This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 KABUL 000494 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL/FO AND SA/FO AMB QUINN 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN/KAMEND 
 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL PGOV PTER KCRM AF
SUBJECT: Update on CN Activities: 1/06/06-1/31/06 
 
¶1. Summary: The eradication phase of the Counter 
Narcotics Public Information (CNPI) campaign is 
underway. CNPI messages are focusing on alternative 
livelihoods programs (AL) and rule of law in the 
context of eradication. AL programs report success in 
Nangarhar Province. PEP teams have been deployed to 
all seven provinces and are conducting activities 
ranging from public information to monitoring and 
verifying governor-led eradication (GLE) efforts. DEA 
continues to mentor the National Interdiction Unit 
(NIU) and two six member FAST teams arrived on January 
28 to support training and law enforcement efforts. 
DOJ is working to develop standardized procedures for 
obtaining search warrants, bank and other records, 
develop regulations for implementation of the new drug 
law and improve the transfer of cases to the Vertical 
Prosecution Task Force (VPTF). Planning for GLE is 
underway. Special attention (in the form of a task 
force) is being paid to Helmand Province which reports 
opium cultivation is double that of last year. INLs 
six Huey II helicopters arrived in country on January 
¶27. INL aims to have the helicopters ready to support 
reconnaissance and eradication missions by early 
February. End Summary. 
 
Public Information 
------------------ 
¶2. (U) Phase three of the CN Public Information 
campaign is incorporating eradication into PI 
messages.  Print messaging (stickers, posters, banners 
and billboards) have been disseminated to the seven 
Poppy Elimination Program (PEP) provinces and radio 
spots are airing nation-wide.  This phase will also 
introduce a pilot phase for training community 
stakeholders in CN messaging.  CNPIs implementing 
partner, Sayara Communications, will collaborate with 
PEP media officers and NGOs to train schoolteachers 
in Nangarhar on the CN message. This program will 
serve as a model for future CN-related community-based 
public information programs. 
 
3.(U) Sayara will also produce one national radio 
documentary on Alternative Livelihoods and separate 
province-specific, radio documentaries on AL, each one 
highlighting specific achievements in rural 
development.  Rule of law documentaries that discuss 
s 
the specifics of the new CN law will air in a similar 
fashion. 
 
¶4. (U) Earned media opportunities (those media 
opportunities created by the Embassy PI staff) are an 
important part of this phase of the campaign. 
Operational details are being worked out with INL and 
the British Embassy Drugs Team (BEDT) to bring groups 
of reporters on eradication missions with the AEF. 
Members of the press will be briefed on the ethics of 
eradication before each mission (i.e. they will be 
briefed on the sophistication and criteria used in 
choosing fields which will be eradicated).  Press 
events in Kabul, such as a presidential ceremony to 
commemorate the new CN law and courts system, are also 
planned.  Each of these events will illustrate the 
Government of Afghanistans commitment and resolve to 
the elimination of poppy cultivation and production, 
as was demonstrated on January 24, at the CN 
governors conference where President Karzai 
proclaimed, We have to root out opium or opium will 
root us out. 
 
PEP Update 
date 
---------- 
¶5. (U) International Advisors have been deployed to 
three provinces: Nangarhar, Kandahar and Balkh. Afghan 
staffing for PEP is complete and all personnel should 
be in place by mid-February. Members from the PEP 
teams have participated in recent public information 
and monitoring and verification trainings. PEP teams 
have begun operations in Kandahar, Balkh, Helmand, 
Farah and Nangarhar provinces and have conducted a 
variety of activities ranging from monitoring 
eradication campaigns (Kandahar, Nangarhar), 
collecting information about Alternative Livelihoods 
projects (Balkh, Farah) and conducting public 
information awareness projects (Nangarhar). 
 
¶6. (U) The deployed International Advisors are working 
with the PEP teams in their respective provinces and 
have met with the governors in each province to 
discuss plans for governor-led eradication (GLE). 
 
¶7. (U) Recruitment of international advisors 
continues. Sites for the permanent PEP offices have 
been identified in six provinces. The DynCorp Deputy 
Program Manager Mike ODonovan and PEP Program Manager 
Dr. M. Nabi Hussaini will travel to Badakshan on 
February 5 to identify a workable site. PEP teams are 
operating out of temporary office space and 
construction of the PEP offices has yet to commence. 
The Embassy is working with DynCorp to identify 
timelines as to when the permanent offices will be 
ready. 
 
¶8. (SBU) To date, DynCorps support of the PEP program 
has been unsatisfactory. The Embassy continues to work 
with DynCorp to resolve the logistical/operational 
issues of the program (including the hiring of 
international advisors, the refurbishment and/or 
construction of office space, security, communications 
and vehicle support). 
 
Alternative Livelihoods 
----------------------- 
¶9. (U) Congressional Representatives Ros-Lehtinen, 
Platts, Lynch and Gerlach traveled to Nangarhar on 
January 24 to gain a better understanding of USAIDs 
Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in this 
is 
Province.  This program has provided 2.9 million days 
of wage labor in Nangarhar Province that has resulted 
in important rural infrastructure improvement such as 
canals, roads, and flood retention walls.  During this 
visit, the Representatives met with elders of Achin 
District of Nangarhar.  The western part of Achin 
District did not initially have an ALP due to the high 
levels of poppy planting in 2004 and 2005 and their 
strong resistance to eradication.  (Note: Achin 
District strongly resisted the Province-wide reduction 
in poppy production last year and has until now been 
very distrustful of outside assistance. End Note). 
 
