VZCZCXRO0391
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #2099/01 1821207
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011207Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK IMMEDIATE 4761
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8915
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 4184
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3655

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 002099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A, 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, OSD FOR SHIVERS, CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A. 
CG CJTF-82 POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016 
TAGS: PREL AF KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZ OFFICIALS SEE MANAS IMPACT ON WAR IN 
AFGHANISTAN 
 
REF: BISHKEK 544 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM WOOD 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador hosted Ambassador Marie 
Yovanovitch and a six member delegation of Kyrgyz senior 
officials to Afghanistan June 13-14 to allow them to better 
understand the importance of Manas Air Base in supporting 
coalition military and reconstruction efforts.  The 
delegation met with President Karzai, COMISAF General Dan 
McNeill and other GOA and U.S. military officials.  In his 
meeting with the Kyrgyz, MFA Senior Advisor Davood Maurdian 
voiced concerns over the recent seizure of ammunition for 
Afghanistan. The delegation also met with Afghan MPs and 
discussed parliamentary procedure and Afghan commercial 
activity in Central Asia.  Combined Joint Task Force-82 
(CJTF-82) hosted the delegation at Bagram and took them to 
see frontline coalition operations in Jalalabad and Nuristan. 
End Summary. 
 
MEETING WITH PRESIDENT KARZAI 
 
¶2. (C) The Kyrgyz delegation, First Deputy Minister of 
Defense General-Major Kybanychbek Oruzbayev, Chief Inspector 
of the National Security Council, Major-General Kybanychbek, 
Deputy Foreign Minister Talai Kydryov, and Parliamentary 
Deputies Ishak Masaliyev and Keldibekov, accompanied by 
Ambassador Wood met with President Karzai. 
 
¶3. (C) Asked to give an assessment of the situation in 
Afghanistan today, Karzai said it was first necessary to 
review the past 15 years, the Taliban legacy, and the 
international community's reluctance to become involved until 
¶2001.  He said that if the Coalition had not intervened to 
help Afghanistan after September 11, the Taliban and Al Qaeda 
would have spread to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan by now. 
Afghans, Karzai said, cannot help themselves without Western 
help, much less prevent the problems from spreading 
elsewhere; "You were lucky that Afghanistan was rescued and 
liberated," he stated to the Kyrgyz. On the present 
situation, Karzai portrayed a country with serious problems, 
still at war, but making progress. 
 
¶4. (C) Karzai asked the Kyrgyz policymakers to take a message 
back to President Bakiyev and the Kyrgyz people.  There are 
two choices: a civilized life with prosperity or a return to 
the Stone Age and disaster; Afghanistan has chosen the former 
and it is the only choice for the region.  Afghanistan is on 
the front line against terror, but Kyrgyzstan is in the 
supporting line by providing the base; both countries, Karzai 
said, are providing security for the whole region. 
 
¶5. (C) The Kyrgyz were visibly impressed, with a number of 
government officials and one deputy saying that they 
understood the need to support Afghanistan. Almost all of 
them emphasized the importance of economic reconstruction and 
Kyrgystan's strong desire to play a supporting role in that 
effort. 
 
COMISAF: WE ARE HERE UNTIL THE AFGHANS CAN STAND ON THEIR OWN 
 
¶6. (C) COMISAF General Dan McNeill provided an overview of 
the five ISAF commands and the situation each one faces.  He 
noted that ISAF is an interim force to provide time and 
space, until the Afghans are ready to "do the job 
themselves."  MacNeill stressed this is important to the 
Kyrgyz, because regional stability depends on the Coalition's 
ability to create a secure and stable Afghanistan.  McNeill 
noted there are varying predictions about how long a 
Coalition force will be necessary.  The Afghans themselves 
believe that the army will be stood up in a year and they 
will require assistance for three more years.  The UN 
believes that a force will be necessary until 2017 and NATO 
member will review whether they will stay in 2009.  U.S. 
commitment is firm; we will stay until the Afghans can stand 
up on their own. 
 
KYRGYZ VISIT BAGRAM AIRBASE 
 
KABUL 00002099  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Combined Joint Task Force-82 (CJTF-82) Commander 
Major General Rodriquez briefed the delegation at Bagram 
Airbase on the strategic importance of Manas Air Base in 
airlift support for coalition operations in Regional Command 
(RC) East.  The delegation was engaged in the discussion and 
asked about improvements on security and the number of 
foreign fighters in the region. 
 
