Category: NATOSource

NATO chief hopes Afghan handover to start in November

By Barry Hatton, the AP

From Barry Hatton, the AP:  NATO’s secretary-general hopes the alliance can begin handing over control of some Afghan provinces to local authorities beginning in November.

Biden’s Influence on Obama’s Afghanistan Policy

By Glenn Thrush, Politico

Petraeus answers why we are in Afghanistan and how to define success in 2011

By Gen. Petraeus, NATO

From Gen. Petraeus, NATO:  It is important periodically for all of our populations to recall that the Coalition went into Afghanistan in late 2001 because the 9/11 attacks were planned in Southern Afghanistan, the initial training of the attackers was carried out in training camps in Afghanistan by Al Qaeda

Prosecutors: Suspect in Russian spy ring confessed

By Tom Hays, the AP

From Tom Hays, the AP:  One of the suspects in an alleged spy ring has confessed to federal agents that he worked for Russia’s intelligence service, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The revelation came on a day when several defendants in the case were making court appearances, and prosecutors announced that they had discovered $80,000 in […]

Taliban to NATO: “Why should we talk if … foreign troops are considering withdrawal?”

By  John Simpson, the BBC

NATO intensifies attacks on Taliban leaders

By Deb Riechman, the AP

From Deb Riechman, the AP:  U.S. and Afghan troops seized a key Taliban figure after a four-hour gunbattle – part of a strategy that NATO officials said Thursday had eliminated more than 100 insurgent leaders in the past four months. The campaign to disrupt the Taliban’s midlevel command structure is moving into high gear just as […]

Poland foresees U.S. interceptors in place by 2018

By Reuters

From Reuters:  The United States will deploy SM-3 interceptor missiles in Poland between 2015 and 2018 under its plan to defend NATO allies in Europe from possible Iranian attack, a Polish official said on Thursday.

Gen. Petraeus meets with NATO Secretary General and Alliance leaders

By NATO

From NATO:  On 1 July, the incoming Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Petraeus, visited NATO Headquarters. He met with the NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and addressed the North Atlantic Council and representatives of the ISAF troop contributing nations.

Uncertain Kyrgyzstan: Rebalancing U.S. Policy

By Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson,the Atlantic Council

From Ross Wilson and Damon Wilson,the Atlantic Council:  [T]he Obama administration and its allies underestimate what is at stake in this far-away country of over five million pinched between Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China.

Russian spy ring suspect jumps bail in Cyprus

By Helena Smith, the Guardian

From Helena Smith, the Guardian:  The Russian espionage drama intensfied tonight as the alleged paymaster in the "deep cover" spy ring failed to answer bail in Cyprus. An arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Metsos, the 11th suspected member of the operation, after he failed to report to a police station in Larnaka, the Guardian […]