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Afghanistan

Outgoing NATO SecGen criticises NATO's Afghanistan approach

2009-06-18

In an interview with Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland, NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer argued that the alliance's approach to the reconstruction of Afghanistan was misguided. He believes that making individual member states responsible for specific provinces hindered international cooperation. De Hoop Scheffer, who is stepping down from his position on 31 July, added "the fact that all countries think they are champions of reconstruction obstructed actual civil and military cooperation. Every country was out for itself. Looking back, I would have gone for a closer combination of military effort and reconstruction. Perhaps I should have judged that better five years ago." Perhaps. De Hoop Scheffer was appointed head of NATO in 2004, not long after it took over leadership of the allied campaign in Afghanistan. Despite what he calls 'Herculean' challenges, he insists that NATO has made significant improvements in Afghanistan. "There are schools, economic activity and roads are being built." He believes NATO has successfully managed to respect Afghan culture and religion. Integrity The NATO chief defends himself against claims that his appointment was a reward for Dutch support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. "That is patent nonsense," he said. "Do you really think President Chirac or Chancellor Schröder would have approved my appointment because the Netherlands supported George Bush's policies? That would be an enormous overestimation of my and the Netherlands' importance." Asked whether his appointment can be regarded separately from Dutch support for the war, he admitted "if the Netherlands had been against the invasion of Iraq that would not have improved my chances. But the insinuation that it supported the war to ensure my appointment is an insult to my integrity and I resent that. It was a political decision made in the Netherlands at the time, one which I still support." De Hoop Scheffer said he is certain that the parliamentary committee investigating the decision-making process behind the Netherlands' support for the invasion of Iraq will agree with him. The Davids' committee was set up in January 2009 by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. I, too, always readdress decisions taken the better part of a decade ago, which I believe were correct. The NATO chief also talked about his future and his relationship with presidents Bush and Obama. "I think you'll be seeing my face pop up again on the international stage."

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Afghanistan

NATO to establish new command structure within ISAF

2009-06-14

BRUSSELS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- NATO defense ministers agreed on Friday to establish a new command structure to oversee day-to-day operations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, said the alliance. "We have agreed in principle to create a new military headquarters within ISAF at the level of a three-star general to oversee day-to-day operations," NATO Secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters at the end of a NATO defense ministers' meeting. The new command structure is necessary as the current Command ISAF cannot cope with the many tasks, explained de Hoop Scheffer. ISAF is now 60,000-strong and growing. There is increasing requirement for coordination between ISAF and the Afghan government and international actors in the country. The alliance has also decided to establish a NATO training mission for Afghan National Army and police. "Command ISAF cannot do this all," said de Hoop Scheffer. The ministers decided to set up a uniform NATO training mission that will move training from American umbrella to NATO training command. De Hoop Scheffer said the training mission will help train and mentor both the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, including gendarmerie training. NATO's existing equipment donation scheme for the Afghan National Army will now be expanded to police as well. The ministers on Friday also agreed to deploy Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft in Afghanistan to support ISAF operations. Three to four AWACS aircraft will be deployed to provide air traffic control in Afghanistan, said de Hoop Scheffer. He said the ministers managed to get extra troops to support Afghan presidential and provincial council elections scheduled for Aug. 20. Eight battalions -- between 8,000 and 10,000 soldiers -- will be deployed through out Afghanistan to provide so-called "third-line security" for the elections -- primary responsibilities will be with the Afghan police and army. Both de Hoop Scheffer and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stressed the importance of reducing civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Gates said civilian casualties are "one of our greatest strategic vulnerabilities in Afghanistan." "Every civilian casualty, however caused, is a defeat for us and a setback for the Afghan government," Gates told reporters. "We need to make more changes in the way we conduct our operations to overcome ... civilian casualties." Gates said he has told Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whom he has hand-picked to command both ISAF and American troops in Afghanistan, to take the reduction of civilian casualties as one of his highest priorities. Gates presented Gen. McChrystal to NATO defense ministers. "I assure you that I take the responsibility very, very seriously," McChrystal told the ministers. Gates said he wanted better intelligence, more precise targeting and ground operations to lessen dependence on air power, which has led to heavy civilian casualties. "As we get more forces on the ground in the country, my hope would be that the need for that (air power) would be reduced," said Gates. The American troop level is expected to surge to 68,000 by yearend, doubling the number of troops committed to ISAF by allies and partner countries.

