SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
And President Ghani, thank you, sir, for -- for hosting
Secretary General Stoltenberg and myself here today. We're grateful to you and Chief Executive
Abdullah.
And I would say too, Mr. President that this delegation
stands united in our desire to advance peace in Afghanistan and remove the
impulses and manifestations of terrorism that threaten the innocent.
We are here today to support Afghanistan because instability
in South Asia, as secretary general and the president have already stated, and
the extremism that it cultivates endangers all nations as well as the people of
Afghanistan.
In recognition of these vital interests, and thanks to the
national unity government, I would just say that the support of the
international community is now rallied under the NATO flag. And we are here today as evidence of a new
strategy that has given us a new opportunity.
And Secretary General Stoltenberg's strategic and unflappable leadership
at NATO has been key to this opportunity.
Our NATO commander, General Nicholson, has earned the trust
and admiration of the Afghans and the international community while leading the
39 partner nations of NATO's Resolute Support mission. Each nation stands united with their fellows
in their support and we will not abandon Afghanistan to a merciless enemy
trying to kill its way to power.
President Ghani, our renewed commitment here today is not
only grounded in our shared security concerns.
It is also grounded in our confidence in you and Chief Abdullah -- Chief
Executive Abdullah's demonstrated leadership in your efforts to unite
Afghanistan under a government of national unity.
I first met Chief Executive Abdullah in the Panjshir Valley
over 10 years ago. And I'm confident
here today that your friend -- that his friend Ahmad Shah Massoud's spirit
stands with us today because of what he represented to an Afghanistan pulling
together.
President Ghani, forming a unified government among so many
constituencies following the first democratic transition in Afghanistan's
history while battling an active insurgency inside your own country -- it's not
only a difficult undertaking but it's a historic achievement by the Afghan
people.
It's not a tidy process and it's hard work. And despite enormous political pressures, you
have demonstrated a commitment to put your country and the people of
Afghanistan first.
You have also made clear that the Afghan government and
security forces remain responsible and in the lead for securing your
country. With our new conditions-based
South Asia strategy, we will be better postured to support you as your forces
turn the tide against the terrorists.
As NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said last week at the
United Nations, this is about making sure that Afghanistan doesn't once again
become a safe haven for international terrorists. And the best way of doing that is to enable
the Afghans to have defense security forces which are strong enough to do just
that.
Under this strategy, we are approaching the problem with a
more holistic and comprehensive regional framework, providing advisers to
accompany Afghan units, to provide NATO support to them, adding more U.S.
troops alongside additional allied contributions, and making clear that we are
not quitting this fight.
In short, uncertainty has been replaced by certainty.
All of this will be carried out within the coalition
framework, making this campaign politically, fiscally and militarily
sustainable.
This new strategy is conditions-based, not time-based,
because war is principally a matter of will.
And we've made clear that we have the will to stand together.
Our Afghan partners have fought valiantly and the Afghan
Security Forces, today number (sic) more than 300,000 strong, will continue to
take the lead. As President Ghani said
last week in New York, "Afghans are determined to fight. No one should mistake our will to defend our
country," and we stand with you.
Through our partnership, we will suffocate any hope that
al-Qaida or ISIS, Daesh, Haqqani or the Taliban have of winning by
killing. I want to reinforce to the
Taliban that the only path to peace and political legitimacy for them is
through a negotiated settlement. We
welcome those who commit to a peaceful future for Afghanistan. We support Afghan-led reconciliation as the
solution to this conflict. And the
sooner the Taliban recognizes they cannot win with bombs, the sooner the
killing will end.
President Ghani has established a four-year plan to improve
the strength, the professionalism and the sustainability of the Afghan Security
Forces. And we in the coalition support
his plan.
Specifically, increasing the lethality of Afghan Security
Forces, by increasing its commandos, special forces and air capabilities, will
bring increasing capability to the protection of the Afghan people.
Our coalition is committed to doing everything humanly
possible to protect the innocent caught up in this war where our enemy
purposely targets the innocent.
We also see an improving generation of Afghan leaders,
thanks to additional coalition trainers at training centers and the new
selection process for who leads in this fight.
