Daily Archives: February 18, 2021

WASHINGTON Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will meet with members of the world's most powerful military alliance on Wednesday for the first time since joining the Biden administration.

NATO meets Wednesday and Thursday to discuss an array of challenges facing the 30-member group. The virtual meetings will be a glimpse into President Joe Biden's foreign policy agenda and comes on the heels of his calls to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with America's closest allies.

"When we strengthen our alliances we amplify our power as well as our ability to disrupt threats before they reach our shores," Biden said during a speech at the State Department. "America cannot afford to be absent any longer on the world stage," he added.

Biden's message broke sharply from his predecessor's "America First" policy, which on occasion seemed to vex NATO members.

Under former President Donald Trump, Kay Bailey Hutchison served as the connective tissue between Washington and the alliance in her role as the U.S. Ambassador to NATO.

"There was never a rift or tension among the ambassadors and me," she told CNBC when asked if the alliance was impacted by Trump's approach.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg greets NATO's US Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison on the second day of the NATO summit, in Brussels, on July 12, 2018.

Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | AFP | Getty Images

"Now, that's not to say that some of the allies weren't upset with what the president had said or done on a given day. But overall we had a great relationship and always kept everyone informed," Hutchison explained, elaborating on the wider policy goals shared by NATO members.

"I think the alliance is strong and unified and I think everyone knows that the U.S. is essential in NATO," the former Senator from Texas said, adding that the United States will continue to take a prominent leadership role within the group.

Ahead of the virtual meetings this week, Hutchison shared what she expects will be high on the alliance's agenda.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, attend the Tsinghua Universitys ceremony, at Friendship Palace on April 26, 2019 in Beijing, China.

Kenzaburo Fukuhara | Getty Images

The tension between Beijing and Washington soared under the Trump administration, which escalated a trade war and worked to ban Chinese technology companies from doing business in the United States.

Over the past four years, the Trump administration blamed China for a wide range of grievances, including intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices and recently, thecoronavirus pandemic.

Biden previously said thathis approach to China would be different from his predecessor's in that hewould work more closely with alliesin order to mount pushback against Beijing.

"We will confront China's economic abuses," Biden explained in a speech at the State Department, describing Beijing as America's "most serious competitor."

"But we're also ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so. We'll compete from a position of strength by building back better at home and working with our allies and partners."

Hutchison said that many of the issues the Biden administration looks to address with China also fall into shared interests held by the NATO alliance.

"We have been really focusing on China much more in the last two years," Hutchison said. "When the Belt and Road initiative came out and then, of course, the crackdown on Hong Kong, Covid-19 and the lack of transparency on that, all really brought China into the NATO radar."

If all of us speak with one voice, we can have more influence on China."

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

Hutchison explained that the members will discuss the great power competition, which is used to describe the friction between the United States and China in shaping security practices and setting trade norms worldwide. Russia is sometimes included as an element in the power struggle.

She also said that as the Pentagon began to stand up a new military branch dedicated to space, the United States Space Force, the NATO alliance also expanded its mission and declared space a security domain.

"That was because China is doing a lot up there with satellites and artificial intelligence, and we are now having to focus on that and begin to build deterrence as best we can," Hutchison said of the move by NATO leaders to include space in its security portfolio.

"Cyber and hybrid, of course, is another big area where both China and Russia are active," she added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters the St. George Hall at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

Mikhail Klimentyev | AFP | Getty Images

Like China, Biden has also said that the United States will have a different approach in dealing with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin.

"I made it very clear to President Putin in a manner very different from my predecessor that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russian aggressive actions, interfering with our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens, are over," Biden said earlier this month.

"We will be more effective in dealing with Russia when we work in coalition and coordination with other like-minded partners," he added.

The White House is currently reviewing other maligned Russian actions including the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan and potential election interference.

"There was never any let-up in NATO regarding Russia," Hutchison told CNBC when asked about the alliance's approach. "And I don't think there'll be a change in course because I think we've been tough about Russia," she added.

Hutchison said that in the wake of the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the NATO alliance was swift to condemn Moscow's actions.

"There was a unanimous vote of our allies calling out Russia on the Navalny issue when it was first, of course, clear that Russia had poisoned this man," Hutchison said.

Last summer, Navalny was medically evacuated to Germany from a Russian hospital after he became ill following reports that something was added to his tea. Russian doctors treating Navalny denied that the Kremlin critic had been poisoned and blamed his comatose state on low blood sugar levels.

A still image taken from video footage shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is accused of flouting the terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement, during the announcement of a court verdict in Moscow, Russia February 2, 2021.