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Afghanistan

Three killed, 20 injured in fresh attacks in Afghanistan

2009-01-20

Bomb blasts killed three people, including two policemen, and wounded 20 others on Monday in fresh attacks linked to an extremist insurgency. A suicide attacker blew up a car near a US base for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Khost, Afghan and US officials said. A 15-year-old boy was killed in the blast, said Dr Abdul Majeed from the town's main hospital. ISAF said five children were among 12 Afghans treated for injuries. A second suicide bomber had apparently planned to blow himself up in the crowd that gathered after the first blast, but detonated his explosives without causing casualties, the interior ministry said. A policeman and civilian were also wounded when militants remotely detonated a roadside bomb next to a police vehicle in Khost. The town, close to Pakistan, has been battered by regular attacks in recent months. Elsewhere, a roadside bomb exploded under a police vehicle in the southern Helmand province on Monday, a local official said. "Two policemen were killed and another four civilians were wounded in the blast," provincial spokesman Muhammad Daud Ahmadi said. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a news briefing on Monday that 2009 would not be an easy year in Afghanistan. "There will certainly be more violence, because we put more forces on the ground. Successful elections will be of extreme importance," he said. "2009 will also see an infusion of the United States forces in this operation," he said. "I strongly hope that we will also see the other allies step up with more forces," he hoped. De Hoop Scheffer repeated a call on the Afghan government to do more to improve governance and stamp out corruption and drug trafficking. The NATO chief reiterated the need to see the Afghanistan conflict in a more regional focus. He said the alliance would be looking to deepen political dialogue with Pakistan, an ally in the fight against militants.

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Afghanistan

NATO leader turns tables on Afghan govt

2009-01-19

The elephant sitting on the end of that couch is the paragraph that mentions in passing that the north and west of the country are largely at peace. Coincidentally, those are the non-Pashtun areas of the country. Pashtunistan, with its peculiar mores and traditions, is where the guns and turbans are, along with the opium trade. As a very first step, it would seem to make sense to impose some sort of internal controls to prevent the export Pakhtunkhwa to the rest of the country, and then a program to import the more Central Asian mores and traditions of the rest of the country to the South Asian south and east. NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Sunday denounced Afghanistan's 'ineffective' government and said the authorities there were as much to blame for the country's plight as the Taliban. The comments by the NATO secretary general, in an opinion piece for The Washington Post newspaper, was an unusually strong expression of the alliance's dissatisfaction with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. And just who do you have in mind for the job, Jaap? De Hoop Scheffer did not mention Karzai by name, but his remarks came at a politically-sensitive time for the Afghan leader. Karzai is due for re-election this year, and observers believe an open rift with NATO could substantially weaken him ahead of the yet-to-be-scheduled polls. Analysing the situation in the country seven years after the toppling of the Taliban regime, de Hoop Scheffer argued that Afghanistan and their Western allies "are not where we might have hoped them to be by now". While the country's North and West were largely at peace, the South and East were "driven by insurgency, drugs and ineffective government", he wrote. Perhaps if the Germans, Spanish and Italian troops could bother themselves to fight in the south and east things would be a little better ... The NATO leader went on to insist that "the basic problem in Afghanistan is not too much Taliban, it's too little good governance". "Afghans need a government that deserves their loyalty and trust; when they have it, the oxygen will be sucked away from the insurgency," he added.

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India-Pakistan

'NATO has right to hit back Pakistan militants'

2008-07-25

NATO will not enter Pakistan to hunt the Taliban insurgents but reserves the right to hit the militants if they attack alliance troops across the border in Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said on Thursday. The existence of extremist sanctuaries is unacceptable and Pakistan should be a part of the "regional approach" to eliminate the global threat of terrorism, he said. Scheffer was visiting amid high tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan over a spate of violence, including the Indian embassy's bombing, which Kabul has blamed on its neighbour's intelligence agency. "The bottom line is that the present situation cannot be acceptable for anyone," Scheffer said after talks with President Hamid Karzai. "Let us practise a regional approach and let us involve all the regional actors here," he said.

