Messages In This Digest (17 Messages)

1.: Obama Seeks $708 Billion War Budget, $33 Billion For Afghan War

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:58 pm (PST)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100113/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_war_funding

Associated Press
January 12, 2010

Obama wants $33 billion more for war
By ANNE GEARAN and ANNE FLAHERTY

-Military officials have suggested that the 2011 request would top $700 billion for the first time....
-The 2010 budget contains about $128 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That figure would rise to $159 billion next year under the proposals prepared for Congress.

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $33 billion to fight unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, on top of a record request for $708 billion for the Defense Department next year, The Associated Press has learned.

The administration also plans to tell Congress next month that its central military objectives for the next four years will include winning the current wars while preventing new ones and that its core missions will include both counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.

The administration's Quadrennial Defense Review, the main articulation of U.S. military doctrine, is due to Congress on Feb. 1. Top military commanders were briefed on the document at the Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday. They also received a preview of the administration's budget plans through 2015.

The four-year review outlines six key mission areas and spells out capabilities and goals the Pentagon wants to develop. The pilotless drones used for surveillance and attack missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan are a priority, with a goal of speeding up the purchase of new Reaper drones and expansion of Predator and Reaper drone flights through 2013.

The extra $33 billion in 2010 would mostly go toward the expansion of the war in Afghanistan. Obama ordered an extra 30,000 troops for that war as part of an overhaul of the war strategy late last year.

The request for that additional funding will be sent to Congress at the same time as the record spending request for next year, making war funding an especially difficult pill for some of Obama's Democratic allies.

Military officials have suggested that the 2011 request would top $700 billion for the first time, but the precise figure has not been made public.

U.S. officials outlined the coming requests on condition of anonymity because the budget request will not be sent to Congress until later this month.

Obama's request for more war spending is likely to receive support on Capitol Hill, where Republicans will join moderate Democrats to pass the bill.
....
The 2010 budget contains about $128 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That figure would rise to $159 billion next year under the proposals prepared for Congress.
....
The Pentagon projects that overall defense spending would be $616 billion in 2012; $632 billion in 2013; $648 billion in 2014; and $666 billion in 2015. Congress sets little store by such predictions, which typically have fallen short of actual requests and spending.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expected to testify to Congress about the budget and the policy review in February.

The four-year policy statement is a more important statement of administration goals. For the current wars, the policy statement focuses on efforts to refocus money and talent on beefing up special operations forces, countering weapons of mass destruction and terrorism threats and on cyber security and warfare.

For example, the Pentagon would like to expand special operations forces' aviation by expanding the gunship fleet from 25 to 33.
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2.: Pentagon Orders More Troops For Afghan War Surge

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:59 pm (PST)

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Afghans-Claim-Foreign-Troops-Fired-on-Demonstration--81224432.html

Voice of America News
January 12, 2010

More US Troops Ordered to Afghanistan as Part of Surge

The U.S. Defense Department has ordered more than 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, as part of a surge approved by President Barack Obama.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman Tuesday said 2,600 soldiers, mostly from the Fort Hood, Texas base, will be headed to Afghanistan, accompanied by about 500 support troops.

In Afghanistan, NATO forces said two drone strikes in southern Helmand province late Monday killed 16 suspected militants. A NATO statement said one missile hit a safe house in the Now Zad area, where a large number of insurgents were preparing ammunition. A second strike killed three armed fighters in Nad Ali district.

Also Tuesday, NATO denied allegations by residents of southern Helmand province that foreign troops opened fire on demonstrators protesting the alleged desecration of the Koran.
....
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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3.: Israel Plans Enhanced Role With/In NATO

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:01 pm (PST)

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147877118&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jerusalem Post
January 13, 2010

Israel seeks to influence NATO strategic review
By YAAKOV KATZ

-Israeli-NATO ties have increased dramatically in recent years. Chairman of the Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola visited Israel in November, and the Israeli Navy has announced plans to deploy a missile ship with Active Endeavour, a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea....Israel is also seeking to receive an upgraded status following the conclusion of the Strategic Concept review that will enable Israeli officials to participate in top NATO forums....

