German Army Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, ISAF spokesman

Today’s update will cover the following key topics:

• ISAF operational overview w/ special emphasis on • Central Helmand River Valley (CHRV) and Kandahar

• political issues addressed by Mr. Tony White, SCR’s spokesman

Afterwards we will have ample time for Qs&As.

Before starting with the update on security and operations a couple of general remarks concerning last week’s events:

• First of: Our heartfelt condolences go out to the families and friends of those who were lost in this horrible attack against a wedding party in Arghandab.

• The recent casualties are a result of confrontations as AFG and ISAF forces clear the TB from areas that were previously under their control.

• Over time AFG and ISAF forces will establish the security Afghanistan wants, and there will be a reduction in the frequency of violent incidents as the TB are defeated or forced to retreat.

• The TB’s attack on the wedding party in Arghandab reflects their growing desperation as they feel the pressure as AFG and ISAF forces move in to establish security. These cowardly attacks against innocent civilians reflect the TB’s lack of vision for a peaceful prosperous Afghanistan.

• Yesterday morning a roadside mine blast in southern Afghanistan (Kandahar) killed 9 civilians (4 women, 3 children and 2 men were among those who died.

• 8 other people were wounded and taken to a hospital run by our troops.

• All this will not deter the overall campaign or process to secure the AFG people – We will continue with our mission and we - ISAF - join our AFG brothers in steeling our resolve to continue to press the INS out of areas where they can affect the AFG people.

Now I would like to start with a general update on operations:
 
• Operation Moshtarak in CHRV is now at about D-plus-119, so some three months into the operation.

• Operations focused principally on the district of Nad e Ali, where around 100,000 people live; on the district of Marja; and the area of Kariz e Saydi and Badula Qulp, just to the northeast of Marja where around 80,000 people live.

• In Marja, we have conducted a relief of place with the original Afghan National Army troops that did the operation, and replaced them with new Afghan National Army Kandaks in full partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps who are based there according to our original plan.
 
• We still have Afghan National Civil Order Police stationed in Marja providing protection for the population, which again is what we'd planned to have up until about D-plus-150.

• Most of the security infrastructure is constructed so that throughout Marja you would find a series of police checkpoints and small patrol bases all partnered with U.S. Marines, the ANCOP and the Afghan National Army.

• My sense is it will probably take another 90 to 120 days before all of the population feels confident and comfortable.

• Now, the reason that they're not forthcoming yet is because there's still a level of intimidation in Marja, which will take the time that I prescribed to sort. • What is also striking -- remember I said we're focusing on central Helmand, of 600,000 people -- is that we now have freedom of movement throughout central Helmand. Again, before the 12th of February, it wasn't possible for Governor Mangal, the provincial governor, to travel from Lashkar Gar to Nad e Ali or to Marja or to Nawa. He can now do that on his own, with his own security detail.

• So we're making progress. And that is what we see at the moment. We're going in the right direction.

A couple of words on Hamkari Baraye (Kandahar):

• Now in terms of the insurgency, the rural area of Zhari, between the Arghandab River and Highway 1 is at the moment contested space.

• And in much the same way as Marja was, you'll find that in Zhari, insurgents have freedom of movement and the ability to control, suppress and oppress the population.
 
• The same applies to the southwestern part of Panjwa’i, between the Dori River and the Arghandab River.

• We estimate that there are probably between 500 and a thousand insurgents who regularly operate in the Arghandab and in the areas of Zhari and Panjwa’i, and they will be a military challenge to resolve.

• If you go to the city today, you'll find a thriving, bustling commercial environment, with bazaars and businesses and people earning a living.

• What you won't find, though, is much investment, for there's been little investment since the 1970s. You also won't find much electricity. And indeed, if you measure the kilowatts per capita per year of the community in Kandahar, you'll find that they get half of what the average person gets in El Salvador.

• Nor will you find much sanitation or much health care or, indeed, that much education.

• So it's pretty challenging in terms of productivity and in terms of quality of life. • But for the average Afghan who lives in the city, what bothers him most is the level of criminality. And it's a problem more of criminality and disorder than it is a problem of Taliban and insurgency.

• What's also needed is that governance must be improved, because at the moment, the mayor's office is not more – much more than one man deep, and similarly the governor's office. And what's required is for the capacity of those offices to be built up so that they can begin to bring the sort of order and administration to the city that I've described.

• Now, we will do this using the resources that begin to come online with the second force package of U.S. Army reinforcements that arrive in and around Kandahar, because that provides us with the capacity to train additional policemen, to partner with them, to improve the command and control and information-sharing of the Afghan forces in the city and, importantly, to impose a ring of security around the outskirts of the city to keep any potential insurgent intimidation at bay and to keep it out in the rural areas.

