NATO CHODs discuss NATO's post 2014 role in Afghanistan
At their Military Committee (MC) Conference in Sibiu, the 28 NATO Chiefs of Defence (CHODS) based their discussions on Afghanistan upon the NATO Strategic Plan for Afghanistan (NSPA) which was endorsed by Heads of State and Government at the Chicago Summit in May. The Plan provides the foundation for the NATO-led post-ISAF engagement in the country.
As agreed in Chicago, NATO is now conducting the initial planning for a new mission that will seek to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). NATO CHODs discussed the post 2014 engagement plan for Afghanistan which will feed into the necessary military advice for the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in order to stimulate further, more detailed, planning.
Admiral Jim Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and in charge of NATO’s operations, together with General John Allen Commander of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) shared their views to set the scene for the discussions. CHODs heard that the Afghan forces are getting stronger and more confident, they are genuinely moving into the lead. Within weeks, the ANSF will reach their full strength of 352,000 and they are taking the lead for providing security for three quarters of the population. Every province is part of this process. Today, 80 % of the insurgents’ attacks take place in areas where 20 % of the population lives and a large part of the attacks are a reaction to operations conducted by ISAF and the Afghan Security Forces.
General Bartels, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee concluded the meeting by stating that ‘’Over the next 27 months, we will continue to train and support the Afghan forces so that they can secure their own country by the end of 2014. There is some hard fighting still ahead and, with that, some challenges and inevitable setbacks – there is no doubt, however, that significant progress has been made to help Afghanistan in moving forward as a nation. The new NATO mission will not be ISAF by another name, but it will be all about making sure that the Afghans have the skills to do the job and not about NATO doing that job for them.