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NATO asks for more troops for Afghanistan
www.msnbc.com-September 06, 2010
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan is asking for 2,000 more soldiers to join the 140,000-strong international force here, NATO officials said Monday. It was unclear how many would be Americans.
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General Says Foresight On Marja Was Flawed
www.nytimes.com-September 05, 2010
NATO commanders were overly optimistic when they predicted quick success last winter in taking the town of Marja from the Taliban, the outgoing deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said Saturday.
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As Past Recedes, Germans Reconsider The Draft
www.nytimes.com-August 31, 2010
For the first time in more than half a century, Germany’s political leadership appears ready to end the draft, a post World War II mandate embedded in the Constitution to prevent this nation’s military from ever again developing into a state-within-a-state that could impede democracy and start war.
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France, Britain In Talks On Warship Timeshare
www.defensenews.com-August 31, 2010
Historic rivals and modern day allies France and Britain are in talks on pooling their naval strength, officials said Aug. 31, after reports they might share a fleet of aircraft carriers.
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Romania Shows It's With U.S.
www.latimes.com-August 19, 2010
At Romanian Navy Day celebrations, the message is clear: In the fight against 'the terrorists' in Afghanistan, Romania is with the United States until the end.
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Budget Cuts Are Cracking the West's Defenses
www.rand.org-August 17, 2010
The global economic crisis is forcing many of America's European allies to make deep cuts in defense spending and procurement. This could have a significant impact on US transatlantic defense cooperation, especially with Britain and France. These two allies have had the greatest capability for power projection. Both countries now face difficult trade-offs as they decide how to modernize their nuclear deterrents, as well as their conventional forces.
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U.S. Urges Allies To Crack Down On WikiLeaks
http://news.yahoo.com-August 10, 2010
he Obama administration has asked Britain, Germany, Australia, and other allies to consider criminal charges against Julian Assange for his Afghan war leaks. Philip Shenon reports.
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Afghans Say NATO Strikes Killed Civilians
www.nytimes.com-August 06, 2010
NATO officials acknowledged preliminary reports that four to a dozen or more civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike Thursday in Nangarhar Province. Afghan accounts put the civilian deaths as high as 32.
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Dutch Troops End Mission In Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-August 02, 2010
The Netherlands became the first NATO country to end its combat mission in Afghanistan, drawing the curtain Sunday on a four-year operation that was deeply unpopular at home and even brought down a Dutch government.
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U.S. nears key step in European defense shield against Iranian missiles
www.washingtonpost.com-August 01, 2010
The U.S. military is on the verge of activating a partial missile shield over southern Europe, part of an intensifying global effort to build defenses against Iranian missiles amid a deepening impasse over the country's nuclear ambitions.
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Afghans protest civilian deaths, American presence and NATO bombardments
www.washingtonpost.com-August 01, 2010
Afghans marched through the streets of Kabul on Sunday morning chanting anti-American slogans and denouncing NATO bombardments and the American presence in Afghanistan.
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Nato Troops Surround Taliban Sheltering In Afghan Town
www.guardian.co.uk-July 31, 2010
Allied soldiers launch new attack to clear almost 200 insurgents from Sayedabad in Helmand province
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Afghans And NATO Differ On Civilian Deaths
www.nytimes.com-July 27, 2010
Afghan officials said Monday that 52 people were killed in southern Afghanistan on Friday when a rocket fired by coalition forces slammed into a house where women and children had taken shelter from fighting between NATO troops and militants. But American officials disputed the account.
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US Elite Unit Could Create Political Fallout For Berlin
www.spiegel.com-July 26, 2010
The war logs provide new information about the targeted killings done by the secretative US Task Force 373. The fact that the force has a unit stationed on a German base could prove embarrassing for Berlin.
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Cameron says Britain won't investigate release of Lockerbie bomber
www.washingtonpost.com-July 21, 2010
British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged Tuesday that his government will "engage constructively" with a U.S. Senate investigation of Scotland's release last summer of the man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie. But he dismissed a call for Britain to look into whether pressure from oil giant BP influenced that decision.
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Leaders Renew Vows Of Support For Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-July 21, 2010
American, European and other foreign leaders met here Tuesday to pledge anew their support for Afghanistan, agree to entrust it with more spending decisions, and embrace its president’s commitment for Afghan forces to take charge of security by 2014. They acknowledged that neither the public in their own countries nor the Afghan people had much patience left.
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Cameron rebuffs US, says no new inquiry on bomber
www.realclearpolitics.com-July 21, 2010
British Prime Minister David Cameron was trying to shift the focus of his U.S. visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday, but hard feelings lingered after he turned aside calls for a fresh investigation into whether oil giant BP swayed Scotland's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.
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U.K. PM comes to talk Mideast, economy, war, anything but BP
www.msnbc.com-July 20, 2010
On the way to Washington, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he wants to talk about Afghanistan, Middle East peace prospects and the global economy.
Everyone else wants to talk about BP.
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Small Bank In Germany Tied To Iran Nuclear Effort
htttp://online.wsj.com-July 19, 2010
As the international sanctions noose tightens around Iran's nuclear program, Tehran is increasingly relying on a small, Iranian-owned bank in Germany to conduct business on behalf of the regime's blacklisted companies, Western officials say.
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Liam Fox: troops will leave Afghanistan by 2014
www.telegraph.co.uk-July 18, 2010
Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, confirmed today that 2014 was the target date to pull out troops from Afghanistan.
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NATO Not Winning Afghan Hearts And Minds: Poll
www.reuters.com-July 17, 2010
NATO is failing to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan, according to a poll released on Friday showing most people in Taliban heartlands view foreign troops negatively and believe the Taliban should join the government.
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Coalition Combat Deaths Rise In Afghanistan
www.washingtonexaminer.com-July 15, 2010
Eight American and three British combat deaths in Afghanistan in 24 hours served as a grim forecast for a "violent summer" as NATO troops ratchet up pressure on the Taliban, officials and experts said.
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Timetable Puts Troops At Risk, Says Nato Chief
www.telegraph.co.uk-July 13, 2010
David Cameron’s signal of a five-year timetable for withdrawing British troops from Afghanistan risks encouraging the Taliban to step up their attacks on Western forces, the head of Nato has said.
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European Plane Maker Submits Bid For U.S. Tankers
www.nytimes.com-July 09, 2010
The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company submitted an 8,800-page bid on Thursday for a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract amid tensions over whether European subsidies would give it a cost advantage over Boeing.
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Airbus's Parent Company Submits Bids On U.S. Air Force Tankers
www.washingtonpost.com-July 09, 2010
European Aeronautic, Defense & Space, the parent company of Airbus, said it submitted a bid Thursday for a $35 billion contract to build aerial tankers for the U.S. Air Force, ahead of the government's Friday deadline.
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Europe presents main threat to global recovery, IMF says
www.washingtonpost.com-July 08, 2010
Europe's weakened economy is now the central threat to global recovery, as its countries struggle with heavy debt, banks face a reckoning over their lack of capital and growth is slowing, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday in its first assessment of the world economy since a crisis over government borrowing in Greece.
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PM Defends Withdrawal Of Troops From Sangin
www.ft.com-July 08, 2010
David Cameron’s government spelt out plans on Wednesday to withdraw 1,000 British troops based in the Sangin area of Helmand province, insisting that their redeployment was logical following the increase of US forces in Afghanistan.
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5 Afghan Soldiers Killed In Bombing By NATO Helicopter
www.washingtonpost.com-July 08, 2010
Afghan soldiers lying in wait for insurgents in eastern Afghanistan were bombed by a NATO helicopter Wednesday in a deadly miscommunication that outraged the Afghan military.
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A NATO Bid To Win The Afghanistan War, One Shura At A Time
www.csmonitor.com-July 07, 2010
The Canadian Army in Kandahar meets weekly with village elders and local officials, part of the Afghanistan war strategy to build a responsive government.
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NATO helicopter rockets accidentally kill five Afghan soldiers
www.washingtonpost.com-July 07, 2010
Rockets fired by a NATO helicopter mistakenly killed five Afghan soldiers who were pursuing insurgent fighters Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan and NATO officials said.
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Petraeus Moves To Assure NATO Of Afghan War Gains
www.bostonglobe.com-July 02, 2010
General David Petraeus, NATO’s newly appointed commander of Afghanistan, sought to reassure allies yesterday that the war against the Taliban is going well despite rising military casualties and problems regaining control over key parts of the country.
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NATO Intensifies Attacks On Taliban
www.philly.com-July 02, 2010
U.S. and Afghan troops seized a key Taliban figure after a four-hour gun battle, officials said, part of a strategy that NATO officials said Thursday had eliminated more than 100 insurgent leaders in the last four months.
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Afghan Militants Fail In Attack On NATO Air Base
www.nytimes.com-July 01, 2010
Eight Taliban insurgents were killed Wednesday after they attacked the NATO air base in the eastern Afghanistan border city of Jalalabad using a suicide car bomb and rocket-propelled grenades in a failed attempt to breach the gate, NATO said.
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NATO Needs To Brace For Spike In Casualties: Britain
www.reuters.com-June 30, 2010
Defence secretary Liam Fox warned NATO allies on Wednesday against prematurely withdrawing forces from Afghanistan and said they should prepare their war-weary publics for a spike in coalition casualties.
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NATO Retools Effort To Build An Effective Afghan Police Force
www.washingtonpost.com-June 30, 2010
When Gen. David H. Petraeus begins his new job as top military commander in Afghanistan, his success will hinge in part on a group of green-uniformed Afghan recruits who recently practiced a mock ambush at the country's main police academy in Kabul.
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NATO 'Protection' Plan Means Little To Afghan Village
www.reuters.com-June 28, 2010
In Afghanistan's Taliban heartland, U.S. soldiers walk a short distance from their camp into a village in mourning with a daunting offer: protection from the insurgents that live in the area.
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Obama, British leader discuss strain in nations' ties
www.washingtonpost.com-June 27, 2010
President Obama and the new British prime minister, David Cameron, grabbed some time alone here Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit. It was their first private meeting since Cameron became prime minister last month, and they had a lot to talk about, not least a "special relationship" burdened by the BP oil spill and the war in Afghanistan.