Israel is launching a diplomatic initiative in an effort to influence the outcome of NATO's new Strategic Concept which is currently under review by a team of experts led by former United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

On Thursday, the third seminar on the Strategic Concept will open in Oslo and will be attended by officials from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Several weeks ago, a former senior Israeli diplomat met privately with Albright to discuss Israeli interests in the concept that is under review.

The decision to develop a new concept was made during a meeting of NATO heads of state in Strasbourg in April. The Strategic Concept consists of the core NATO documents that establish and reflect the transatlantic consensus, goals and interests. The current concept was formulated in 1999 when NATO consisted of just 19 members, compared to the 28 members it has today.

Under the mandate received by NATO Sec.-Gen. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Albright's team will present its recommendation for a new concept at the alliance's next major summit in October 2010. It will then be evaluated by member countries and approved.

Israel's hope is to get the new concept to focus on the issue of nuclear proliferation and the global war on terror. The concern in Israel, as demonstrated by the criticism it faced following Operation Cast Lead last year, is that European countries have yet to recognize that all western countries, including Israel, are fighting the same war on terror, whether it is in Afghanistan, Iraq or the Gaza Strip.

"We want the focus to be on Iran, nuclear proliferation and the issue of terrorism," one official explained. "There is an understanding that NATO needs to transform itself to remain relevant in a post 9/11 world."

Israeli-NATO ties have increased dramatically in recent years. Chairman of the Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola visited Israel in November, and the Israeli Navy has announced plans to deploy a missile ship with Active Endeavour, a NATO mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea...later this year.

Israel is also seeking to receive an upgraded status following the conclusion of the Strategic Concept review that will enable Israeli officials to participate in top NATO forums even though Israel is not a member of the alliance. Israel is a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which was created in 1994 to foster ties with Middle Eastern countries like Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
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4.: Afghanistan: French Death Toll Reaches 38

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:02 pm (PST)

http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-45333020100112

Reuters
January 12, 2010

Second French soldier dies after Afghan attack

PARIS: A second French soldier has died from wounds he suffered in an attack on a patrol by insurgents in Afghanistan on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.

A ministry spokesman said the man, a captain, died early on Tuesday at the Bagram military hospital at the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.

The first soldier died on Monday after the attack in the Alasay valley, northeast of Kabul, which was the focus of heavy fighting between French forces and insurgents earlier this year.

Monday's deaths meant 38 French soldiers had died in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The NATO-led force in Kabul issued contradictory statements on Monday and Tuesday, first saying the second soldier had died, then saying he had survived but was in serious condition.

Clashes on Monday led to the deaths of five servicemen, including three Americans killed in the south of the country, making it one of the deadliest days in months for Western forces.

(Reporting by Sophie Louet; Writing by Anna Willard; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
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5.: Strategic Concept: Albright, New NATO Push War Clause Re Russia

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:03 pm (PST)

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1524870.php/Eastern-Europe-wants-NATO-security-reassurance

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
January 12, 2010

Eastern Europe wants NATO security reassurance

-Albright said that the 60-year-old alliance needed to make 'a renewal of vow' so 'a centrality of the Article 5' is not questioned.
-Seven members of Albright's expert group attended the Prague seminar, organizers said. The experts are next set to debate the NATO's strategic update in Oslo on Thursday.

Prague: Eastern European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization want the alliance to provide them with a security reassurance at a time when the organization seeks ways to reinvent relations with Russia, officials said Tuesday.

Ex-Soviet satellites that joined NATO in the years after Communism fell in Europe in 1989 want the alliance to make a renewed commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty's Article 5 in its new Strategic Concept, a NATO document that outlines key security goals.

The Article 5 of the organization's 1949 founding treaty obliges members to defend each other if under attack.

