Category Archives: NATO

General Curtis M. Scaparrotti, head of United States European Command, said that, In the east, a resurgent Russia had turned from partner to antagonist and that NATO will be returning to its historic role as a war fighting command.

(WASHINGTON, DC) The commander of NATO and US forces in Europe has called for yet more armored vehicles and troops to be deployed on the continent to counter what he calls a resurgent Russia.

Testifying before a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday, General Curtis M. Scaparrotti, head of United States European Command (EUCOM) in charge of all US forces in Europe, as well as NATOs Supreme Allied Commander accused Russia of threatening regional and global security.

Today we face the most dynamic European strategic environment in recent history,he said in his testimony.In the east, a resurgent Russia had turned from partner to antagonist as it seeks to undermine the Western-led international order and reassert itself as a global power.

Accordingly, we are adjusting our plans, our posture, our readiness to remain relevant to combat the threats we face,he added.In short, we are returning to our historic role as a war fighting command.

Two American combat brigades are permanently stationed in Europe: the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany and the 173rd Airborne in Italy, which make up around 10,000 of the 60,000-strong American troop presence in Europe. Scaparrotti says more troops are needed specifically more armored and infantry divisions to counter Russias western flank, as wellenablerslike engineers, aviation and fire support staff for the European Reassurance Initiative.

Russias posture is not a light force, its a heavy force,he continued.

In order to have the posture that is both credible and of the right composition, we need more armored forces to make sure that we do have a force of enough size that enables us to deter Russia.

Five or six years ago, we werent concerned about being ready [to fight] today,Scaparrotti added.That has changed.

During the Senate hearing, Scaparrotti also called for more funding to improve local capabilities for infrastructure capable of moving and housing troops.

The European Reassurance Initiative was launched in 2014 in the wake of the political crisis in Ukraine and the perceived Russian intervention there, leading to the most vocal members of NATO Poland and the Baltic states claiming that they would be Moscows next target. This prompted leading members of the alliance to agree on troop deployments. In March, 800 British soldiers began arriving in Estonia, while Germany sent troops and tanks to Lithuania. Earlier in April, 1,350 NATO soldiers arrived in northeastern Poland in line with the planned buildup.

Russia has consistently criticized the NATO buildup on its doorstep, describing it as a threat to regional security.

We deplore that deployment, for it raises tensions in Europe along the border between NATO and Russia. Russia doesnt pose any threat to Estonia nor any other NATO member state,Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko recently told the Daily Mail.

RT copy/TRUNEWS contribution

Donate Today!

We believe Christians need and deserve their own global news network to keep the worldwide Church informed, and to offer Christians a positive alternative to the anti-Christian bigotry of the mainstream news media

Follow this link:
NATO Returning to 'Historic Role as War Fighting Command' - TRUNEWS

A Natogeneral has warned climate change poses a global security threat as US President Donald Trump prepares to make a decision on whether to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The comments were the strongest yet from the alliance about the importance of upholding the deal, which was signed by 195 countries in the French capital last year.

They comeamid lingering tensions between Mr Trump and the leaders of Nato, an organisation the President once called obsolete".

There is a huge necessity that the UN continues to involve all nations and co-ordinate the action of all nations to fight climate change,said General Denis Mercier, Nato's supreme allied commander for transformation.

If one nation, especially the biggest nation... if they do not recognise a problem, then we will have trouble dealing with the causes of climate change.

Though he did not single out any country by name, the United States is the world's largest economy and the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.

The Paris deal pledged to limit global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to provide funds to poorer countries dealing with the effects of climate change.

Mr Trump has repeatedly complained the US was treated unfairly in the agreement, which requires it to pay more tax than other countries to fight global warming.

His predecessor, former President Barack Obama, pledged the US would drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2026.

Nato has a duty to try and predict the impact of greenhouse gases on geopolitical stability, Mr Mercier, who is French, explained.

He said risks include rising sea levels, water shortages and the opening of access to resources in the Arctic - all of which he said are likely to bring about new conflicts that could involve the 28 Nato countries.

But he said a global effort to stem climate change could help the world avert some of these potential crises.

Its not too late, but it is time, he added.

A tweet from Donald Trump in 2012 that claimed climate change was made up(Twitter)

US greenhouse gas emissions have fallen recently due to a switch from coal to natural gas and renewables in generating electricity. But many climate experts fear that if Washington leaves the Paris accord, or reduces its commitments, other countries could follow suit and global emissions could surge.

Many companies, including ExxonMobil Corp, Microsoft Corp, and Arch Coal Inc, have urged the US to stay in the Paris agreement, in part to retain their global competitiveness.