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Boss's Firing May Result In Departures From Kabul
www.nytimes.com-June 25, 2010
The business of running the war in Afghanistan went on seemingly as usual on Thursday, although many in the NATO command headquarters here were reeling over the rapid-fire events that culminated in their boss’s dismissal, forcing many of them to polish their résumés.
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In Europe, U.S. Allies Target Defense Budgets
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 25, 2010
European governments' budget-slashing efforts are expected to cut deep into the Continent's defense spending, widening the gulf between U.S. and European military capabilities.
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Obama To Consult Cameron Amid Afghan Commander Row
http://news.yahoo.com-June 23, 2010
US President Barack Obama told Prime Minister David Cameron he would continue to "consult closely" with Britain over Afghanistan amid speculation that the US commander there may lose his job.
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NATO Confident In McChrystal Despite U.S. Article
www.reuters.com-June 22, 2010
The head of NATO has full confidence in the top U.S. and NATO general in Afghanistan, whose aides were quoted as insulting some of President Barack Obama's closest advisers, a NATO spokesman said on Tuesday.
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Britain Marks 300 Afghan War Deaths
www.nytimes.com-June 22, 2010
Britain marked its 300th military death in the Afghanistan war on Monday, a milestone that Prime Minister David Cameron described as “desperately bad news” and a reminder that Britain was “paying a high price for keeping our country safe.”
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British Diplomat Quits Afghanistan Post
www.washingtonpost.com-June 22, 2010
Britain's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who has criticized elements of the U.S. war strategy, has resigned and the new government of Prime Minister David Cameron is reviewing whether to fill the job, British officials said Monday.
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British Role In Helmand 'Critical'
www.ft.com-June 11, 2010
The top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan has said that British forces in Helmand province remain "critical" and "hugely important" in the future campaign against the Taliban, despite the substantial build-up of US forces in the south of the country this year.
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New British Leader Shows Support For War Effort In Trip To Afghanistan
www.latimes.com-June 11, 2010
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday made his first visit to Afghanistan since taking office, saying the war there was his top foreign policy priority but that British troops should not stay "a day longer than is necessary."
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Gates Says EU Pushed Turkey Away
htttp://online.wsj.com-June 10, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused the European Union of pushing Turkey toward the East by its resistance to letting the mainly Muslim nation join the bloc, the closest any senior U.S. official has come to saying the West risks losing Turkey.
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Britain Reaffirms Support For Afghanistan Effort
www.nytimes.com-June 10, 2010
As the Obama administration reaches out to head off any weakening of allied resolve, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain — America’s closest military ally — flew to Kabul on Thursday, saying this would be the “vital year” for the campaign against the Taliban.
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Afghanistan Strategy Shifts To Focus On Civilian Effort
www.nytimes.com-June 09, 2010
The prospect of a robust military push in Kandahar Province, which had been widely expected to begin this month, has evolved into a strategy that puts civilian reconstruction efforts first and relegates military action to a supportive role.
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British Troops 'Highly Unlikely' To Redeploy To Kandahar – Fox
www.guardian.co.uk-June 09, 2010
The presence of British troops in Helmend was a "national security imperative" and it was highly unlikely they would be deployed elsewhere in Afghanistan, defense secretary Liam Fox, said today.
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Afghanistan Is A War Not A Conflict, Says Army Head
www.telegraph.co.uk-June 09, 2010
The Armed forces need to focus on the “obvious threats” such as Afghanistan rather than possible future threats, the head of the Army has said.
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NATO Allies To Make Deep Cuts
www.washingtonpost.com-June 09, 2010
European allies are bracing for their deepest cuts in military spending since the end of the Cold War, fueling concerns in Washington that an already wide gap in military power between the United States and the rest of NATO will grow.
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Gates Cautions Allies On Military Cuts
www.reuters.com-June 09, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned Britain and other NATO allies on Tuesday against cutting troop strength in response to their growing budget woes, urging them to try to find cost savings first in other areas.
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US Weighs Reinforcements For Troubled Afghan Province: Gates
http://news.yahoo.com-June 08, 2010
The United States is weighing sending US reinforcements to Afghanistan's troubled southern Helmand province, where British troops are "in the thick" of fighting, officials said Tuesday.
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7 U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan
www.latimes.com-June 08, 2010
Ten NATO troops, including seven U.S. soldiers, were killed Monday in Afghanistan in the deadliest day for coalition forces so far this year.
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Cameron Gives Backing To US Strategy In Afghanistan
htttp://news-scotsman.com-June 07, 2010
PRIME Minister David Cameron restated his support for the American strategy in Afghanistan when he met US defense secretary Robert Gates for talks in Downing Street yesterday.
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New British Government Resolute On Afghanistan: Gates
www.defense.gov-June 07, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said conversations he has had with his new British counterpart give him the sense that Great Britain’s new government “is quite resolute with respect to Afghanistan.”
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American General To Take Command Of British Troops In Helmand Province
www.timesonline.co.uk-June 01, 2010
An American general will today take over command of all British forces in Helmand province in a symbolic move that underlines Britain’s diminished role in southern Afghanistan.
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Taliban Stronger Than Expected, NATO Chief Says
www.reuters.com-May 31, 2010
The Taliban is stronger than NATO expected but the international coalition in Afghanistan will make progress both militarily and politically this year, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday.
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AP Tally: 1,000th US Military Death In Afghan War
www.associatedpress.com-May 28, 2010
The U.S. military suffered its 1,000th death of the Afghan war Friday, according to an Associated Press count, when NATO reported a service member was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
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Britain Reveals Nuclear Arsenal: 225 Warheads
www.nytimes.com-May 27, 2010
Britain disclosed Wednesday that it has a stockpile of 225 nuclear warheads, its first public accounting of its total nuclear arsenal.
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Euro Falls on Concern Spain’s Bank Woes Signal Crisis Spreading
www.bloomberg.com-May 25, 2010
The euro fell to the lowest level since 2001 against the yen amid concern weakness in Spain’s savings banks signals an expansion of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis that may hinder global economic recovery.
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One false move in Europe could set off global chain reaction
www.washingtonpost.com-May 24, 2010
If the trouble starts -- and it remains an "if" -- the trigger may well be obscure to the concerns of most Americans: a missed budget projection by the Spanish government, the failure of Greece to hit a deficit-reduction target, a drop in Ireland's economic output.
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Taliban Win £1,600 Bounty For Each Nato Soldier Killed
www.timesonline.co.uk-May 23, 2010
TALIBAN rebels are earning a bounty of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees (£1,660) for each Nato soldier they kill, according to insurgent commanders.
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Six weeks of vacation a year. Retirement at 60. Thousands of euros for having a baby. A good university education for less than the cost of a laptop.
http://apnews.myway.com-May 23, 2010
Six weeks of vacation a year. Retirement at 60. Thousands of euros for having a baby. A good university education for less than the cost of a laptop.
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British Defense Minister Calls For Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan
www.defensenews.com-May 22, 2010
Senior British officials, including new Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Afghanistan May 22 with a warning that Britain wants to withdraw its troops as soon as possible.
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US To Command UK's Helmand Force
www.ft.com-May 22, 2010
Britain’s 8,500 troops in Helmand province will go under the direct control of a US Marine Corps general next month as Nato restructures its military operations in southern Afghanistan.
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Dispute Over France A Factor In Intelligence Rift
www.nytimes.com-May 22, 2010
An already strained relationship between the White House and the departing spymaster Dennis C. Blair erupted earlier this year over Mr. Blair’s efforts to cement close intelligence ties to France and broker a pledge between the nations not to spy on each other, American government officials said Friday.
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German lawmakers approve euro rescue package
www.washingtonpost.com-May 21, 2010
Germany moved Friday to shore up the euro and stabilize heavily indebted European nations, approving the country's share of a nearly $1 trillion euro-region bailout.
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'Perfect storm' as market tremors hit China, Europe and the US
www.telegraph.co.uk-May 21, 2010
Capitulation fever has swept global markets on triple fears of faltering recovery in the US, Chinese credit curbs and Europe's intractable escalating debt crisis.
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Stavridis: Despite Economic Woes, NATO Members Should Still Pay Up
www.defensenews.com-May 20, 2010
The global economy continues to lag. The euro is in steep decline. And European nations are mulling defense cuts. But none of this should lead NATO members to contribute less to the alliance, says U.S. Adm. James Stavridis.
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European and American debt crises signal an era of austerity
www.washingtonpost.com-May 19, 2010
Following decades of welfare-state comfort and years of Keynesian stimulus spending, a panicky Europe is seeing the arrival of austerity politics. Resentful debtors such as Greece, Spain and Portugal are being forced into tax increases and spending cuts that are painful, unpopular -- and just beginning. Their resentful citizens throw tantrums and sometimes rocks at police. Resentful creditors such as Germany provide bailouts while wondering why they ever shackled themselves (and the value of their currency) to such irresponsible governments.
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E.U. faces tough questions as euro continues to slide
www.washingtonpost.com-May 18, 2010
The once-mighty euro, which briefly plunged to a four-year low against the dollar on Monday, may be doomed to keep falling whether or not European leaders can contain the region's roiling debt crisis.
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Night Raid Blamed For Civilian Deaths
www.washingtonpost.com-May 18, 2010
District police chief Abdul Ghafour woke to a cellphone call after 1 a.m. Friday: There was gunfire at Rafiuddin Kushkaki's home. Ghafour put on his uniform, sent two police trucks ahead and followed in a third.
"I thought that the Taliban must have attacked this man's house," he said.
He was wrong. It was a raid by U.S. Special Operations forces and their Afghan colleagues, and it left at least nine Afghan men dead in the Surkhrod district of Nangahar province in eastern Afghanistan.
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NATO Urged To Look Beyond Borders
www.nytimes.com-May 18, 2010
NATO must be willing to fight and operate far from its borders to defend its members in a new world of terrorism, piracy and cyberattacks, according to a proposed strategy for the alliance released Monday
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Afghan War Key To NATO's New Mission
www.bostonglobe.com-May 18, 2010
NATO must win the war in Afghanistan, expand ties with Russia and even China, counter the threat posed by Iran’s missiles, and assure the security of its 28 members, according to the alliance’s proposed mission statement for the next decade.
