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.