¶10. (U) Achin elders explained, to the delegation, 
that they had decided not to plant poppy this year 
because they too wanted to benefit from the cash for 
work activities ongoing in surrounding districts.  In 
particular, they wanted USAID to bring cash for work 
to their district to build a flood retention wall, 
important to protect their farms against the raging 
ng 
floods that routinely occur in the spring. USAID 
agreed to begin cash for work in the western part of 
the district after field staff had verified an 
approximate 70 percent reduction in poppy planting in 
2006, supported by a letter of declaration from the 
elders stating their intention to boycott anyone who 
planted poppy and to eradicate any poppy they find. 
There were several factors that led to the reduction 
of poppy planting in 2006 western Achin, including 
strong messages from the Governor, the destruction of 
heroin labs, and ALP. 
 
Law Enforcement 
--------------- 
¶11. (U) The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 
continues its mentoring of the National Interdiction 
Unit (NIU) of the Counter Narcotics Police of 
Afghanistan. Completion of the NIU Base Camp has 
slipped from April 2006 to September due to weather- 
related problems. In support of ongoing operational 
law enforcement and training efforts, two new six 
member FAST teams arrived in country on January 28. 
 
Justice Reform 
-------------- 
- 
¶12. (U) DOJ representatives attended a recent Justice 
Coordination group meeting to develop standardized 
procedures for obtaining search warrants, bank and 
other records, to improve the transfer of cases to the 
Vertical Prosecution Task Force (VPTF) and to develop 
regulations for implementation of the new drug law. 
 
¶13. (U) DOJ is in the process of developing a training 
program for the VPTF and the CNPA and at the behest of 
the Afghan Attorney General has agreed to train 
prosecutors on narcotics issues beginning in March. 
 
¶14. (U) DOJ is working with the various Afghan 
ministries to develop a series of events that will 
publicize the new CN law and the Central Narcotics 
Court. 
 
Eradication 
----------- 
¶15. (U) GLE will occur throughout much of the 
cultivation season and not just during a one-month 
period as previously planned. The US and UK 
eradication specialists are working with the Ministry 
of Interior (MOI) and the various governors to develop 
operational plans for each province. 
 
¶16. (SBU) This years planning effort is better than 
previous years because the US and UK eradication 
specialists are working more closely together and have 
more willing and capable partners in the MOI and the 
MCN. The close cooperation between the US and UK teams 
has been beneficial. The Embassy has worked with the 
UK to combine funds to fill the gaps that each program 
operating alone could not fill. In effect the US/UK 
has $1.3M to dedicate to eradication efforts and the 
Embassy feels confident it can begin and sustain 
eradication operations not only in the PEP provinces 
but also in other non-PEP provinces where governors 
have made the commitment to eradicate. Post will seek 
additional eradication funds through advice of 
allotment requests as needed and determined through 
implementation of GLE. 
 
¶17. (U) On January 25, representatives from each of 
the PEP Provinces met in Kabul to discuss operational 
plans for GLE (See Reftel). As a follow on to this 
his 
discussion, the Deputy Governor of Helmand Province 
informed Deputy Minister of Interior (MOI) General 
Daud that poppy planting in Helmand Province is likely 
more than double last years cultivation (claims which 
have been substantiated by UNODC in informal 
conversations with Embassy Kabuls CNTF Director Doug 
Wankel). Citing the need to manage the drastic 
increase in planting in Helmand, Daud and Wankel 
called for the establishment of the Helmand 
Eradication Planning Task Force. The first meeting of 
the Task Force was held on January 26. Helmands 
Governor Engineer Daoud and key leaders from the 
province participated in the meeting, as did members 
of the Afghan Ministries of Interior, CN, Defense and 
Security and the international community, including 
the UK Embassy, UNODC and CFC-A. Governor Daoud said 
that there is an estimated 77,375 hectares of opium 
under cultivation in Helmand Province. He said that he 
supports GLE and said that opium fields on GOA land 
nd 
and those fields being cultivated by GOA officials 
would be among the first destroyed in Helmand. The 
Governor believes taking such action will show 
impartiality and will legitimize all subsequent 
eradication efforts in the province. The Governor also 
asked for additional AL support, especially cash for 
work programs. The Helmand and Afghanistan 
Eradication Planning Task Force will meet twice a week 
starting on February 2 to develop viable operational 
plans to support GLE in Helmand and other provinces in 
Afghanistan. 
 
Air Assets 
---------- 
¶18. (U) Six UH-1HP (Huey II) helicopters arrived in 
country on January 27. The aircraft are in the process 
of being reassembled and test-flown.  Two aircraft 
should be flyable (best case) by the first week of 
February, when pilots will conduct local area 
orientations, training and mission readiness 
operations. The Air Wing is working to have four 
helicopters flyable in early February. 
 
¶19. (U) The INL Air Wing has been granted access to 
o 
and has occupied a portion of a fixed hangar at 
Kandahar airfield and has readied the allotted space 
to temporarily accommodate the aircraft.  The hangar 
will serve as a long-term temporary facility for the 
aircraft while the permanent facilities are being 
constructed.  Initial coordination between the INL 
pilots, the Kandahar team leadership and the Afghan 
Eradication Force (AEF) has occurred.  Initial support 
objectives and first targets have been identified. 
The first reconnaissance missions (and possibly the 
first support missions) are likely within the first 
half of the month of February.  So far, DynCorp has 45 
aircrew personnel in country to support the helicopter 
missions.  A total of 86 DynCorp personnel will be 
based in Kandahar. 
 
¶20. (U) Planning continues for our occupation of real 
estate on Kabul International Airport (KIA) for basing 
of the four remaining aircraft and support 
package/personnel.  On January 31, the Charge d 
Affaires and the Afghan Minister of Transportation 
signed an MOU ceding 110 acres at KIA to INL for the 
duration of the Aviation Support project. 
 
NORLAND