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Greece Receives $17.9 Billion Loan from EU
www.cnbc.com-May 18, 2010
Greece is to receive 14.5 billion euros ($17.9 billion) in bailout loans from other European Union countries Tuesday, helping stave off default on around 9 billion euros of debt due a day later.
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Central Bank Buys Billions in European Debt
www.nytimes.com-May 17, 2010
The European Central Bank disclosed Monday that it had bought 16.5 billion euros in bonds in the first week since taking the unprecedented step of intervening in markets to halt a sell-off of Greek and other European debt.
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Europe’s Debt Crisis Casts a Shadow Over China
www.nytimes.com-May 17, 2010
The pain of the European debt crisis is spreading as the plummeting euro makes Chinese companies less competitive in Europe, their largest market, and complicates any move to break the Chinese currency’s peg to the dollar.
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Europe’s Debt Crisis Is Casting a Shadow Over China
www.nytimes.com-May 17, 2010
The pain of the European debt crisis is spreading, with the plummeting euro making Chinese companies less competitive in Europe, their largest market, and complicating any move to break the Chinese currency’s peg to the dollar.
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U.S. Troops Suffer More Stress Than Britons, Study Says
www.nytimes.com-May 17, 2010
British troops who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer far lower rates of post-traumatic stress than Americans do, according to the most rigorous psychiatric study of Britain’s military so far.
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European countries feel the pain as cuts keep coming
www.washingtonpost.com-May 15, 2010
A retiree at age 59, with a comfortable pension and a generous severance payment as well, Yolanda Hatzi knows she got a good deal when she left the National Bank of Greece three years ago.
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NATO Helps To Raise Taliban’s Death Toll
www.bostonglobe.com-May 14, 2010
At least three dozen suspected insurgents were killed in two days of joint NATO and Afghan operations across Afghanistan, officials said yesterday, one of the highest death tolls reported in recent weeks for Taliban fighters.
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Eurozone Problem for the United States
www.cfr.org-May 14, 2010
The debt crisis that began in Greece and spread to other eurozone countries has served as a painful reminder of the risks associated with high public debt in a globalized financial system. The threat of contagion to countries outside Europe has divided experts on what the impact will be on the U.S. economy--whose debt is expected to rise to 90 percent of GDP by 2020.
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Goodbye to Europe as a High-Ranking Power
www.cfr.org-May 13, 2010
It is more than a little ironic that Nato has committed itself to defining a new strategic concept at precisely the moment the transatlantic relationship counts for less than at any time since the 1930s.
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Signals of Foreign Policy Vigor in London
www.cfr.org-May 13, 2010
After forming the first coalition government in sixty-five years, Conservative David Cameron, now prime minister, and Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg, his deputy, touted their shotgun marriage as what Cameron called a "seismic shift" in British politics. That shift stresses moving forward on a long list of items topped by the need to deal with Britain's soaring deficit, says Fred Kempe, president of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based public policy group.
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Tough Love for Eurozone
www.cfr.org-May 12, 2010
The European Union's nearly $1 trillion bailout plan--prompted by a spreading sovereign debt crisis--bought the region time to rectify the finances of heavily indebted member countries, but concern is growing that the austerity measures these countries face may prove politically and economically untenable.
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U.S., U.K. alliance questioned following British election
www.washingtonpost.com-May 12, 2010
In his telephone call to new British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday night, President Obama underscored his commitment to the "special relationship" between the two countries.
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Cameron Sets to Work After Taking Power in Britain
www.nytimes.com-May 12, 2010
Britain’s Conservatives and their new partners, the center-left Liberal Democrats, turned to the job of building a new government on Wednesday morning, a day after they agreed to an alliance that swept the Labour Party out of power and formed Britain’s first coalition government since World War II.
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In Greek Debt Crisis, Some See Parallels to U.S.
www.nytimes.com-May 12, 2010
It’s easy to look at the protesters and the politicians in Greece — and at the other European countries with huge debts — and wonder why they don’t get it. They have been enjoying more generous government benefits than they can afford. No mass rally and no bailout fund will change that. Only benefit cuts or tax increases can.
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Depression 2010?
www.realclearpolitics.com-May 12, 2010
It is now conventional wisdom that the world has avoided a second Great Depression. Governments and the economists who advise them learned the lessons of the 1930s. When the gravity of the financial crisis became apparent in late 2008, the response was swift and aggressive. Central banks like the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank dropped interest rates and lent liberally to threatened financial institutions and rattled investors. The United States and many countries approved "stimulus" programs of tax cuts and additional spending. Panic was halted. A downward spiral of falling private spending and rising unemployment was reversed. The resulting economic slump was awful. But it was not another Great Depression. The worst has passed. Or has it!
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US Exposure to EU Bailout Is Big But Risk Is Limited
www.cnbc.com-May 11, 2010
The US exposure to the European debt bailout could be at least $50 billion, but the chance of taxpayers actually being on the hook for that appears remote.
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The E.U.'s Aggressive Bailout Plan
www.cato.org-May 11, 2010
The "shock and awe" bailout package announced by the European Union — a $955 billion bailout for member governments — is an attempt to defy the centrifugal forces of past fiscal profligacy and subterfuge on capital markets. It is clearly provoked by the most obvious symptom of the failure — a steady depreciation of the euro on world currency markets, from $1.51 in December 2009 to its current value of just $1.30.
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A Trillion for Europe, With Doubts Attached
www.nytimes.com-May 11, 2010
Like the giant financial bailout announced by the United States in 2008, the sweeping rescue package announced by Europe eased fears of a market collapse but left a big question: will it work long term?
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Debt Aid Package for Europe Took Nudge From Washington
www.nytimes.com-May 11, 2010
President Obama had just flown into Hampton, Va., Sunday morning to deliver a commencement address. But before he donned his silky academic robes, he was on the phone with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, offering urgent advice — and some not so subtle prodding — that Europe needed to try something big.
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U.S. Allies To Bolster Armored Vehicle Fleets
www.usatoday.com-May 11, 2010
Coalition forces in Afghanistan, in urgent need of protection from roadside bombs, have sought hundreds of the U.S.-produced armored trucks known as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPS), according to Pentagon officials and documents.
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Gordon Brown resigns as UK prime minister
www.bbc.co.uk-May 11, 2010
Gordon Brown has announced he is resigning as UK prime minister.
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Cameron takes over as Britain's PM
www.msnbc.com-May 11, 2010
Conservative leader David Cameron became Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years Tuesday after Gordon Brown stepped down and ended 13 years of Labour government.
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Europe is unprepared for austerity
www.ft.com-May 10, 2010
Europe has bought itself time with its €750bn bail-out for the euro. But the long-term problem remains.
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Stocks surge on effort to ease Europe debt crunch
www.washingtonpost.com-May 10, 2010
Stocks rocketed higher Monday after European leaders agreed to a nearly $1 trillion rescue plan to avoid a major debt crisis and the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would also provide loans overseas.
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Wall Street Joins the Rush Higher
www.nytimes.com-May 10, 2010
Wall Street wasted no time in joining Monday’s rally in the equity markets, soaring at the open.
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Stocks surge on effort to ease Europe debt crunch
www.latimes.com-May 10, 2010
Stocks rocketed higher Monday after European leaders agreed to a nearly $1 trillion rescue plan to avoid a major debt crisis and the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would also provide loans overseas.
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The Welfare State's Death Spiral
www.realclearpolitics.com-May 10, 2010
What we're seeing in Greece is the death spiral of the welfare state. This isn't Greece's problem alone, and that's why its crisis has rattled global stock markets and threatens economic recovery. Virtually every advanced nation, including the United States, faces the same prospect. Aging populations have been promised huge health and retirement benefits, which countries haven't fully covered with taxes. The reckoning has arrived in Greece, but it awaits most wealthy societies.
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Europe Officials Move to Carry Out Rescue Package
www.nytimes.com-May 10, 2010
European officials on Monday took steps to tackle the widening sovereign debt crisis that has destabilized the Continent.
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Stocks, Oil, Euro Rally on European Loan Plan; Treasuries Fall
www.bloomberg.com-May 10, 2010
Stocks rallied around the world, sending the MSCI World Index up the most in 13 months, while Greek, Spanish and Portuguese bonds soared and the euro strengthened after European policy makers announced an almost $1 trillion loan plan to end the region’s sovereign-debt crisis.
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Euro Rescue Raises Hopes and Questions
www.cfr.org-May 10, 2010
The European Union's massive $955 billion rescue plan (Reuters) to buoy the balance sheets of fiscally risky eurozone countries aims to stave off a sovereign debt crisis (WSJ) that threatens global financial stability.
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UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown offers to step down
www.washingtonpost.com-May 10, 2010
Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday offered to step down by this fall as he announced the opening of formal negotiations with a rival party to form a "progressive alliance" and block the Conservative Party from retaking power in Britain.
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Brown Announces New Talks and End of His Tenure
www.nytimes.com-May 10, 2010
Britain’s quest for a new government took a sudden turn on Monday when Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he would resign within months as Labour party leader as part of a bid to lure the Liberal Democrats into joining a rejuvenated Labour party in a governing coalition
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Dow up 405 in a huge relief rally
www.msnmoney.com-May 10, 2010
The most powerfully rally in 14 months pushed stocks around the world sharply higher today on hopes that a $1 trillion rescue package to would bring stability to a number of troubled European economies.
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5 Myths about the European debt crisis
www.washingtonpost.com-May 09, 2010
Just when the American economy appeared to be on the mend, a new crisis is stressing global financial markets. Greece's difficulty in financing its bloated budget deficit -- and the prospect that its debt troubles will spread throughout Europe and beyond -- is dominating the news. The euro has shed 12 percent of its value this year, and U.S. stock markets have shuddered in response, with the Dow declining almost 6 percent in the past week alone.
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Unclear Result in Britain Puts Focus on Electoral Rules
www.nytimes.com-May 08, 2010
The British public’s failure to elect a clear winner in Thursday’s national election appeared to be a mass expression of exasperation with a discredited government and an uninspiring opposition. It also showed the voters’ disillusionment with the increasingly creaky electoral system itself.
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British election offers lesson in courting the voters prosperity left behind
www.washingtonpost.com-May 08, 2010
Britain produced an electoral earthquake all right, but not the one so many expected. The real lessons have less to do with two-party systems than with how economic change has challenged old strategies on both the right and the left.