Mr Trump, who has said in the past the concept of global warming was "created by the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive", is expected to announce his decision in the next fortnight.

Read the rest here:
Nato warns climate change is 'global security threat' as Donald Trump mulls Paris Agreement - The Independent

Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday that killed eight civilians in an attack on a convoy of NATO armored personnel vehicles.

The blast hit the convoy during the morning rush hour in one of the busiest parts of Kabul. Public health officials said eight civilians were killed and at least 25 wounded, with a number of civilian vehicles that were near the convoy destroyed or badly damaged.

A spokesman for the US-led NATO mission, US Navy Capt. Bill Salvin, said three US service members were wounded in the attack. The vehicles, which are designed to withstand big blasts, were able to return to a base under their own power, he said.

In a statement on its Amaq news agency, Islamic State said a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged car as the convoy passed near the US embassy.

Although the Afghan branch of Islamic State operates largely in the eastern province of Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan, the movement has also claimed a string of suicide attacks in Kabul.

Witnesses said traces of blood and clothing could be seen on the ground at the blast site.

The heavily armored MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles that foreign forces use to travel in Kabul appeared to have suffered only relatively minor external damage, witnesses said.

Read more:
ISIS claims responsibility for attack on NATO convoy in Kabul - New York Post

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Leaders from 34 nations were in the Mermaid City on Monday in order to come up with a way to make the world a safer place.

NATO is hosting its first ever Interdependency in Resilience Conference. Leaders are coming up with a plan to improve understanding of how military, business and civil sectors can work together to reduce risk of any kind of threat. Those include threats from other countries, natural disasters, climate change and warfare especially for our military community.

Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander says, This is an opportunity to bring the sectors together to have a better understanding of the risk we face not only as a city, but as a military community but also as a business community.

According to a spokeswoman with the city, Norfolk created one of the worlds first resilience strategies. Its leadership as a living laboratory for building resilience is the reason why NATO chose Norfolk to host its first ever Interdependency in Resilience Conference.The group will develop a resilience blueprint that improves the understanding of how military, business and civil sectors are dependent on each other and must work together to reduce risk and increase readiness.

The conference is taking place at TheMain in downtown Norfolk.

Like Loading...

Follow this link:
Norfolk home to NATO conference to discuss safety tactics | WAVY-TV - WAVY-TV

After months of harsh rhetoric and threatening tweets, some NATO allies are preparing to spend big on defense.

The Romanian government already uneasy over Russian activities in the Black Sea announced it will spend tens of millions of dollars on advanced weaponry to join just five other NATO countries that have reached an elusive spending goal that Trump has used as a cudgel to criticize the alliance.

NATO is already as a whole stepping it up because theyve been hearing Trumps rhetoric, so while there is no new grand strategy, theres a feeling that allies are looking for ways to do more, and quickly, said a former defense official who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

In fact, the alliance was already shifting before Trump entered the White House. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and war in Ukraine galvanized member countries, which gave NATOs military commander, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, more flexibility to deploy forces. Thousands of troops have taken up positions in the Baltics as part of multinational units.

Trumps influence will be tested when he attends a meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels on May 25, marking the first time many allies will interact with him face-to-face. The meeting will give him the opportunity to speak directly to the alliances heads of state, where he is expected to call again for increased military spending to meet the alliances goal of each member spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense.

For NATOs newest members, however, it is Russia, not Trump, that is motivating their spending. Romanian officials point out that Crimea sits less than 200 miles from its shores, and their country shares a long border with Serbia, which has moved closer to the Kremlin as it buys Russian warplanes and air defense systems. And when NATO opened a missile defense site in Romania last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the country to be in Moscows crosshairs.

In response, Romania surprised many last month when it announced plans to buy the Patriot missile and air defense system, a U.S.-made platform already in the inventories of 13 allies in Europe and the Middle East.

We need a serious posture of deterrence, Romanias ambassador to the United States, George Maior told FP. Crimea is being militarized by Russia and it can be used as a platform for power projection not only into the Black Sea, but to the southeastern Mediterranean.

The ambassador, who helped shepherd the country into the NATO alliance in 2004 and led the Romanian Intelligence Service from 2006 to 2015, said his government sees the Black Sea as a demarcation line between various threats emerging from the eastern frontier of NATO.

With the fastest growing economy in the European Union, Romania has put together a shopping list that includes small, fast corvettes to patrol its coastline, armored troop carriers, multiple-launch rocket systems, and the latest surveillance and communications equipment.