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Afghanistan

NATO says near deal on Russian Afghan help

2008-03-15

H/T Hotair NATO said on Saturday it was nearing a deal to use Russian land and airspace to supply its security forces in Afghanistan, but Western diplomats denied any trade-off with Moscow to keep Ukraine and Georgia out of NATO. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he was hopeful of increased cooperation with Russia. An alliance spokesman said NATO was negotiating accords on land and air corridors for its troops and equipment, which could be announced when President Vladimir Putin attends a NATO summit next month. "I hope that Afghanistan might be an area where NATO and Russia can make strides to cooperate more closely together," de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in Brussels. Diplomats said a NATO-Russia council meeting on Monday would discuss a "package of deliverables" also including the possible leasing of Russian planes and trains, Russian training for Afghan helicopter pilots and counter-narcotics assistance. "Discussions are under way. There is no deal done. We are working towards an agreement at the Bucharest summit," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said of an upcoming April 2-4 meeting in the Romanian capital. "We are negotiating land and air transit agreements plus the possibility of making more permanent our cooperation on counter-narcotics training," he added. The U.S. secretaries of state and defense, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates, will visit Moscow on Tuesday to discuss with their Russian counterparts a wider package of issues including missile defense, conventional and nuclear arms control as well as cooperation on Afghanistan and Iran, the diplomats said. NATO's 43,000-strong operation in Afghanistan is facing a severe challenge from resurgent Islamist Taliban fighters. The former Soviet Union intervened in the mountainous central Asian country in 1979 but was forced out after heavy losses in the 1980s inflicted by Islamist guerrillas partly armed by the West. NATO and Russia already cooperate in training Afghan and central Asian counter-narcotics officials as part of efforts to contain Afghanistan's huge opium trade. But NATO-Russia cooperation in general has proven difficult and been overshadowed by disputes over a planned U.S. missile shield in central Europe and Moscow's decision last year to freeze its compliance with a European conventional arms treaty. Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza said on Saturday that Russia's offer of help was made in the hope of persuading NATO allies not to admit Ukraine and Georgia to a Membership Action Plan -- a key stage on the road to joining the Western defense alliance. NATO diplomats said the summit was unlikely to give the two ex-Soviet republics "MAP" status -- the first step towards eventual membership -- because of reservations among some west European countries, especially Germany. Critics point to the low level of public support in Ukraine for NATO membership, and Georgia's heavy-handed treatment of opposition protests last year, including the imposition of a state of emergency and closing down of a television station. German Foreign Ministry political director Volker Stanzel suggested NATO should await a solution to Georgia's "frozen conflicts" with the Moscow-backed rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia before moving ahead with MAP. "What's the point of insisting on this precise year for giving MAP to Ukraine and Georgia?" Stanzel told the Brussels Forum conference staged by the German Marshall Fund think-tank. Other diplomats suggested the Bucharest summit could give Ukraine and Georgia some lesser upgrade to their existing ties and stress that NATO's door remains open. De Hoop Scheffer said it was too early to tell what they would win at the summit but added of Russia's position: "Red lines drawn by others cannot be accepted by NATO."

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Afghanistan

Senators press NATO on Afghanistan

2007-06-30

WASHINGTON - A fifth of the members of the US Senate on Friday warned the situation in Afghanistan was quickly getting worse and called on Washington’s NATO allies to share more of the security burden. The senators complained that “caveats” restricting how certain members of the alliance’s troops could be used in the restive nation were unfair to countries that did put their soldiers in high-risk situations. “The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly,” said Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who laid out his concerns in a letter to NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer. “The United States alone cannot combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda and the violence that is regaining a foothold, particularly in southern Afghanistan.” What? I'd like to see NATO pick up some slack as well, but the notion that the situation is 'deteriorating rapidly' is just plain silly. Come to the Burg, Senator, and we'll educate you on the true meaning of the phrase, 'dreaded summer offensive'. “The imposition of caveats by some nations places an unfair burden on the troops of other nations and hinders operational efficiency,” said Dodd. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who also signed the letter, along with 21 other senators, warned that without action, NATO ran a ”serious risk” of failing in Afghanistan. “We must ensure that the Taliban are uprooted, and that an effective Afghan force can take responsibility for the security of Afghanistan.” We're doing both of those; the real need is ensuring political stability and uprooting the damned poppies. “But, the United States alone cannot effectively accomplish these goals; we need the robust support of our NATO allies,” Hagel said. How on earth was this man ever a Republican? Must represent the Chicken Little wing of the party.