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Wall Street Swings and Then Turns Lower
www.nytimes.com-May 07, 2010
Stock markets showed renewed volatility Friday as policy makers sought to calm nervous investors who fear that Greece’s debt crisis will spread within Europe and beyond.
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Tories Gain but Fail to Take Parliament
www.nytimes.com-May 07, 2010
After one of the most passionately contested elections in decades, Britain faced the stalemate of a hung Parliament on Friday, with no party commanding an outright majority despite significant gains by the opposition Conservatives and damaging losses for Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
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Greek bailout plan approved by German Parliament
www.washingtonpost.com-May 07, 2010
The German parliament gave overwhelming approval Friday to the unpopular financial rescue plan put together by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to save Greece from bankruptcy.
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Nato Gambles On Collaboration With Ahmad Wali Karzai In Kandahar
www.timesonline.co.uk-May 07, 2010
Nato has taken one of the biggest gambles of its mission in Afghanistan by reluctantly deciding to collaborate with Ahmad Wali Karzai, the notorious power-broker of Kandahar — despite allegations that the half-brother of the President is involved in the drugs trade.
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Muddling through Greece's Tremors
www.cfr.org-May 07, 2010
Global markets plunged on Thursday as investors continued to react with nervousness to the prospects of Greek's debt crisis spreading to other countries on the European Union's periphery. This is primarily because Greece remains in a murky situation despite its parliament's approval of tough new austerity measures linked to its bailout.
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NATO And Europeans Plot Path Ahead
www.nytimes.com-May 06, 2010
An unusual online effort by NATO, the European Union, governments and research groups to ask a broader public for ideas on the future of Western security policy has produced a series of recommendations that call for NATO to develop a civilian arm and the European Union to create its own intelligence agency.
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Decline in world markets prompts fears of Greek 'contagion effect'
www.washingtonpost.com-May 06, 2010
A third straight day of decline on world financial markets Thursday was vivid evidence of a scary proposition: That the fiscal crisis that began in Greece months ago is spreading across Europe like a virus, causing growing doubts about the fates of even nations with far more manageable levels of government debt.
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Markets Plunge Before Rebounding
www.nytimes.com-May 06, 2010
For a short time Thursday afternoon, Wall Street returned to the tumultuous days of 2008.
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Stocks' Skid Deepens
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 06, 2010
Stocks plummeted in a flashback to the panicked trading of 2008. Selling accelerated late in the day due to a wave of automated sell orders that turned an ugly drop into full-blown market washout.
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Dow Ends Down 350; VIX Tops 34
www.cnbc.com-May 06, 2010
Stocks staged a dramatic selloff Thursday as what may have been a trader error exacerbated losses in a market already jittery about the European debt crisis.
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Can the Crisis in Greece Be Contained?
www.time.com-May 06, 2010
The words scrawled in green and black spray paint on the sidewalk outside Greece's parliament summed up the mood: "George get out. Out IMF and U.S. and E.U." A few days earlier, Prime Minister George Papandreou — the George in question — had the unhappy duty of telling Greeks that the bill for past excesses had come due.
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Stocks Plunge, Then Recover As Debt Worries Slam Markets
www.cnbc.com-May 06, 2010
In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points on worries about the spreading European debt crisis before paring those losses in an equally rapid rebound.
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Stocks freefall today
-May 06, 2010
Today's stock Market Data
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Gold jumps 3 percent to near record on risk retreat
www.reuters.com-May 06, 2010
Gold prices vaulted 3 percent on Thursday to near an all-time high, topping $1,200 an ounce in the biggest one-day gain in more than a year as financial turmoil in Europe accelerated the flight to safety.
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Dow Plunges Most Since 1987 Before Paring Losses; Euro Tumbles
www.businessweek.com-May 06, 2010
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its biggest intraday loss since the market crash of 1987, the euro slid to a 14-month low and yields on Greek, Spanish and Italian bonds surged on concern European leaders aren’t doing enough to stem the region’s debt crisis. U.S. Treasuries soared.
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Greek Lawmakers Approve Bailout Bill, Dow Plunges
www.foxnews.com-May 06, 2010
The rescue loans are aimed at containing the debt crisis and keeping Greece's troubles from spreading to other countries with vulnerable state finances such as Portugal and Spain.
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Dow Takes a Harrowing 1,010.14-Point Trip
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 06, 2010
A bad day in the financial markets was made worse by an apparent trading glitch, leaving traders and investors nervous and scratching their heads over how a mistake could send the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a 1000-point tailspin.
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Britons Go to Polls in Tight Race for Parliament
www.nytimes.com-May 06, 2010
Concluding one of the most passionate election campaigns in years, Britain went to the polls on Thursday after a frantic race to the finish among politicians clamoring to persuade voters that they offer the best prospect of economic change and social renewal.
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As Britain Votes, Economic Clouds Hover
www.nytimes.com-May 06, 2010
Even with rioters on the streets of Athens and the 16 countries using the euro threatened with mounting turmoil, the economy remained the most frequently — and least candidly — discussed topic here as the three main parties entered the last hours of a month long general election campaign.
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The British General Election and What It Means for the U.S.-UK Special Relationship
www.csis.org-May 05, 2010
On Thursday, the British people will go to the polls to select their next government, and it is very unclear what the outcome of the election will be.
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3 dead in fire at Greek bank during Athens riots
www.latimes.com-May 05, 2010
Public services are paralyzed in a nationwide strike by an estimated 100,000 people. Unions complain that austerity measures imposed to win a European bailout will affect the poor the most.
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Poised for a British-U.S. Realignment
www.cfr.org-May 05, 2010
Britain's intensely fought four-week campaign season has raised speculation about dramatic realignments to the country's politics and policies. The Labour and Conservative parties, represented by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and David Cameron, respectively, have faced an unexpectedly sharp challenge from Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg. Regardless of who wins, or whether the first hung parliament since 1974 is the outcome, the election "may prove to be a hinge point" in the evolving relations between Britain and the United States, says Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House in London, an independent international affairs think tank.
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What Do Britain’s Elections Mean for the United States?
www.csis.org-May 04, 2010
Britain holds parliamentary elections this Thursday (May 6) that are widely viewed as the closest in the country’s recent history. The latest polls show the opposition Conservatives under David Cameron in the lead with anything from 33 percent to 37 percent, against 27 percent or 28 percent each for Gordon Brown’s governing Labour Party and the upstart Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg. These figures are difficult to interpret as Britain does not elect its prime minister in a national vote in the way that Americans elect their president.
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Who's on the Hook for the IMF's Greek Bailout?
htttp://online.wsj.com-May 04, 2010
Some lawmakers and other commentators are arguing that the U.S. will be handed a big bill to rescue Greece from default because the U.S. is the International Monetary Fund's largest shareholder.
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Greece Gets $146 Billion Rescue in EU, IMF Package
www.bloomberg.com-May 03, 2010
Euro-region ministers agreed to a 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greece to prevent a default and stop the worst crisis in the currency’s 11-year history from spreading through the rest of the bloc.
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Is austerity a Greek myth?
www.washingtonpost.com-May 03, 2010
When Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou discusses the $145 billion bailout plan that was adopted Sunday, he describes his nation's chaotic finances in language that should make sense even to grumpy German taxpayers who will be putting up the largest share of the rescue money.
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Europe agrees a "shock and awe" bail-out for Greece
www.economist.com-May 02, 2010
It is a cherished Brussels maxim that the European Union takes its greatest leaps forwards in a crisis—and then only after several false starts. Thus for Euro-optimists, the fact that it has taken EU leaders nearly three months to deliver a promised rescue package for Greece is less important than the fact that on May 2nd the block finally leapt, setting in motion the biggest sovereign bail out plan in EU history.
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Greek PM: Bailout deal reached with EU, IMF
www.washingtonpost.com-May 02, 2010
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Sunday said his government had reached a long-awaited deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund for a massive rescue package aimed at combating a debt crisis that is threatening to engulf other nations in Europe.
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NATO Investigates 3 Afghan Civilian Deaths
www.nytimes.com-May 01, 2010
The French military took responsibility on Friday for killing four Afghan children during a missile strike in early April, and NATO said it was investigating allegations of a military convoy gunning down two Afghan women and a girl in southeastern Afghanistan.
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Reckless Behavior Of Private Companies Protecting NATO Convoys Angers Afghan
www.sfexaminer-May 01, 2010
Private Afghan security guards protecting NATO supply convoys in southern Kandahar province regularly fire wildly into villages they pass, hindering coalition efforts to build local support ahead of this summer's planned offensive in the area, U.S. and Afghan officials say.
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Crisis for Europe in Greek Debt?
www.cfr.org-April 30, 2010
With Standard & Poor's lowering Greece's sovereign bonds to junk status this week, and Portuguese debt downgraded as well, Europe started to fear a domino-like contagion that could spread to Spain, Italy, and other eurozone countries that face high debt, slow growth and big budgets.
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EU says deal is near to resolve Greek fiscal crisis
www.latimes.com-April 29, 2010
The size of the rescue package appears to have grown beyond $60 billion. Athens must agree to painful financial reforms.
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New Urgency to Prevent Greek Default
www.cfr.org-April 29, 2010
The decision by rating agency Standard & Poor's (AP) to downgrade Greece's sovereign debt to junk status rattled global markets after weeks of uncertainty about the country's economic status.
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Afghanistan Forces Face Four More Years Of Combat, Warns Nato Official
www.guardian.co.uk-April 29, 2010
Nato's top civilian official in Afghanistan warns of further deaths in 'very tough year' for British and other foreign troops.
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The Euro Trap
www.nytimes.com-April 29, 2010
Not that long ago, European economists used to mock their American counterparts for having questioned the wisdom of Europe’s march to monetary union. “On the whole,” declared an article published just this past January, “the euro has, thus far, gone much better than many U.S. economists had predicted.”
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The Cost of Delay
www.nytimes.com-April 29, 2010
When the European Union and the International Monetary Fund first talked about a $60 billion rescue for Greece it looked as though that might be enough to calm Europe’s panicky markets. Then Germany dragged its feet, and investors raced to dump Greek bonds and bonds from the financially troubled Portugal and Spain.
