(Initially published in www.romania-report.ro - May 26, 2005)
BUCHAREST, Romania – On Tuesday, Military planners from 68 nations met in Bucharest Tuesday to plan cooperation in the war on terror. Meanwhile, the first ever Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Security Forum was held in Are, Sweden, from 24 to 25 May.
U.S. Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, the Joint Chief of Staff`s director for strategic plans and policy, co-hosted the two-day Multilateral Planners Conference III, along with his Romanian counterpart, Brig. Gen. Valeriu Nicut, American Forces Press Service reported.
The Romania conference was the third of its kind. The first took place in May 2004 at the National Defense University at Fort McNair, in Washington, D.C., and the second was held in Warsaw last October.
The conference`s agenda Tuesday focused on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Its Wednesday meetings were to address the larger issues of fighting terrorism around the globe. Some 10 more nations attended the conference than the 58 that attended the Warsaw gathering, AFPS said.
The Afghan National Army's biggest needs from the international community are training opportunities and equipment, the country's first deputy defence minister said.
The ANA continues to make progress, Nuristani said, noting Afghanistan's army will have an operational brigade in every region of the country. But to continue its work and achieve the capabilities it will need for the long term, he said, Afghan forces will need more training from the international community -- whether it be foreign in-residence training, visits from mobile training teams, or embedded battalions of trainers falling in on ANA brigades -- and more NATO-standard equipment.
Nuristani also said the Afghan government is committed to eradicating poppy growing in Afghanistan, noting that a 30 percent reduction already has been achieved. Afghan poppy growers provide much of the raw material used in the illegal drug trade, and, Nuristani said, the key to stopping the growers from continuing in the enterprise is for alternative livelihoods to become available to them.
As the country's legitimate economy grows, he said, more opportunities will open up for training and jobs. The government's goal is to eradicate the poppy-growing industry in Afghanistan in five to six years, he said. In one province, he added, a personal appeal from Afghan President Hamid Karzai achieved an 80 percent reduction in poppy production.
Nuristani also addressed the issue of detainees now being held by the coalition being turned over to Afghan authorities. "In principle, we would like to have the prisoners," he said, noting that Karzai had brought up the issue May 23 with President Bush in Washington.
But Afghanistan needs to have adequate prisons and the necessary accompanying infrastructure before that would be practical, Nuristani said.
Army Col. Barry Shapiro, representing Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, provided the conferees with an update on Operation Enduring Freedom. The ANA is now 23,000 strong, Shapiro said, with a target of more than 39,000 Afghans in the army by the end of the year. The Afghan National Police now have almost 38,000 members, with a goal of 62,000 by October 2006.
Along with security and counter-narcotics efforts, he added, challenges in Afghanistan include building the country's infrastructure and economy, effecting judicial reform, and eliminating corruption. Shapiro said NATO's role is expanding in Afghanistan.
Nineteen provincial reconstruction teams are now up and running, with four in the northern part of the country led by NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
Plans call for more ISAF-run PRTs to open, and ISAF is taking over teams in western Afghanistan now being run by coalition countries. PRTs operate to extend the reach of the national government outside the country's capital of Kabul and out into the provinces, and to provide construction and other help to the Afghan people.
Army Lt. Gen. Walter L. Sharp, the Joint Staff's director for strategic plans and policy and conference co-, told the group that it may be next spring before ISAF takes over the PRTs in southeastern Afghanistan because of the security situation in that region.
In response to a question, Sharp said merging OEF and ISAF operations in Afghanistan is something officials will have to look at, but that it would take time to bring about because of various nations' rules of engagement and so-called "national caveats," under which the forces of some nations, are allowed to do certain things but not others to be in line with their nation's policies.
Nuristani said his country is seeking more help from the international community. He characterized that help as an investment. "Afghanistan hopes (in time) to be on the donating end, rather than on the receiving end" of international aid, he said.
Meanwhile, the first ever Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Security Forum was held in Are, Sweden, from 24 to 25 May.
The event brought together a number of Ministers from NATO and partner countries, as well as senior decision-makers, representatives of think tanks and civil society.
The meeting demonstrated NATO’s desire to reach out to civil society in recognition of the role NGOs play in all aspects of NATO’s agenda, particularly peace-building and reconstruction in areas such as the Balkans and Afghanistan.
The forum also gave delegates an opportunity to discuss more openly and in greater depth than is usual in ministerial meetings the key issues in Euro-Atlantic security today. This included for instance how to deal with frozen conflicts in the Caucasus; how to integrate the Balkans into Europe and resolve the unfinished business of the 90s, such as the status of Kosovo, bringing Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Partnership for Peace; and how to bring better synergy among international organisations so that they can apply their resources in a more effective way towards meeting common tasks such as security sector reform, border management, and civil reconstruction.
In this context, the Director-designate of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Kemal Derviş, who was one of the keynote speakers, stressed the need for more focus on development as part of a long-term security strategy.
The forum also heard keynote speeches by the NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and Swedish Foreign Minister, Mrs. Laila Freivalds, setting out their vision for security in the Euro-Atlantic area.
This was followed by four panels on: addressing Europe's unresolved conflicts; NATO and its other Partnerships; Central Asia - future cooperation in the EAPC; and acting in concert in the Balkans and elsewhere – how can institutional cooperation make the world more secure.
Romania Report – according to UPI, US DoD, NATO website
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