'There is no question that an important concept is a reassurance that Article 5 is essential to the NATO alliance, and at the same time it is also very important to reset our relations with Russia,' said the former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, who heads an expert group involved in drafting the document.

Albright was in Prague on Tuesday for a conference pondering how the updated strategic blueprint should address the concerns of NATO's ex-Communist member states that fear a newly assertive Russia.

'It is critical for us that the level of security is the same for all members,' Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout told a joint press conference. 'Meaning that Article 5 ... is somehow re-confirmed.'

Albright said that the 60-year-old alliance needed to make 'a renewal of vow' so 'a centrality of the Article 5' is not questioned.

However, she added, such a reassurance 'goes along' with NATO's plan to 'reset' ties with Russia, which is no longer seen as an enemy.

'We are looking at a variety of structures,' Albright said, without providing details of the planned 'reset'.

The alliance, which updates its strategic blueprint every 10 years, last reworked the document in 1999.

A 12-member expert group chaired by Albright is to make recommendations for the NATO's secretary general, Andres Fogh Rasmussen, who is due to present the final draft at a NATO summit expected to take place in Lisbon in late 2010.

Seven members of Albright's expert group attended the Prague seminar, organizers said. The experts are next set to debate the NATO's strategic update in Oslo on Thursday.
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6.: Albright Brings Global NATO Strategic Concept Tour To Norway

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:03 pm (PST)

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_60543.htm?mode=pressrelease

NATO
January 12, 2010

Norway hosts a seminar on NATO´s Strategic Concept

-Members of the Group of Experts appointed by the Secretary General and Allied civilian and military representatives will be joined by NATO Partners, as well as representatives of the contact countries, officials from other international organisations, think tanks and NGOs, journalists and experts. They will debate different formats of partnerships, including Partnership for Peace, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and the NATO-Russia Council.

The third seminar on the new Strategic Concept will be held at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Oslo, Norway on Thursday, 14th January 2010.

Following in the footsteps of the discussions in Luxembourg and Slovenia the Oslo seminar will be devoted to the future of NATO´s partnerships.

Hosted by Norway the event will be co-organised by Germany, Romania and Spain in co-operation with Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Romanian Diplomatic Institute and Centro de Estudios Internacionales de Barcelona.

Members of the Group of Experts appointed by the Secretary General and Allied civilian and military representatives will be joined by NATO Partners, as well as representatives of the contact countries, officials from other international organisations, think tanks and NGOs, journalists and experts. They will debate different formats of partnerships, including Partnership for Peace, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Cooperation Initiative and the NATO-Russia Council.

The seminar will be presided over by the Hon. Madeleine K. Albright. H.E. Jonas Gahr Store, the Foreign Minister of Norway and H.E. Grete Faremo, the Minister of Defence of Norway will provide, respectively, opening and closing remarks to the conference.
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7.: Ratings At 2-3%: U.S.'s Ukraine Client "Confident Of Victory"

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:04 pm (PST)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100112/157524001.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
January 12, 2010

Yushchenko confident of victory in Ukrainian election

-According to some polls, Yushchenko's rating numbers are below 3%....

Kiev: Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko said on Tuesday he is confident of victory in the January 17 election.

"I have no doubt - I repeat, no doubt - that I will be victorious," he told a news conference.

The president said his reelection was "the only realistic way of standing up for Ukraine and Ukrainians" and continuing the policies he had pursued for the past five years.

He warned that Ukraine was staring dictatorship in the face, with the greatest threat coming from Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Yushchenko said the changes to the constitution made in 2006 had unsettled the system of government in Ukraine and now all the power was concentrated in the hands of the head of government.

Opinion polls point to Viktor Yanukovych, Yushchenko's opponent in the 2004 race, as the leading contender with ratings 10% higher than those of his closest rival Tymoshenko, who supported Yushchenko in 2004 but has since become the president's bitter rival.

According to some polls, Yushchenko's rating numbers are below 3%, but his campaign office earlier suggested those numbers were misleading and his support was being deliberately underreported.