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Let Greece Default
www.cato.org-April 29, 2010
The debt crisis in Europe gets worse with each passing day. Ratings agencies have recently downgraded Greek bonds to junk status, as well as lowered the ratings of Portugal and Spain. In response, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are pondering whether to bail out Greece, perhaps to the tune of 120 billion euros.
This is the wrong medicine for Greece — and for Europe
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As Debt Fears Grow, Finance Ministers to Meet in Europe
www.nytimes.com-April 28, 2010
With Greece inching closer to the brink of financial collapse, fear that the debt crisis will spread rattled global markets for a second day on Wednesday as investors awaited a signal from financial leaders gathering in Berlin.
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Spain downgraded, Europe debt crisis widens
http://news.yahoo.com-April 28, 2010
Europe's debt crisis flared again Wednesday as Spain saw its credit rating lowered, just as Germany sought to reassure markets fearful over a possible Greek financial collapse by saying its share of a key aid package could be approved in the next few days.
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Angry Afghans Burn NATO Trucks
www.washingtonpost.com-April 26, 2010
Afghan protesters torched NATO supply vehicles in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, hours after allegations emerged that U.S. and Afghan troops had killed three civilians, including two brothers, in their home.
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NATO Backs Plan To Give Command To Afghans
www.nytimes.com-April 24, 2010
Setting the stage for a gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States and other NATO countries adopted a plan here Friday that sets conditions for beginning to remove troops from a lead role in Afghan provinces by the end of this year.
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NATO Approves Plan To Hand Over Afghanistan Security To Government
www.washingtonpost.com-April 24, 2010
NATO members adopted a framework Friday for turning over security in Afghanistan to that country's government, and senior officials said they want to begin the transition this year.
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U.S. Resists Push By Allies For Tactical Nuclear Cuts
www.nytimes.com-April 23, 2010
Fresh from signing a strategic nuclear arms agreement with Russia, the United States is parrying a push by several NATO allies to withdraw its aging stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.
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Greek prime minister announces activation of EU/IMF aid package
www.washingtonpost.com-April 23, 2010
Pushed to the brink of bankruptcy, Greece on Friday requested a massive, $56 billion rescue that is aimed at preventing a financial meltdown in the heart of Europe and will test the resolve of the European Union to uphold its pledge to bail out the troubled Mediterranean nation.
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New McChrystal Approach Means Greater Danger For German Forces
www.spiegel.com-April 22, 2010
During his much-anticipated visit to Berlin, US General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, refrained from making any demands for additional German troops. But McChrystal's new "partnering" strategy means the Bundeswehr will have to get involved in highly dangerous operations.
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U.S. Urging NATO to Maintain Nuclear Deterrent
www.nytimes.com-April 22, 2010
Fresh from signing a strategic nuclear arms deal with Russia, the United States is parrying a push by NATO allies to withdraw its aging stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons from Europe.
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NATO Apologizes For Killing Unarmed Afghans In Car
www.nytimes.com-April 22, 2010
NATO apologized Wednesday for shooting to death four unarmed Afghan civilians this week in Khost Province and acknowledged that it had wrongly described two of the victims as “known insurgents.”
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Greek debt crisis worsens; EU, IMF conduct emergency bailout talks
www.washingtonpost.com-April 22, 2010
The Greek debt crisis escalated again Thursday as new data showed the government's gaping budget deficit was worse than previously thought and investors expressed fears that officials in Athens may not agree to stringent demands for an international bailout.
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US Plans Full European Missile Shield In 8 Years
www.reuters.com-April 15, 2010
U.S. anti-ballistic missile systems will cover all of Europe by 2018, a senior Pentagon official said, laying out an ambitious target for defending against a perceived threat from Iran.
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Greek Bailout: Savior for Euro or Temporary Fix?
www.time.com-April 12, 2010
Markets can be savage and unpredictable, but they appeared satisfied Monday after European leaders finally agreed to throw a financial rescue line to Greece, offering the country up to $40 billion in loans at below-market interest rates to help the country meet its debt obligations.
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President of Poland Killed in Plane Crash in Russia
www.nytimes.com-April 10, 2010
A plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and dozens of top Polish officials crashed in a heavy fog in western Russia on Saturday morning, killing everyone aboard, Polish and Russian authorities said.
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Polish leader, 95 others dead in Russia jet crash
www.washingtonpost.com-April 10, 2010
Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 96, officials said.
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A Turning Point for Europe’s East
www.hoover.org-April 07, 2010
In the early months of the second decade of the 21st century, that grey area of the Euro-Atlantic where Eastern Europe fades into the post-Soviet world seems much the same as it has been since the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991. Belarus remains a dictatorship. Tbilisi anticipates war with Russia. The ever unstable Kiev continues to flirt with national bankruptcy. Moscow grumbles on about its diminished status and searches the horizon for signs of nato’s encroachment. And forgotten Moldova remains forgotten.
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Czechs torn over U.S. nuclear treaty with Russia
www.usatoday.com-April 06, 2010
One year ago this week in front of the Gothic spires of Prague Castle, President Obama laid out his vision of a nuclear-weapons-free world and told thousands of cheering Czechs he would "put an end to Cold War thinking."
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Sarkozy Says EADS Will Bid For US Tanker If Fair
www.reuters.com-March 31, 2010
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday Europe's EADS would bid for a huge U.S. refueling plane contract if the terms of the competition were fair and open as President Barack Obama has promised.
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Greece to Issue Seven-Year Bond
http://online.wsj.com-March 30, 2010
Greece continued to pay a stiff premium Monday to raise €5 billion ($6.71 billion) in its third syndicated bond offering of the year, a demonstration that the announcement last week of a possible European Union rescue package has done little to lower the troubled country's high cost of borrowing.
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Nato Commanders To Put Afghan Troops In Front Line For New Southern Push
www.londontimes.com-March 29, 2010
Nato commanders are to change their tactics in the battle for Kandahar, putting Afghan forces at the forefront of the operation to drive the Taliban from their spiritual heartland.
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Israel Absorbs Twin Rebukes From Top Allies
www.nytimes.com-March 23, 2010
Israel found itself at odds with its two most stalwart allies on Tuesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu culminated a tense visit to Washington with a face-to-face session with President Obama that apparently failed to resolve the impasse between the two over a comprehensive Middle East peace plan.
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A Crisis of Leadership in Democracies: Yours, Mine, or Ours?
www.csis.org-March 22, 2010
Last month Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave an impressive and largely up-beat speech on NATO’s historic role and, most importantly, its future.
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NATO to oversee most troops in Afghanistan
www.msnbc.com-March 16, 2010
A major reorganization of allied forces in Afghanistan will centralize both American and other foreign troops under the direct command of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior U.S. and NATO commander in the theater.
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U.S., Europe at odds over global financial reform
www.washingtonpost.com-March 13, 2010
A feud between the United States and Europe has cast doubt on the likelihood of a comprehensive global response to the financial crisis that nearly sparked a worldwide depression, according to regulators and analysts.
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British Troops To Hand Over Musa Qala To Americans
www.timesonline.co.uk-March 12, 2010
British troops are to hand over control of the largest town in north Helmand to US forces as part of a major "rebalancing" of UK forces in Helmand, the Defence Secretary said yesterday.
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Coalition Looks Past Marjah, Sees Challenges
http://online.wsj.com-March 09, 2010
Top U.S. military officials called the recent offensive in the town of Marjah a model for future operations in southern Afghanistan, while the top NATO civilian official in the country sought to defuse a controversy about the town's new Afghan administrator.
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Greek PM in Washington at Important Time
www.csis.org-March 08, 2010
What did Prime Minister George Papandreou of Greece hope to accomplish during his visits to Berlin, Paris, and Luxembourg prior to visiting Washington?
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In Afghanistan, NATO Denounces An Ally
http://online.wsj.com-March 06, 2010
The U.S.-led effort to flush the Taliban from a stronghold in southern Afghanistan—the first test of the new surge strategy to turn the tide of the war—has been dealt a setback by a dispute over the personal history of the man chosen by the Afghan government to run the town.
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Brown Defends Iraq Decision
http://online.wsj.com-March 05, 2010
A panel examining the U.K.'s involvement in the Iraq war pressed Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the government's funding of military operations as the premier defended the country's decision to go to war in 2003.
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Afghanistan war: NATO unfolds blueprint to rebuild Marjah
www.csmonitor.com-March 04, 2010
Western and Afghan officials have outlined ambitious plans for a new Marjah that include erecting new schools, reforming the police force, and upending the drug trade. Rebuilding Marjah and other towns is now seen as critical to NATO's Afghanistan war strategy.
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The Greek Austerity Message
www.cfr.org-March 03, 2010
The Greek government's March 3 announcement of another round of shock therapy (FT) is intended to signal that Athens is prepared to attack a sovereign debt problem that has roiled the European Union as well as global financial markets.
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The Future of NATO
www.cfr.org-March 02, 2010
What is the future of NATO in the 21st Century?
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NATO at 61: Bear Trouble, and More
www.cfr.org-March 02, 2010
On the heels of a meeting in Washington last month of NATO military officials, preparatory to a NATO summit in November to issue a new "strategic concept," William M. Drozdiak, president of the American Council on Germany, says there are significant differences between Europe and the United States on issues like Afghanistan that could make it difficult to agree on a new accord. Moreover, despite the end of the Cold War, tensions continue between the United States and Russia, says Drozdiak, who is also part of the advisory committee for a new CFR study, "The Future of NATO." Drozdiak says that "in terms of getting Russia to see that its own security interests need to be strengthened by building a better relationship with the West, there hasn't been much progress."
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France Defends Talks On Sale Of Warships To Russia
www.timesonline.co.uk-March 01, 2010
The scene is set for conflict between France and its Nato allies when President Medvedev of Russia arrives in Paris today intent on ordering up to four powerful warships from French shipbuilders.
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Showdown in Athens
http://online.wsj.com-February 27, 2010
Greece prepared additional austerity measures Friday and its prime minister met with the head of Germany's top bank, as the country raced to soothe international concerns over its debt crisis ahead of a crucial bond sale it may hold next week.
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Russia-Europe Energy Relations
www.csis.org-February 26, 2010
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Pull Your Weight, Europe
www.nypost.com-February 26, 2010
European leaders were shocked this week when Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a NATO audience that the alliance faces a "crisis" because the continent has largely demilitarized. Why the surprise -- have they been in a coma?
