VZCZCXRO4049
OO RUEHSR
DE RUEHWL #0053 0580308
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 270308Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5769
INFO RUEHXP/ALL NATO POST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 5458
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0151
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0090

C O N F I D E N T I A L WELLINGTON 000053 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SCA/A FOR TOM REOTT; EUR/RPM FOR AARON COPE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2024 
TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL NATO AF NZ
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND INPUT TO AFGHANISTAN STRATEGY REVIEW 
 
REF: STATE 15623 
 
Classified By: Embassy Wellington Charge David J. Keegan. Reasons E.O. 
12958, Reasons 1.4 (a), (b), and (d). 
 
 ¶1.  (U) Reftel request was forwarded to the Government of 
New Zealand. Post received the following response from 
Michael Green, the Acting Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), handling Afghanistan among 
other responsibilities. 
 
Begin GNZ response. 
 
(C) Thanks for the offer to contribute. The following 
comments have been cleared with the Minister and with 
Defence. They don't really sit comfortably with the headings 
you proposed but should nevertheless convey to Washington a 
sense of our current thinking. 
 
o New Zealand is about to undertake a review of its 
commitments to Afghanistan as a basis for decisions about 
engagement beyond the current mandates (which end on 30 
September 2010). Pending the outcome of this review, 
responses on some of your points must be cast in fairly 
general terms; 
 
o New Zealand seeks an Afghanistan that is sustainable as an 
independent nation, free from major risk of subversion and 
from being used again as a base for international terrorism; 
 
o New Zealand supports the NATO Comprehensive Strategic 
Political Military Plan and the Afghanistan National 
Development Strategy, while noting that they are frameworks 
only, do not guarantee success, and are currently either 
inadequately resourced, or not coherently implemented. Better 
civil/military coordination is necessary; 
 
o All ISAF contributor countries, whether members of NATO or 
not, must be involved in the planning and monitoring 
processes of the international community; 
 
o New Zealand considers that a sustainable Afghanistan is 
only achievable on Afghan models and ultimately with Afghan 
resources, and that international contributors must shape 
their assistance efforts to that end; 
 
o In particular, the Afghan polity must be supported to 
produce real and increasing benefits for its people; 
 
o Priority should be given to supporting Afghan governance 
models and Afghan institutions, with priority attention to 
the ANA and the ANP; 
 
o Reconcilable Taliban must be induced through a variety of 
means to join the Afghan polity as contributing elements; 
irreconcilable Taliban must be reduced as a threat, at least 
to manageable proportions; 
 
o Ways to reduce the ability of the Taliban to use Pakistan 
as a base must be pursued; Pakistan's support for the Taliban 
must be significantly curtailed; 
 
o Counter-insurgency military action must continue, but with 
a focus on methods that minimize civilian casualties; 
 
o The use of force in general must be carefully calibrated. 
Other elements, particularly diplomacy and development, will 
be crucial to success in the long term; 
 
o Efforts to combat narcotics production and trafficking and 
corruption must continue, although success in these areas 
will probably be coterminous with, rather than precede, 
success in other areas. 
 
End GNZ response. 
 
¶2.  (C) In charge conversations with Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Murray McCully and Minister of Defence Wayne Mapp, as 
well as conversations with MFAT and Ministry of Defence 
officials, it has been made clear that the GNZ understands 
that the U.S. will be making requests for additional 
resources to support efforts in Afghanistan. The GNZ  says 
they will consider those requests commensurate with their 
existing commitments, including Afghanistan, and the small 
size of their military. 
KEEGAN