United States and Canada

White House denies Turkey arms ultimatum

By Laura Rozen, Politico

From Laura Rozen, Politico:  The White House denied a report Monday that the U.S. has threatened Turkey with potentially withholding future arms sales because of its tougher stance towards Israel and vote against U.N. Iran sanctions. Obama “emphatically denied” a Financial Times story saying the president had told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that […]

Gates to leave in 2011?

By Josh Rogin, the Cable

From Josh Rogin, the Cable:  In an exclusive interview published Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Foreign Policy that he plans to leave office some time in 2011, once President Obama’s Afghanistan’s strategy review is completed.

Poland and America Drift Apart

By David Frum, CNN

From David Frum, CNN:  America’s place on the Polish mental map seems to shrink every year. When Poles dream of leaving the country, they think not of Chicago but of London. A Pole can work legally in any large EU country, and an estimated 1 million do, sending home more money than Poland earns from […]

Gen. Petraeus addresses expectations for NATO Summit

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Washington Post

From Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the Washington Post:   In his first six weeks as the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus has seen insurgent attacks on coalition forces spike to record levels, violence metastasize to previously stable areas, and the country’s president undercut anti-corruption units backed by Washington.

Leader of Belarus seeks strategic relations with U.S.

By Andrei Makhovsky, Reuters

From Andrei Makhovsky, Reuters:  Belarus’s outspoken leader Alexander Lukashenko, long at odds with the West but lately quarreling with Moscow, said on Friday he wanted better ties with the United States and berated his estranged ally Russia.

NATO members not honoring alliance commitments

By Tom Bowman, NPR

From Tom Bowman, NPR:  A few weeks ago, hundreds of artillery troops and air defense artillery soldiers from Fort Sill in Oklahoma and Fort Campbell in Kentucky started heading over to Afghanistan. They weren’t part of the so-called surge in combat troops. Instead, Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed orders for them to work as trainers […]

Republicans reject Obama’s Turkey envoy

By Josh Rogin, the Cable

From Josh Rogin, the Cable:  The nomination of Frank Ricciardone to be the next U.S. ambassador to Turkey is being held up in the Senate and the GOP has no intention of allowing a vote on the nomination any time soon. A spokesperson for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-KS, confirmed to The Cable that his office […]

NATO’s Training Mission in Iraq “faces a significant shortfall”

By Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, NATO Training Mission Iraq

From Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, NATO Training Mission Iraq:  NATO has made an important commitment to Iraq. This commitment has borne fruit; the Iraqi Security Forces are in the lead securing Iraq and are becoming increasingly more capable and professional.

SecDef targets top officers in Europe in plan to trim brass

By Craig Whitlock, the Washington Post

From Craig Whitlock, the Washington Post:  Of all the spending cuts and budget battles the Pentagon is confronting, none is causing more angst than Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates‘s vow to start getting rid of generals and admirals. By almost any measure, the military is more top-heavy an institution than it has been for decades. […]

The State of the War

By the editors of the New York Times