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Let Europe Be Europe
www.foreignpolicy.com-February 25, 2010
Over the course of the disastrous 20th century, inhabitants of the liberal democratic world in ever-increasing numbers reached this conclusion: War doesn't pay and usually doesn't work. As recounted by historian James J. Sheehan in his excellent book, Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?, the countries possessing the greatest capability to employ force to further their political aims lost their enthusiasm for doing so. Over time, they turned away from war.
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Gates Calls European Mood A Danger To Peace
www.nytimes.com-February 24, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has long called European contributions to NATO inadequate, said Tuesday that public and political opposition to the military had grown so great in Europe that it was directly affecting operations in Afghanistan and impeding the alliance’s broader security goals.
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Gates Urges Europe To Bolster NATO Capability
www.bostonglobe.com-February 24, 2010
Europeans’ aversion to military force is limiting NATO’s ability to fight wars effectively, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday.
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Danes Buck Broader Antiwar Trend
http://online.wsj.com-February 24, 2010
Among allied forces fighting in Afghanistan, few countries have deployed a bigger share of their armed forces than Denmark, and fewer still have taken higher levels of casualties. But the small Scandinavian country is emerging as an unlikely example of how to maintain public support for the war.
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The Netherlands lands a blow to the Afghanistan coalition
www.latimes.com-February 24, 2010
The Netherlands has become the first NATO ally to announce that it is quitting the fight in Afghanistan, following the collapse of the center-right government over its involvement in the U.S.-led war against the Taliban. The decision by the Dutch to pull their nearly 2,000 troops does not bode well for President Obama, who has been struggling since autumn to get Europe to increase its troop commitments. On the contrary, the administration should worry that the Dutch move will prompt other governments to reconsider their support for an unpopular war.
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Nato promises to fill Afghan gap
www.ft.com-February 24, 2010
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato’s secretary-general, said on Tuesday he had no regrets about making the request for troops that preceded the Dutch government’s collapse last weekend, adding that the Dutch military should remain in Afghanistan.
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NATO In 'Crisis'; Europe Averse To Military Force: Gates
www.yahoo.com-February 23, 2010
The NATO alliance faces a "crisis" as European countries have grown averse to military force and failed to invest in weapons and equipment, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
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U.S. raps Europe for underfunding defense
www.reuters.com-February 23, 2010
Europe has demilitarized too much since the end of the Cold War and its underfunded defense budgets are undermining shared security goals, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
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NATO Chief: Support for Afghan Mission Is Still Strong
http://online.wsj.com-February 23, 2010
The civilian chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said he doesn't believe a Dutch decision to withdraw its nearly 2,000 troops from southern Afghanistan this year will lead other European allies to follow suit.
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NATO Strategic Concept Seminar
www.defense.gov-February 23, 2010
Remarks as Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, National Defense University
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NATO Airstrike Is Said to Have Killed Afghan Civilians
www.nytimes.com-February 22, 2010
A NATO helicopter airstrike on Sunday against what international troops believed to be a group of insurgents ended up killing as many as 27 civilians in the worst such case since at least September, Afghan officials said Monday.
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Greek Crisis Fallout: Could the Euro's Days Be Numbered?
www.time.com-February 19, 2010
The frenzied betting by financial markets against the stability of Greek government bonds is a clear indication that many investors don't believe Athens will find a way to deal with its massive debt — at least not without an equally huge European bailout.
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Greece Inches Back
www.nytimes.com-February 18, 2010
After weeks of denial, the European Union has begun grappling with Greece’s debt crisis and the dangers it poses for the 15 other nations using the euro.
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NATO reinstates weapons system used in attack that killed Afghan civilians
www.latimes.com-February 17, 2010
Western military officials announced Wednesday they had reinstated use of a weapons system employed in a strike that killed 12 people inside an Afghan family home, most of them women and children.
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The Party's Over for Spendthrift Greeks
www.time.com-February 17, 2010
Greece's streets are covered in soggy confetti, remnants of this year's muted Orthodox carnival celebrations, which came to an end on Monday, the day when Greeks marked the beginning of Lent. For the country, a period of spartan repentance lies ahead — and not just because the seven-week period of Lenten fasting is starting. After years of overspending by both the government and ordinary people armed with credit cards — and now flush with credit-card debt — Greeks know the party is over.
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NATO in Afghanistan - why bother?
www.rnw.nl-February 15, 2010
NATO and the United States are bashing their heads against a brick wall in Afghanistan. The military alliance that's supposed to bring peace, security and reconstruction to that troubled nation is falling apart.
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Afghan and Allied Forces Begin to Secure Taliban Stronghold
http://online.wasj.com-February 13, 2010
U.S., Afghan and British troops were in the early stages of securing the town of Marjah Saturday, with thousands of infrantrymen moving in on foot after helicopter-born soldiers seized two central shopping bazaars.
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Europe Doesn't Matter
www.cato.org-February 10, 2010
Europe thought that it had answered Henry Kissinger's derisive question: what is the phone number for Europe? But the recently approved Lisbon Treaty has only increased confusion as to who speaks for the continent. As a result, President Obama recently announced that he will not attend the upcoming U.S.-European Union summit.
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NATO says Afghans to play big role in offensive
www.msnbc.com-February 09, 2010
Thousands of Afghan soldiers and police will join U.S. and NATO troops in an upcoming offensive in southern Afghanistan, playing their biggest role in any joint operation of the Afghan war.
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Curing 'Ukraine Fatigue'
www.brookings.edu-February 09, 2010
If Viktor Yanukovich, the winner of the presidential race in Ukraine, acts quickly to address his country’s pressing problems, he could move it out of the doldrums and cure the “Ukraine fatigue” afflicting Washington and most European capitals.
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Paris Troop Pledge Falls Short of Goal
http://online.wsj.com-February 06, 2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a plea to North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies in Istanbul Friday for thousands of new troops to train Afghan forces—but France said separately it would contribute only 80, far below U.S. expectations.
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President Obama’s Decision to Forgo the U.S.-EU Summit in May and What It Means for Future U.S.–EU Relations
www.csis.org-February 02, 2010
Why has President Obama decided not to attend the U.S.-EU Summit scheduled to be held in Spain in May?
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Blair Appears Before Iraq Inquiry
www.nytimes.com-January 29, 2010
Almost seven years after he ordered British troops to join the American-led invasion of Iraq, former Prime Minister Tony Blair testified Friday before an official inquiry into the conflict, offering a spirited defense of his legacy in the face of criticism that he led Britain into an unpopular war and misled the nation about his reasons for doing so.
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NATO Hits Snags On Troop Pledges
www.washingtonpost.com-January 27, 2010
NATO is struggling to make good on commitments to deploy extra forces to Afghanistan, one month after the Obama administration said it was counting on the alliance to send as many as 10,000 more troops to serve alongside U.S. soldiers.
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Germany To Add Troops To Afghan War
www.nytimes.com-January 27, 2010
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany promised Tuesday to send up to 850 more soldiers to Afghanistan, a compromise between the pleas of the United States and other allies for a larger commitment of forces and the political realities of a deeply unpopular war at home.
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France Likely To Sell Ship To Moscow
www.washingtontimes.com-January 20, 2010
France is soon expected to become the first Western European NATO member to sell advanced military equipment to Russia, amid an aggressive search by Moscow for Western arms suppliers that has divided the country's elite, diplomats and defense analysts say.
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The Afghan War at the End of 2009
www.csis.org-January 04, 2010
Far too many of the debates over President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan have been conceptual, and have failed to focus on practical plans, schedules for action, needs for resources, and metrics for success. These problems have been further complicated by the fact the debate over the new strategy took place at a time when NATO/ISAF and the US virtually ceased to provide any meaningful metrics on the course of the war.
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Dutch to Use Full-Body Scanners on Flights to U.S.
www.nytimes.com-December 30, 2009
The major international airport of the Netherlands will begin using full-body scanners on passengers flying to the United States to prevent a recurrence of the security breach that allowed a would-be bomber to smuggle explosives onto a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day, the Dutch authorities said Wednesday.
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Obama Gives Britain The Cold Shoulder
http://online.wsj.com-December 14, 2009
Britain is the only European country President Barack Obama can really count on to respond positively to his plea for NATO to provide extra forces for Afghanistan. So why is it, then, that the Obama administration can barely conceal its disdain for a nation that, by its deeds, time and again proves itself to be America's staunchest and most reliable ally?
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Kazakhstan to Assume Chair of OSCE, Europe’s Largest Security Organization
www.csis.org-December 14, 2009
On January 1, 2010, Kazakhstan will assume the chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), an organization that now spans 56 countries. What is the significance of this development?
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West Urges Afghanistan To Delay Election
http://online.wsj.com-December 11, 2009
Afghanistan's Western backers increasingly favor postponing the nation's parliamentary election, scheduled for May, fearing that another traumatic -- and potentially fraud-marred -- campaign will undermine the coalition's counterinsurgency strategy and create a new round of political turmoil.
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U.S.-NATO: Looking for Common Ground in Afghanistan
www.cfr.org-December 09, 2009
Former U.S. ambassador to NATO Robert E. Hunter says that the NATO alliance is under pressure from the United States to increase force levels in Afghanistan. He says that very few European countries believe that prevailing in Afghanistan "is necessary for their own security," but they go along with Washington to keep the United States focused on dealing with possible threats from Russia.
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ISW Research Analyst Jeff Dressler Explains ISAF Caveats on CNN's Situation Room
www.understandignwar.org-December 09, 2009
ISW Research Analyst Jeffrey Dressler talks with CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence.
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U.K. Expects Not to Add Troops
http://online.wsj.com-December 07, 2009
The U.K.'s top defense official said in an interview that Britain, having committed 1,200 more troops to the war in Afghanistan, probably won't further increase its troop commitment.
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NATO Chief: Allies Will Give 5,000 More Troops for Afghanistan
http://online.wsj.com-December 02, 2009
America's European allies welcomed President Barack Obama's decision to send a further 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, saying the extra U.S. contribution would shake out further military commitments from other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
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34,000 Troops Will Be Sent To Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-December 01, 2009
President Obama will outline Tuesday his intention to send an additional 34,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials and diplomatic sources briefed Monday as Obama began informing allies of his plan.
