Afghanistan: New NATO HR Being Called To Lead "Super Envoy"

A New NATO "High Representative" is being called for to lead a "Super Envoy" in Afghanistan

"Speaking at the recent summit in Edinburgh, Scotland, of countries active in volatile southern Afghanistan, including Canada, the U.S., the Netherlands, Britain and his own, Australia's new defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the West has shown a "a lack of coherent strategy...

that fuelled further calls by Canada and others for a "super envoy" to co-ordinate NATO and United Nations efforts in Afghanistan.

A super-envoy is needed to "knock heads and bring together the different elements of the mission -- security, reconstruction, economic development, etc. -- into a coherent strategy," he said.

Britain's Lord Paddy Ashdown, a former politician and military officer, has the skills and "heft" to do the job. "The question is whether he wants it after his bruising battles in Bosnia."

The danger with having a high representative that would do all the co-ordination for both NATO and the UN is that the Karzai government -- which is weak with elements of corruption -- would not be able to learn from their mistakes because somebody else would be there to co-ordinate all the various activities coming into the country," said Alain Pellerin, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations in Ottawa".

Read the entire article Critical Year Ahead For Allies

SIDENOTE***



In this Edinburgh article 12-14-07 entitled "Riot Police Posed To Face Protesters At NATO Summit" I found this interesting,


"He (Prime Minister Gordon Brown) said he had just returned from a four-day visit to Afghanistan where he had seen "tangible" progress. "But military power can only ever be part of the solution. We must build on our hard-won military gains and go further to help the people of Afghanistan to provide their own security, governance and economic development.


But Australia's defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon was today reported to be planning to say his country would send no more troops to Afghanistan until European countries such as Spain and Germany step up their commitment.


The meeting involves the eight countries with troops in the south of Afghanistan".


Action in Afghanistan 2008 will be of major major importance this year.

SIDENOTE*** King Juan Carlos Visits Afghanistan on New Years Eve

Spain's King Juan Carlos has paid a surprise visit to his troops in Afghanistan. It is extremely rare for heads of state, especially monarchs, to go to war zones, but as Commander-in-Chief, the King was happy to review Spanish soldiers at their base at Herat in western Afghanistan. He also spoke by radio to troops elsewhere in the country, wishing them a good 2008.