"If you keep repeating that the president's rating numbers are 2%, even his supporters may lose the motivation to vote for him," said Maryna Stavniychuk, deputy head of the president's secretariat.
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8.: NATO Troops Kill At Least Eight Afghan Protesters

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:06 pm (PST)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116010&sectionid=351020403

Press TV
January 13, 2010

Occupiers kill several Afghans at demo, locals say

Locals say troops of the US-led alliance have killed at least eight Afghan civilians at a demonstration organized to protest against the alliance forces' desecration of the Holy Quran.

The mortalities were caused by fire from the alliance forces during the demonstration, which about 2,000 people attended, in the southern province of Helmand, locals said on Tuesday, the German news agency DPA reported.

Residents said the troops had stormed a house and destroyed copies of the Muslim holy book in a local mosque in the province's Garmsir district on Sunday.

"We have proof that they destroyed our Holy Quran. We can show it to [President Hamid] Karzai's government or the foreign forces," said resident Habibullah Jan.

"The people came out of their homes today [Tuesday] to protest this action of foreign forces in a peaceful way, but the Afghan and international forces opened fire on us and killed eight people," Haji Abdul Manan, one of the organizers of the demonstration, was quoted as saying by DPA.

And over 20 people were injured, he added.

"In this demonstration, 13 people died and 25 were wounded. The situation is very bad and the protest is still going on. People are very angry with foreigners because they have desecrated our Holy Quran. Also, they fired on demonstrators. I repeat that many people died and were wounded during the protest," Reuters quoted Haji Jan Gul, who brought some of the wounded to the hospital, as saying.
....
In response to a similar act of desecration in Wardak province in October, angry rallies were held.

Afghanistan is currently grappling with the highest level of violence in the over eight years of US-led military operations.

Thousands of civilians have been killed during exchanges of fire between the alliance forces and the Taliban and also in miscalculated attacks by alliance troops targeting alleged militant hideouts.
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9.: Saudi Troops Killed In Yemen Combat Operation

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:11 pm (PST)

http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1616899.html

Trend News Agency
January 12, 2010

Saudi troops killed at Yemen border

Four Saudi soldiers have been killed in an operation to seize back a border post from Yemeni Houthi fighters, Saudi Arabia's state television has said, AlJazeera reported.

Following the clashes, Saudi forces seized the position back from the fighters and "destroyed" them, the report added on Tuesday.

The latest casualties bring the death toll of Saudi soldiers in the border conflict with the Yemeni fighters to 82. Twenty-one others are reported missing.
....
Saudi Arabia has become increasingly involved in the conflict in Yemen, which is battling the Houthi fighters in the north.

Saudi entered the conflict with an air and ground offensive against the Yemeni rebels on November 5....

The Houthis first took up arms against the Yemeni government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, in 2004, citing political, economic and religious marginalisation by the Saudi and Western-backed administration.

The conflict intensified in August when Yemen's army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Saada.

Aid groups, which have limited access to the northern provinces, say at least 150,000 people have fled their homes since 2004 because of the fighting.
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10.: State Department Hails "Strategic Relations, Great Alliance" With Co

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:15 pm (PST)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/13/content_12800063.htm

Xinhua News Agency
January 13, 2010

Senior U.S. official stresses alliance in Colombia

BOGOTA: A visiting U.S. deputy secretary of state on Tuesday described his country's relationship with Colombia as "great alliance."

James B. Steinberg made the remark after meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at El Uberrimo, northern Colombia.

"The relationship between the two countries is very important," said Steinberg. "It is a strategic relationship and a great alliance not only in the cooperation of security against drug-trafficking and armed groups, but also covering most topics such as economy, social development and culture, which are important for both countries."
....
"The United States supports Colombia's effort to continue constructing democratic security and strive for the well-being of all Colombians," Steinberg said.

The deputy secretary of state will travel to Peru on Wednesday to continue his visit to South American countries.
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11.: U.S. Wants To Provoke Venezuela: Vice President

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:21 pm (PST)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115936&sectionid=351020704

Press TV
January 12, 2010

Caracas: US wants to provoke Venezuela

Caracas says a US plane was met by Venezuelan F-16s and escorted out of its airspace.

