Monthly Archives: May 2017

SYDNEY Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday he is considering a NATO request for more troops in Afghanistan, as U.S. President Donald Trump considers whether to expand the NATO-led mission there by several thousand.

Turnbull did not specify the details of the request from NATO's military authorities, which he received during a visit to Afghanistan late last month, although he said he was "open" to the idea.

"We are certainly open to increasing our work there, but we've obviously got to look at the commitments of the Australian Defense Force in other parts of the region and indeed in other parts of the world," Turnbull told reporters in Sydney.

"It is very important that we continue - we and our other allies in the effort in Afghanistan - continue to work together," he said.

Australia currently has nearly 300 troops stationed in Afghanistan, training and advising Afghan forces.

The top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday security in Afghanistan would deteriorate even further without a modest increase in troops from the United States and its allies for the NATO-led force.

Afghan forces being trained by their NATO allies have only tenuous control in Afghanistan almost 16 years into the intractable war against the Taliban, the remnants of al Qaeda, Islamic State and other Islamist groups.

In February, U.S. General John Nicholson, commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan, told a Congressional hearing he needed several thousand more international troops to break a stalemate with the Taliban.

Reuters reported in late April that Trump's administration was carrying out a review of Afghanistan and that conversations were revolving around sending between 3,000 and 5,000 more U.S. and coalition troops to Afghanistan.

U.S. and NATO allies have since been receiving requests for more troops to boost the Resolute Support mission, which currently stands at about 13,450 troops, including about 6,900 U.S. military personnel training and advising the Afghan armed forces to take over Afghanistan's defense and security.

The United States also has about 1,500 more troops as part of a counter-terrorism unit that mainly targets the Islamic State militant group and remaining pockets of al Qaeda.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this week the alliance was considering a request for more troops, although NATO member Germany ruled out sending more of its forces back to Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Paul Tait)

WASHINGTON The United States is close to completing a series of arms deals for Saudi Arabia totaling more than $100 billion, a senior White House official said on Friday, a week ahead of President Donald Trump's planned visit to Riyadh.

DOHA Gunmen killed a Saudi child and a Pakistani man during an attack on workers at a building project in restive eastern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the interior ministry said on Friday.

ANKARA President Hassan Rouhani cast his hardline clerical opponents as power-hungry pawns of Iran's security forces on Friday, going far beyond the traditional bounds of Iranian political discourse in a blistering final TV debate a week before an election.

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Australia considering NATO request to send more troops to Afghanistan - Reuters

By Tom OConnor, Newsweek

Canada is preparing to deploytroops to Latvia as part of a NATO plan to bolster the Western military alliances borders with rival power Russia, but Moscow has plans for a show of might that will likely dwarf NATOs efforts.

Latvian ambassador to CanadaKarlis Eihenbaums said Friday that his nation, which has previously expressed concern about Russian military activity in Europes Baltic region, was particularly on edge ahead of its neighbors quadrennial defense maneuvers called Zapad, or West, due to be held in August and September.Eihenbaums said the drills, which date back to the Soviet period, have left Latvia uneasy in past years, but that this yearsexercise would be especially concerning given the dueling military buildup that has occurred between NATO and Russia in the past few years.

You cannot feel safe, Eihenbaums told CBC News.

Servicemen take part in the joint war games Zapad-2013 (West-2013), attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at the Khmelevka range on Russias Baltic Sea in the Kaliningrad Region, September 26, 2013. The quadrennial games were set to be held again in 2017 amid heightened geopolitical tensions between Moscow and NATO.ALEXEI DRUZHININ/RIA NOVOSTI/REUTERS

Canada has already begun sending vehicles and equipment to Latvia, which was designated by NATO last year as one of four battle groups to which the multinational force would devote its resources. In additionto Latvia, the groups also includefellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania as well as Poland. Canada is set to send the first of 450 soldiers to Latvia next month and will be joined by forces from NATO allies Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. About 1,200 troops in all will be stationed in Latvia, with an additional 800 more in Estonia, 1,200 in Lithuania and 4,000 in Poland. Despite this escalation, however, NATOs moves have been described as merely a tripwire to Russia.

Russia already maintains a force numbering tens of thousands of troops at strategic border points in the region. In 2016, the Rand Corporation ran an analysis of multiple conflict scenarios and found that across multiple plays of the game, Russian forces eliminated or bypassed all resistance and were at the gates of or actually entering Riga, Tallinn, or both, between 36 and 60 hours after the start of hostilities. Russia has since announced wide-ranging initiatives to expand and modernize its defense capabilities,including more powerful submarines, more sophisticated missile defense systemsand the creation of a service branch dedicated specifically to electronic warfare. This years Zapad drills were set to see from 70,000 to 100,000 Russian troops join their Belarussian allies for a simulated battle with NATO forces, according to Russias state-run Sputnik News.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Wednesday during a trip to Lithuania, which will host a German-led NATO battalion, that Russias buildup was destabilizing and stated NATO would maintain a defensive posture. U.S. officials had earlier suggested that the Pentagon may authorize the deployment of a Patriot missile defense system to the region in preparation for Russian missile movements across the border, but Mattis and Lithuanian PresidentDalia Grybauskaite declined to comment specifically on the potential installation.

Both the U.S. and Russia have accused the other of trying to provoke a military showdown in Europe, but neither has expressed a willingness to engage the other in combat. After suffering a political falling out earlier this month over opposing policies toward war in Syria, the White House and the Kremlin have attempted to mend their political relationship, which suffered significantly under former President Barack Obama. However, a series of scandals and investigations centering around connections between the administration of President Donald Trump and Russia have left many U.S. officials suspicious of Moscows intentions. Russia denies interfering in U.S. politics and has called on Washington to restore relations between the worlds two foremost military powers.

Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday to discuss the countries positions on international affairs andRussian presidential aide Yury Ushakov called on the U.S. Friday to normalize the Russia-U.S. relations, according to Russias Sputnik News.

Source:http://www.newsweek.com/russia-military-drills-defeat-nato-forces-608382

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Russia to conduct drills that could defeat NATO in two days - AmeriForce Publishing, Inc.

New York Times

Jim Mattis, in Lithuania, Reaffirms US Commitment to NATO New York Times PABRADE, Lithuania If a shooting war ever breaks out between Russia and the NATO alliance, it could well be in a place like Pabrade, a little town near the edge of a little nation. But a different sort of conflict, waged with bytes rather than ... US defense secretary, in Lithuania, reaffirms commitment to NATO ...The Boston Globe US May Send Missiles to Russia Border as Moscow Prepares for War GamesNewsweek US, NATO prepared to deter Russia in Europe: Pentagon chiefPress TV SOFREP (press release) (subscription) all 73 news articles »

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Jim Mattis, in Lithuania, Reaffirms US Commitment to NATO - New York Times

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How Poland Is Casting Itself as the Leader of NATO's Eastern Flank - World Politics Review