Messages In This Digest (18 Messages)
- 1.
- Global NATO Seeks India As Its 31st Military Partner From: Rick Rozoff
- 2.
- NATO Afghan Death Toll Continues To Climb From: Rick Rozoff
- 3.
- U.S. Marine Commanders Discuss Pentagon's Georgian Proxy Army From: Rick Rozoff
- 4.
- Top NATO Commander Blusters On "Cyber Warfare" From: Rick Rozoff
- 5.
- Georgian Opposition Threatens Kyrgyz-Style Uprising From: Rick Rozoff
- 6.
- Russia, U.S. Remain At Odds Over Interceptor Missile System From: Rick Rozoff
- 7.
- Azerbaijan: NATO's Outpost On The Caspian From: Rick Rozoff
- 8.
- Obama's Nuclear Surprise From: Rick Rozoff
- 9.
- Afghan War: NATO Increases Romanian Troop Deployment To 1,800 From: Rick Rozoff
- 10.
- U.S. Missile Shield Expansion Threat To Russian Strategic Forces From: Rick Rozoff
- 11.
- Holbrooke, Petraeus Heading To Afghanistan To Ramp Up War From: Rick Rozoff
- 12.
- Afghanistan: France Loses 41st Soldier From: Rick Rozoff
- 13.
- US Shifts From Nuclear Arms To Global Reach Conventional Missiles From: Rick Rozoff
- 14.
- 50,000 U.S. Troops Passed Through Kyrgyz Air Base Last Month From: Rick Rozoff
- 15.
- Germany Orders 85 More Armored Vehicles For Afghan War From: Rick Rozoff
- 16.
- Azerbaijan: NATO Group To Implement Further Integration Plan From: Rick Rozoff
- 17.
- Afghanistan And Beyond: NATO Strengthens Ties With Armenia From: Rick Rozoff
- 18.
- START 2 Won't Affect U.S. European Interceptor Missile Plans From: Rick Rozoff
Messages
- 1.
-
Global NATO Seeks India As Its 31st Military Partner
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:12 pm (PDT)
http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/544/
Defense Professionals
April 7, 2010
India and NATO
"India is simply too big to be just another partner country" to NATO.
A Commentary by Michael Rühle, Deputy Head of Policy Planning, NATO
-NATO's leadership of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has not only brought the Alliance to China's borders, it has also created much greater interdependence between NATO and India....Today, the 28 member Alliance entertains diplomatic and military relations with over 30 non-members throughout the world....
-Much of the consultation will take place in the United Nations. But challenges such as energy security, nuclear proliferation, failing states and piracy all compel nations to look for additional frameworks which allow them not only to talk together, but also to work together, including militarily.
Last February, in a speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen argued that the Alliance should turn into a consultation forum for global security issues. Such a role, he argued, would require the transatlantic security alliance to develop closer relations with all major global players, including India and China.
Only a few years ago, any mentioning of India and China as potential NATO partners would have led to raised eyebrows not only in Delhi and Beijing, but also in many NATO member countries. Not this time. In the days just after the Munich conference, there were a few, predictably cautious reactions in India and China. All in all, however, the Secretary General's suggestion did not spark a lot of debate, let alone controversy.
....This is not a veiled attempt to draw India and other rising powers into the Alliance's political and military orbit. And neither is it an attempt to outflank the United Nations as the ultimate arbiter of global security.... [sic]
Afghanistan is a compelling case in point. NATO's leadership of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has not only brought the Alliance to China's borders, it has also created much greater interdependence between NATO and India.
....
Today, the 28 member Alliance entertains diplomatic and military relations with over 30 non-members throughout the world....
Still, many Indian analysts harbour doubts about the possible implications for their country's international position if it should develop closer ties with NATO. As one eminent Indian analyst put it a recent conference in Delhi, India is simply too big to be just another partner country to the Atlantic Alliance....[M]ost members of the Indian strategic community...do not necessarily conclude from this that India and NATO should develop closer cooperation....