But Russian officials are pushing back, complaining loudly that the existing missile defense installation already in Romania, called Aegis Ashore, lowers the threshold for a nuclear exchange and breaks a decades-old arms control treaty. Another Aegis Ashore system is slated to open in Poland in 2018.

The Aegis Ashore site includes a powerful radar and air defense missiles that can take down long-range ballistic missiles launched from the Middle East, and is described as a defense against a potential attack from Iran.

The Kremlin says the system violates the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which bans land-based cruise missiles with a range from 300 to 3,400 miles, but NATO rejects the claim.

Weve been very clear, about what Aegis Ashore can and cant do, said U.S. European Command spokesman Capt. Danny Hernandez. And we have consistently and openly said this system is not capable of intercepting Russian ICBMs, and any claim otherwise by the Russian government is baseless.

The Russians are pursuing their own missile defense sales to international clients, however. Belarus has taken possession of four battalions of the Russian-made S-300 air defense system and Serbia is currently in talks to buy several of the long-range interceptors.

In August, Russia also deployed an advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile battery to the Crimean peninsula. The weapons can hit targets over 150 miles from its launch site, putting aircraft flying inside Ukraine, and over the Black Sea, well within range.

The deployment underscored Romanias increasing unease over Russia. Once Crimea happened, the new NATO allies scrambled to figure out what their priorities should be, and air defense is a big part of that, said Jim Townsend, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy from 2009 to 2017. Romania shows that they take their defense seriously, because the Black Sea has become an important front with Russia.

In addition to the likely deployment of a Patriot battery to Romania, Moscow has bristled at Polands widely publicized $7.6 billion deal for eight Patriot batteries, which is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. There are also growing indications that Sweden a non-NATO country and Lithuania may be looking to buy the Patriot system in the coming months several sources told FP, though no announcements have been made.

Though the administration may claim these investments are in response to his strong arming, others say it differs little in substance with the prior administration.

Trumps demands that NATO open its wallet just continues building off of what Obama did, said Jackie Ramos, an advisor to the assistant secretary of defense for International Security Affairs under Barack Obama. The administration pushed hard to get nations to reach the 2 percent spending goal.

The effort wasnt a secret. In April 2016, Obama declared in an interview with The Atlantic that free riders aggravate me. Obama also complained that some NATO allies, along with several Gulf states, were piggybacking on the security that America provides. He even warned then-U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron that London needed to increase its investment in NATO. You have to pay your fair share, Obama said.

Twitter Facebook Google + Reddit

See more here:
With Demands for More NATO Spending, Romania Steps Up ... - Foreign Policy (blog)

NATO Allies and Partners, together with representatives of the donors community, reaffirmed their long-term commitment to continue supporting the financial sustainment of the Afghan security forces, at the plenary meeting of the Afghan National Army (ANA) Trust Fund Board, today (Tuesday, 2 May 2017). Participants discussed the Trust Funds achievements in 2016 and 2017, the plans for 2018, the coordination with the donor community in Afghanistan, and the implementation of auditing arrangements. They also discussed the ongoing coordination in Afghanistan between the Afghan authorities and the various funding streams, including the Afghan National Army Trust Fund itself, the Law and Order Trust Fund for the Afghan Police (administered by the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP), the budgetary contributions of the Afghan Government, the bilateral contributions provided, especially the bilateral Afghan Security Forces Fund of the United States, and possible additional adaptations of the ANA Trust Fund aimed at improving joint training and interoperability of the Afghan security forces in key areas, such as medical support, explosive ordnance disposal, and counter-IEDs, amongst others.

The adapted Afghan National Army Trust Fund is NATOs response to the International Communitys commitment in the framework of the 2012 Chicago Summit to continue to support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in its efforts to sustain sufficient and capable National Defence and Security Forces.

Together with our Resolute Support Mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces and institutions and the NATO-Afghanistan Enduring Partnership, our Afghan National Army Trust Fund has been an important part of NATOs endeavour to continue supporting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in its efforts to achieve a stable and secure Afghanistan, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General said. Todays meeting reconfirmed our continued commitment and the donor nations continued commitment to the safety and security of Afghanistan and its people, the NATO Secretary General added.

The Afghan National Army Trust Fund board is composed of national representatives of donor nations and the Trust Fund manager (represented by the United States). NATO Secretary General and a donor nation representative co-chair the Board. Plenary meetings of the Board were held on 1 September 2014, 26 June 2015, and 11 May 2016. Mr.Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, Ministry of Finance of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan took part in todays meeting.

