This is
not a NATO Press release
15 November
2008
For immediate release
NATO
challenges in Afghanistan
require parliamentary support
Senior
NATO military officials presented parliamentarians with the continuing
challenges facing the Alliance
and its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in
Afghanistan
during the 54th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
(NATO PA) in Valencia
on 14-18 November.
“The
situation in Afghanistan continues to be NATO’s top operational priority,” José
Lello, President of the NATO PA, told journalists during the press conference
opening the session on 14 November. But he stressed, “There is no purely
military solution in Afghanistan.
We need a concerted effort by the Afghan authorities and all international
players in Afghanistan,
including the UN, NATO, the EU and others.”
Addressing
the NATO PAÂ’s Economics and Security Committee on 15 November, Lt. Gen. Karl W.
Eikenberry, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and previously
commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan,
noted progress in voter registration for next yearÂ’s elections, building
infrastructure, education, and training Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
He presented the challenges facing NATO in Afghanistan as securing next yearÂ’s
elections, developing effective ANSF, dealing with militant extremism and
terrorism on the Pakistani side of the Afghan-Pakistani border, delivering the
Comprehensive Approach agreed during the April 2008 Bucharest Summit, and
marshalling “the right operational capabilities and forces.” Eikenberry
expressed optimism that these challenges could be met but called for
parliamentarians’ support “in explaining this very complex and difficult mission
to your constituents.”
Lello
pointed out that US President-elect Barack Obama has stressed the need to
stabilize Afghanistan.
Air Marshal Christopher H. Moran, deputy commander of Joint Force Command
Brunssum, the NATO operational command in charge of ISAF, told the Defence and
Security Committee on 15 November that this could mean potentially more combat
brigades for ISAF, requiring deconfliction and the proper command and control
arrangements. He said parliamentarians could help meet NATOÂ’s challenges in
Afghanistan
by supporting strategic communications with the media, more national
contributions and internal reform of the Alliance
to streamline its decision-making process.
News and information on the Session is routinely placed on the
NATO PA website
Check
http://www.nato-pa.int/Default.asp?SHORTCUT=1597
16 November 2008
Press
communiqué for immediate release
Situation in Pakistan “more
dire” than Afghanistan, expert warns
A comprehensive regional strategy by the
international community is urgently needed to end chaos in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, stressed Pakistani analyst and writer Ahmed Rashid, addressing
legislators during the 54th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in
Valencia on 14-18 November.
“The civilian government in
Pakistan needs more international support to face problems in three major
areas,” Mr Rashid said. “There is an economic crisis, which is the result of
lack of structural changes during the military rule of Mr. Musharraf; a
terrorist threat from militias controlling the semi-autonomous Federally
Administered Tribal Areas near the Afghan border; and a difficult relationship
between the government and the military, which is refusing to move against
insurgents”.
The civilian government in Islamabad is “very open” to
rectifying the errors of the past and convincing the Pakistani military to reign
in the terrorist threat in the FATA. But “unless the decision-makers in Pakistan
decide to make stabilizing the Afghan government a higher priority than
countering the Indian threat, the insurgency conducted from bases in Pakistan
will continue”, explained Rashid.
No multilateral framework exists to
deal with the complex and entwined problems of the region, Rashid pointed out.
NATO has no clear Pakistan policy, despite the fact that its troops in
Afghanistan are suffering losses from Pakistan-based insurgents. The UN Security
Council “has hardly discussed Pakistan ’s role in Afghanistan ”.
As the
incoming US administration has talked about a “surge” in Afghanistan and renewed
political efforts in the region, this should be elevated to a “high-level
diplomatic initiative” to build a genuine consensus on the achievement of Afghan
stability by addressing the sources of PakistanÂ’s instability, according to
Rashid. This should include a settlement of the Kashmir dispute, which would
allow the Pakistani military to concentrate its efforts on the border with
Afghanistan .
“A first step”, Rashid suggested, “could be the
establishment of a contact group on the region authorized by the UN Security
Council” including the five permanent members, NATO and Saudi Arabia, and
promoting dialogue among all regional actors. Such dialogue would have to be
complemented by “a multilayer international development aid package”, aimed
particularly at the border regions.
The
NATO Parliamentary Assembly brings together legislators from NATO member and
non-member countries to consider security-related issues of common interest and
concern. The Assembly is an interparliamentary organization and is
independent from NATO.