FRONTLINE OPERATIONS OBSERVED AT JALALABAD AND NURISTAN 
 
¶8. (SBU) Following the briefing, CTJF-82 took the delegation 
to U.S. led Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) at 
Jalalabad and Nuristan, where they were briefed by the PRT 
commander at each location and given an opportunity to see 
coalition operations.  Both PRT commanders told the Kyrgyz 
that all military personnel at Jalalabad and Nuristan had 
traveled through Manas en route to their PRT.  Additionally, 
the commanders' reports on recent U.S. and Afghan casualties 
reinforced the message to the Kyrgyz that there are still 
military operations ongoing against the Taliban.  General 
Mamyrkulov was visibly moved in Jalalabad as he shared his 
experiences in Jalalabad during the Soviet occupation to the 
PRT Commander.  In Nuristan, Masaliyev and Keldibekov both 
remarked about the difficult fighting conditions U.S. forces 
faced from the desolate terrain. 
 
MFA HIGHLIGHTS CONCERN ABOUT WEAPONS SEIZURE 
 
¶9. (C)  In a meeting at the Afghan Foreign Ministry, the 
ForMin's Senior Advisor Davood Moradian asked the Kyrgyz MPs 
for help for a positive outcome to the recent seizure of 
weapons (intended for shipment to Bagram Airbase) at Ganci 
Airbase in Kyrgyzstan.  MP Masaliyev said that it was illegal 
for weapons to be transited through the base (on the basis of 
Kyrgyz law). He said that the Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) for the base with the GOKG does not stipulate that 
weapons and ammunition can be transited, only "personal 
weapons" carried by the military on their person.  Ambassador 
Yovanovitch explained that the MOU did not make any 
distinction about the kind of goods that can transit the 
base.  Masaliyev said, when asked, Kyrgyz officials assured 
him that no weapons or ammo would be transiting through Ganci 
airbase. When asked by Masaliyev to comment, Moradian said 
that he was not in a position to comment either on what was 
in the bilateral (Kyrgyz-U.S.) MOU or on the Kyrgyz law and 
what it might stipulate about transit of goods through 
Kyrgyzstan.  The delegation agreed that it was not the right 
time to discuss Kyrgyz law and that they could talk about it 
amongst themselves later. 
 
MPs DISCUSS PRIORITIES 
 
¶10. (C) The delegation discussed parliamentary procedure and 
Afghan commercial activity in Central Asia with a group of 
Afghan MPs.  Afghan MPs Sayed Kazimi, Sardar Mohammad and 
Rahmaan Oghli, Haji Mohammad Aref Zarif and Shukria Paikan 
Ahmadi attended.  In response to Kyrgyz MP questions, Kazimi 
replied that "we have lots in common with the international 
community, especially when it comes to the fight with 
terrorism, the fight against drugs, and the support for 
democracy."  He added that Afghanistan would not accept 
Communism, and neither will it accept the Taliban.  Kazimi 
noted that after stability, improving the economy is the 
highest priority in Parliament.  Kazimi explained that the 
international community presence was invited by the GOA, and 
"their presence is for the betterment of Afghanistan." 
 
¶11. (C) Kyrgyz MPs asked about the Afghan parliamentary role 
and Haji Zarif replied that Parliament has a positive role in 
influencing the stability in the region.  He added that 
Afghans can differentiate between their enemies and their 
friends, and stressed that "we are a civilized people."  He 
said that the Afghans kicked out the Taliban and, without 
Afghan support for the current ISAF counterinsurgency 
campaign, the international security forces would never win 
the war, "even if they had ten times the troops they 
currently have here." 
 
KABUL 00002099  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
12.(SBU) The trip to Afghanistan made a visible impression on 
the Kyrgyz.  Given the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, it 
was an emotional journey for some, especially General 
Mamyrkulov, who had fought in Jalalabad.  A recurring 
question was how the Coalition would ensure it would be more 
successful than the Soviets were. Other recurring themes 
included queries regarding how long the war would go on, and 
specifically how long the Coalition would require the Manas 
Air Base, as well as interest in assisting Afghanistan's 
economic recovery. 
 
¶13. (SBU) The Kyrgyz came away with the realization that the 
war has not been won yet.  Some also realized that if the war 
was not won, they could be fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda 
in Kyrgyzstan.  Under the powerful gaze of President Karzai, 
everyone except Masaliyev pledged support for Afghanistan, 
but it remains to be seen what they will do when they are 
back in Bishkek. 
WOOD