Despite US denials of trespassing on Venezuelan airspace, Caracas says Washington wanted to provoke the South American nation into launching an attack.

Venezuelan Vice President Ramon Carrizalez on Monday showed diagrams of US violation on state television.

"We are showing the country and the world that incursions into our airspace are occurring to provoke us, to test our response that would possibly lead to a direct reaction," Carrizalez said.

Last week, President Hugo Chavez said a US aircraft violated his country's airspace after taking off from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.

Chavez accused Washington of trying to provoke his government by sending an American P-3 plane from Curacao to twice enter Venezuelan airspace on Friday.

The plane was met by Venezuelan F-16s and escorted out of Venezuelan airspace, the Venezuelan president added.

Venezuela also made a diplomatic protest to the US and the Netherlands Monday, presenting a protest letter to John Caulfield, charge d'affaires at the US Embassy in Caracas and to Dutch diplomat J.G. van Vloten Dissevelt.

Caulfield denied the accusation, saying a US military plane has not strayed into Venezuelan airspace since 2008, when the US acknowledged what it called an accidental incident involving a Navy plane.
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12.: Leading Russian MP on Serbia And NATO

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 13, 2010 5:39 am (PST)

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=01&dd=13&nav_id=64436

FoNet
January 13, 2010

Russian official on Serbia and NATO

BELGRADE: Head of the Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said that Serbia has to decide on its own whether it wants to join NATO.

He added however that he doubts that the Serb people, after the tragedy they endured during the Alliance bombing of 1999, would want to join NATO.

"I am deeply convinced that the Serbian defense minister, who said that it is good for Serbia to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, was only stating his personal opinion," Kosachev said.

"I believe that such decision should not be made by individuals, even if they are ministers, but that the people should be asked, and ideally, a referendum should be held," the Russian official concluded.
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13.: NATO's Partnerships And Beyond: Drive Into Caucasus, Central Asia

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 13, 2010 5:43 am (PST)

http://www.financiarul.ro/2010/01/13/aurescu-to-attend-conference-on-nato-new-strategic-concept

Financiarul
January 13, 2010

Aurescu to attend conference on NATO New Strategic Concept

-Romania would like to see the final form of the New Strategic Concept also include some other important elements, as the consolidation of NATO interest and development of cooperation with partners in the immediate neighborhood of the Alliance and of Romania, from West Balkans and the extended Black Sea zone, including the South Caucasus and Central Asia....

State secretary for strategic affairs Bogdan Aurescu is to attend on Wednesday and Thursday, in Oslo, the "NATO´s Partnerships and Beyond" seminar, as main speaker within the first panel dedicated to the future of the Alliance´s partnerships, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) informs.

Romania is one of the organizers of this seminar together with Germany, Spain and Norway. This seminar is the third in a series of four NATO "official conferences" aimed at the elaboration of the New Strategic Concept of the Alliance.

The seminar in Oslo represents a concrete way to promote Romania´s special interest in the Alliance´s neighborhood still in the incipient stages of the drafting process of the NATO New Strategic Concept.

According to MAE, Romania is ready to come up with a solid conceptual contribution to the activity of the Group of Experts the Secretary general entrusted with the drafting of the first project of the New Strategic Concept, group coordinated by the former Secretary of State of the United States of America, Madeleine Albright.

From this prospect the event in Norway´s capital represents an opportunity for the Romanian side to present in front of an informed audience an articulated and pragmatic vision on some updated elements on NATO´s agenda focused on the Alliance´s enlargement policy and NATO partnerships reform.

The seminar is co-organized by Romania, Germany, Spain and Norway and is dedicated to NATO´s contribution to the Euro-Atlantic security, to the enlargement process and to the Alliance´s partnerships, subjects of an outstanding importance for Romania. The fourth and last official seminar is planned to be organized at Washington, in February 2010.