[T]he stature of countries like Japan, Egypt or Australia [have not] suffered from their cooperation with NATO. Hence, India will not need to compromise the fundamental tenets of its foreign and security policy. Second, even after the end of its engagement in Afghanistan, the Alliance will remain interested in the stability of the wider region, and in developing the political and military ties which it already has there at the moment.
Thirdly, and most importantly, the case for closer cooperation between India and NATO does not rest solely on Afghanistan. Because there is a growing need for nations and organisations to cooperate more closely in many other areas, too. Much of the consultation will take place in the United Nations. But challenges such as energy security, nuclear proliferation, failing states and piracy all compel nations to look for additional frameworks which allow them not only to talk together, but also to work together, including militarily.
NATO is one such framework – and the only one with six decades of experience in multinational military planning and cooperation....NATO's recent cooperation with the Indian navy in counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia will likely be followed by closer cooperation in other areas as well.
In sum, the issue is not whether India and NATO should consult and cooperate, but how this can best be done. Should we continue on an "ad hoc" basis, with the limited effectiveness that is inherent to improvisation? Or should India and NATO opt for a more regular dialogue, in which they learn about each other's perceptions, policies, and procedures, and are able to quickly operationalise that knowledge in tackling common challenges? To this author, the choice is clear: exploiting NATO's potential as a forum for consultation and cooperation is a "win-win" situation, both for India and for the Alliance.
(Michael Rühle is the Deputy Head of Policy Planning, NATO. The views expressed are personal and do not reflect any institutional position)
---
The article was first published on the website of the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) and is reproduced by defpro.com with NMF's kind permission.
==========================
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- 2.
-
NATO Afghan Death Toll Continues To Climb
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:23 pm (PDT)
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/06-nato-soldier-killed-in-eastern-afghanistan-rs-02
Agence France-Presse
April 8, 2010
Nato soldier killed in eastern Afghanistan
KABUL: A Nato soldier was killed Thursday after fighting with militants in Afghanistan, its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
"An ISAF service member died following an insurgent engagement in eastern Afghanistan today," the military alliance said in a short statement, without giving further details.
The latest death takes the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year to 147, according to an AFP toll. A British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the defence ministry in London said.
Some 126,000 US and Nato troops are currently based in Afghanistan, fighting a spreading Taliban insurgency. Numbers are expected to swell in coming months before a planned offensive against militants in the south of the country. Improvised bombs account for most deaths.
===========================
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- 3.
-
U.S. Marine Commanders Discuss Pentagon's Georgian Proxy Army
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:27 pm (PDT)
http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/2079_april_7_2010/2079_ernest.html
The Messenger
April 7, 2010
Georgia and US discuss Afghanistan
By Ernest Petrosyan
Georgian and US armed forces chiefs discussed cooperation between the two countries in security and defence issues on April 6. At their meeting in the Ministry of Defence of Georgia the sides discussed the involvement of the 31st Battalion in the peace support operation in Afghanistan and the outcomes of the International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] preparation programme.
Deputy Defence Minister of Georgia Nodar Kharshiladze, Chief of the Joint Staff Major General Devi Chankotadze, Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command Lieutenant-General Richard F. Natonski and Brigadier General Paul W. Brier, Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces in Europe, attended the meeting.
Lieutenant General Richard F. Natonski, while speaking to journalists, expressed his appreciation to the Georgian side for its sustained contribution to the ISAF operation. "It is a great honour for us to have been given the possibility to train the Georgian soldiers, as well as we appreciate the fact that Georgian and US soldiers will perform their duties shoulder to shoulder in the Province of Helmand," he said.
Nodar Kharshiladze said that the ISAF preparation programme under which the 31st Battalion has undergone military training has proved successful. "Georgian servicemen will be engaged in the peacekeeping mission side by side with the US Marines. We are determined to increase our peace contingent in Afghanistan by an additional 750 servicemen. This is one more example demonstrating that Georgia is continuing its active contribution to the overall development of international stability and security," the Deputy Minister said.
