Category: Blogs

German parliament approves Patriot missiles for Turkey

By Gareth Jones, Reuters

From Gareth Jones, Reuters:  Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Friday approved the sending of two Patriot batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey as part of a NATO plan to protect the country from any spread of the Syrian conflict.

Military chiefs of Russia and NATO hold talks on Afghanistan, missile defense, and Syria

By NATO

From NATO:  General Knud Bartels, Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, paid an official visit to Russia from 12 to 14 December to boost military-to-military cooperation and develop a common understanding on issues of strategic interest with Colonel-General Valeriy Gerasimov

A Constitution of Political Appeasement / دستور الترضيات السياسية

By Yussef Auf

As was to be expected, the drafting of Egypt’s constitution has produced an unsound text, filled with flaws. Among these many significant flaws, a number of articles have been included in the constitution for no other reason but to provide a means of appeasing certain political groups or to address certain segments of society. This […]

Head of NATO’s Military Committee: Post-Assad ‘who will control the chemical weapons?’

By Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters

US Policy Toward Egypt Paved with Good Intentions

By Michele Dunne

Egyptians have been walking the road to hell over the past few weeks, characterized by a frightening polarization between Islamists and non-Islamists and a harsh battle of wills between the president and the judiciary.

Top News: Morsi Defends his Actions to Foreign Press; Calls Opposition ‘Counter-Revolutionary’

By Egypt Source

In a defensive English-language statement to the foreign press, President Mohamed Morsi defended his recent controversial decisions and listed his achievements, while harshly criticizing his opponents.

Panetta orders deployment of Patriots and 400 troops to Turkey

By Thom Shanker, Eric Schmitt, & Michael R. Gordon, New York Times

From Thom Shanker, Eric Schmitt, & Michael R. Gordon, New York Times:  Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta signed an official deployment order on Friday to send 400 American military personnel and two Patriot air defense batteries to Turkey

NATO inaugurates new HQ for allied special forces

By John Vandiver, Stars & Stripes

From John Vandiver, Stars & Stripes:  NATO’s special operations community took up residence Wednesday in a new headquarters in Mons, Belgium, a $19 million facility expected to bolster how special forces from across the alliance plan for missions from Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa.

The Fog of Political War

By Harlan Ullman

This isn’t an original theme. The reference was suggested to me two years ago by the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, three months before he was killed by one of his bodyguards in Islamabad.