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A test for the blocks needed to rebuild a nation
www.washingtonpost.com-December 01, 2009
The revised strategy for Afghanistan that President Obama will announce Tuesday is expected to focus new resources on training Afghan security forces and shoring up the central government, an approach certain to revive a debate about the possibilities and the limits of nation-building.
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Obama's Afghanistan war speech partly a bid for more foreign troops
www.csmonitor.com-November 30, 2009
In his Afghanistan war speech Tuesday, Obama is expected to call for more US troops to fight. But he'll need as many as 10,000 new foreign troop commitments, too, to get to the force size military commanders say is needed.
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Enlarging NATO, Expanding Confusion
www.nytimes.com-November 30, 2009
TWENTY years ago, dictatorships across Central and Eastern Europe toppled. During this season of remembering, the focus has rightly been on celebration of the new freedoms gained by the inhabitants of those countries: to speak freely, to travel, to vote and to choose their own national futures and alliances. Yet the legacy of 1989 has difficult aspects as well, mostly centering on the origins and legitimacy of later NATO expansion to former East German and Warsaw Pact territory; acknowledgment of them by the United States could greatly improve American and Russian relations.
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Nato Has Lost Its Way In Afghanistan, Army Chief Tells Muslims
www.timesonline.co.uk-November 28, 2009
Nato has lost its way in Afghanistan and needs to rediscover the conviction to succeed against the Taleban, the head of the Army has admitted.
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Soviets' Afghan Ordeal Vexed Gates On Troop-Surge Plan
http://online.wsj.com-November 27, 2009
The future of the war in Afghanistan was on the line as Gen. Stanley McChrystal met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a secret rendezvous at a Belgian airbase in August.
Gen. McChrystal, the top Western commander in Afghanistan, pushed for more U.S. troops to roll back the spreading Taliban-led insurgency. Mr. Gates, officials say, was skeptical.
More interactive graphics and photos A quarter-century ago, he was a top Central Intelligence Agency officer aiding the anti-Soviet rebels in Afghanistan, and he remembered how a 1985 decision by the Soviet Union to widen that earlier war had failed to turn the tide.
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U.S. Seeks 10,000 Troops From Its Allies in Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-November 26, 2009
The United States is scrambling to coax NATO allies to send 10,000 additional troops to Afghanistan as part of President Obama’s strategy for the region. Those countries appear willing to provide fewer than half that number, American and allied officials said Wednesday.
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U.S. Strategy On Afghanistan Will Contain Many Messages
www.nytimes.com-November 25, 2009
In declaring Tuesday that he would “finish the job” in Afghanistan, President Obama used a phrase clearly meant to imply that even as he deploys an additional 30,000 or so troops, he has finally figured out how to bring the eight-year-long conflict to an end.
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U.K. Documents Show Friction With U.S. On Iraq
www.nytimes.com-November 24, 2009
Official Defense Ministry documents leaked to a British newspaper have revealed a climate of stark animosity among senior British officers toward American military commanders after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Britain, as the second-largest troop provider, was cast as the United States’ principal ally among about 30 nations constituting the occupation force.
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Obama vows to ‘finish the job’ in Afghanistan
www.msnbc.com-November 24, 2009
President expected to deploy 32,000 to 35,000 additional troops
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Barack Obama Finalises Afghanistan Troop Surge
www.timesonline.co.uk-November 22, 2009
Barack Obama is expected to announce his long-delayed plans for a troop surge in Afghanistan next week with a promise of between 3,000 and 7,000 extra troops from Nato allies — including Britain, so as to stop this looking like America’s war.
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U.S. Enlists Allies In New Surge
http://online.wsj.com-November 21, 2009
The Obama administration is in advanced talks with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan war strategy, which U.S. officials hope will include a commitment by European allies to send several thousand additional troops.
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The European Approach to Global Health
www.csis.org-November 13, 2009
The advent of the Obama administration offers an important opportunity to launch a serious dialogue on strengthening transatlantic collaboration on global health issues. This dialogue will require high-level commitment and engagement from both Europe and the United States.
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NATO May Increase Afghan Presence
http://online.wsj.com-November 13, 2009
Britain's prime minister said Friday that North American Treaty Organization nations may contribute 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan -- offering key backing as the U.S. decides whether to increase troop levels.
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Barack Obama 'risks Suez-like disaster' in Afghanistan, says key adviser
www.guardian.co.uk-November 12, 2009
A key adviser to Nato forces warned today that Barack Obama risks a Suez-style debacle in Afghanistan if he fails to deploy enough extra troops and opts instead for a messy compromise.
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Iran’s Nuclear Negotiations and the West
www.csis.org-November 12, 2009
During the past seven years of negotiations between the Western powers and Iran, Iran has persistently claimed that its uranium enrichment and heavy water reactor facilities are aimed at producing nuclear fuel for power generation. The Western powers, however, suspect that the program is intended to develop nuclear weapons.
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First Election in Independent Kosovo
www.csis.org-November 09, 2009
Kosovo is on the eve of its first elections as a sovereign state. What does this mean for the new country?
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NATO Airstrike Said To Kill 7 Afghan Soldiers
www.nytimes.com-November 08, 2009
The Afghan Defense Ministry and local officials in Badghis Province said on Saturday that seven members of the Afghan security forces had been killed in a NATO airstrike the day before that was part of an effort to aid a beleaguered Afghan and NATO operation against the Taliban.
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Europe Reluctant To Send Troops To Afghanistan
www.reuters.com-November 03, 2009
European nations are unlikely to contribute more troops to Afghanistan, the head of the European Commission said on Tuesday, as President Barack Obama considers boosting U.S. forces there.
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Iran Rejects Deal to Ship Out Uranium, Officials Report
www.nytimes.com-October 30, 2009
Iran told the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Thursday that it would not accept a plan its negotiators agreed to last week to send its stockpile of uranium out of the country, according to diplomats in Europe and American officials briefed on Iran’s response.
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German Limits On War Facing Afghan Reality
www.nytimes.com-October 27, 2009
Forced to confront the rising insurgency in once peaceful northern Afghanistan, the German Army is engaged in sustained and bloody ground combat for the first time since World War II.
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Allies signal assent to increasing Afghan forces
www.washingtontimes.com-October 24, 2009
Top NATO and United Nations officials signaled Friday they may request more international troops to join American forces in Afghanistan as the top U.S. defense official said President Obama is still weeks away from deciding on a shift in war strategy.
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NATO Defense Ministers Endorse Wider Afghan Effort
www.nytimes.com-October 23, 2009
NATO defense ministers gave their broad endorsement Friday to the counterinsurgency strategy for Afghanistan laid out by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, increasing pressure on the Obama administration and on their own governments to commit more military and civilian resources for the mission to succeed.
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McChrystal To Brief NATO Defense Ministers
www.associatedpress.com -October 23, 2009
The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan planned an unexpected appearance Friday at a meeting of NATO defense ministers focused on making Afghan security forces responsible for fighting the war there.
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NATO Members: No More Troops To Afghanistan Now
www.washingtonpost.com-October 23, 2009
NATO members the Netherlands and Denmark said Friday they will not send more troops to Afghanistan unless its Nov. 7 presidential runoff creates a legitimate government and until President Barack Obama decides on a new strategy.
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With No US Decision On Afghanistan, What Will NATO Discuss?
www.csmonitor.com-October 22, 2009
NATO defense ministers are meeting Friday, even though everyone is waiting on the US to decide whether it will send more troops to Afghanistan.
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Poland To Accept U.S. Offer On Shield
www.nytimes.com-October 21, 2009
Poland, smarting after President Obama announced last month that he would scrap Bush-era plans to deploy an antiballistic missile system in Eastern Europe, will accept an offer to host parts of a new, more mobile, missile defense system, Polish officials said Tuesday.
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Biden Sent To Assuage Europe On Russia Overtures
www.washingtontimes.com-October 21, 2009
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived here Tuesday on the first leg of a delicate diplomatic repair mission that follows the Obama administration's abrupt reversal on missile defense, a decision that rekindled deep-seated unease in a region where the U.S. is seen as the only reliable counterweight to a potentially menacing Russian neighbor.
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U.S. Decision Can't Wait For Afghan Legitimacy: Gates
www.reuters.com-October 20, 2009
The United States cannot wait for problems surrounding the legitimacy of the Afghan government to be resolved before making a decision on troops, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said.
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Gates Seeking Allies' Help On Afghanistan War
www.washingtonpost.com-October 19, 2009
The Pentagon's chief is undertaking the tricky task of trying to persuade allies to remain committed to the war in Afghanistan even as the Obama administration debates whether to send more troops to fight.
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Europe's angst over Afghanistan
www.washingtonpsot.com-October 19, 2009
As the president and his National Security Council privately debate whether to send tens of thousands of troops to war, America's European allies watch with a mixture of anxiety and anguish. They know that if the deployment goes forward, they will be asked to make their own difficult and politically costly contributions of soldiers or other personnel. But they are, if anything, even more worried that the American president will choose a feckless strategy for what they consider a critical mission. And they are frustrated that they must watch and wait -- and wait and wait -- for the president to make up his mind.
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Italy Denies News Report That It Bribed The Taliban
www.nytimes.com-October 16, 2009
The Italian government denied a British newspaper’s report on Thursday that Italy’s forces paid off the Taliban in 2008 to maintain calm in an area of Afghanistan under Italian control.
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Source: Al-Qaida, not Taliban, Obama’s focus
www.msnbc.com-October 08, 2009
A senior administration official says President Barack Obama is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan's political future and is inclined to send only as many more U.S. troops to Afghanistan as are needed to keep al-Qaida at bay.
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Britain Is Mired In Its Own Debate Over Troop Levels In Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-October 07, 2009
In an echo of the American tug of war over troop levels in Afghanistan, Britain’s recently retired top general said in an interview published Tuesday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government had repeatedly rebuffed his own military’s calls for an increase in troops.
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NATO Chief Gives Details Of Afghan Training Mission
www.nytimes.com-October 07, 2009
NATO, criticized by the United States for not doing enough in Afghanistan, will start training the Afghan police in the coming weeks, the alliance’s new leader said.