....
===========================
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- 4.
-
Top NATO Commander Blusters On "Cyber Warfare"
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:33 pm (PDT)
http://defensesystems.com/articles/2010/04/06/cyber-defense-nato.aspx
Defense Systems
April 8, 2010
NATO unites to thwart cyber threats
Alliance strives to balance open communications and network protection
By Barry Rosenberg
-"In this unsettled sea in which we sail, I believe it is more likely that an attack will come not off the bomb rack of an aircraft but as electrons moving down a fiber-optic cable," Adm. James Stavridis, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe and the U.S. European Command's commander, said....
Since the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, the heart of NATO has been found in Article V, which states that an attack on one member of the alliance shall be considered an attack on all.
Article VI of the treaty goes on to define what an attack is and outlines attacks on territories, ships and aircraft, and troop formations. However, there is no guidance on what constitutes an attack in the cyber world. With serious cyber intrusions in 2007 and 2008 in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — all three of which are now NATO members — the alliance must seriously discuss cyberattacks in the context of articles V and VI.
"In this unsettled sea in which we sail, I believe it is more likely that an attack will come not off the bomb rack of an aircraft but as electrons moving down a fiber-optic cable," Adm. James Stavridis, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe and the U.S. European Command's commander, said in February at the AFCEA West 2010 conference in San Diego. "The attacks against the Baltic republics illustrated one problem in understanding this cyber world, which that it is very, very difficult to attribute these attacks for all the obvious reasons."
"This is a very real and germane part of this challenge that we face in the cyber world," Stavridis said. "I believe we're going to see more of this, and we have to understand and define what constitutes an attack in the cyber world."
Cyber in the context of articles V and VI is not a multiplicative function, Stavridis said. It is not 28 times more complicated, counting the number of member nations in the NATO alliance. Rather its complexity is raised by a factor of 28, or to the 28th power.
....
On the international side, NATO has taken a first step by setting up the Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, based in Estonia. On the interagency side, Stavridis put the Homeland Security Department at the top of the list.
....
One model for an interagency architecture is the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. As part of DHS, U.S. CERT defends against cyberattacks that target federal government networks. It interacts directly with federal agencies, bringing them together with state and local organizations, research institutions and industry.
===========================
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- 5.
-
Georgian Opposition Threatens Kyrgyz-Style Uprising
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:46 pm (PDT)
http://en.rian.ru/world/20100408/158488958.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
April 8, 2010
Georgian opposition threatens to repeat Kyrgyz uprising
Tbilisi: Georgian opposition leaders warned the authorities on Thursday that the country could see a Kyrgyz scenario if opposition activists continue to be arrested.
Earlier in the day, police detained eight protesters for blocking a road in the capital, Tbilisi.
The warning came from Zurab Nogaideli, former prime minister and current leader of the For a Fair Georgia public movement; and Koba Davitashvili, the leader of the People's Party.
"A revolution took place in Kyrgyzstan following the arrest of political [opposition] leaders. If [President Mikheil] Saakashvili or [Interior Minister Vano] Merabishvili dare touch any representative of the opposition again, this will be followed by what happened in Kyrgyzstan, and it will be the end of their rule," Davitashvili said.
At least 75 people have been killed and more than 1,400 injured during public protests in Kyrgyzstan. The opposition formed a provisional government and claimed it had the support of the country's armed forces, border guards and police.
The protests began in the northwestern Kyrgyz town of Talas on Tuesday and spread to other regions of the country, including Bishkek, on Wednesday.
===========================
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- 6.
-
Russia, U.S. Remain At Odds Over Interceptor Missile System
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:50 pm (PDT)
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/04/08/6180478.html
Voice of Russia
April 8, 2010
Russia, US at odds over missile defense – official
Russia and the United States remain at odds over missile defense system – something that is unlikely to be resolved in the coming years, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a Moscow press conference on Thursday.
While Washington urges just an exchange of information on the topic, Moscow insists on the two jointly evaluating an array of relevant threats, Ryabkov explained.