Simonovsky District Court | via Reuters

In September, the German government said that the 44-year-old Russian dissident was poisoned by a chemical nerve agent, describing the toxicology report as providing "unequivocal evidence." The nerve agent was in the family of Novichok,which was developed by the Soviet Union.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied having a role in Navalny's poisoning.

Last month, Navalny flew to Russia from Berlin, Germanywhere he spent nearly half a year recovering. He was arrested at passport control and latersentencedto more than two years in prison.

Hutchison also explained that the alliance will need to discuss the messy, multibillion-dollar deal between Russia and Turkey, which led to unprecedented U.S. sanctions on the NATO member.

In 2017, Turkish President Recep Erdogan brokered a deal reportedly worth $2.5 billion with Putin for the S-400 missile system.

The S-400, a mobile surface-to-air missile system, is said to pose a risk to the NATO alliance as well as the F-35, America's most expensive weapons platform.

In short, these two big-ticket weapons systems that Turkey hoped to add to its budding arsenal could be used against each other.

You can't work out a Russian missile defense system in the NATO alliance and have business as usual."

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

A Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system.

Sergei Malgavko | TASS via Getty Images

In October, the Pentagon and State Department issued strong rebukes following reports that Turkey's military tested the Russia-made missile system.

In December, Washington slapped sanctions on the country.

"It's a huge problem and it's one that Turkey kept thinking, apparently, that this could all be worked out. But you can't work out a Russian missile defense system in the NATO alliance and have business as usual," Hutchison explained to CNBC.

"Everyone in NATO knows it's a problem and Turkey needs to find an off-ramp for this," she added.

U.S. Marines and Georgian Army soldiers run to the extraction point during Operation Northern Lion II in Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 3, 2013.

U.S. Marine Corps photo

The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have cost U.S. taxpayers more than $1.57 trillion since Sept. 11, 2001, according to aDefense Department report.

The war in Afghanistan, which is now America's longest conflict, began 19 years ago and has cost U.S. taxpayers $193 billion, according tothe Pentagon.

Last February theUnited States brokered a deal with the Talibanthat would usher in a permanent cease-fire and reduce the U.S. military's footprint from approximately 13,000 troops to 8,600 by mid-July last year. By May 2021, all foreign forces would leave the war-weary country, according to the deal.

There are about 2,500 U.S. troops in the country. Currently, the U.S. is slated to withdraw American service members from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.

"I told all the Biden people when we were in transition that they were really going to have to make the decision about whether they want to draw down by the first of May or draw down over a different time period or not draw down and keep troops there," Hutchison explained to CNBC.

"All the vibes I'm getting, without talking to anyone specifically, is that they are going to leave troops there and not draw down further," she added.

Read more: Pentagon uncertain on pullback date for U.S. troops in Afghanistan

Last month, the Pentagon said the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan would be contingent on the Taliban's commitments to uphold a peace deal brokered last year.

"The Taliban have not met their commitments," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters during a Jan. 28 press briefing.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby speaks at press conference at the Pentagon January 28, 2021 in Arlington,Virginia.

Yasin Ozturk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

He added that Austin was reviewing the matter and had discussed the path forward in the war-torn country with NATO allies and partners.

"It is under discussion with our partners and allies to make the best decisions going forward on our force presence in Afghanistan," Kirby said, adding that the Biden administration has not yet made a determination.

NATO Secretary-General JensStoltenberg previously warned that leaving Afghanistan too soonor in an uncoordinated effort could present unintended consequences for the world's largest military organization.

"Afghanistan risks becoming once again a platform for international terrorists to plan and organize attacks on our homelands. And ISIS could rebuild in Afghanistan the terror caliphate it lost in Syria and Iraq," the NATO chief said, referring to Islamic State militants.

In February, theAfghanistan Study Group, a bipartisan congressionally mandated panel under the United States Institute of Peace, recommended keeping U.S. troops in the war-torn country "in order to give the peace process sufficient time to produce an acceptable result."

The group wrote, in a report released on February 3, that the United States has a significant interest in safeguarding Afghanistan from "becoming again a safe haven for terrorists."

"We believe that a U.S. withdrawal will provide the terrorists an opportunity to reconstitute and our judgment is that reconstitution will take place within about 18 to 36 months," former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford told a virtual United States Institute of Peace audience. Dunford, a retired four-star Marine general, co-chairs the study group.

1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, watch as CH-47 Chinook helicopters circle above during a dust storm at Forward Operating Base Kushamond, Afghanistan, July 17, during preparation for an air assault mission.

