Category: Blogs

NATO Secretary General welcomes progress on Afghan transition

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  I welcome President Karzai’s announcement of the fourth group of Afghan provinces, cities and districts to undergo transition in the coming months. With this decision, the Afghan security forces will be taking the lead for security for 87% of the Afghan population and 23 of the 34 Afghan provinces.

US Ambassador to NATO urges European allies to spend Afghan withdrawal savings on defense

By Nick Hopkins, Guardian

From Nick Hopkins, Guardian:  The UK and other European countries must use the money saved by withdrawing from Afghanistan to re-equip their military and help reverse worrying cuts in defence spending, the American ambassador to Nato will warn on Tuesday.

Cliff Politics

By Julian Lindley-French

First century Roman senator and historian Tacitus railing against the greed of imperial Rome said, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace”.

Going Over the Decency Cliff

By Harlan Ullman

The looming fiscal cliff has received almost as much publicity as the Mayan prediction of the end of the world. This column has warned that the nation also faces a strategic cliff that could pose even greater jeopardy than from the fiscal woes. But there is a third and possibly more precipitous cliff.

Much EU About Nothing?

By Julian Lindley-French

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has something of the night about him.  With the Germans about to lead the seventeen Eurozone countries into the greatest political leap in the dark since the creation of the European Union, Schaeuble has suggested that the British people be denied a referendum on their future relationship with a future German-led EU.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and thank you to everyone that supported NATOSource during 2012.

Report: Turkey still barring Israel from major NATO exercises

By Today's Zaman

Israel to join NATO ops despite Turkey tension

By Hilary Leila Krieger, Jerusalem Post