He recalled that earlier, Russia called for the creation of the so-called missile pool, seen by many as an alternative to the existing global missile defense. If implemented, the project could contribute considerably to addressing missile challenges, Ryabkov concluded.
===========================
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- 7.
-
Azerbaijan: NATO's Outpost On The Caspian
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 3:56 pm (PDT)
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/foreign/1666174.html
Trend News Agency
April 8, 2010
Romanian ambassador: Azerbaijan important partner for NATO
T. Hajiyev
Baku: Azerbaijan is an important partner of NATO, the Ambassador of Romania to Azerbaijan Nikolai Ureki said at a meeting with students at the Azerbaijan University of Languages.
In connection with the 61st anniversary of NATO, the NATO Institute of Cooperation and embassies of the NATO member-states accredited in Azerbaijan have declared April NATO Month in Azerbaijan. At the meeting held in the framework of this month a documentary film about the mission of the organization called the North Atlantic Alliance: NATO Today and Tomorrow was shown.
"Due to the active participation in anti-terrorist operations, [its] geo-strategic position and potential in addressing energy security, Azerbaijan is a very important country for NATO," said Ureki.
NATO's cooperation with the South Caucasus states - Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia - is mainly carried out within the Partnership for Peace Program, Individual Partnership Action Plans and the Planning and Review Process. "These documents define the objectives and intentions of the partner countries to hold consultations with NATO on reforms in the spheres of defense, security and military policy."
In addition to supporting the reforms, an important goal of cooperation between NATO and Azerbaijan is to develop interaction of the country's Armed Forces with the forces of NATO countries in peacekeeping operations.
Since 1999, Azerbaijani troops have being providing support to peacekeeping operations of NATO in Kosovo, and since 2002 in Afghanistan.
===========================
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- 8.
-
Obama's Nuclear Surprise
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 6:44 pm (PDT)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18557
Strategic Culture Foundation
Global Research
April 8, 2010
Obama's Nuclear Surprise
by General Leonid Ivashov
-Simply, the US arsenals of intercontinental-range delivery systems carrying conventional warfare are so impressive that it no longer has to rely on the nuclear strike option.
In essence, the new US nuclear doctrine is an element of the novel US security strategy that would be more adequately described as the strategy of total impunity. The US is boosting its military budget, unleashing NATO as the global gendarme, and planning real-life exercises in Iran to test the efficiency of the Prompt Global Strike initiative in practice.
Washington has officially unveiled its new nuclear doctrine, the new START-3 Treaty between Russia and the US is ready for signing in Prague on April 8, and on April 12-13 US President B. Obama will host the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. Evidently, the US is launching a broad anti-nuclear offensive.
No examples of sacrificial service of the US elites to mankind or peoples of other countries can be discovered in the US history over the past century. Would it be realistic to expect the advent of an African-American president to the White House to change the country's political philosophy traditionally aimed at achieving global dominance? Those believing that something like that is possible should try to realize why the US – the country with a military budget already greater than those of all other countries of the world combined – continues spending enormous sums of money on preparations for war. Why is Washington actively spreading military activity to space, building up it its strategic non-nuclear forces, developing global missile defense, and converting its formerly nuclear-armed powerful Ohio-class submarines into carriers of cruise missiles with non-nuclear warheads? There are too many questions inviting obvious answers, and the answers
combine into a picture showing that the US intentions are anything but peaceful.
Let us survey briefly the US strategy over the recent years. In 2002 G. Bush established a commission to survey the situation in the nuclear arms sphere. Its conclusions were the following:
- Russia in its current state does not present a nuclear threat to the US;
- The US nuclear weapons do not serve as an efficient instrument of implementing the US security strategy as they can neither protect the country from terrorist attacks nor be used to exert pressure on rogue states.
- While being a huge financial burden, maintaining the nuclear arsenals is not cost-efficient.
