United States and Canada

Missile Defense Community Shifts Away from European Third Site in Poland and the Czech Republic

By missiledefenseadvocacy.org

From missiledefenseadvocacy.org: The land-based SM3 could alleviate some of Russia’s concern on the third site due to range and placement of those sites. The system would first be placed in Israel and additional land-based SM3s will likely be placed in Turkey or the Balkan nations if an international agreement could be attained. The placement in […]

The misunderstanding over the NATO expansion that brought decades of grief

By Bill Bradley at Foreign Policy

From Bill Bradley at Foreign Policy: When I spoke with Baker, he agreed that he told Gorbachev that if the Soviet Union allowed German reunification and membership in NATO, the West would not expand NATO ‘one inch to the east.’ But ‘the east,’ for Baker, meant East Germany — not Eastern Europe. The United States […]

Boeing floats new anti-missile idea for Europe

By Reuters

From Reuters: Boeing Co (BA.N) unveiled a surprise proposal to build a mobile interceptor missile in an effort to blunt Russian fears of possible U.S. fixed missile-defense sites in Europe . . . Boeing, which manages the hub of a layered U.S. anti-missile shield deployed in 2004, is eyeing a 47,500-pound interceptor that could be […]

Davutoğlu denies US demanded troops for Afghanistan

By Zaman

From Zaman: Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has reiterated that the United States has conveyed no special demand for Turkey to send extra troops to war-torn Afghanistan . . . Turkey is readying to assume the leadership of the Kabul Regional Command once again in the near future. Davutoğlu explained that Turkey will dispatch more troops […]

NATOSource: SACEUR Priorities

By Admiral James Stavridis at EUCOM

From Admiral James Stavridis at EUCOM: The Naples visit, where I interacted with both groups of hard-working professionals – NATO and U.S. – is a good example of that. Some of the issues that touch both commands are operational planning, Afghanistan, engagement with Russia, the “high North,” cyber activities, logistics, infrastructure in Europe, and many […]

New Chapter of Russian Spy Cases Against NATO and its Members.

The Russian news service Interfax announced today that Moscow has expelled two Czech diplomats in an apparent tit-for-tat for yesterday’s reported expulsion of two Russian diplomats by the Czech Republic. A Russian official argued that, “this unfriendly act by the Czech side, which declared two of our diplomats ‘persona non grata’, could not be left […]

Russia expels two Czech diplomats in spy row

By Reuters

From Reuters: Russia has ordered two Czech diplomats out of Russia, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, in a spying row between two countries at odds over U.S. plans to install an anti-missile system in Europe. The expulsion follows Czech media reports on Monday that two Russians had been ordered out of Prague, including a […]

V Corps to endure as new ISAF command in Afghanistan

By Stars and Stripes

From Stars and Stripes: The renewed war effort in Afghanistan means V Corps, recently headed for oblivion, will live to fight another day. The Heidelberg-based corps would make up the staff of a new command overseeing day-to-day operations in Afghanistan for the next year, and officials said the corps could be staffed there for the […]

Firing General McKiernan was right, but as for the reasons

By Peter Feaver at foreignpolicy.com

From Peter Feaver at foreignpolicy.com: In other words, McKiernan got the sack because he was unable to get NATO to step up to the plate more smartly. Since McKiernan left, of course, the home-town presses in all of the NATO countries have been replete with stories about how costly their Afghan burden has been. I […]

NATO Approves Intermediate Headquarters for Afghanistan

By the U.S. Department of Defense

From the U.S. Department of Defense: NATO has approved the idea of an intermediate military headquarters in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said today. The headquarters is a corps-level organization that will oversee the tactical, day-to-day operations in the country. U.S. officials would like to see Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, deputy commander of U.S. Forces […]