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10 Steps to Victory in Afghanistan
www.nytimes.com-October 03, 2009
COUNTERINSURGENCY is only as good as the government it supports. NATO could do everything right — it isn’t — but will still fail unless Afghans trust their government. Without essential reform, merely making the government more efficient or extending its reach will just make things worse.
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Back Your General And Send More Troops, David Miliband Urges Barack Obama
www.timesonline.uk.co-October 02, 2009
David Miliband urged President Obama to embrace a renewed “hearts and minds” strategy in Afghanistan as ministers indicated that they would not send more British troops unless the US adopted such an approach.
The Foreign Secretary did not mention America by name but called on every government in the coalition to back troops, aid workers and diplomats in support of a clear plan. “We came into this together. We see it through — together,” he told the Labour conference in Brighton.
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Iran Meets U.S. and Allies for Nuclear Talks in Geneva
www.nytimes.com-October 01, 2009
Critical talks over Iran’s nuclear ambitions began Thursday morning in the Geneva countryside, with Washington and its allies hoping to draw Iran into a serious negotiation that will open up the country to serious nuclear inspections, suspend Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and reassure its neighbors that its intentions are peaceful.
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NATO Chief Calls For More Troops
www.latimes.com-September 29, 2009
Stepping into an intensifying debate in Washington, the new head of NATO said Monday that more allied troops are needed in Afghanistan to help train the country's security forces.
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A Nuclear Debate Brews: Is Iran Designing Warheads?
www.nytimes.com-September 29, 2009
When President Obama stood last week with the leaders of Britain and France to denounce Iran’s construction of a secret nuclear plant, the Western powers all appeared to be on the same page.
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Poles indignant that U.S. altered missile-shield plans
www.latimes.com-September 29, 2009
The American decision to back out of a Bush-administration agreement has played into fears that Obama is willing to sacrifice Central Europe to repair relations with Russia.
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U.S., Allies Vow Support For Karzai
www.washingtonpost.com-September 28, 2009
The United States and NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan have told President Hamid Karzai's government that they expect him to remain in office for another five-year term and will work with him on an expanded campaign to turn insurgent fighters against the Taliban and other militant groups.
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U.S. And Allies Warn Iran Over Nuclear 'Deception'
www.nytimes.com-September 26, 2009
President Obama and his allies raced Friday to use their revelation of a secret Iranian nuclear enrichment plant as long-sought leverage against Tehran, demanding that the country allow highly intrusive international inspections and propelling the confrontation with Tehran to a new and volatile pitch.
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U.S., Allies Say Iran Has Secret Nuclear Facility
www.washingtonpost.com-September 26, 2009
President Obama's charge that Iran is constructing a secret nuclear fuel facility brought years of confrontation over the country's alleged nuclear weapons program to a new crisis point Friday, as he joined with the leaders of Britain and France to warn that international patience is waning fast.
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Moscow Hardens Stance Towards Tehran
www.ft.com-September 26, 2009
President Dmitry Medvedev hardened Russia’s stance on Iran’s nuclear programme on Friday after the US, Britain and France revealed that Tehran possesses a hitherto secret uranium enrichment facility.
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U.S. Allies Await Afghan Review
http://online.wsj.com-September 25, 2009
A reassessment of the Obama administration's strategy in Afghanistan is heightening uncertainty over the international military mission in the country among America's European allies, who already face strong domestic opposition to their role in the conflict.
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Obama Says Iran Must 'Come Clean' on Nuclear Program or Face Sanctions
Obama Says Iran Must 'Come Clean' on Nuclear Program or Face Sanctions-September 25, 2009
President Obama served notice to Iran Friday that it must "come clean" about its nuclear program in talks next week or face the prospect of "sanctions that bite" following the disclosure of a previously unacknowledged uranium enrichment facility that U.S. and allied intelligence agencies say could produce material for nuclear weapons
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U.S. Policy Shift Raises European Hopes On Russia
www.washingtontimes.com-September 21, 2009
President Obama's decision to scrap a land-based missile-defense system has sent expectations soaring among U.S. allies in Europe of some sort of thaw in Russia's often chilly ties with the West.
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Cost Concerns Propelled U.S. Missile Pivot
http://online.wsj.com-September 19, 2009
The Obama administration's scrapping of long-range missile interceptors in Europe wasn't just about security and diplomacy, according to people close to the process: It also came down to money.
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NATO Chief Calls For Linking Defense With US, Russia
www.boston.com-September 19, 2009
The head of NATO called yesterday for the United States, Russia, and NATO to link their missile defense systems against potential new nuclear threats from Asia and the Middle East, saying that the old foes must forget their lingering Cold War animosity.
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Poles, Czechs Criticize U.S. Missile Shield 'Betrayal'
www.washingtontimes.com-September 19, 2009
Poles and Czechs voiced deep concern Friday at President Obama's decision to scrap a Bush-era missile defense shield planned for their countries. But in Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the move as "correct and brave."
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New Missile Shield Strategy Scales Back Reagan’s Vision
www.nytimes.com-September 18, 2009
The new plan that President Obama laid out for a missile shield against Iran on Thursday turns Ronald Reagan’s vision of a Star Wars system on its head: Rather than focusing first on protecting the continental United States, it shifts the immediate effort to defending Europe and the Middle East.
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Obama Shifts Focus Of Missile Shield
www.washingtonpost.com-September 18, 2009
President Obama's decision to abandon a Bush-era plan for a missile defense system in Europe and establish a partly ship-based shield against Iranian rockets could tighten U.S. pressure on the Islamic republic and ease a simmering rift with Russia.
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Missile Plan Is Obsolete, Obama Says
www.latimes.com-September 18, 2009
President Obama scrapped his predecessor's plans for a European-based missile shield to defend against Iran, saying Thursday that new intelligence showed the Islamic Republic was proceeding more quickly to develop short- and medium-range missiles, requiring more "cost-effective" sea-based interceptors instead.
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U.S. Missile U-Turn Roils Allies
http://online.wsj.com-September 18, 2009
President Barack Obama's decision to drop plans to deploy a ballistic-missile defense shield in Central Europe -- drawing immediate cheers in Moscow and criticism elsewhere -- is a gamble by the U.S. that scaling back its defense ambitions will improve security in the long run.
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White House to Scrap Bush’s Approach to Missile Shield
www.nytimes.com-September 17, 2009
President Obama announced on Thursday that he will scrap former President George W. Bush’s planned missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic and instead deploy a reconfigured system aimed more at intercepting shorter-range Iranian missiles.
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U.S. To Shelve Nuclear-Missile Shield
http://online.wsj.com-September 17, 2009
President Barack Obama Thursday shelved a Bush-era plan for an Eastern European missile-defense shield, saying a redesigned defensive system would be cheaper, quicker and more effective against the threat from Iranian missiles.
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Dismay in Europe as Obama ditches missile defence
www.timesonline.co.uk-September 17, 2009
President Obama dismayed America's allies in Europe and angered his political opponents at home today when he formally ditched plans to set up a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
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Obama’s Europe missile defense plan – the good and the bad
www.smallwarsjournal.com-September 17, 2009
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Winning In Afghanistan
www.csis.org-September 15, 2009
most basic question of going to war: can we win? The answer is yes, provided that victory is defined in realistic and practical terms. With the proper US leadership, it is still possible to create an Afghanistan that is stable and secure enough to ensure that it cannot again become a center for international terrorism, a threat to Pakistan and other nations in the region, or a center of Jihadist operations throughout the world.
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The Levin "Plan"
www.csis.org-September 14, 2009
The United States and its allies face critical challenges in Afghanistan. Most of these are self-inflicted by eight years of failing to properly resource the war. The U.S. failed to come to grips with the realities of Afghanistan and the reasons why the Taliban have re-emerged as a force that is winning a rising insurgency, and failed to make the commitment necessary to win.
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In Kandahar, A Taliban On The Rise
www.washingtonpost.com-September 14, 2009
U.S., NATO Struggle to Check Insurgents in Key Afghan Area.
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Time To Deal In Afghanistan
www.washingtonpost.com-September 14, 2009
It is time to get real about Afghanistan. Withdrawal is not a serious option. The United States, NATO, the European Union and others have invested massively in stabilizing that country over the past eight years, and they should not abandon it because the Taliban is proving a tougher foe than anticipated.
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Top NATO Official Reaffirms Commitment to Afghanistan
www.defenselink.mil-September 10, 2009
Despite the challenges it faces there, NATO will stay the course during its tough fight against Taliban and other extremists in Afghanistan, the alliance’s top leader said here today.
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Merkel Warns Of ‘Premature Judgments’ Of Afghan Raid
www.nytimes.com-September 09, 2009
Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, pushed back Tuesday against international criticism over an airstrike ordered by German troops that claimed the lives of scores of people in northern Afghanistan, even as NATO announced that it appeared that civilians had been among those killed.
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Angela Merkel on defensive after Afghan tanker attack blunder by German forces
www.timesonline.co.uk-September 09, 2009
It was the end of Germany’s “Don’t Mention the War” election campaign. In an impassioned parliamentary session yesterday Angela Merkel, the Chancellor, was forced to fight off her critics and try to persuade a sceptical nation that German troops should stay in Afghanistan.
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German Lawmakers Question Involvement in Afghan Airstrike
www.washingtonpost.com-September 09, 2009
German lawmakers demanded explanations Monday for how and why their soldiers in Afghanistan, normally restricted to peacekeeping duties, triggered a NATO airstrike that killed approximately 100 people. Political fallout from the attack jolted Germany's election campaign just weeks before the vote and threatened to sour relations with the United States.
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Nato chief warns against early Afghan exit
www.ft.com-September 09, 2009
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato’s new secretary-general, warned on Wednesday that a rush to withdraw from Afghanistan is not an option for the US-led alliance, in spite of increasing signs that western public opinion is tiring of the war.
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In Germany, Political Turmoil Over Ordering Of Airstrike
www.washingtonpost.com-September 08, 2009
German lawmakers demanded explanations Monday for how and why their soldiers in Afghanistan, normally restricted to peacekeeping duties, triggered a NATO airstrike that killed approximately 100 people. Political fallout from the attack jolted Germany's election campaign just weeks before the vote and threatened to sour relations with the United States.
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