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Great White North

Protesters rally as soldiers march in Quebec City

2007-06-24

As a parade of Canadian soldiers set to deploy to Afghanistan marched through the streets of Quebec City on Friday evening, anti-war activists rallied nearby, carrying drums, banners and even mock coffins. The protesters, led by the War on War Coalition, said they are against Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan. Because, you know, no one they knew was killed in the World Trade Center. Just a bunch of dirty 'mericans. They chose to stage their event the same day as 2,500 soldiers from Quebec City's CFB Valcartier made a farewell march before beginning their deployment July 15 in the volatile Afghan region of Kandahar. "We're not targeting the soldiers, we respect them as people," protest organizer Joseph Bergeron said. "But we are in total opposition with the Afghanistan mission and we want to show we represent the great part of the population that is opposed." "And we support the Taliban and what they've done over the years," he added softly. In Quebec, opposition is especially high, with a recent poll suggesting 70 per cent of people in the province don't agree with the mission. Even I think this is pretty disgusting: On Wednesday, some members of the Parti Québécois refused to stand in honour of Quebec soldiers who were visiting the province's national assembly. That should have disqualified them from serving in the parliament. Earlier this month, protesters sent letters to Valcartier soldiers, urging them to refuse their deployment. "We support our mutineers!" With anti-war sentiment high, organizers of the military march worried that they might have to cancel their parade through Old Quebec. "I know many in the community were a bit worried about [a cancellation], but for the military's part, we're proud of what we're doing," Maj. Bruno Vieille told CBC News before the parade, in which soldiers marched in full uniform. Prior to the march, the soldiers were addressed by Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Quebec Premier Jean Charest. "You are the acting arm of Quebec pacifism," Charest said. "You are liberators." Bravo Charest! Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad also talked to the troops, stressing that the presence of the 26-nation NATO mission in his country is necessary to help it rebuild. "I ask all Canadians, including those who may have doubts about this mission, to take a look at the alternative," he said. "For millions of women and children and men, there is no alternative." The Quebec regiment from CFB Valcartier, known as "the fighting Vandoos" and "Le troupe de Quebec," will make up the bulk of Canada's military presence in Kandahar by late summer. The chief of the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, met with the troops Friday afternoon. Earlier, he met with reporters. "I believe that I can explain to Quebecers why it is important to be in Afghanistan and why it is important that Canada participates as it is doing now," he said. "It is not a combat mission; it is a reconstruction mission, but to make [reconstruction] possible, we have to fight. It is as simple as that. NATO has to fight." This is a huge change for NATO and it is being absorbed at varying speeds throughout the organization and by different countries. Many are far from meeting even their financial commitments, much less troops and equipment. There have been a few modest steps in the slow start since the contentious Prague meeting at which it was decided that NATO's mission might indeed require operations outside of Europe. One such step is the mission in Afghanistan. Another flies under the radar, but is perhaps more important: the first real stirring of interoperability. A new Friendly Force Tracker system should be ready to deploy early in 2008 and will cut down on friendly fire incidents, at least among NATO troops in theater. The Allied Command Transformation org is involved with that. There is also some degree of joint R&D within elements of the coalition on unmanned systems and other C4 infrastructure as well. Long way to go to see if the alliance can really transform itself and rise to the current challenge, though. De Hoop Scheffer spoke with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa on Thursday, and is appealing to the Canadian government to extend Canada's mission mandate beyond the February 2009 deadline when troops are scheduled to withdraw. If you're gonna extend the mission, Mr. Harper, at least get those new Leopard IIs in there.

