Commitment to 2014 and Beyond
May 23, 2012
Admiral James Stavridis
As the North Atlantic Council finished up the 25th Summit it is clearly evident that it was a summit of commitment. The Alliance made the commitment to complete transition in Afghanistan and to support Afghans in achieving a stable future. It also made the commitment to ensuring NATO is capable of dealing with 21st century challenges, as well as the commitment to further strengthen connections with our global partners. Most importantly, the Chicago Summit demonstrated our commitment to each other - the unbreakable bond between North America and Europe, which remains the bedrock of our security.
The Summit was a wonderful moment for the Alliance, held in America for the first time in more than 10 years and a nice opportunity for the United States to see NATO on its own soil. It included the heads of state and government of 28 NATO countries and many of the 22 additional partner countries who are with us in Afghanistan today; I think that’s significant when we look at a total of 50 troop contributing nations in Afghanistan, the item at the top of the agenda.
Afghanistan
The North Atlantic Council set the course for our future engagement in Afghanistan as we proceed on track to complete our ISAF mission by the end of 2014, and we will remain committed to our long-term partnership with the Afghan people. I'm pleased to report that we are making, I think, very strong progress and I remain cautiously optimistic about how things are going in Afghanistan.
Ten years ago we had ten coalition soldiers to every Afghan soldier in the field; today we have two, and in many places three, Afghans for every coalition soldier. So that transition is going extremely well. We see the Afghans taking the lead in almost 50 percent of the operations conducted, and we are partnered with them practically every operation, nearly 90 percent. So in the South and Southwest we see strong gains throughout the region, and that’s particularly noteworthy because they are the heartland of the insurgency.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen shakes hands with an Afghan commando service merber at Camp Morehead, Afghanistan, April 12.
Up north in Mazar-e-Sharif, on the northern border of Afghanistan beyond the Hindu Kush, we see the Regional Command North led by a German officer with 4,000 German troops, more than 1,000 Americans, troops from many of the Nordic nations including Sweden, and troops from Hungary and other eastern European countries - a terrific international coalition. There we see the same level of results. The leaders in this northern province -- Afghan Corps Commander, General Wesa, and Afghan Police three-star commander for the northern zone, General Baba Jan -- are officers in command of the situation and have outlined their efforts and have a clear way ahead. Overall the transition from coalition forces to Afghan forces, which is crucial to our success, is proceeding well.
Today in Afghanistan, 50 percent of the population is under Afghan-led security, but President Karzai announced the start of the Tranch III transition on May 13. Once it is completed, 75 percent of Afghanistan will be under Afghan control. In the course of next year, as transition takes hold and Afghan security forces take the lead for combat operations across the country, we will increasingly take a supporting role. But that will include supporting Afghans in combat, as necessary. In Chicago, the Alliance made clear that NATO will train, advise and assist Afghan security forces - but it will be a new mission with a new role for NATO.
Smart Defense
The NAC also discussed the idea of pooling and sharing our assets. This idea of “Smart Defense” is how we can deal with the economic challenges of today while preparing for the security challenges of tomorrow.
On the high-tech side of things, NATO announced the initial operating capability of our new Missile Defense System. This is necessary because many nations are developing, unfortunately, ballistic missiles that could potentially threaten the Alliance. But it is also a signal of strong solidarity between the North American and the European partners working together on this new missile defense system which will be embedded in Europe both at sea and ashore.
We have launched the reform of our command structure to make it leaner and more effective, and we have made progress in ensuring that NATO retains and develops key capabilities. We are acquiring Allied Ground Surveillance, which uses drones to provide crucial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to our forces. Our goal is an Alliance that is fit for the next decade and beyond and the way to get there is Smart Defense – a renewed culture of cooperation that allows all Allies to provide more security for our citizens even in an age of austerity.
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