After heated debates sparked by the conclusions, Washington decided to slash the budget of the strategic nuclear forces and to focus on developing new generations of conventional warfare. As a compromise with the proponents of the pro-nuclear strategy and those still concerned over Russia and China as sources of nuclear threat, the US Administration made the decision to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and to deploy a global missile shield.
In 2003, G. Bush approved the Prompt Global Strike concept. The same year the US officially scrapped the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and established the Global Strike Command to which 450 system from the strategic nuclear forces were transferred upon conversion into precision means of delivery with conventional warheads. Work began on equipping 4 Ohio submarines to carry cruise missiles. The submarines' 24 Trident-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles were replaced with 160 upgraded Tomahawks. The Trident-2 missiles were also upgraded to carry non-nuclear warheads. At the same time, efforts intensified to create a new class of strategic cruise missiles (with the 6,000 km range and the velocity reaching 6 Mach). An extensive program of deploying roughly 1,400 strategic missile defense installations was also implemented.
The Prompt Global Strike concept envisages a concentrated strike using several thousand precision conventional weapons in 2-4 hours that would completely destroy the critical infrastructures of the target country and thus force it to capitulate.
In 2009 the Prompt Global Strike initiative which used to be the favorite brainchild of G. Bush's Administration was inherited by B. Obama. The pragmatically minded new Administration reckoned that it made no sense to spend a lot on nuclear weapons that were impossible to use in practice (due to the risk of a retaliatory nuclear strike and the concerns over radioactive contamination of large areas). The wars in Yugoslavia and Iraq were won with the help of conventional warfare, mainly precision cruise missiles and bombs.
The Prompt Global Strike concept is meant to sustain the US monopoly in the military sphere and to widen the gap between it and the rest of the world. Combined with the deployment of the missile defense supposed to keep the US immune to retaliatory strikes from Russia and China, the Prompt Global Strike initiative is going to turn Washington into a modern era global dictator.
The actual objective of the dovish 2010 anti-nuclear campaign floated by Obama's Administration is to make the implementation of the above program cheaper. Presenting Washington's new nuclear doctrine, B. Obama said the US pledges not to use nuclear weapons even in case it comes under a chemical or bacteriological warfare attack. Immediately, criticism was leveled at the authors of Russia's military doctrine for Moscow's not rejecting the first nuclear strike option. We have serious reasons to exercise caution, though. Simply, the US arsenals of intercontinental-range delivery systems carrying conventional warfare are so impressive that it no longer has to rely on the nuclear strike option.
In essence, the new US nuclear doctrine is an element of the novel US security strategy that would be more adequately described as the strategy of total impunity. The US is boosting its military budget, unleashing NATO as the global gendarme, and planning real-life exercises in Iran to test the efficiency of the Prompt Global Strike initiative in practice. At the same time, Washington is talking about a completely nuclear-free world.
===========================
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- 9.
-
Afghan War: NATO Increases Romanian Troop Deployment To 1,800
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 6:54 pm (PDT)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iLtFJJJw-NLhEAaUhond4bL6dV_AD9EV00C82
Associated Press
April 8, 2010
Romania to increase troops in Afghanistan to 1,800
BUCHAREST, Romania: President Traian Basescu says that Romania will increase its troop levels in Afghanistan to 1,800 from 1,073 by September.
Basescu says the extra troops will increase security for Romanian troops already in the country. He says the decision was made last month at a high-level defense meeting.
The Romanian leader spoke Thursday before traveling to Prague for a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama. Obama will be joined by leaders from 11 Central and Eastern European nations worried about Russia's post-communist influence.
Moscow has voiced concern about the prospects of a revamped U.S. missile project, including a planned facility in Romania.
===========================
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- 10.
-
U.S. Missile Shield Expansion Threat To Russian Strategic Forces
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 6:57 pm (PDT)
http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20100408155244.shtml
RosBusinessConsulting
April 8, 2010
Russia insists on suspension of U.S. missile defense system's expansion
Prague: The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) may be valid and enforceable only if there are no possibilities for boosting in quality and quantity the missile defense systems, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated at a press conference in Prague following the signing of the new agreement.
