NATO

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Blackwater Founder: CIA 'Threw Me Under the Bus'

Erik Prince's story raises security issues

(Newser) - Erik Prince says he and Blackwater—the defense contractor now known as Xe—got a raw deal from the government. "I put myself and my company at the CIA's disposal for some very risky missions," the firm's founder tells Vanity Fair . "But when it became politically expedient...

NATO Will Send 5,000* More Troops to Afghanistan

*But only if you use creative counting

(Newser) - NATO's chief said today that the alliance will be more than happy to fulfill President Obama's request to send another 5,000 troops to Afghanistan. "And probably a few thousand on top of that," asserted Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "This is our fight together." The problem, says...

US Seeks 10K Allied Troops in Afghanistan

Grumbling nations only want to provide half

(Newser) - The US is struggling to convince its allies to commit 10,000 more troops to the war in Afghanistan, according to federal sources. Allied leaders are willing to provide only half that figure for an operation increasingly unpopular with their citizens, particularly amid concerns about corruption in the Afghan government....

Backing Afghan Militias Makes NATO Allies Queasy

Experts worry $1.3B from US won't buy loyalty of local fighters

(Newser) - The US hasn’t given its Western allies the details of its plan to recruit and fund tribal militias to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, fearing, correctly, that they won’t like it, the Guardian reports. The strategy is already under way in 14 areas, with a budget of some...

US Recruits Allies for Afghan Surge

White House is quietly looking for 3K to 7K NATO troops

(Newser) - President Obama isn't planning to go it alone: The administration has hopes that from 3,000 to 7,000 NATO troops will be committed to joining the US troop surge in Afghanistan by the time he rolls out his new strategy after Thanksgiving. Advanced talks are underway, the Wall Street ...

NATO Airstrike Kills 7 Afghan Soldiers

Mistaken assault on joint NATO, Afghan base

(Newser) - A NATO airstrike in the western province of Badghis mistakenly hit a joint base housing coalition troops and Afghan security forces, killing four Afghan soldiers and three policemen, Afghan officials said today. An Afghan army commando unit, district police members and foreign forces were in the base in the Bala...

2 American NATO Troops Missing in Afghanistan

Western region has seen a recent uptick in violence

(Newser) - Two NATO soldiers have been missing in Western Afghanistan since Wednesday after a routine supply mission went awry. “We continue exhaustive search and rescue operations to locate our missing service members,” a NATO spokesperson tells the BBC . “We are doing everything we can to find them.”...

In Adoring Kosovo, Clinton Gets Statue
 In Adoring Kosovo, 
 Clinton Gets Statue 
BUBBA LOVE
Nov 1, 2009 12:41 PM CST

In Adoring Kosovo, Clinton Gets Statue

(Newser) - Thousands of ethnic Albanians braved low temperatures and a cold wind in Kosovo's capital Pristina to welcome former President Bill Clinton today as he attended the unveiling of an 11-foot statue of himself on a key boulevard that also bears his name. Clinton is celebrated as a hero by Kosovo's...

Arctic Thaw May Lead to NATO-Russia Chill

New Euro chief warns of competition for resources

(Newser) - NATO’s new European commander is wary of Russian intentions in the Arctic, where climate change is opening up trade routes and access to billions of barrels of oil. James Stavridis looks “at the high north and I think it could either be a zone of conflict, I hope...

NATO Chief: Let's Combine US, Russian Missile Defenses

(Newser) - One day after the US decided to scrap a missile-defense system that Russia opposed, NATO wants to make relations with Moscow even cozier. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposed combining Russia's anti-missile defenses with those of NATO and the US, Reuters reports. He pitched it as a shared interest: "If...

Suicide Bomb Rocks NATO Base at Kabul Airport

At least two civilians dead; foreign troops may also be victims

(Newser) - A suicide bomber blew up his car outside a NATO military base at Afghanistan's main airport today, killing at least two civilians and wounding six others, Reuters reports. Eyewitnesses saw huge flames rising from the airport, which has endured Taliban rocket attacks and suicide bombs in the past. An Afghan...

NATO Probes 'Disastrous' Air Strike; 90 Dead

Horrific injuries reported after fireball engulfs villagers

(Newser) - NATO will conduct a "thorough investigation" into the air strike on two Taliban-hijacked fuel tankers in Afghanistan that killed 90 people today, many of them believed to be civilians, the alliance's secretary general said. An investigation team has already been sent to the area as reports trickle in of...

7 Dead, 91 Hurt in Blast Near Kabul NATO HQ

(Newser) - A suicide car bomb exploded early today outside the main gate of NATO's headquarters, killing seven and wounding 91 in the biggest attack in the Afghan capital in six months.  The bomber evaded several rings of Afghan police and detonated his explosives on the doorstep of the international military...

US to Pressure Brits for More Troops in Afghanistan

(Newser) - The US is expected to push for more British troops to help fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, a move certain to be unpopular with the British public, reports the Guardian. NATO Gen. Stanley McChrystal will likely recommend to President Obama that the current total of 150,000 Afghan troops should...

US, Brits Press Plans for Taliban Talks

(Newser) - British commanders backed by US officials aim to use the success of recent offensives to persuade mid-level Taliban leaders to come in for talks and give up the fight, the Guardian reports. Conditions are right for the "second-tier" leaders who control large numbers of fighters in southern Afghanistan to...

A Frosty Merkel Arrives in DC
 A Frosty Merkel Arrives in DC 
Jun 25, 2009 7:40 AM CDT

A Frosty Merkel Arrives in DC

Economy, Afghanistan cloud chancellor's talks with Obama

(Newser) - Angela Merkel arrives in Washington today for a two-day visit, where the German chancellor will hold talks with President Obama before a rare joint press conference in the Rose Garden. Yet despite the smiles, the two leaders have a strained if not frosty relationship, with both sides carping about economic...

US to Replace Afghan Commander

(Newser) - Gen. David McKiernan will be replaced as chief of NATO’s Afghan mission by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special ops officer, ABC News reports. McKiernan has held his post for just 11 months, and it is unclear where he will go. The move, to be announced at a...

Georgia Ends Coup, Russia Cries Foul

Government withdraws earlier claims of Moscow-backed coup

(Newser) - The Georgian government claims to have crushed an army mutiny at a base near the capital Tbilisi, but it backed away from earlier claims that Russia was backing a coup aimed at ousting or assassinating President Mikheil Saakashvili. The plot organizer has been arrested and several others remain at large....

Georgia Sees Russian Hand in Mutiny, Coup Attempt

Tbilisi says Russia-backed revolt was set to topple government

(Newser) - A revolt has broken out at an army base near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, which the government is calling a Russian-backed military coup, the Guardian reports. The Georgian defense minister says the soldiers were being confined in their barracks, and at least one person has been arrested. The Georgians...

Pirates Hijack Brit Ship; NATO Forces Recover Explosives

(Newser) - Somali pirates have hijacked a British-owned cargo ship crewed by Ukrainians, a NATO spokesman tells the AP. The Maltese-flagged Ariana was hijacked northwest of the Seychelles islands about 1,000 miles from NATO's operating area. Also today, a Portuguese warship seized explosives from suspected Somali pirates after thwarting an attack...

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