By instituting reforms found in President Ghani's plan and implementing
counter-corruption efforts to ensure accountability, we will see sustained
improvement.
Mr. President, on this latter point, I want to applaud your
personal commitment to reform. You
recognize the value in fighting corruption and in accelerating institutional
reform across government, ensuring the protection of your people by more
capable security forces and better government services for your people.
The recently launched bilateral compact outlining more than
200 measurable benchmarks for reform demonstrates our shared emphasis on
achieving these goals.
And lastly, Mr. President, we continue to support
Afghanistan. We remain committed to
building the capacity of your armed forces to secure Afghanistan and to end
this war, reconciling with those who want a better future for the Afghan people
and a world free of terror.
Thank you.
STAFF: Thank you.
And now onto questions, we'll start with Tom Watkins from
A.P.
Q: Thank you.
First, I was wondering if any of you could please respond to
the reports this morning of a rocket attack near the airport, just after we
landed today. Doesn't this highlight how
bad the security situation is, even in the capital?
Then I'd like to ask each one of you a question.
Mr. President, if I may, there are reports that President
Trump is pressuring you to close the Taliban office in Doha. Are you going to agree to that?
Then for Secretary Mattis, what is your current assessment
of how much weaponry and support Russia and Iran are now providing the Taliban?
And finally, for the secretary -- secretary general, NATO
has praised the new conditions-based approach for Afghanistan, but some
European officials are grumbling that not enough has changed. How do you persuade European members to
support this indefinite extension to the Afghan mission?
Thank you.
PRESIDENT ASHRAF GHANI:
Thank you.
There has been an attack our CRU, our special forces, are
dealing with. This is -- attacking
civilian targets is a sign of weakness, not strength. Simultaneously, you need to take account --
they are losing against every single Afghan army.
The conduct of war this year -- its leadership has been
exceptional. But terror does not
recognize boundaries. Is an attack on
London a sign of weakness of London, or the heinousness of the terrorists? We stand together against the forces or
terror, and we will continue.
The report is a rumor, and let's leave it at the level of
the rumor; it's not policy.
SECRETARY GENERAL JENS STOLTENBERG: On the question of how to make sure that
European allies are contributing troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, I
would say the -- say the following, and that is that a stable and secure
Afghanistan is in the interest of NATO.
The more stable Afghanistan is the more safe will we be.
So, that's the reason why we are in Afghanistan, because we
have seen that it is extremely important to support Afghanistan in their fight
against terrorism, because that's also our fight against terrorism. And we have to make everything we can -- or
we can -- we have to do everything we can to prevent Afghanistan once again
becoming a safe haven for international terrorists.
We saw what happened last time that was the case, back in
2001: 9/11. So, I'm absolutely convinced that European
allies will not only support the U.S. new strategy in words, but also in
deeds. At our defense ministerial
meeting in June, we actually decided to increase the troop levels of the NATO
mission in Afghanistan, and several allies have already started to come up and
step up their pledges to send more troops.
So they are sending troops to Afghanistan because it is in their
interest to have a more stable and secure Afghanistan.
SEC. MATTIS: You
know, on the -- I want to mention something about the attack from the
international airport, if in fact there was an attack. I have only heard some press reports so far,
not confirmed.
But an attack on international airport anywhere in the world
is a criminal act by a terrorist. It's
designed to go after generally innocent people to make some sort of
statement. And this is a classic
definition of what the Taliban are up to right now. It defines their approach to how they see
their role here.
And if in fact this is what they have done, they will find
the Afghan Security Forces continuing on the offensive against them in every
district of the country right now. So it
is what it is, but it's also the reason why we band together and we don't -- we
don't question what we're doing here.
On the role of anybody providing support to the Taliban, I
would just put it this way: Terrorism is
a scourge for everyone in this world.
Those two countries that you've mentioned, Tom have both had -- suffered
losses due to terrorism. So I think it'd
be extremely unwise to think that they can somehow support terrorists in
another country and not have it come back to haunt them. But I'm not willing to discuss the specifics
at this time on those two countries.
STAFF: All right
thank you, Fein Ludi from Ariana News.
Q: My next question
goes to Mr. Secretary of Defense. What
do you think, if Pakistan not take any action regarding the safe havens -- what
the next steps will be?