The Russian leader reiterated that any such expansion of the U.S. missile defense system would result in a threat to Russia's strategic forces.
He stressed that this was Russia's primary position that it was taking by entering into START. Medvedev also noted that the U.S. leader was aware of Russia's position.
===========================
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- 11.
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Holbrooke, Petraeus Heading To Afghanistan To Ramp Up War
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 7:03 pm (PDT)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/08/AR2010040804497.html
Reuters
April 8, 2010
U.S. envoy Holbrooke gets all clear for Afghan trip
WASHINGTON: U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, will leave for Afghanistan later this week after being cleared by his doctors to travel, his office said on Thursday.
....
He will travel to the region in the coming days along with General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command which oversees wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
....
Their long-scheduled visit comes at a time of increased tensions between the United States and Afghan President Hamid Karzai following a string of anti-Western statements he has made over the past week.
No further details were available on the visit or whether Holbrooke, who has had tense relations in the past with the Afghan leader, would meet Karzai.
(Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Sandra Maler)
===========================
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- 12.
-
Afghanistan: France Loses 41st Soldier
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 7:05 pm (PDT)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/09/2868126.htm?section=world
Agence France-Presse
April 9, 2010
Foreign Legion soldier killed in Afghanistan
A soldier with the French Foreign Legion has been killed in Afghanistan during clashes with insurgents north east of Kabul.
The unidentified member of a Foreign Legion parachutist regiment was shot during an exchange of fire with insurgents in the Tagab Valley and had been transported to a French military hospital in Kabul, said a statement from the French presidency.
French soldiers were backing Afghan troops during the clashes, it said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to the soldier and offered his condolences to his family.
He is the 41st French soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since the deployment of international troops in late 2001.
France has some 3,500 soldiers deployed in the country.
===========================
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- 13.
-
US Shifts From Nuclear Arms To Global Reach Conventional Missiles
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 7:30 pm (PDT)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/us-moves-from-nuclear-arms-to-conventional-missiles-with-global-reach-1939876.html
The Independent
April 9, 2010
US moves from nuclear arms to conventional missiles with global reach
By David Usborne, US Editor
While President Barack Obama speaks overseas of his vision of a world without nuclear weapons, his military commanders at home are quietly accelerating a programme to develop and deploy a new class of conventional intercontinental ballistic missiles which will have the capacity to strike targets anywhere in the world within an hour.
While the effort to develop the new missile capability, called Prompt Global Strike, began in the late 1990s and through the Bush years, President Obama has expanded its budget with hopes that it can be added to US military's array of options by the middle of this decade. First prototype tests will be carried out by the Air Force next month.
American commanders envisage a missile that will travel at hypersonic speeds, in part outside of the Earth's atmosphere, with the ability to strike a target anywhere around the globe within one hour from launch with a conventional but still potentially devastating explosive payload.
Even as Moscow has agreed to the arms control treaty signed yesterday, it has become increasingly loud in warning of the dangers of the new global missiles under development by the Pentagon. "World states will hardly accept a situation in which nuclear weapons disappear, but weapons that are no less destabilising emerge in the hands of certain members of the international community," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier this week.
Nuclear deterrence has been the key plank of US defence policy for six decades but while Washington views the new conventional weaponry as key to protecting America in a post-Cold War world where the threats may come not just from nations but also from terror networks, critics argue that they present new and important risks. Most commonly cited is the danger that other countries, including China and Russia, could mistake one of them for a nuclear missile unless they are fired at sufficiently low altitude. Once they are launched, there could be difficulty in distinguishing their conventional payloads from nuclear ones. That in turn could accidentally trigger a nuclear retaliation by Russia or another similarly-armed power.
Another danger is that if nuclear weapons are no longer at issue, there would be a bigger temptation for American military commanders to become more cavalier about ordering strikes. And unless intelligence can be fully relied upon, the chances of striking mistaken targets are high.
