|
NATO Off the Wire
01 October 2007
A look at news and commentary regarding NATO
on the Web
The spokesman's perspective:
Continuing our new series of video commentary, NATO Spokesman James Appathurai gives his personal perspective on recent articles discussing NATO. He invites you to write in with your own comments and opinions, which could be featured in the next installment.
E-mail comments to: press@hq.nato.int |
 |
Video - WMV
23.555Kb  |
Audio - MP3
4.274Kb  |
| |
27 September 2007
| |
| Tougher NATO line sought on Afghan drugs |
(Reuters) - The abandoned villa of a Helmand province drugs baron may seem an odd venue to plot tactics to combat Afghanistan's opium trade. Local lore tells of the Russian dancing girls who entertained its owner before he gave up partying and fled the British forces who since last year have used the villa as one of their bases in the country's drugs heartland.
Now alliance soldiers and diplomats gather round its emptied swimming pool to discuss a push by the United States and Britain for NATO to put more of its muscle into stemming a drugs industry they say has become a cash cow for insurgents. |
| Published on 27 September 2007 - Reuters |
| |
| NATO, UN to be targeted if Kosovo secedes from Serbia, group warns |
Serbian paramilitary group, outlawed by the United Nations in Kosovo, has threatened to target UN and NATO peacekeepers in the province, declaring them "terrorists and occupiers," according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.
The threat comes a day before Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Serbia's leaders meet in direct talks to discuss Kosovo's future on the margins of the UN General Assembly, in New York. The letter was e-mailed to the UN and NATO. |
| Published on 27 September 2007 - The Jerusalem Post, Israel |
28 September 2007
| |
| No room for paramilitary groups in Kosovo: NATO |
| The NATO-led mission in Kosovo (KFOR) Thursday said it would not allow any paramilitary groups endanger security in the province while sensitive talks on its future status unfolded.
The statement came after the reports that an outlawed Serbian paramilitary group threatened an armed uprising if Kosovo gained independence, in an e-mail to NATO.
|
| Published on 28 September 2007 - Focus News, Bulgaria |
| |
| Report: NATO commander fears winter pullback from gains in Helmand |
| NATO's commander in Afghanistan says he fears that Afghan security forces will not be able to hold recent territorial gains in Helmand province after winter sets in.
Gen. Dan McNeill, speaking in a British Broadcasting Corp. interview broadcast Friday, said he feared British forces may face the task of trying to duplicate this year's gains again next year.
|
| Published on 28 September 2007 - International Herald Tribune, Paris |
29 September 2007
| |
| Nato chief says Taliban could regain territory |
| The Taliban could recapture territory in southern Afghanistan won by British troops in fighting this summer, Nato's commander warned yesterday.
General Dan McNeill, an American, said British soldiers had made "significant progress" in Helmand province but were facing difficulties securing gains and it was "likely" some of the ground would have to be taken again if the Taliban regrouped over the winter. |
| Published on 29 September 2007 - The Guardian, UK |
30 September 2007
| |
| Taliban - U.S and NATO must leave before talks |
The Taliban will never negotiate with Afghan authorities until U.S and NATO forces leave the country, according to a Taliban spokesman.
The spokesman was rebuffing an overture for peace talks from President Hamid Karzai who said over the weekend he would be willing to meet personally with Taliban leader Mullah Omar to give militants a position in government in exchange for peace. |
| Published on 30 September 2007 - Malaysia Sun, Malaysia |
| |
| U.S. frustration high on NATO's unmet Afghan pledges |
| NATO's failure to deliver on pledges made to Afghanistan has frustrated the United States and raised questions in Washington about Europe's commitment to that war, according to U.S. officials.
Military commanders in Afghanistan face significant and long-standing shortfalls in troops, equipment and trainers for Afghan forces.
|
| Published on 30 September 2007 - Reuters |
01 October 2007
| |
| Sarkozy brings 'new tone' on role in NATO |
New hints that France may rejoin NATO"s military wing after a 41-year absence underscore a stunning foreign-policy shift under new President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Gone are the Iraq war diatribes, the Palestinian sympathies, the close ties with Moscow and the crumbling ones with Washington — all trademarks of French foreign policy under former President Jacques Chirac. |
| Published on 01 October 2007 - Washington Times, USA |
| |
| Gates Tells Lawmakers Iraq War Is Hurting Afghanistan Mission |
| Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a group of U.S. House Democratic lawmakers that the multinational mission in Afghanistan is suffering from a lack of resources, citing the war in Iraq and the reluctance of U.S. allies to contribute more troops, participants at the meeting said.
|
| Published on 01 October 2007 - Bloomberg |
| |
| Georgia leader goes to Greece to secure NATO bid backing |
| Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili goes on Monday to Greece for a two-day official visit, sources from the Georgian State Chancellery told Tass.
It is expected that talks in Greece will focus not only on bilateral cooperation, but also on Greek assistance in the process of Georgia’s integration into NATO.
|
| Published on 01 October 2007 - Itar-Tass, Russia |
Past commentaries
|