In the framework of NSC outlining process Romania will plead in favor of an unequivocal reaffirmation of the collective defence and of Article 5 as NATO´s main responsibilities, for the updating and consolidation of the Alliance´s fundamental tasks contained by the current Strategic Concept adopted in 1999 (security, dissuasion, consultation, crisis management and partnerships) to which the reaction to the new challenge types is to be added, with accent on energy insecurity and missile technologies proliferation.

At the same time, Romania would like to see the final form of the New Strategic Concept also include some other important elements, as the consolidation of NATO interest and development of cooperation with partners in the immediate neighborhood of the Alliance and of Romania, from West Balkans and the extended Black Sea zone, including the South Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the consolidation of NATO partnerships network and continuation of the Alliance´s open door policy, which brought an important contribution to the consolidation of stability and security in Europe.

===========================
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14.: Yemen War: U.S.'s Jones Meets With Saudi King, Defense Minister

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 13, 2010 5:47 am (PST)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116044&sectionid=351020205

Press TV
January 13, 2010

Top Obama adviser meets Saudi King

White House National Security Adviser James Jones has met with Saudi King Abdullah as the Arab country is involved in a military intervention in Yemen.

Jones, arriving in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a regional tour, "discussed a number of issues of mutual interest" with the King on Tuesday, the official SPA news agency announced, without offering further details.

Jones also met Saudi Defense Minister Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.

The meeting comes as Saudi Arabia and the US continue to lend military support to neighboring Yemen in support of its crackdown against the Shia Houthi fighters in north Yemen.
....
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15.: U.S. Missile Shield Chief: Alaska In Strategic Position

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 13, 2010 5:54 am (PST)

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=11813004

KTUU Channel 2
January 13, 2010

Missile defense director says Alaska in strategic position

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: The director for the nation's missile defense agency says Alaska is strategically located for missile defense.

Sen. Begich and Gen. Thomas Katkus were on hand as Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly spoke Tuesday afternoon at the Commonwealth Club.

O'Reilly says the threat is growing, and more countries are developing capacity to build missiles themselves, in addition to missiles being openly available on the arms market.

He says Alaska is the closest point to Iran, North Korea, Southern Asia and other known threats to the U.S. [It is the closest part of the United States to Russia.]

"Alaska is in a strategic position for a large dominance or large percentage of the threats that we are very concerned about, not only today, but ones that portend to present problems for us in the next couple decades," O'Reilly said.

O'Reilley is in Alaska as part of his routine visits to the missile defense complex at Fort Greely.
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16.: 'Launch In Time Of War': Alaska Missile Shield Radar Gets $200 Milli

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 13, 2010 5:58 am (PST)

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/alaska-beat/208-january-12/3617-radar-station-to-get-200-million-upgrade

Alaska Dispatch
January 13, 2010

Radar station to get $200 million upgrade
Joshua Saul

-"In a time of war we would launch," O'Reilly said.

Alaska is an integral part of the nation's missile defense system, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly said at a lunchtime speech earlier today. O'Reilly is the director of the Missile Defense Agency, a research and acquisition agency within the Department of Defense.

O'Reilly reassured Alaskans that Fort Greely will be active for the next thirty years, and also announced that $200 million will be spent to upgrade the radar system at Clear Air Force Station.

Clear Air Force Station is just off the Parks Highway about 80 miles south of Fairbanks. The station will be able to spot incoming missiles which can then be destroyed by interceptors launched from Fort Greely, which is southeast of Fairbanks.

The lunch was hosted by Commonwealth North at the Dena'ina Center, and sitting at the front table with O'Reilly were Sen. Mark Begich and Brig. Gen. Thomas Katkus.

Interestingly, Fort Greely can't participate in any missile tests because the base's environmental impact statement doesn't allow it. In the face of incoming hostile missiles, O'Reilly said, those rules would be set aside and the interceptors would be launched.

"In a time of war we would launch," O'Reilly said.
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