Nato’s Commander in Kabul

23 May 2007

Dan McNeill, Nato’s commander in Kabul, tells Heidi Kingstone that even a ‘hard-bitten dude’ faces a struggle to make the liberated country function as an orderly society

McNeill tells me he asks all his visitors this question: ‘Can you have long-term stability inside of Afghanistan if there are sanctuaries for insurgents and extremists just out of their reach?’ It is a reference to Pakistan. I ask him if I can have his job if I give him the correct answer. He chuckles, and says it’s open if I want it. A few days after this interview ISAF will coordinate the Tripartite meeting (regular formal talks between ISAF, Pakistan and Afghanistan) where the issue of border friction will be top billing.

This is a complex matter, and McNeill is careful to underline that Pakistan is an ally of Afghanistan and the alliance in the attempt to make Afghanistan a more stable and secure country, and to defeat the insurgency.

Key to ISAF’s operations is Helmand (the largest province in Afghanistan), where the major British effort is concentrated. McNeill has never spoken to Tony Blair, and has no expectations of speaking to Gordon Brown either when he becomes Prime Minister, although they are both stubborn Scots (McNeill is of Scottish descent). His chain of command leads to Brussels, to the Nato SacEur (Supreme Allied Command Europe). ‘What the British are doing here militarily is good. They have supported the effort and it’s significant. From a solely military point of view I hope it continues [under Gordon Brown] to be at least what it is and increased.’ The decision to add an additional battalion has been made, it will reach full operational capability by the end of the year. According to McNeill, the new ISAF Southern Regional Commander, Major General Jacko Page, is ‘getting his hands round the tough situation in the south and moving it forward quite well’.