PRES. GHANI:
(UNTRANSLATED)
Mr. Secretary.
MATTIS: Thank you,
Mr. President. I agree 100 percent with
President Ghani that this South Asia strategy and this renewed commitment is an
opportunity for Pakistan to engage in the counterterror campaign.
The South Asia strategy is not exclusive of someone. It is inclusive for all responsible states
that want to stop terrorism in its tracks and defend the innocent. So I see this as an opportunity, and we will work
this issue forward with that idea in mind, that vision in mind.
STAFF: Thank
you. Jennifer Rizzo from CNN~.
Q: How have the rules
of -- the new rules of engagement changed the battlefield in the fight against
the Taliban?
And, Mr. President, have the new rules of engagement caused
you any concern over whether there'll be more civilian casualties?
SEC. MATTIS:
Jennifer, the point I would make is that, for many years, the NATO
forces have operated with one fundamental precept, and that is, we are here to
protect the Afghan people when we -- while we attack the terrorists.
We're up against an enemy right now that intentionally
fights from among innocent people, that intentionally hides behind women and
children, that intentionally tries to draw fire on the innocent. And we do everything humanly possible,
whether you call them rules of engagement, you call them the traditional
chivalry of the NATO forces -- we do everything possible to protect the
innocent on the battlefield
We're not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. And we will continue to do everything possible. There will never be a time when we decide
that the safety of the noncombatants, of the innocents on the battlefield, is
something to be bartered away for some sort of military advantage.
We would hope for a Taliban that would show some sort of consideration,
but they have proven over years they have no consideration, no respect for the
Afghan people. But we will continue to
do our level best and everything humanly possible to avoid any casualties.
STAFF: Thank
you. Sajar Mohamedi from TV 1.
Q: (UNTRANSLATED)
SEC. MATTIS: The
number of troops we're bringing in -- we are bringing in reinforcements, and
those reinforcements are designed to add more advisers to your units in the
field and more trainers in your military schools.
In other words, the Afghan forces continue to take the lead,
as they should, in the defense of their country. But we are going to give them more advantage
to the NATO access and advantage from the NATO air forces overhead to make sure
that no time -- no time does the Taliban own the high ground.
We will always own the high ground. And we are going to make certain those
aircraft have a connection to the troops on the ground, who are fighting to
protect their people.
I prefer not to go into the specific numbers right now. We are bringing in more Americans. There are also more coalition forces,
non-Americans who are coming in. I don't
want to tell the enemy exactly what we're doing.
But the whole point is to make certain that we have a
compelling battlefield advantage over anything the Taliban tries to mass
against your forces. We're not going to
stand for that.
So far as Pakistan, we will watch Pakistan's choices. We will engage with Pakistan. We will continue to work in a unified way
between NATO, the coalition, the Afghan government and the other regional
governments in South Asia as we try to set the conditions for a positive set of
nations and team against the -- and teamwork against the terrorists; Taliban;
Daesh, ISIS; whoever they might be.
There's an increasing collusion. There's increasing teamwork among the various
terrorist bands. And I would just tell
you that this simply gives more impetus to those of us who are against
terrorism to work together.
STAFF: Thank
you. Bill Gallo from Voice of America.
Q: Yes, hello. Thank you very much. This question is for Secretary Mattis and
Secretary General Stoltenberg.
Under the new strategy for Afghanistan, what are the metrics
you're using to define success? How will
you know you're winning and that the new policy is making a difference?
SEC. MATTIS: Yeah,
Bill, what we're going to do is we're going to take the compact that has been
put together. We're going to match it to
the NATO mandate of support to the Afghans.
We're going to then evaluate President Ghani's 200 -- more than 200
benchmarks, plus we have others we are going to engage with the Afghans to
adopt as well as we mature this -- this metric system.
And we will evaluate them on a frequent basis, some of them
on a monthly, some of them on a yearly basis depending on what kind of metrics
we're using for which issues. And we are
going to be monitoring them across the various issues that have been spoken
about up here today: Who initiates the
most fights with the enemy? How are we
doing on selection of junior officers from NCO ranks? How are we doing on counter-corruption?