• All of that will begin to come in during the course of the next month or two. And by Ramadan, probably, you'll see first improvement in terms of the security in the city.


Opening Statement – SCR Spokesman ISAF News Conference GMIC – 12 Jun

As Josef mentioned I would like to take a few minutes to expand on the non-military aspects of our joint effort in Kandahar.

This effort is more about the people of Kandahar Province than it is about the insurgents.

It started several weeks ago, with the political phase, together with a gradually increasing security presence, which will continue to point where the Government can start delivering basic services and better governance, and eventually development. Will the insurgents try to stop this? That’s up to them but there is no planned military offensive and to report only on the anticipation of major fighting is missing the bigger picture and alarming an already fearful public.

The main effort in the Province of Kandahar, as it is in Central Helmand, has always been and continues to be the longer-term governance and development strategy to enhance the public’s confidence in its Government.

Hamkari is a combined Afghan and international civil-military effort to first improve the political situation by reaching out to disaffected groups, including the general public, tribal elders and community leaders, who feel excluded from the mainstream political process and caught in a web of corruption, criminality and a culture of impunity that is Kandahar.

The Government, led by President Karzai is determined to strengthen governance and ultimately deliver civil assistance and sustainable development to the people of Kandahar and the rest of the country. NATO is supporting this transition to Afghan responsibility and at a Meeting of Defence Ministers, in Brussels yesterday, the Secretary, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said that “Transition to Afghan lead is not only desirable it is inevitable”.

There are many things affecting Kandahar. In the rural areas there are tensions between the tribes and the tribes themselves have very little connection with their Government. Throughout the province there are power brokers and drug lords who exert their influence on the people. In the city where the lack of governance is very evident there is general lawlessness and pervasive corruption. All of these things have trapped the people of Kandahar, in many ways separating them from the rest of the country. This is why the Government needs to demonstrate its sovereignty, reach out to the people and provide for them.

As you can see there is more to the Kandahar story. The insurgents, as you would expect, are lurking in background trying to make matters worse by exploiting these tensions and driving a wedge between the public and their Government with indiscriminate violence, targeted assassinations, and a whisper campaign that tries to convince the people that their Government will never come for them.

A security effort without a political commitment to rebuild the Government’s credibility in Kandahar, or anywhere else, would only anesthetize the violence and the corruption that continues to plague this Southern Province.

Here is what is being done: President Karzai has led this effort from the start with a visit to the region and a major Shura a few months ago. These Shuras are now taking place across the province, on a regular basis led by the Government, including Gov Weesa, Jelani Popal, DG of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance. The Government is listening to the people of Kandahar, to understand the political issues, to determine the civil assistance priorities and find out what the people want their Government to do.

The Government is already focusing development and reconstruction resources at the district level to establish or enhance district centres, where the community can engage the government and the government can better serve the community.

As the security situation improves, plans are in place to enhance the presence of Kandahar government's key line ministries including Agriculture, Education, Health and Justice with the resources necessary to operate at the district level. This effort will repair roads, improve people’s access to electricity, fill vacant government positions, open schools, and improve healthcare services and more.

This Afghan effort, even with the help of the IC, will take considerable time. People won’t see a change overnight. It will take many months and there will be difficult days ahead as the insurgents will continue to try and stop the Government from providing for its people because the insurgents know that a public that has the confidence to stand up and reject their intimidation is a far greater threat than all the Afghan and international forces combined.

ISAF and the rest of the IC are helping to building Afghan government capacity to meet the needs identified by the people.

Just within the ISAF effort there are more than 80 civilians (Canadian and U.S.) are working with their Afghan counterparts are operating from the Kandahar PRT (KPRT) and six District Support Teams (DSTs) in Kandahar Province. These civilians are: diplomats, stabilization officers, development specialists, corrections experts and civilian police, who are doing remarkable work that is rarely reported. Add to this the other aid agencies like US AID and Canada’s CIDA and you will see that the civilian effort is central to the strategy.

Progress in Afghanistan will not be measured by the level of the insurgency, or their ability to intimidate progress, which is their goal, it will be measured by the Afghan people and the way they view their Government and how it deals with poverty, justice and security but more importantly their ability to understand how they want to live.

Happy to take your questions.

BACKGROUND:

As COM ISAF has reiterated and as Josef mentioned;

There are joint ISAF/ANSF security aspects to this effort which are deliberate and carefully paced to garner the support of the people of Kandahar, who are at the centre of this strategy.

Various GIRoA officials, ISAF/NATO representatives, international donor agencies and others will attend a conference June 21 in Kandahar to discuss the plan for implementing the District Delivery Program (DDP) and other ministry initiatives in Kandahar Province.