U.S. Army photo

"We also conclude and there will be no surprise to those who follow Afghanistan, that the Afghan forces are highly dependent on U.S. funding in operational support and they'll continue to be for some time to come," Dunford said.

NATO joined the international security effort in Afghanistan in 2003 and currently has more than 7,000 troops in the country. The NATO mission in Afghanistan was launched after the alliance activated its mutual defense clause known as Article 5 for the first time in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

"I think there's a lot that will be decided and it will be pivotal what the administration and Secretary Austin say," Hutchison told CNBC. "The allies are going to be looking for what the U.S. is intending because of course, we provide the enablers for the train-and-advise mission of NATO there," she added.

Hutchison also added that the alliance may discuss the possibility of expanding the training-and-advising mission in Iraq.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the days that the NATO alliance is meeting.

The rest is here:
U.S. enters NATO meetings: China and Russia threats ...

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The Biden administration and new U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made their first introduction to NATO on Wednesday at a two-day summit that's expected to focus heavily on Afghanistan.

Austin and other NATO defense ministers convened remotely for the first major European event since President Joe Biden took office last month, and was the alliance's introduction to the new administration.

For four years, NATO often found itself on the receiving end of criticisms from former President Donald Trump, particularly over the defense funding of the other 29 member states. Trump also expressed an interest in withdrawing the United States from NATO, which was created after World War II as a collective defense coalition.

During the two sessions on the first day of the summit, Austin reaffirmed Biden's intention to revitalize the U.S.-NATO relationship and that its commitment to the collective defense article under the alliance's founding treaty is "ironclad," John F. Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

A Defense Department readout of the ministerial also said Austin called NATO "the bedrock" of enduring security in the trans-Atlantic, calling it "the bulwark of our shared values of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law."

The Trump administration signed a peace deal with the Taliban last year that called for the total withdrawal of U.S. troops, in exchange for a pledge from the Afghan government not to work with terrorist organizations.

American forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by May 1, per its Taliban peace deal. Biden's administration has said it will review that withdrawal date before deciding whether to stick with it.

U.S. troops have had a continuous presence in Afghanistan since they overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 as part of the war on terror.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said while NATO supports peace in Afghanistan, the level of violence remains unacceptably high.

"While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right," Stoltenberg said in a statement this week.

"So ministers will continue to assess the situation on the ground and monitor developments very closely."

Following the first day of the summit, Stoltenberg, who was in Kabul when the deal was signed, told reporters during a press conference that there is a May 1 deadline but the promise to leave Afghanistan is based on conditions being met.

"And Taliban has to meet their commitments," he said. "And what NATO does now is that we, first of all, do whatever we can to support the peace process and the full implementation of the deal. We will only leave when the time is right."

He said NATO allies invaded Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States but they have adjusted their presence together, and he welcomes the commitment Austin made toward the alliance.

"That demonstrates the value of NATO also for the United States, because the United States, when they went into Afghanistan, they didn't go alone," he said. "They have been supported by NATO allies with tens of thousands of troops for now close to two decades."

Concerning the issues of burden sharing, Stoltenberg said the message has been consistent under both Republican and Democratic leadership in the United States: That it needs to be fairer, which he agrees with.

"I tell the Europeans that -- and they agree -- that we need to invest more in defense, not to please the United States, but because it is in our security interest to invest more," he said. "Because we face a more dangerous world, with a more brutal form of terrorism."

Another matter expected to be raised at the summit is rising violence in Iraq by militias aligned with Iran. A civilian contractor was killed and six others were injured in a rocket attack there on Monday.

Biden, who previously worked with NATO at the executive level while former President Barack Obama's vice president, has sounded a more cooperative tone with NATO than did his predecessor -- but is expected to continue Trump's push for member states to contribute more financially.

Member nations are expected to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.

Read more from the original source:
NATO gets 1st glimpse of Biden administration at virtual ...

Updated 2/16/21 at 5:00 pm EST with comment from NATO spokesperson.

WASHINGTON As Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attends his first NATO ministerial this week, he will carry a message seeking a revitalized relationship between America and its European allies but will not back down on pushing for greater military spending, two senior defense officials said Monday.

Virtual though it may be, the ministerial is the first true international event for Austin since he took office. The defense officials, speaking to media ahead of the event, made it clear they he plans to use that opportunity to convey a different tone than the Trump administration, which was famously combative with the NATO nations over a 2 percent GDP spending target on defense.

I do think that youre going to see at this ministerial a real focus on revitalizing the U.S. relationship with the alliance, a change in our tone and approach, and a desire to work with our allies and partners, the first official said.