Go here to read the rest:
NATO and Partners firmly committed to continue supporting the financial sustainment of the Afghan Security Forces - NATO HQ (press release)

Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is reportedly the leading candidate to serve as the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

A senior administration official told CNN that the administration is looking to have Hutchison in the role ahead of NATO meetings in Brussels later this month.

Hutchison previously served in the Senate for nearly 20 years, ending in 2013. During her time, she served on committees including Armed Services, Appropriations and Veterans' Affairs.

Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, previously served as chief of staff for Hutchison.

Earle D. Litzenberger is currently serving as the acting representative.

President Trump voiced strong opinions about NATO during his White House bid. Last month, he said NATO is "no longer obsolete" after repeatedly calling the alliance obsolete on the campaign trail last year.

During a joint press conference in April with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Trump said he will continue to work closely with NATO allies, particularly when it comes to fighting terrorism.

The secretary-general and I had a productive discussion on what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism, Trump said at the press conference. I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change and now they do fight terrorism.

I said it was obsolete, he continued. It is not longer obsolete.

Continue reading here:
Ex-Texas senator leading contender for NATO ambassador: report - The Hill

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is considering appointing a senior official to oversee counterterrorism efforts, a move aimed at meeting one of President Donald Trump's demands that the alliance focus more on terror threats.

The proposal is similar to NATO's recent decision to create a top intelligence post, a move that Mr. Trump has repeatedly praised and that he has cited as evidence the alliance has responded to his criticisms and is no longer obsolete.

While no NATO country has vocally opposed the idea of a senior counterterrorism coordinator, some diplomats are skeptical about the role's impact unless alliance members also agree to expand the organization's counterterror efforts, including funding additional training initiatives.

NATO diplomats have been discussing how they can expand counterterrorism training, including ways to use allied special operations forces to better train antiterror commandos in the Middle East and Africa. Those proposals could include expanding the work or mandate of the NATO Special Operations Headquarters, which develops NATO counterterrorism plans.

No NATO member, including the U.S., has advocated the alliance conducting counterterrorism strikes or taking a direct attack role in the military fight against Islamic State in Syria, Libya or Afghanistan.

But expanding the alliance's use of its scarce resources, such as special-operations forces, is difficult and could weigh on NATO's budget, which some countries oppose expanding.

Bruno Lt, a security expert at the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund, said the U.S. has indicated it wants NATO to do more to combat terrorism. "NATO allies are going to need to subscribe to Trump's desire for a new NATO that can engage in counterterrorism efforts," Mr. Lt said.

Allied ambassadors are set to formally discuss the counterterrorism post and other proposals at a May 5 meeting, officials said. Diplomats have been debating various proposals as they prepare for the meeting of allied leaders, including Mr. Trump, later this month. Turkish, British and French delegations have circulated papers.

The U.S. however hasn't submitted a paper or made any formal requests to the alliance. While Mr. Trump has said he wants the allies to do more on counterterrorism, neither he nor other U.S. officials have stated any specific desires, according to allied diplomats.

Some NATO allies have said privately that without a formal proposal from the U.S., reaching consensus on new counterterrorism plans is difficult.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading here:
NATO weighs new counterterrorism post following Trump's demands - Fox News

The U.S. missile strike on the air base from which the regime of President Bashar Assad conducted a chemical-weapons attack on Syrian civilians has prompted debate about U.S. strategy in the region. The Trump Administration has said that Assad must go, but that may take considerable time and faces Russian opposition. Given growing Islamic State losses in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, there is a pressing need and a golden opportunity for a strategy to deal with the related problem of suturing the wounds left after the impending defeat of ISIS.

Steps are needed to fill the vacuum left as the caliphate collapses, lest forces on the ground Sunni and Shiite Arabs, Kurds, and Iranian proxies turn on each other to gain control. The U.S. can no more afford to turn its back on this post-ISIS danger than it can take full responsibility for it. The answer is for NATO to act under U.S. leadership. The alternative is either chaos or Iran, backed by Russia, filling the void, with great harm to U.S. and allied interests in either case.

NATO is the only security organization with the skills and breadth to take on this task. The U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition of 68 partners is ill equipped to engage in this complex task. A more cohesive organization such as NATO should lead, but in ways that allow continued Arab participation. A creative version of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition could provide the answer.

The post-caliphate political circumstances and potential stabilization missions vary in these three countries. Separate but related missions would need to be designed. Those missions might be guided by three principles.

First, the political circumstances for success need to be created in each country. NATO involvement could help create those circumstances.