All of this comes together in an integrated
whole-of-government, whole-of-coalition campaign, and the ongoing evaluation
will be transparent. In other words, we
will share all of our data. We will
review it together and we'll make adaptations as needed.
Secretary General?
SEC. GEN. STOLTENBERG:
The main reason for NATO being in Afghanistan is to prevent Afghanistan
becoming a safe haven for international terrorists. And the best way to achieve that is to enable
the Afghans themselves to stabilize their own country.
And we have made a lot of progress. Because not so many years ago, there were
more than 100,000 NATO troops in a big combat operation in -- in
Afghanistan. Now we are 13,000 is the
current level and the main purpose of that mission is to train and assist and
advise the Afghans.
And the Afghans -- so the Afghan Security Forces took over
responsibility for the security in this country in 2015. So we are step by step enabling the Afghans
to handle the situation in Afghanistan themselves and that's the best way to
achieve the main goal of our presence, namely to make sure that Afghanistan not
once again is a safe haven for international terrorists.
And that is important for us because instability in
Afghanistan is not only problem for the Afghans, but is also big problem and
threat to people living in NATO-allied countries.
Let me also, since it was asked in the beginning, just say
that I totally agree, of course, with President Ghani and Secretary Mattis on
the comments on the attack. An attack on
a civilian airport is a criminal act.
It's an act of terrorism and it's a sign of weakness, not of strength,
and that's exactly why I would like commend -- commend the Afghan Security
Forces which are handling these kind of attacks and it is yet another example
of how they are -- how professional they are, how committed they are and how
they are able to handle this kind of security threat which happens in
Afghanistan, and just underlines why we continue to train and assist them and
advise them.
STAFF: Thank you.
(UNTRANSLATED)
Q: (UNTRANSLATED)
SEC. MATTIS: Thank
you.
You know, we just rolled the strategy out, and before I
consider making any pronouncement about its success or failure, or about, you
know, as far as somebody looking at it, saying they don't like it, I want to
engage with them first.
You understand that we need to engage; we need to sit down
together and talk -- talk very -- very openly and frankly about where we're at
today, where we've been and where we're going to go. And so those discussions will be ongoing. And you have -- you have seen the strategy
yourself, so you know where our position is, and we'll move forward along those
lines.
PRES. GHANI:
(UNTRANSLATED).
STAFF:
(UNTRANSLATED). Gordon Lubold
from Wall Street Journal.
Q: Thank you.
Mr. Secretary, question on Iraq for you. I wondered if you could give us a reaction to
the Kurdish vote toward independence in Iraq and how that might affect American
forces operating there.
And President Ghani and Secretary General Stoltenberg, as
you know, Secretary Mattis has returned from India. Do you see that there is a risk of the U.S.
strategy vis-a-vis India could backfire when it comes to angering potentially
angering Pakistan more, and getting it to move in the wrong direction, not in
the right direction, with regard to Afghanistan?
Thank you.
SEC. GEN. STOLTENBERG:
We welcome the new U.S. strategy for many different reasons. One reason why we welcome that new U.S.
strategy announced by President Trump recently is that it has this regional
approach. And this region includes both
Pakistan and India. So therefore we have
-- both those nations have to be included in a mutual approach. We urge all countries in the region to support
an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.
And I can't see -- there is no reason that dialogue and you
have India as part of this regional approach should create any problems. I think in the opposite, if India was not
included, that would be a big mistake.
So we urge all countries to participate, but as part of an Afghan-led
and Afghan-owned peace process.
SEC. MATTIS:
Geography is compelling. There's
several nations in South Asia and we have to deal with all of them. And I, you know, in the case of India, they
have been very, very generous in their assistance, development assistance to
Afghanistan. And I believe they are
committed to doing even more to help the people of Afghanistan. Certainly, that cannot be seen as contrary to
another nation's interest to help people who are working their way out of many,
many difficult years since the Soviet invasion.
As far as in Iraq, we have had no impacts to date based on
the Kurdish referendum, and we're engaged with all the different parties in the
area there right now politically, but militarily it's had no impact.
PRES. GHANI: Well,
thank you.
First, India is a major partner in development. In Brussels conference, India pledged a very
generous sum of $1 billion dollars for assisting the Afghan people.