===========================
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- 14.
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50,000 U.S. Troops Passed Through Kyrgyz Air Base Last Month
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 7:46 pm (PDT)
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/ap_kyrgyzstan_manas_riots_040710/
Associated Press
April 8, 2010
Some flight operations resume at Manas
By Peter Leonard
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Limited military flight operations have resumed at the air base in embattled Kyrgyzstan that serves as a key resupply hub for the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan, a Pentagon official says.
Flights in and out of the Transit Center at the Manas airport, outside the capital of Bishkek, were suspended for 12 hours Wednesday, according to a military spokesman at the base. U.S. Air Force Maj. Rickardo Bodden was evasive when asked if flights had resumed, but the Pentagon's Bryan Whitman said Thursday, "Currently there are limited operations at the Manas airfield." He subsequently indicated he was referring to flight operations.
Whitman added that support for U.S. warfighters in Afghanistan "has not been seriously affected" and that "we hope we will be able to resume full operations soon."
In the meantime, officials said they are using alternate means to get that support into Afghanistan. "As prudent planning dictates, we will make use of options to ensure that support continues to those conducting operations in Afghanistan," said Tampa, Fla.-based Central Command spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Speaks.
The center, overseen by the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, is the No. 1 air mobility hub for the International Security Assistance Force and coalition military forces operating in Afghanistan, officials say. In March, about 50,000 U.S. troops passed through Manas on their way in and out of Afghanistan, said Maj. John Redfield of Central Command.
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China on Thursday said it was "deeply concerned" about the violent uprising in its small western neighbor, echoing comments by Russia and the U.S. The impoverished Central Asian nation hosts the Manas U.S. military air base, a key facility supporting the war in Afghanistan, and also hosts a Russian military base.
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Russia sent in 150 paratroopers to its base to ensure the safety of the 400 military personnel and their families there, Russian state media reported.
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In 2009, Kyrgyzstan said U.S. forces would have to leave Manas, a decision made shortly after Russia granted Kyrgyzstan more than $2 billion in aid and loans. The government later reversed its stance and agreed to a one-year deal with the U.S. that raised the rent to about $63 million a year from $17 million.
....
Staff writer William H. McMichael and Associated Press writers Leila Saralayeva and Yuras Karmanau in Bishkek, Anita Chang in Beijing, Lynn Berry, Mansur Mirovalev and David Nowak in Moscow contributed to this report.
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- 15.
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Germany Orders 85 More Armored Vehicles For Afghan War
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 8, 2010 7:51 pm (PDT)
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4575102&c=EUR&s=LAN
Defense News
April 8, 2010
Germany Orders 85 More Dingo 2s
By THOMAS NEWDICK
-All 85 vehicles will be equipped with KMW's FLW 100 light weapons station, which can mount machine guns and other...weaponry that are controlled by the crew from inside the vehicle.
BERLIN: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has won two orders for Dingo 2 protected vehicles from Germany's Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB). To be delivered this year, the 85 vehicles are to be used by the German Army's contingent in Afghanistan.
The Dingo 2 protected personnel and material carrier is a variant of KMW's Dingo, and is similarly based on a commercial UNIMOG all-terrain chassis. Germany has sent its existing Dingos on operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
The first batch of 41 Dingo 2 vehicles will be the basic all-protected personnel and material transporter configuration.
The second batch of 44 will be GSI battle-damage repair vehicles that carry a mobile workshop, storage system and generator.
The vehicle's three-person cab is protected against IEDs, mines and ballistic threats.
All 85 vehicles will be equipped with KMW's FLW 100 light weapons station, which can mount machine guns and other defensive weaponry that are controlled by the crew from inside the vehicle.
The Dingo 2 is part of the German military's family of new Armored Command and Control Vehicles (Geschützte Führungs- und Funktionsfahrzeuge, GFF). Under contracts signed in 2005 and 2006, KMW will deliver 240 Dingo 2s to the German Army through 2011. A previous follow-on order for 98 Dingo 2s was placed in summer 2008, at a value of 68.3 million euros ($91.2 million).