In Iraq, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi should recognize that the Sunni area around Mosul requires a degree of political self-rule and cannot be dominated by the Shia and Kurdish forces now leading the charge to liberate the city. Dominating Iraqs Sunnis would lead to yet another violent reaction. A neutral organization like NATO can help create that more benign environment.

In Syria, a transitional safety zone could be created in the area currently controlled by the Islamic State. Many entities ranging from Assads government, to Turkey, to Sunni-led militias, to the Kurds, to residual elements of the Islamic State will all be vying for influence. Without some agreed transitional arrangement a post-caliphate clash could drive more Syrian refugees and terrorists to Europe.

In Libya, a new agreement brokered in Rome between the warring state council and house of representatives could set the stage for a new stabilization effort. The role of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar in any new government still needs to be settled.

In all three cases, some degree of international legitimacy would be needed for these post-caliphate operations. This could include a request by the internationally recognized sovereign power and/or a UN Security Council Resolution. In the case of Iraq and Libya, the internationally recognized government would probably request a stabilization force and a Security Council Resolution should be possible. Syria may be more problematic given the fact that the Assad government would not request any operation that would weaken its own sovereign claims and that Russia has a veto in the UN Security Council.An arrangementfor post-caliphate Syria between Russia and NATO may be needed to achieve international legitimacy.In extremis, if Russia proves completely intransigent, NATO would have the option to proceed under its own authority, as it did in Kosovo in the late 1990s.

The second principle is that NATO missions would need to be carefully circumscribed and exit strategies designed. NATO engagement in this region cannot be allowed to undermine NATOs primary task today of deterring Russian incursions into the NATO area.

In Iraq, a small NATO force deployed in the Mosul regions plus an enhanced NATO military training program could be enough to give the Sunni population confidence and to provide NATO with needed political leverage in Baghdad.

In Syria, a larger NATO force deployed around Raqqa supported by air operations would have a more difficult mission than in Iraq. It would be tasked with enforcing the transitional safety zone, deterring Syrian military thrusts in that region, defeating any residual Islamic State acts of terrorism, and keeping the peace between Turkish, Kurdish and Sunni militia forces in the zone.

In Libya, a NATO mission could be limited to special operations forces securing the area around Sirte from Islamic State revival, to provision of military training for those loyal to the GNA, and to enhanced naval operations off the Libyan coast to deal more effectively with refugee flows. Large NATO forces would be ineffective absent strong national support for the GNA.

The third principle is that these NATO deployments would need to be flexible and reflect a division of labor commensurate with the national interests and capabilities of the NATO nations involved. Flexibility would be needed to maximize Arab participation in these operations. A division of labor according to national interests is now more possible because of NATOs new framework nation concept. This concept has major European nations taking leadership roles supported and augmented by smaller NATO nations.

In Iraq, for example, the U.S. has perhaps the greatest interest given its long involvement there. So any NATO transition force deployed around Mosul might be U.S. led. European nations might play a leadership role in training the Iraqi military.

Visit link:
NATO's Role in post-Caliphate Stability Operations - The National Interest Online (blog)

NATO staged the two-day "Ramstein Alloy 4" exercise in late April over Lithuania, giving locally deployed air forces the opportunity to practise quick reaction alert procedures and boost interoperability.

During the activity, fighters from the two nations currently providing Baltic Air Policing services for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania worked together. This involved Lockheed Martin F-16s from the Royal Netherlands Air Force, flown from iauliai air base in Lithuania, and German air force Eurofighter Typhoons deployed to mari, Estonia.

Mark Kwiatkowski/FlightGlobal

Staged three times a year, the Ramstein Alloy series of exercises was launched in 2016 as a replacement for the earlier Baltic Region Training Event, conducted more than 20 times.

Providing airspace security for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, NATO's Baltic Air Policing detachments are rotated every four months between the allliance's members. Jets held at short readiness are launched in response to military or civilian aircraft that do not properly identify themselves, fail to file proper flightplans, or have lost communication with air traffic controllers.

Separately, a detachment of four UK Royal Air Force-operated Typhoons arrived at Mihail Koglniceanuair base in Romania on 27 April. The aircraft will support Romanian air force RAC MiG-21s in flying air policing missions from the site until 31 August.

A pair of US Air Force Lockheed F-35As flown to Europe for a training detachment at RAF Lakenheath in the UK also touched down at Graf Ignatievo air base in Bulgaria in late April. Lightning IIs also have visited mari during the type's inaugural European deployment.

By Mark Kwiatkowski, iauliai air base, with additional reporting by Craig Hoyle in London

Read more from the original source:
PICTURE: NATO puts Baltic air defences to the test - Flightglobal - Flightglobal