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Afghanistan

Taliban using civilians as Human Shields

2006-10-27

NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer today blamed the Taliban for NATO killings of Afghan civilians, saying the Islamist militia was taking human shields to try to ward off attacks, the White House said. Mr De Hoop Scheffer, speaking to reporters after talks with US President George W. Bush, lamented that North American Treaty Organisation forces had slain civilians in Afghanistan, calling it "always a tragedy". "Let me say that when, in those actions of NATO, of those brave NATO soldiers, civilians are killed, as happened two days ago, that's always a tragedy. That's a tragedy,'' the secretary general said. In their closed-door talks, de Hoop Scheffer and Bush discussed "the fact that the Taliban had begun using innocent civilians as human shields", said White House spokesman Tony Snow. Mr Snow later confirmed that the secretary general had explicitly described civilians killed in clashes on Tuesday as human shields seized by the Taliban: "That's what he said, yes.'' Fourteen civilians were killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan yesterday the government said it believed around 25 were killed in fighting between NATO and the Taliban this week. "Civilian victims are a tragedy, but we are there in favor of democracy. They are there to destroy democracy,'' the NATO chief told reporters in Bush's Oval Office. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for improved co-ordination between Afghan and foreign troops to avoid civilian casualties. Officials were trying to establish how many civilians were killed in clashes between NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Taliban insurgents in Kandahar province - the birthplace of the religious movement. The interior ministry in Kabul said around 60 people were killed in the battles late Tuesday, and more than half were insurgents. Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said that about 25 of the dead appeared to have been civilians according to preliminary investigations. An ISAF spokesman in Kandahar said it could confirm 12 civilians were killed in the skirmishes, which included a bombing raid. ISAF has already said it killed 48 insurgents. Mr Karzai on Thursday appointed a commission to investigate the civilian deaths, which came less than a week after he urged NATO forces to take more care after 20 other civilians were reported to have been killed.

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Down Under

N.A.T.O mulls Australian Alliance

2006-04-27

NATO has launched a debate on forging formal partnerships with Pacific rim states such as Australia and New Zealand as it expands its role to fight threats around the globe. Foreign ministers from the 26-member organisation have gathered for a two-day meeting in Bulgaria. NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says the alliance "has to spread its wings because it is increasingly being called upon". The proposal to form privileged ties with Australia and New Zealand - and possibly South Korea and Japan as well - would reflect the active role those countries play in NATO missions. The ties would fall short of full membership. A NATO official says the idea is to bring into NATO's sphere of influence "like-minded, democratic nations that do have similar interests ... in global security". NATO spokesman James Appathurai says the alliance has no intention to become "a global policeman" or shift its centre of gravity away from its Euro-Atlantic roots. But he says today's "threats are global, or transnational at least, and we have to make sure that the team that addresses them is transnational". Mr Appathurai says Australia and New Zealand are the top candidates for NATO partnerships "because they are already in the field with us, next to us, contributing to our operations". US to benefit For the US, a special NATO partnership with Australia, Japan and South Korea would reinforce military links to countries contributing to its ad hoc "coalition of the willing" in Iraq. It would also boost its influence somewhat within NATO, which was riven along US-European lines over the 2003 Iraq invasion. Mr De Hoop Scheffer stresses that "no decisions are anticipated" during the meeting. Nevertheless, some overtures have already been made. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark both recently visited NATO headquarters in Brussels. Australia and New Zealand have troops in the currently 9,000-strong NATO deployment in Afghanistan.

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Africa Horn

Nato rules out sending forces to Darfur

2006-04-04

Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ruled out Monday sending Nato forces to the Sudanese province of Darfur if the UN sends a peacekeeping mission to the troubled region. Addressing a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, de Hoop Scheffer said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) was considering all options to helping the UN mission in Darfur. But these options, he added, excluded sending personnel to Darfur. De Hoop Scheffer, answering a KUNA question, said the military alliance would not hesitate to offering assistance to UN, but this help would be within a certain limit. He added that the UN and the African Union (AU) would determine the kind of assistance. He said Nato agreed to offer logistic support and training for the AU forces but in accordance with request of the Sudanese government.

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Africa Horn

NATO chief rules out troop presence in Darfur

2006-03-07

INNSBRUCK, Austria - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ruled out on Monday sending troops from the western military alliance to Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur province. De Hoop Scheffer said he believed that NATO could help in the region during the transition phase from an African Union operation to one led by the United Nations but only with a clear UN mandate. “Then we can discuss a NATO role, which I do see in the enabling sphere and not the boots of troops on the ground,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defence ministers in Innsbruck, Austria. I'm a bit unclear on the military concept of an 'enabling sphere'. The United States has been lobbying for a new UN-led force, backed by NATO and probably double the AU deployment, to take over peacekeeping. Last week, the US Senate called on President George W. Bush to ask for NATO troops to be sent to Darfur. Guess that isn't going to happen.

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