"This short delivery period underlines the flexibility and industrial performance of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann," said Frank Haun, CEO and Chairman of the Board of KMW.
KMW offers the Dingo in a variety of configurations, including patrol, mobile command post, NBC reconnaissance and armored ambulance.
The Dingo 2 has also been acquired by Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg.
===========================
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- 16.
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Azerbaijan: NATO Group To Implement Further Integration Plan
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:16 am (PDT)
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=119578
Azeri Press Agency
April 9, 2010
NATO experts visit Baku to discuss Azerbaijan's IPAP activity
Rashad Suleymanov
Baku: NATO experts on the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) will visit Azerbaijan, the press service of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan told APA.
The expert group is planning to discuss the activity of Azerbaijan within IPAP. The discussions will last two days.
Defense sources told APA that they will also discuss the issues related to the start of IPAP third phase. Special Representative of the NATO Secretary General on the South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons is expected to attend the discussions.
Earlier the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov also announced the NATO experts' visit to Azerbaijan for the discussions of IPAP third phase.
===========================
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- 17.
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Afghanistan And Beyond: NATO Strengthens Ties With Armenia
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:19 am (PDT)
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2010/04/09/nato/
Panorama.am
April 9, 2010
NATO ready to support defense reforms in Armenia
The head of the Armenian mission to NATO, Samvel Mkrtchyan, visited Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Thursday.
He had a meeting with the Chief of SHAPE Staff, General Karl-Heinz Lather, Chief of Staff Military Cooperation, General Frantisek Maleninsky.
According to the MFA, in the frames of the visit, General Leonardo di Marco and his colleagues introduced NATO current activities and the participation of Partner states in them.
Samvel Mkrtchyan presented Armenia-NATO cooperation main directions and the perspectives of collaboration. Reference was made to the South Caucasus security issues.
NATO officials expressed satisfaction over the investment made by Armenia in the activities of the alliance, particularly the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, and expressed readiness to support the defense reforms in Armenia.
===========================
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- 18.
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START 2 Won't Affect U.S. European Interceptor Missile Plans
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:24 am (PDT)
http://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul129094_new-start-will-not-affect-missile-shield-plans--says-tusk.html
Polish Radio
April 9, 2010
New START will not affect missile shield plans, says Tusk
The new START 2 nuclear arms reduction treaty will not affect the planned US missile shield in Europe, said PM Donald Tusk following a meeting with President Barack Obama in Prague, Thursday.
"I came with some concerns, I leave with confidence," Tusk said after the working dinner attended by 11 central and eastern European nations and Barack Obama in the Czech capital, after America had signed a new nuclear reduction treaty with Russian president Dimitry Medvedev.
The new treaty sets a limit of 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads for each side, down from 2,200.
"From the perspective of [President Obama] and the U.S. the signing of the START 2 treaty has no influence on the work on the SM3 anti-missile shield," Tusk said, referring to the new anti-missile shield announced by Washington last September.
PM Tusk said that the dinner was dominated by Poles' and Czechs' concerns that the New START II will hamper the construction of an anti-missile shield and will weaken NATO. "American defence policy in Europe needs to be consistent," said Tusk.
He also said he had not spoken with Obama about the stationing of Patriot missiles in Poland, with the addition of 100 American troops, scheduled to arrive this year.
Not a zero sum game
A White House official told Reuters that a better working relationship with Moscow did not mean a weaker relationship with Poland and other countries in the region.
"This notion that somehow working with Russia is to the disadvantage of our allies, […] is absolutely absurd," Michael McFaul, a senior Russia adviser to Obama, said.
"I think if you looked at where things are today in terms of European security and Russia generally, they have advanced since we've been in office. And that the president can come here to Prague and sign a major arms control agreement with the Russian president and have dinner with 11 NATO allies that night underscores the fact that these relationships in no way come at the expense of the others," he said.
===========================
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