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Q: General Deverell, you are the Commander in Chief of NATO's Allied Forces North and will have operational command of NATO's landmark mission in Afghanistan. Thank you for joining us today to talk about the mission and what it implies for the Alliance.
On the 11th of August NATO will take over command and co-ordination of ISAF from the current lead nations, Germany and the Netherlands. What exactly will NATO's responsibilities be?
General Jack Deverell: We shall be following a mandate in order to assist Mr. Karzai and the Afghan Transitional Authority in establishing a safe and secure environment in Kabul and the surrounding area. Without that safe and secure environment he and his government cannot begin to start reconstructing Afghanistan as a stable and safe and secure country.
Q: How similar will this be to the current ISAF?
General Jack Deverell: It will be exactly the same mandate and therefore the force structure will be very similar.
Q: This is obviously a major development for NATO. What does it say about NATO's strategy following the Prague Summit?
General Jack Deverell: Well I think it's quite clearly a milestone in NATO's development and it represents a real break from the NATO of the past to a NATO which is more relevant and has greater utility in the uncertain security environment we find in the future.
It certainly meets the demands of the United Nations to have an organization which is capable of taking a much longer view of the operations in the Kabul area.
Q: One is tempted to compare this mission with the NATO-led peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo. Would this be an accurate comparison?
General Jack Deverell: Well, there are quite clearly connections between the two, but we must also be conscious of the differences. I mean, the primary difference is that in the Balkans we were responsible for security, whereas in Afghanistan we are merely assisting the Afghan National Authority in restoring a secure and safe environment.
There are also some very significant differences not least the fact that it's much further away and the sustainment problems in Afghanistan are very considerable. We can only get all our heavy equipment and manpower in by air, whereas in the Balkans you've got road and sea routes.
Furthermore, it's a much more austere environment; the living conditions are much more difficult. There is much less host nation support. In addition, certainly in the Balkans there were three clearly identifiable entities who, in fact, were intent on splitting the country up. In Afghanistan there are many more entities, but there is no question of them wishing to see Afghanistan split up. And yet the multiplicity of those factions makes it extremely difficult at times because they are inherently unstable.
Q: What do you see as the main challenges that NATO troops will have to face on the ground?
General Jack Deverell: Well, I mean, the first and primary challenge is achieving success. And that, of course, is ensuring a safe and secure environment, and particularly a country which is based on multiethnicity, rather than tribal areas or clans.
As I've said before, it's a hostile... it's geographically a very difficult area to live in. It's a very austere environment for soldiers to operate in. I mean, cold in the winter and very hot in the summer.
I think one of the main challenges is the management of risk, because as we become more successful it is likely that those who wish to see President Karzai and the Afghan transitional authority fail will be more inclined to attack those who are ensuring their success.
So there is a level of risk which our success may exacerbate.
Q: Will ISAF go beyond Kabul, and if not now then perhaps at a later stage?
General Jack Deverell: Well, the mandate is very specific and it was laid down by the United Nations and there will be no change to that mandate unless the nations and the North Atlantic Council decide that there will be changes and what those changes will be in agreement with the United Nations.
However, I think it's quite clear to everybody that Mr. Karzai will not be successful unless he's able to extend his influence beyond Kabul and that will be achieved not just by the military, but it will depend upon the increasing importance of the lines of development, the humanitarian, the legal, the social, the political, being directed at the regions, successfully directed at the regions, and in that the military play their part. But we have to be imaginative in the way we do that. It is not just a matter of drawing bigger and bigger lines around Kabul and filling them with soldiers.
Q: There have been suggestions of a link between ISAF and the provincial reconstruction teams which are small military and civilian teams being sent out to the provincial centres. Is there a link, or might there be?
General Jack Deverell: Well, the first thing to be absolutely clear about is that the PRTs are not part of the mandate and not part of the NATO operation. But they are a very interesting way of perhaps expanding the influence of Mr. Karzai into the regions and outside Kabul and the whole of international community I'm sure will be very interested to see how they work and how effective they are, and whether they really can enhance his influence in those regions.