Western Europe

Gaddafi “mercenary” claim turns spotlight on role of special forces in Libya

By David Brunnstrom and Giles Elgood,  Reuters

From David Brunnstrom and Giles Elgood,  Reuters:  A boast by Gaddafi loyalists that they had captured 17 foreign mercenaries this week has been greeted with skepticism, but the claim has highlighted the importance of covert military operations in the overthrow of the Libyan leader.

Europe’s takeaway from Libya: “”Will the U.S. keep bailing us out?”

By the Wall Street Journal

From the Wall Street Journal: At the start, the U.S. led the military charge. America flew well over half the aerial raids—1,320 sorties in total—in the first two weeks after the U.N. Security Council voted in March to authorize the mission.

France is Europe’s U.S.A.

By Sam Schulman, the Weekly Standard

From Sam Schulman, the Weekly Standard:  As Maine is New England’s Texas, France is Europe’s U.S.A. It’s big. It’s ornery. Like us, the French are notably more inward-looking than Europe’s other populous, geographically big, and prosperous states.

How much is the entire British defense industry worth? $35 billion

By Defence Viewpoints

From Defence Viewpoints:  Defence worth £22.1bn in 2010, employed 110,000 with £9.5bn in exports says Ian Godden, Chairman of the defence industry trade group ADS.

UK urges defense contractors to look overseas

By Keith Weir, Reuters

Why Ten Years On Britain is Less Secure

By Julian Lindley-French

It has been a bruising decade for Britain. If on 10 September, 2001 an analyst had suggested that within months British forces would be fighting on the ground in Afghanistan, let alone in Iraq less than two years later credentials would have been questioned. 911 quite simply changed all the planning assumptions upon which British […]

Britain Balks at E.U. Defense Plan

By Stephen Castle, the International Herald Tribune

From Stephen Castle, the International Herald Tribune:  In addition to the European Union’s single currency and its passport-free travel zone, Britain now faces a new and unwelcome test of its engagement with Continental partners, this time over defense.

NATO Secretary General on impact of 9/11 on transatlantic alliance

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  Ten years ago today in the United States, terrorists killed nearly three thousand men, women and children. Citizens of 25 NATO Allied and partner countries died that day.

An EU military HQ would undermine NATO

By Geoffrey Van Orden, the Telegraph