC Qods Force has made several arms shipments to 
Afghanistan, that it maintains a strategic relationship with 
the Taliban, and that it may have attempted to conceal its 
activities from other branches of the Iranian government. He 
stated the UK has talked with the Afghan government and the 
Afghans realize the serious nature of the issue. 

¶6. (C) Ambassador Nuland thanked the UK for the Iran brief, 
and urged Allies with influence in Tehran to pressure the 
Iranians on this issue. Supporting the SYG,s comments on 
the fate of the ISAF helicopter initiative within the 
Military Committee, she urged a fix prior to the Noordwijk 
informal defense ministerial, lest it become a big issue 
among Ministers. She cited U.S. success with the contracting 
concept in RC-East, as well as the initiative,s follow-on 
benefits for ANA mobility. Supporting the Canadian 
Ambassador, who asked for more NAC discussion on police 
training, she suggested a joint brief to the NAC by CSTC-A 
Commander MG Cone and the new head of the EUPOL mission in 
Afghanistan (whose role Belgium highlighted). 

¶7. (C) Other interventions saw the Dutch Ambassador brief on 
recent trips to Afghanistan by his Prime Minister and 
Development Minister. He noted the Dutch PM urged Karzai to 
strengthen the ANSF presence in Uruzgan, and the Development 
Minister announced an additional 15 million euro in aid. The 
UK also requested more information on what precisely ISAF is 
doing against narcotics, within the confines of the OPLAN. 
The Spanish Ambassador seconded the request, going further, 
requesting information on any new CN Standard Operating 
Procedures issued by ISAF. The Belgian Ambassador flagged 
that the NAC had agreed with SACEUR in July that SHAPE would 
provide regular updates to the NAC on the status of ongoing 
investigations into civilian casualty incidents, but that the 
NAC had yet to see an update. He also suggested that SCR 
Everts might usefully report on the Qnteraction of PRTs with 
local governments, given Karzai,s recent statements 
discouraging governors from cooperating too closely with 
PRTs. The SYG agreed such a report could be useful. 

¶8. (C) Balkans: The SYG briefed that the Troika is meeting 
separately with the negotiating parties in London and will 
report the results of those meetings to the Contact Group. 
The meetings will lead into next week,s Contact Group 

USNATO 00000520 003 OF 003 


ministerial in New York on September 27 where the parties 
will meet face-to-face following the ministerial. The SYG 
will attend the ministerial and will update the Council upon 
his return. The SYG informed the Council that he is 
scheduling a NAC with the Troika during the week of October 
15 prior to NATO,s informal defense ministerial. He 
mentioned that recent Serbian rhetoric rejecting future NATO 
membership, attributed to Prime Minister Kostunica, is likely 
the result of their internal domestic political dynamic. The 
SYG stated his intention not to engage in a public debate 
with Serbian leaders over the comments, but will discuss them 
privately in a phone call with Serbian President Tadic and in 
his meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Jeremic next week 
in New York. 

¶9. (C) Lastly, the SYG informed the Council that he intends 
to hold an informal NAC discussion in early October on the 
implications for NATO of possible scenarios following the 
Troika December 10 report to the UN SYG. 

¶10. (C) The CMC briefed the Council that COMKFOR deployed 
KFOR,s multi-national specialized unit to the northern part 
of Kosovo in order to increase KFOR,s visibility and its 
cooperation with UNMIK and the KPS. The Spanish, Portuguese, 
and the Norwegian PermReps strongly supported the SYG,s 
approach to Belgrade,s recent anti-NATO comments. The 
Spanish PermRep, while not objecting to an informal NAC 
discussion of Kosovo, called on Allied unity not to be 
influenced by &rumored8 Kosovar intentions for December, 
which should not affect Allied and UN thinking. In response 
to the Norwegian PermRep,s inquiry, the SYG announced that 
next week NATO will provide Serbia with the data it requested 
on cluster munition dropped in southern Serbia during 
Operation Allid Force. 

¶11. (C) Darfur: The Portuguese PermRepinformed the Council 
that Chad has accepted the eployment of international 
peacekeepers to easten Chad in support of the mission to 
Darfur. 

¶1. (C) Iraq: CMC announced that NTM-I has the resoures and 
is starting to conduct naval training forIraqi senior 
non-commissioned officers aboard a ritish ship off the coast 
of Iraq. 

¶13. (C) AO: CMC reported that CHODs made progress on two 
rcommendations at their September 9-10 meeting in Caada. 
First, CHODSs accepted &Option II8 for refoming the NRF, 
which calls for graduated force leels. The issue would go 
to the NAC with the goa of presenting it for a final 
decision by Defens Ministers at the Noordwijk ministerial. 
Second, HODS reached a compromise agreement on Phase I of 
the Peacetime Establishment review. An MCM documnt was 
released under short silence procedure toexpire COB 
September 17. He noted that many of the more difficult 
issues would have to be addressed in Phase II and urged 
nations to remain flexible. 

¶14. (C) In an informal session, the CHODS also discussed 
operations in Afghanistan and the effect of governance on 
operations, the need for a true Comprehensive Approach, the 
need to develop the ANA and ANP and for more embedded 
trainers (OMLTs), and the importance of strategic 
communication. 
NULAND