Several times during the press call, the officials stressed the focus on consulting with allies, particularly when it comes to any changes in force posture. The phrasing represents a clear signal from the Biden administration after the Trump administration announced plans to shift 9,500 troops out of Germany with what European officials described as little or no consultation with regional leaders.

Those troop withdrawals have now been frozen as Austin and his team review Americas force posture globally. Asked whether troops that were planned to shift to Poland would be changed, the first official said our posture in Europe is critical to us national security interests. And I would in no way expect to see anything that would look like a withdrawal from Poland.

While Austin may be carrying a different tone than Trump officials did when visiting NATO, the focus on getting allies to keep defense spending up will continue.

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I think what youre going to hear is that we expect all allies to live up to this commitment. Its a commitment we have all made. Were appreciative of those who have moved in this direction, and we applaud that, but we all know that theres more work to be done, the first official said.

That may set up an early stress point with some NATO nations, who have long argued that the 2 percent figure is flawed and that countries who take more direct action, such as deploying forces abroad to support NATO missions, should receive more credit in that regard.

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Monday stated that burden-sharing is about spending 2 percent, but burden-sharing is also about contributions and capabilities. However, a NATO spokesperson stressed that those comments were in line with previous statements from Stoltenberg, noting there is absolutely no weakening of the commitment to 2 percent.

Stoltenberg, who plans to use the ministerial to discuss several proposals as part of his NATO 2030 plan, also stated that Americas allies have contributed a cumulative $190 billion to the alliance since 2014, and that nine members are now expected to spend 2 percent or more of their GDP on defense.

Noted the first senior defense official: Youve probably heard the secretary-general say, hes got these three Cs he talks about: cash, contributions and capabilities. At the end of the day, cash is inextricably linked to those other two. And if we dont invest enough cash today, were just not going to be ready for tomorrows challenges.

Aside from big-picture NATO issues, expect significant discussion between military leaders on the future of forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the Trump administration lowered troop levels in both countries to 2,500 shortly before leaving office, NATO leaders are watching carefully for any signs that America may look to increase those force levels going forward.

As you know, of course, the department is participating in an administration-wide review. And there have not been any decisions on Afghanistan troop levels, the first official said. The United States and NATO went into Afghanistan together, we will adjust together, and if the time is right, we will leave together.

During the meeting, there will be a session focused on emerging and disruptive technology, including cyber issues. That issue, already a major focus for the alliance, has received a boost following the recent SolarWinds hack of U.S. government institutions, widely attributed to Russia.

To try and get a handle on the broader cyber concerns, the second official said that they would be bringing in representatives from Sweden, Finland and the European Union partners, but not formal members of the alliance for part of that discussion.

Read more:
Biden admin wants new tone with NATO, but the old ...

Today (18 February 2021), NATO defence ministers concluded their second day of meetings via secure teleconference. They discussed NATO-led missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both missions are key contributions to the fight against international terrorism.

On Afghanistan, Ministers reiterated their commitment to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission - with training and funding for the brave Afghan security forces - and their strong support to the Afghan peace process, which is the best chance to end years of suffering and violence and bring lasting peace to Afghanistan.

On Iraq, Ministers agreed to expand the scope of the NATO mission, following Iraqs request, in order to support the Iraqi forces as they fight terrorism and ensure that ISIS does not return. The mission will continue to be carried out with full respect for Iraqs sovereignty and territorial integrity and in close coordination with the Global Coalition.

Read NATO Secretary General's press conference here

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Defence Ministers reaffirm NATO's commitment to Afghanistan and Iraq security - NATO HQ

After former President Donald Trump repeatedly disparaged NATO and threatened to pull the United States out of the alliance, President Joe Biden has signaled he intends to reset the relationship.

Austin "wants to revitalize to the alliance and again I think you will see that overall that will be the message that he sends, that we're better when we act together," Kirby said.

Context: The news signals that Austin will not markedly depart from Trump's policy, itself a continuation of former President Barack Obama's, to pressure NATO allies to put more resources toward defense.

Trump focused almost obsessively on increasing NATO defense spending, even going so far as to order the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from Germany while accusing the government of not spending enough on defense.

Just weeks after taking office, Biden ordered the military to freeze any withdrawals from Germany pending a review of U.S. forces worldwide.

NATO spending on defense is increasing: Trump took credit for increased NATO defense spending over his term, an effort that began in the Obama administration.

Over the last six years, NATO allies have upped their defense spending by $130 billion, according to U.S. envoy to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison.

France and Norway last year became the latest NATO countries to reach the 2 percent threshold, joining eight other nations: Britain, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the United States. However, the 20 other allies did not make the cut.

Excerpt from:
Austin to press NATO allies on defense spending - Politico