Second, India is our largest export partner. The largest amount of exports from
Afghanistan go to India.
And third, India is potentially one of the largest investors
in Afghanistan. We have two choices,
either a lose-lose regional strategy or a win-win regional strategy. In a win-win regional strategy, we need to
all recognize that a stable Afghanistan is in everybody's benefit and
Afghanistan can become the platform for regional cooperation.
Afghan territory will not be permitted to be used for
destabilization of any of our neighbors, and this is a cardinal principle with
us. We do not differentiate between good
and bad terrorism and do not engage in destabilizing our neighbors.
But a central component of sovereignty is the ability to
have relationship with a third country.
We are having an equally productive dialogue with China. China again is a fundamental, economic
regional power and we are having the same dialogue with -- (inaudible) -- with
the Gulf. It needs to be seen as part of
an approach that the natural resources of Afghanistan, its location, and the
immense talent of its people can only be developed as part of the regional
approach.
And I hope that the necessary wisdom that is required to
embark on a win-win strategy starts in this South Asia strategy as a harbinger
of things to come.
STAFF: Thank you.
(Inaudible), Kabul News.
Q: (UNTRANSLATED)
SEC. MATTIS: Well,
first of all, I think we have to look at the history of where this all
began. And when you look back at the
history, it creates a very difficult framework for Afghanistan as a country,
for Afghanistan's people.
When the Soviets came in with the invasion, they basically
turned the society upside down. Many of
the local areas that were under certain types of local control, which was
acceptable to the Afghan government in those days, they were eviscerated. They were destroyed by the Soviet
invasion. And in that social fabric
being torn apart, I think an awful lot of refugees were created. Children were left without parents. Family structures were destroyed. Tribal alignments were -- were basically
thrown against each other.
And by the time we see the Soviets leave, much of the damage
had been done. You have children who are
going to schools which are teaching them hatred at a young age. And then you're trying to come in now with a
review of this and say, "How could this be?"
Well, that is exactly why we re-did our strategy; why we sat
down with members of your government, taking information from them, and why we
looked at this regionally to begin with; why we decided to realign our forces
into almost a totally advisory role and teaching role and expand that role, so
that we can turn this situation around.
You know, there's a saying in the game of golf you have to
play the ball where it lies. I cannot
change where the ball lies today. All I
commit to you is that we stand united with your Government of National Unity,
and with the Afghan people to restore peace in this turbulent time. And that means we're all going to have to
work together across the South Asia region and that's the way we plan to go
forward on what President Ghani defined as a win-win regional strategy, and
that's our commitment here today.
(UNKNOWN):
(UNTRANSLATED)
STAFF: Thank you,
everyone, for coming out for the presser today.
The press briefing is concluded.
Please be seated and allow His Excellency the President, as well as --
(CROSSTALK)
PRES. GHANI: I'd like
to take this opportunity to thank the secretary general and Secretary Mattis,
my great friends and great friends of Afghanistan, for coming together. This is an unprecedented event that the
secretary of state of the United States, a distinguished general, and secretary
general of NATO, a distinguished diplomat, come together.
Your arrival together is a sign of your commitment, but
equally the reciprocal commitment of the Afghan people, the Afghan government,
the Government of National Unity and myself, that whatever sacrifice is
required in order to bring enduring peace and stability to this country will be
committed to; and that corruption, the menace that has haunted Afghanistan, is
being recognized for what it is and it's going to be confronted. I don't think that in our history there has
been a three-star general that has received a prison sentence or others or rich
men that have been indicted in a court of law.
We will re-double our effort.
I thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your enormous dedication to
the strategy. We want to thank President
Trump and your entire team for taking the time.
Time was required to arrive at something that was comprehensive, that
was holistic. And as always, your
partner both against terrorism and for stability are this people of this
country.
And Mr. Secretary General, please convey our thanks to all
the 39 countries that have committed their sons and daughters to us. And let me state one thing
categorically: There is no return to
combat role either for NATO or for the United States. The role is advice, train and assist, and
this will ensure that our security and defense forces are enabled to do what is
our patriotic duty and historic obligation to do.
Thank you.
STAFF: Thank you.
With this, our press briefing is concluded.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment