Messages In This Digest (20 Messages)
- 1.
- Estonia: NATO To Discuss Afghan War, Nuclear Arms, Missile Shield From: Rick Rozoff
- 2.
- U.S. To Expand Interceptor Missile Cooperation With Japan From: Rick Rozoff
- 3.
- Germany: Sixty NATO Aircraft In "Fictitious Geo-Political Scenario" From: Rick Rozoff
- 4.
- NATO Military Chief Discusses Afghan War Strategy In Germany From: Rick Rozoff
- 5.
- U.S. Troops Awarded German Medals For NATO's Afghan War From: Rick Rozoff
- 6.
- Serbian Landmark TV Tower Reopens 11 Years After NATO Bombing From: Rick Rozoff
- 7.
- Tauscher: U.S. Missiles In Eastern Europe Despite START II From: Rick Rozoff
- 8.
- Deep-Sea Navy: Germany To Supply Israel With Submarines, Warships From: Rick Rozoff
- 9.
- Energy Transport: Kyrgyzstan Could Be Next Georgia From: Rick Rozoff
- 10.
- U.S. To Deploy Missiles In Poland From: Rick Rozoff
- 11.
- Bulgaria: U.S. Leads Land, Air, Sea Military Training From: Rick Rozoff
- 12.
- U.S. To Start Talks On Basing Missiles In Bulgaria From: Rick Rozoff
- 13.
- Pentagon Pulling Romania Into Joint Strike Fighter Ranks From: Rick Rozoff
- 14.
- Fw: US to launch secret 'space warplane' From: Rick Rozoff
- 15.
- Argentina Makes First Defense Purchase From Russia From: Rick Rozoff
- 16.
- World's Newest Nation: Montenegro DM, Military Chief To Afghanistan From: Rick Rozoff
- 17.
- Bulgaria: Protesters Block Upgrade Of U.S. Miilitary Base From: Rick Rozoff
- 18.
- NATO Welcomes South Korea As 46th Afghan War Troop Contributor From: Rick Rozoff
- 19.
- NATO Chief: No Alternative To Nuclear Arms; Clinton Pushes ABM From: Rick Rozoff
- 20.
- U.S. Pressures NATO To Maintain Nuclear Weapons In Europe From: Rick Rozoff
Messages
- 1.
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Estonia: NATO To Discuss Afghan War, Nuclear Arms, Missile Shield
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 2:43 pm (PDT)
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/nato-ministers-meet-afghan-trainers-nuclear-policy-0
Radio Netherlands
April 21, 2010
NATO ministers to meet on Afghan trainers, nuclear policy
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her NATO counterparts meet in Estonia Thursday to try to drum up more trainers for the Afghan army and discuss the alliance's role in nuclear defence.
The talks in the capital Tallinn, starting at 1030 GMT, will first focus on plans to reform NATO to deal with modern security threats, followed by a working dinner on nuclear and missile defence policy.
They will also mull whether to grant Bosnia-Hercegovina membership action plan status, the penultimate step to joining the 28-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Officials suggest this is unlikely to happen.
Friday's morning session will include talks about cooperation with Russia -- although no Russian officials are due to attend -- and talks among NATO nations and partners fighting the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and their backers in Afghanistan.
Ahead of the meeting, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged the allies to help find 450 new trainers to help build up the Afghan army and police to take responsibility for national security on their own.
"For transition to take place, we need Afghan forces to play their part. Which means we need trainers," he told reporters in Brussels.
"We are still short about 450 trainers. It's a relatively small number. But those trainers have a big effect," he said, and urged the ministers "to see what they can do to free up these mission-critical resources."
Rasmussen said the ministers would also seek to agree "on the principles and decision-making framework" for security duties to be handed from NATO and US-led forces to the Afghans.
NATO leads a force of some 90,000 troops drawn from more than 40 nations and whose aim is to restore stability and democracy to Afghanistan in the face of a virulent insurgency.
Meanwhile, a senior US official said the ministers in Tallinn would be having their first real talks on nuclear policy since the early 1990s.
"It's useful to have this discussion. The world has changed fundamentally," he said. "How are we going to move forward, what are the principles on which our decisions are going to be based?"
"Our principle, and most important guide-post for moving into this discussion is that we don't want to divide the alliance on this issue," he said.
==========================
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- 2.
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U.S. To Expand Interceptor Missile Cooperation With Japan
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 2:44 pm (PDT)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2120396420100421?type=marketsNews
Reuters
April 21, 2010
US says Japan sticks to key missile-shield program
WASHINGTON: Japan remains fully committed to building a linchpin multibillion-dollar missile interceptor with the United States, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency told Congress, even as U.S.-Japanese ties adjust to a new era.
Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly said he had held several high-levels program reviews with government officials since the Democratic Party of Japan's victory in the Aug. 30, 2009, elections for the legislature's lower house.
"They have indicated that they are in full support and their commitments are solid," he told the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, referring to the Standard Missile-3 upgrade program in its fifth year of development.
Published reports from Japan have said the coalition government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama that took power in September plans to reduce missile-defense spending.
Japan already has spent just over $1 billion to help build a more capable SM-3 version, said Richard Lehner, a U.S. Missile Defense Agency spokesman. It is being co-developed with Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co (RTN.N), the world's biggest missile maker.
The new version, dubbed SM-3 Block IIA, is key to U.S. plans to be able to defend all of NATO's European territory from a perceived Iranian ballistic missile threat as soon as about 2018.
It is designed to improve the antimissile's velocity, range and ability to discriminate among a ballistic missile target and any decoys, and would be deployed on land as well as at sea....
O'Reilly said the United States and the Hatoyama government had identified all steps necessary to successfully integrate the upgraded Block IIA SM-3 interceptor.
Its first flight test should be in 2014 and the first intercept test in 2015, he said.
"Within the next year, we will begin our discussions on production arrangements between the United States and Japan," he said.
Since the Democratic Party of Japan's victory, bilateral tensions have arisen over the desire of some Hatoyama government members to change a 2006 U.S.-Japan deal to relocate a controversial U.S. Marine air station to a less densely populated spot on Okinawa.
Japan has acquired from the United States a layered shield....
The SM-3 co-development program represents "not only an area of significant technical cooperation but also the basis for enhanced operational cooperation to strengthen regional security," Bradley Roberts, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, told a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee on April 15.
(Reporting by Jim Wolf, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
===========================
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- 3.
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Germany: Sixty NATO Aircraft In "Fictitious Geo-Political Scenario"
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 2:44 pm (PDT)
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123200630
United States Air Forces in Europe
April 20, 2010
Airmen participate in NATO exercise
by Master Sgt. Keith Houin
U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany: American Airmen are partnering with air forces from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey to participate in Exercise Brilliant Ardent 10 April 12 through 22 here.
Members of the 22nd Fighter Squadron at Spangdhalem Air Base, Germany and the 351st Air Refueling Squadron from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England are participating in the large scale NATO response force air live exercise hosted by German officials.
The exercise scenario is based around a United Nations mandated NATO-led Crisis Response Operation in a fictitious geo-political setting, a scenario specifically designed for this exercise.
Sixty aircraft ranging from fighters, attack aircraft, helicopters, tanker and airborne early warning aircraft are operating from air bases located in Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
The aim of the exercise is to train, test, integrate and validate the interoperability, readiness and capabilities of NATO Response Force 15 nominated air forces and associated command structures by exercising NATO response force missions and tasks in a challenging and realistic scenario.
In addition to air assets, tactical employment of theater missile defense and ground based air defense assets will be extensively exercised.
The NATO response force concept provides the alliance with a robust capability to meet the challenging security environment of the 21st century by providing a highly trained and agile force, at high readiness, able to deploy at short notice wherever and whenever directed to do so by the North Atlantic Council.
The NATO response force comprises deployable NATO land, maritime and air forces provided by nations on a rotational basis.
===========================
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- 4.
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NATO Military Chief Discusses Afghan War Strategy In Germany
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:13 pm (PDT)
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5490172,00.html
Deutsche Welle
April 21, 2010
NATO'S top commander in Afghanistan visits Germany to discuss new strategy
The commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has traveled to Berlin to convince German leaders of NATO's new "partnering" strategy adopted in the fight against the Taliban insurgency.
Following talks with German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and with members of the parliamentary defense committee, US General Stanley McChrystal said stronger participation by Afghan forces was crucial to create lasting security for the war-torn country.
....
McChrystal praised German troops for their work in the north of Afghanistan, adding that the Bundeswehr deployment to the troubled country had met with "great success."
He said Germany "remains a very important partner for our work in Afghanistan," and that 2010 would be a "critical year" in efforts to stabilize the country.
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan troops increasingly carry out joint operations - a strategy that is viewed with skepticism in Germany after four German soldiers were killed in such an operation last week.
The new strategy is now also forcing German troops to leave their bases in northern Afghanistan and, together with Afghan forces, fight the Taliban insurgency in rural regions.
New dangers
Defense Minister Guttenberg said such sacrifices would have to be made if ISAF was to pull out by 2012.
"The new strategy is as dangerous and risky as the entire Afghanistan mission," he said....
Guttenberg also confirmed that Germany would continue operating in a position of leadership in Afghanistan, adding that Berlin remained committed to the mission despite dwindling public support at home.
"We want to continue with our responsibility of leading as we have been doing," he said, adding that everything would be done "to guarantee the best possible protection and the best possible equipment" for German troops.
Earlier in the day, Guttenberg and McChrystal laid wreaths at a German armed forces memorial at the Defense Ministry in memory of the four Bundeswehr soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week. 43 German soldiers have died so far during the Afghanistan mission.
With over 4,000 troops, Germany has the third largest military contingent in Afghanistan behind the United States and Great Britain.
===========================
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- 5.
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U.S. Troops Awarded German Medals For NATO's Afghan War
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:38 pm (PDT)
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69506
Stars and Stripes
April 21, 2010
Germany honors 14 U.S. troops
-The Gold Cross medal is one of Germany’s highest awards for valor, and this is the first time foreign troops have ever been given this award.
Fourteen U.S. soldiers were honored Wednesday for risking their lives to help German soldiers in a firefight, according to The Associated Press.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal accepted the country’s Gold Cross on behalf of the soldiers after meeting with German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg in Berlin.
The Gold Cross medal is one of Germany’s highest awards for valor, and this is the first time foreign troops have ever been given this award.
U.S. medics braved fire from Taliban fighters to help bring wounded Germans to safety near the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan on April 2.
A German army detachment was patrolling southwest of the city when it was attacked, according to AP.
German troops and Afghan police reportedly exchanged fire with their attackers for an hour, with fighting resuming three hours later. A local government representative estimated there were about 200 Taliban fighters.
The Americans were “more than brave to save the lives of our men,” Guttenberg said in a visit to the country after the attack.
After meeting with McChrystal on Wednesday, Guttenberg expressed his support for the mission in Afghanistan and said he would provide his troops with the “best possible protection and equipment,” according to the website of the Hamburg newspaper Die Zeit.
Germany is a key partner in the coalition in Afghanistan, maintaining more than 4,000 soldiers in the north. A total of 42 German soldiers have died in the country since 2002, according to www.icasualties.org.
===========================
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- 6.
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Serbian Landmark TV Tower Reopens 11 Years After NATO Bombing
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:42 pm (PDT)
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/europe/1674064.html
Trend News Agency
Deustche Presse-Agentur
April 21, 2010
Belgrade's landmark TV tower reopens after NATO destruction
One of Belgrade's landmarks - the TV tower on Mount Avala - was reopened Wednesday evening, 11 years after it was demolished in NATO's bombing of Serbia.
The reconstruction of Avala tower began three years ago and cost around 13 million dollars. The money was obtained through donations and state grants, dpa reported.
The new tower, opened in the presence of Serbia's highest ranking officials, is the exact replica of the previous 204-meter high tower, built in 1965.
In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia....
Many public buildings, including power and water plants and Serbian state television RTS were bombed. More than 3000 people were killed and the damage was estimated at 30 billion dollars.
Nine years after the bombing, the Albanian majority in Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
Serbia, backed by Russia, does not recognise Kosovo.
===========================
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- 7.
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Tauscher: U.S. Missiles In Eastern Europe Despite START II
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:50 pm (PDT)
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15051594&PageNum=0
Itar-Tass
April 22, 2010
New START not to constrain US missile defence programmes - Tauscher
WASHINGTON: The new START Treaty, signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Prague on April 8, won’t constrain U.S. missile defence programmes, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher said.
“The new START Treaty does not constrain U.S. missile defense programs. The United States will continue to improve our missile defenses, as needed, to defend ourselves, our deployed forces, and our allies and partners,” Tauscher said at Atlantic Council Panel Discussion in Washington on Wednesday.
She noted that Russia’s unilateral statement on a possible secession from the treaty if the U.S. missile defence threatens its security “is not an integral part of the New START Treaty. It’s not legally-binding. It won’ t constrain U.S. missile defence programmes.”
===========================
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- 8.
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Deep-Sea Navy: Germany To Supply Israel With Submarines, Warships
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:54 pm (PDT)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124019§ionid=351020202
Press TV
April 22, 2010
Germany set to sell Israel submarines
New reports say Israel is planning to establish a deep-sea navy and is negotiating with Germany over the purchase of warships and submarines.
According to a report published by United Press International, Germany will supply Israel with three more Dolphin class attack submarines, several warships, and possibly two MEKO A-100 corvettes.
The MEKO variant sought by the Tel Aviv regime costs an estimated $300 million.
The warship, with a range of 4,635 miles, can carry one medium-size helicopter and 24 weapons systems — 16 ship-to-shore and eight anti-ship missile launchers adapted to US weapons as well as air-defense missiles and automatic cannon.
Citing an unnamed Israeli source, the UPI report said that the Israeli navy would like even more Dolphins.
"Our ideal number would be nine — enough to ensure we have the necessary assets at sea to cover all relevant threats and targets," UPI quoted the source as saying.
Israel had begun the negotiations over the program in October 2007 when the Israel Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi visited Berlin.
The expansion program, which will transform the regime's navy into a deep-water navy, has provoked outrage among German opposition parties, including the Social Democrats, who say weapons should not be sent to "crisis zones."
However, Germany has provided special discounts on arms sales to Israel in the past. The Tel Aviv regime's 2006 order for two Dolphin class submarines was approved despite the Social Democrats' opposition to the deal.
===========================
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- 9.
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Energy Transport: Kyrgyzstan Could Be Next Georgia
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" r_rozoff@yahoo.com r_rozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:06 pm (PDT)
http://theenergycollective.com/TheEnergyCollective/63388
The Energy Collective
April 17, 2010
New Options For Kyrgyz Engagement on Energy Security in Central Asia
by Andrew Holland
-The new Kyrgyz regime has thus far promised to cooperate with the US government in securing Manas, but there has been little speculation of how the coup will affect Central Asia’s energy industry....Skilful manoeuvring on Kyrgyzstan’s part now could secure its place as an integral transit route as Georgia has in the recent past.
The recent coup in Kyrgyzstan came on the heels of the completion of the Asia Gas Pipeline in December 2009, a project that is unprecedented in scale and extent of collaboration among regional powers.
The coup is still causing reverberations throughout Central Asia - a region increasingly dependent upon uninterrupted energy transit routes to China, Russia, and the West. Though it has no oil or natural gas, the now deposed President Bakiyev would have done well to leverage Kyrgyzstan’s strategic location to frame itself as a critically important transit route between oil-rich Kazakhstan and gas-rich Uzbekistan and their fastest growing customer - China.
Instead, the pipeline, which traverses Turkmen, Uzbek, Kazakh and Chinese territory, noticeably bypasses Kyrgyzstan. This can be attributed to early difficulties and missteps in negotiating favourable contract terms.
However, Kyrgyzstan’s failure to market itself as a desirable transit route means that is has not cashed in on the recent growth in Central Asia’s energy sector, even though a glance at a map would show that it should be particularly well placed to receive some of China’s increased investment.
China’s interests in the region are an attempt to secure oil and gas supplies to continue and sustain its steady economic growth. It currently depends on sea access for 90% of its imports, which presents a critical threat to its energy security. The Asia Gas Pipeline and a second Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline will expand inland fuel transport capacity well beyond the current 10%. Securing crude oil is a top priority in Chinese energy policy as daily imports have grown from 2005 levels of 3.5 million barrels-per-day to 9 million bpd today.
Though they share a common border, Kyrgyzstan has no foreseeable plans to deepen its economic and infrastructural ties with China. Given that Kyrgyztsan has had difficulty meeting its own domestic power needs in the past, it would seriously behove the interim government to reach out to China on pipeline construction as they have to the US on automatically extending the Manas air base contract. The new Kyrgyz regime has thus far promised to cooperate with the US government in securing Manas, but there has been little speculation of how the coup will affect Central Asia’s energy industry.
Moreover, as Central Asian and Chinese leaders have grown closer and established deeper diplomatic and economic ties, Kyrgyzstan has remained isolated (note that Bakiyev is the notable Central Asian leader not pictured with Chinese President Hu Jintao).
Skilful manoeuvring on Kyrgyzstan’s part now could secure its place as an integral transit route as Georgia has in the recent past.
Kyrgyzstan’s best option at present is to reinvigorate its relationship with neighbouring states. Establishing a friendlier and more pragmatic regional outlook will both reassure neighbouring governments and lay the foundations for meaningful progress on energy infrastructure development in the future.
===========================
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- 10.
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U.S. To Deploy Missiles In Poland
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" r_rozoff@yahoo.com r_rozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:09 pm (PDT)
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/04/22/6740813.html
Voice of Russia
April 22, 2010
US missiles to be deployed in Poland
A Patriot missile battery will be located in Morag, Poland on May 24th says Poland’s Defense Ministry spokesman. The battery will be operated by a US squad. US presence in Poland can be expanded with a likely deployment of an anti-missile complex in Morag.
Earlier reports said the US missile shield elements could reach Poland in March–April 2010.
Morag is in close proximity to the Polish border with Russia’s Kaliningrad Region.
===========================
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- 11.
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Bulgaria: U.S. Leads Land, Air, Sea Military Training
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:21 pm (PDT)
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=217971
Xinhua News Agency
April 21, 2010
Bulgaria, U.S. hold joint military training
SOFIA: Bulgaria and the United States began a 12-day joint military training, which will end on April 30, the Bulgarian Defense Ministry and the U.S. Embassy to Sofia jointly said Monday.
The training codenamed “Thracian Spring 2010” is held near the Bulgaria's second-largest city of Plovdiv and in the Yambol region. There are located two U.S. air bases in Bulgaria, Graf Ignatievo and Bezmer, respectively.
Military personnel and equipment from the Bulgarian Air Force, Land Forces' Special Forces and the Bulgarian Navy will participate in the training while the U.S. units will include U.S. Air Force Europe personnel and C-130 Hercules aircraft.
During the training, Bulgarian Land Forces paratroopers will perform day and night-time parachute jumps from C-130 Hercules aircraft. Military personnel from the Bulgarian Air Force will also engage in air target practice involving U.S. aircraft.
The joint training Thracian Spring 2010 will provide Land Forces, Air Force and Navy personnel and units the opportunity to train for future missions, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense and the U.S. embassy said. The complex training will also contribute to military preparedness and improve interoperability in an international environment.
The two countries signed an agreement in 2006, allowing U.S. troops to be deployed in four locations in Bulgaria, and since then every year U.S. and Bulgarian soldiers work and train together at the joint training facilities of Graf Ignatievo, Bezmer and Novo Selo. ===========================
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- 12.
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U.S. To Start Talks On Basing Missiles In Bulgaria
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:24 pm (PDT)
http://waz.euobserver.com/887/29904
EUobserver
April 21, 2010
Bulgaria ready to host elements of US missile shield
Vesselin Zhelev
Bulgaria has joined neighbouring Romania in offering to host elements of a future US anti-ballistic missile defence system.
....
Prime Minister Boiko Borisov made this point in a meeting with US President Barack Obama in Prague on 8 April. "It is of utmost interest for Bulgaria to be included in the missile defense", Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov said in an interview for the Sofia daily, Dnevnik.
....
Technical talks on the configuration of the system and the parts to be located on the Balkans are due to begin in the second half of this year, Mr Mladenov said.
Mr Obama scrapped plans by his predecessor George W. Bush to install radars in the Czech Republic and 11 interceptor rockets in Poland as a European arm of a US global missile shield. Mr Obama wants missile defence to be a multilateral, Nato project. The Aliance's foreign ministers are set to discuss Washington's ideas at a meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, later this week. At the same time, the Obama administration is conducting bilateral consultations with allies eligible to deploy parts of the system.
The US president's change of tack has helped him forge a deal with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev to further cut strategic nuclear arms arsenals. But Russia has warned it might put that treaty on ice if it feels threatened by Washington's missile defence plans.
While Washington insists that ballistic interceptors are purely defensive, Moscow sees them as a vehicle to give the US strategic supremacy and skew the current nuclear arms balance.
Russia reacted nervously months ago when US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Warlick revealed that behind-the-scenes missile shield talks were underway with Sofia. Mr Borisov would not confirm his statement at the time.
Russia has in the past criticised Bulgaria's decision to host three US military bases, which are currently used for logistics and to train troops bound for Iraq or Afghanistan.
During the Cold War, Bulgaria used to be the staunchest Soviet ally on the Balkans. The collapse of the Soviet bloc however led to its joining Nato in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
Since then, Bulgaria has been walking a tight rope in its relations with Russia on whose energy supplies it is heavily dependent.
===========================
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- 13.
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Pentagon Pulling Romania Into Joint Strike Fighter Ranks
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:32 pm (PDT)
http://businessneweurope.eu/storyf2067/BLACK_SEA_BLOG_Romania_jets_into_bed_with_the_US
Business News Europe
April 21, 2010
BLACK SEA BLOG: Romania jets into bed with the US
-Inevitably, any defence procurement contains a huge political element. The acquisition of the F-16s will actually be a first step in Romania becoming part of the US' long-term F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, which will see it receive its first deliveries of the cutting–edge fighter jet designed and built by Lockheed Martin, with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems as major partners, around 2020. Basically, Romania is hitching its defence wagon to the Americans; as analysts point out, you can only switch to F-35s if you have flown F-16s.
-The current US ambassador, Mark Gitenstein, has ties to F-16 maker Lockheed Martin, after lobbying on behalf of it and other defence contractors to Congress when he was a partner with the law firm Mayer Brown.
And the US lobby's tentacles reach deep inside the Romanian establishment.
For a country desperately trying to convince an increasingly sceptical EU that it's finally getting a grip on its endemic corruption, Romania's decision to scrap a promised transparent tender for fighter jets and instead propose buying $1.3bn worth of second-hand US F-16 planes appears to many to be a funny way of going about it.
The ensuing revelations in the weeks since the Romanian president's office announced on March 23 that after a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council (CSAT, in Romanian initials) - an unelected advisory board that has no executive powers but is very influential by dint of its appointment by the country's president - it had been decided to send a proposal to acquire 24 used F-16 fighters to parliament for a vote, has only heightened the murkiness surrounding the deal and stoked the controversy.
At the heart of the matter is President Traian Basescu's assertion that the reason to recommend buying the second-hand jets from the US is purely economic. On April 12, Basescu said on live late-night television that of course the Romanian military wants to replace its aging MIG 21 Lancer planes with new Gripen or Eurofighter jets, two of the main competitors in the tender that had been promised by the Romanian government since it launched the request for information in 2008, but they would just have to make do with the old F-16s, because the country is just emerging from recession and has a very tight budget.
That's true: Romania's finances are in a mess and the government is keeping things running with the help of 20bn euros in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the EU and others. However, the claim that the F-16 deal would save taxpayer money has been somewhat undermined by Saab, the Swedish maker of the Gripen fighters, on April 15 publicly releasing the bid it had intended to make in the tender, which tells a rather different story. "We made sure MPs [members of parliament] have the details of our offer so they can debate it properly and we also decided to go public with it so the media and Romanian public can make a comparison with the US offer," Richard Smith, Saab marketing director for Gripen in Romania, tells bne. "If there's not going to be a tender and only a debate in parliament, then MPs should have all the information available to make a legitimate vote."
Basically, Saab's offer involves the same number of planes, 24 new Gripen C/D multirole jets, for the same price, 1bn euros. Given the jets are new, the Romanian military won't have to spend money modernising them, which it would have to do with the old F-16 jets the US is hawking.
Saab has also offered a number of sweeteners, such as offsetting (a kind of industrial compensation that the US has said it won't provide) 100% of the value of the contract with Romanian companies; a 15-year repayment plan (the US requires the money upfront); and low interest rate finance through the Swedish National Debt Office. Mats Aberg, Sweden's ambassador to Romania, also pointed out to AP that the Gripen jets are smaller than F-16s, so Romania wouldn't have to adapt its runways to use them.
This suggests that price is not the only determinant in the president's calculations. And if that's the case, then what else is?
Powerful lobby
Inevitably, any defence procurement contains a huge political element. The acquisition of the F-16s will actually be a first step in Romania becoming part of the US' long-term F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, which will see it receive its first deliveries of the cutting–edge fighter jet designed and built by Lockheed Martin, with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems as major partners, around 2020. Basically, Romania is hitching its defence wagon to the Americans; as analysts point out, you can only switch to F-35s if you have flown F-16s.
Experts on the European side also acknowledge the heft and skill of the US lobby in these matters. The US brings a certain lobbying power that individual EU nations simply can't match. "One of the problems that Gripen and other European makers have is that we don't go in with the EU lobby at our backs, it's always the aircraft manufacturer's government, in our case Sweden," admits Saab's Smith. "If a US president makes a phone call, then it’s a serious conversation, and the US ambassador is extremely powerful in that respect."
The current US ambassador, Mark Gitenstein, has ties to F-16 maker Lockheed Martin, after lobbying on behalf of it and other defence contractors to Congress when he was a partner with the law firm Mayer Brown.
And the US lobby's tentacles reach deep inside the Romanian establishment.
While the Romanian taxpayer is unlikely to benefit from any decision by parliament to buy the old US jets, certain Romanian individuals - and allies of the president – clearly will. Upgrading the old F-16s will mean big contracts, the list of possible contractors for which, Jane's Defense Weekly says, includes Elbit Systems, the Israeli company that, through its Fort Worth, Texas subsidiary, is one of the suppliers of the F-16 avionics.
Head of Elbit Systems in Romania is Dudu Ionescu, a former defence minister and interior minister. Then there's General Constantin Degeratu, who only retired as senior security and defence advisor to President Basescu on December 31, 2009 before taking up his new position as managing director and CEO for MIC & Associates, a US consultancy that lobbies for, amongst others, US defence firms vying for business in Central and Eastern Europe.
....
While analysts like Niels Schnecker, a former F-16 American pilot working in Romania, argue the investment in US jets will help Romania's military further integrate to Nato standards and buying the Gripen fighter would be like buying a restaurant kitchen to fit in a flat ("it's cool, but isn't it an exaggeration?"), the Europeans coolly point out that such a decision would be better arrived at after an open tender. "If Romania decides they want to go in one strategic direction with the US, then so be it. But I believe there should be some kind of open, transparent process to get there," says Saab's Smith.
....
===========================
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- 14.
-
Fw: US to launch secret 'space warplane'
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:39 pm (PDT)
--- On Wed, 4/21/10, Global Network <globalnet@mindspring.com> wrote:
From: Global Network <globalnet@mindspring.com>
Subject: US to launch secret 'space warplane'
To: "Peaceworks" <peaceworks@lists.riseup.net>
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 9:10 PM
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US to launch secret 'space warplane'
Mon, 19 Apr 2010
Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123813§ionid=3510203
An artist's conception of the X-37
The United States Air Force has announced that it will launch a secret space plane that has sparked speculation about the militarization of space.
The Pentagon has set April 21 [delayed until April 22] as the date for the launch of the robotic space plane known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), which is a reusable unmanned plane capable of long outer space missions at low orbits.
Since the nature of the project is shrouded in mystery, defense analysts allege that the US military is building the first generation of US 'space Predator drones' that will build up the United States' space armada, the Christian Science Monitor wrote in a recent article.
Military experts argue that the US Department of Defense would not have saved NASA's costly X-37B project, which had been scrapped, if it did not have a military application.
They say the US wants to maintain a leading role in space via the development of the new 'space weapon' at a time when other countries like China are expanding their space programs.
However, US military officials maintain that the X-37B will only be used for transporting payloads and facilitating space experiments.
The OTV is capable of supporting a range of tests, the Air Force spokesperson for the project said earlier at the 26th National Space Symposium.
"The first mission will emphasize proving technologies necessary for long duration reusable space vehicles with autonomous reentry and landing capabilities," Angie Blair added.
She went on to say that the "specific details of the OTV capabilities, limitations and vulnerabilities" remain classified.
The X-37B can stay at an orbit between 200 and 800 kilometers for around 270 days before landing automatically at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, reports say.
The location of the mission control center for the Boeing-made space vehicle is also a classified secret, but Blair says that Air Force Space Command's 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron (AFSPC) will run the operation.
Military space specialist Professor Roger Handberg, who is the chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, told Space.com that the X-37B project may signify continued U.S. Air Force interest in a rapid response vehicle along the lines of the long-proposed space maneuver vehicle.
He added that the project could be viewed "as the logical extension of the push into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) where vehicles used for observation have moved into weapon carriers and various other missions, many classified."
"From the perspective of international observers, especially in space-aspiring states such as China, the X-37B program just reinforces their view that the U.S. is pushing to gain first mover advantage in rapid response, including possible weaponization of space using this vehicle or a derivative," Handberg noted.
Political analysts say that the X-37B project could be interpreted as a violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 if the space plane is used for military purposes.
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, officially known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, states that the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind; states shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner; the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes; astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind; states shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and states shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.
Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty states: "A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment."
In addition, a proposal has been put forward for a Space Preservation Treaty that would ban all space weapons, but no country has signed the treaty so far.
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)
- 15.
-
Argentina Makes First Defense Purchase From Russia
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:53 pm (PDT)
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4592392&c=EUR&s=AIR
Defense News
April 21, 2010
Argentina Makes First Defense Buy From Russia
By NABI ABDULLAEV
MOSCOW: Argentina will buy two Mi-171E transport helicopters from Russia, the first defense deal between the two countries, according to the RIA Novosti, Russian official news agency.
Argentina's Defense Ministry and Russia's Rosoboronexport government arms export agency signed a contract, worth 20 million euros ($30 million), for the two helicopters on April 15 during the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the Latin American country, also the first by a Russian leader.
The two countries signed 10 agreements, including on the development of Argentina's nuclear energy sector by Russian companies and the use of the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass), amounting to billions of dollars.
Russia and Argentina signed an agreement on military technical cooperation in 2004 and created a relevant intergovernmental commission in 2008. At the commission hearings, Argentinian officials have said they intend to buy Russian aircraft and anti-aircraft defense systems.
With that deal, Argentina became the eighth Latin American country to buy Russian weapons, along with Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia.
Meanwhile, Rosoboronexport delivered to Brazil on April 18 the first three of 12 Mi-35M (NATO codename Hind) attack helicopters ordered in 2008, Rosoboronexport said in a statement posted April 19 on its website. Another three helicopters will be delivered to the Brazilian Air Force later this year.
The heavyweight Mi-35M, which Russian officials say is the only helicopter capable of combining combat, transportation, troop-carrying and air ambulance functions, has won a Brazilian $1.5 billion tender, reportedly beating EADS' Tiger and the Italo-Turkish AW-TAI A129 Mongoose.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/04/21/6731893.html
Voice of Russia
April 21, 2010
Russia and Venezuela create joint venture
Russia and Venezuela has set up a joint venture, PetroMiranda, to develop one of the world’s richest oil fields Hunin-6 on the Orinoco River. The joint venture was created by the National Oil Consortium and a subsidiary of the Venezuelan National Oil Company.
The National Oil Consortium embraces on parity basis the Russian “Gazprom Neft”, “LUKOIL”, “Rosneft”, “Surgutneftegaz” and “UNK-BP”.
It has paid Venezuela the initial 600-million-dollar installment for the right to participate in the joint venture.
Next in the joint project is expected to be a decree by the president of Venezuela to provide “PetroMiranda” with exploitation rights.
===========================
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- 16.
-
World's Newest Nation: Montenegro DM, Military Chief To Afghanistan
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:00 pm (PDT)
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n217259
Focus News Agency
April 20, 2010
Montenegro: Defense minister plans his first visit to Afghanistan
Podgorica: Montenegrin Defense Minister Boro Vucinic will visit Montenegrin troops in Afghanistan in May, Deputy Defense Minister Drasko Jovanovic announced on Tuesday, Serbian Media S radio station reports.
Vice-admiral Dragan Samardzic, chief of general staff of the Montenegrin Armed Forces, will accompany Vucinic to Afghanistan.
FOCUS News Agency reminds that Montenegro joined NATO mission in Afghanistan (ISAF) at the beginning of March 2010. The Montenegrin troops there are 31. They will remain in Afghanistan over the next six months within the Command North, which is headed by Germany.
===========================
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- 17.
-
Bulgaria: Protesters Block Upgrade Of U.S. Miilitary Base
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:08 pm (PDT)
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=115456
Sofia News Agency
April 21, 2010
Bulgarian Builders Protest at US Training Ground Escalates
-[P]olice warn they will use force if the demonstrators don't lift the blockade.
Representatives of Bulgarian construction companies are staging a new protest rally on Wednesday at the US military training ground in Novo Selo over unpaid work wages.
The Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, reports that about 100 people have blocked the nearby major southern Bulgarian road junction known as “Petolachkata.”
The reason behind the escalating protests of the 21 companies are the latest statements coming from the Defense Ministry, which has jurisdiction over the US training ground, the organizers say.
The companies are still waiting to be paid BGN 3.8 M for construction work they have completed as building contractors. They say the contractor, the German company Bilfinger Berger, owes the money, and demand that the US Army Corps of Engineers, which finances the Novo Selo training ground, execute the necessary control over the carrying out of the contract.
The Defense Ministry's response to the demonstrators had been advice to file a claim in court and seek their rights through the judicial system.
The businesses insist the Novo Selo facility is illegal because it does not have a building permit and construction control, and demand its freezing until all necessary paperwork is issued. They now say they have obtained information the paperwork in question has been signed in a hurry by the Ministry after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov ordered a probe of the legal compliance of the construction works.
BNR reports that traffic in the area is diverted while the rally is to continue Thursday as well.
The governor of the Sliven Region is on his way and has said he would notify Borisov about the developments while the police warn they will use force if the demonstrators don't lift the blockade.
===========================
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- 18.
-
NATO Welcomes South Korea As 46th Afghan War Troop Contributor
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:45 am (PDT)
http://www.defence.gov.au/media/DepartmentalTpl.cfm?CurrentId=10177
Australian Government
Department of Defence
April 22, 2010
REPUBLIC OF KOREA JOINS ISAF as A NON NATO CONTRIBUTING NATION
The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, today acknowledged that the NATO Secretary General has formally welcomed the Republic of Korea (ROK) as the 46th contributor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
Following an offer by the South Korean Government in November 2009 to deploy a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to Parwan province, the relevant certification processes have been completed and the ROK has been officially recognised as a non‑NATO ISAF Contributing Nation.
“Australia is committed to the NATO-led ISAF mission to stabilise Afghanistan, with around 1550 Australian Defence Force personnel deployed there,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
“We warmly welcome the Republic of Korea as a non-NATO ISAF Contributing Nation and look forward to assisting the ROK PRT prepare for its deployment.
“The ROK team will comprise 50-70 civilians, 30-50 police officers and 200-400 infantry troops. The troops will be tasked with protection of the PRT and will not play a combat role.”
Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. Our military contribution is part of a Whole-of-Government effort....
===========================
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- 19.
-
NATO Chief: No Alternative To Nuclear Arms; Clinton Pushes ABM
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:52 am (PDT)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iBbuin-YJrDmNkhbMV-EvUYCY7xQ
Agence France-Presse
April 22, 2010
NATO ministers to meet on Afghan trainers
By Lachlan Carmichael
TALLINN: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived here Thursday for talks with her NATO counterparts about the alliance's role in nuclear defence and ways to drum up more trainers for the Afghan army.
The gathering in the Estonian capital Tallinn will first focus on plans to reform NATO to deal with modern security threats, followed by a working dinner on nuclear and missile defence policy.
"If we look at today's world, then there is no alternative to nuclear arms in NATO's deterrent capability," NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Estonian public television.
"My personal opinion is that the stationing of US nuclear weapons in Europe is part of deterrence to be taken seriously," he said.
A senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Clinton that at the dinner with her counterparts, she would build on US-sponsored efforts to reduce nuclear arms as well as tackle "the question of non-strategic nuclear weapons in NATO."
He did not elaborate.
But Germany, Belgium and several other countries appear intent on calling for the United States to remove its tactical nuclear weapons, something Washington is reluctant to do without Russia cutting its tactical arsenal.
There are no official figures published but there are thought to be some 240 US nuclear weapons scattered around Europe in five NATO nations; Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
Another senior US official said earlier it would be NATO's first real talks on nuclear policy since the early 1990s.
"Our principle, and most important guide-post for moving into this discussion is that we don't want to divide the alliance on this issue," he said.
Friday's morning session will include talks about cooperation with Russia - although no Russian officials are due to attend - and talks among NATO nations and partners fighting the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and their backers in Afghanistan.
Clinton is scheduled to have talks with Zalmai Rassoul, the new Afghan foreign minister.
Rasmussen urged the allies to help find 450 new trainers to help build up the Afghan army and police to take responsibility for national security on their own.
"For transition to take place, we need Afghan forces to play their part. Which means we need trainers," he told reporters in Brussels before leaving for Tallinn.
"We are still short about 450 trainers. It's a relatively small number. But those trainers have a big effect," he said, and urged the ministers "to see what they can do to free up these mission-critical resources."
Rasmussen said the ministers would also seek to agree "on the principles and decision-making framework" for security duties to be handed from NATO and US-led forces to the Afghans.
NATO leads a force of some 90,000 troops drawn from more than 40 nations and whose aim is to restore stability and democracy to Afghanistan in the face of a virulent insurgency.
A senior US official told reporters on the plane from Washington to Tallinn that Clinton also wanted to discuss with allies a long-term NATO commitment to a civilian presence in Afghanistan.
US officials said US plans for deploying a shield against missiles from rogue states such as Iran would also be discussed, despite lingering concerns in Moscow that missile defense posed a threat to Russia.
"People agree missile defense is necessary and people agree we have a good plan for moving forward," a Clinton aide told reporters on the plane.
But the allies must decide "who does what," the command and control structure and how to share costs, the official said.
NATO has grown to 28 members after three waves of expansion in ex-communist eastern Europe that began in 1999. Estonia was admitted in 2004, 13 years after breaking free from the crumbling Soviet Union.
Washington "wants to see a more efficient and streamlined alliance," a US official said.
===========================
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- 20.
-
U.S. Pressures NATO To Maintain Nuclear Weapons In Europe
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Thu Apr 22, 2010 6:14 am (PDT)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/world/europe/23diplo.html
New York Times
April 22, 2010
U.S. Urging NATO to Maintain Nuclear Deterrent
By MARK LANDLER
TALLINN, Estonia: Fresh off signing a strategic nuclear arms deal with Russia, the United States is parrying a push by NATO allies to withdraw its aging stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.
At a meeting of foreign ministers of NATO countries here, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries are prodding the United States to begin negotiations with Russia for steep reductions in so-called nonstrategic weapons — mostly aerial bombs which, in the case of the United States, are stored in underground vaults on air bases in five NATO countries.
But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected to urge caution in remarks to the ministers on Thursday evening. A senior American official said she would underscore the need for NATO to maintain a deterrent capability and the need for the alliance to act together on this issue. The Obama administration is also pushing for NATO to embrace the American missile-defense system in Eastern Europe as a core mission of the alliance.
....
The meeting comes at a time when NATO’s 28 members are rethinking much of the rationale for this Cold War alliance. The United States, for its part, is pushing to streamline NATO’s bureaucracy and make it more responsive to 21st-century threats in places like Afghanistan.
American officials say that NATO has grown into a sprawling institution with 320 committees, 14 agencies, 6,000 employees, and an annual budget of some 5 billion euros, or 6.7 billion dollars. They would like it to spend less at its headquarters in Brussels and funnel more money to combat missions in Afghanistan.
“This alliance is bloated,” the American official said. “It needs to be reorganized for the 21st century.”
....
On Thursday, Mrs. Clinton met with Estonia’s foreign minister, Urmas Paet, and reiterated America’s commitment to defend it and other NATO allies from aggression. Estonia...was more recently targeted by a sophisticated cyber attack, which its government believes originated inside the Russian government.
“He’s old enough to remember the Soviet occupation,” Mrs. Clinton said of Mr. Paet, who turned 36 this week.
“We believe there is no sphere of influence, that there is no veto power that Russia or any country has over any country in Europe, or in this region, concerning membership in NATO,” she said.
Mrs. Clinton also had stern words for Syria, which was accused by the Israeli government last week of selling long-range Scud missiles to the radical Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
....
===========================
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