The U.S. missile defense plan in Europe is directed at Russia and should be included in the talks on a new arms control deal, Russia's top general said on Tuesday.
"The development and deployment of the missile defense system is aimed at Russia," Russia's armed forces chief of staff, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, said in televised remarks.
"Despite statements from officials that it will ensure our security, this is not the case," he said.
Russia had a negative assessment of the U.S. plan, which could weaken its strategic deterrence potential, he said.
Makarov blamed disputes over whether a new document should demonstrate links between offensive and defensive weapons for delays in signing a successor to the expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
The plan must be part of the negotiations on a new arms reduction treaty, he said.
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Odd that the Russians are focused on removing missile defenses, while the continentals are focused on removing the actual missiles.
Germany's new coalition government is calling for U.S. nuclear missiles to be removed from Europe. A London research organization says Germany's announcement has reopened the global debate about whether nuclear weapons help or hinder global security.
U.S. President Barack Obama put forth his vision of a nuclear-free world in a speech last April in Prague.
"The United States will take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons. To put an end to Cold War thinking, we will reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy and urge others to do the same. Make no mistake, as long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a safe, secure and effective arsenal to deter any adversary and guarantee that defense to our allies, including the Czech republic," Mr. Obama said.
The U.S. administration will make its nuclear policy clear with a paper known as the Nuclear Posture Review expected to be reported to the U.S. Congress this month. In the meantime, the German government has called for the removal of U.S. tactical weapons on its soil and from Europe altogether.
Former NATO Secretary General George Robertson says that is a bad idea.
"I think that they have not yet fully realized how symbolically important the American nuclear umbrella is, and how dangerous it might be and how risky it might be if one component of America's nuclear guarantee was to be removed without considering all of the consequences," Robertson said.
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Taiwan is trying to lower the tensions with China, and dropping their request of US submarines.
Taiwan has effectively dropped a request for U.S. submarines to help shore up the balance of power with political rival China, a military source said on Tuesday, dissolving what could be a new rift in tense Sino-U.S. ties.
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No idea if that will result in China dropping their idea of waging economic warfare on the US in retaliation.
Several high-ranking Chinese military officers want Beijing to sell off U.S. Treasurys as a part of measures to punish Washington for its recent approval of new arms sales to Taiwan, according to a report Wednesday.
A U.S. sovereign-bond sale was part of broad retaliation measures under study by military personnel at the National Defense University and Academy of Military Sciences, according to a Reuters report citing interviews with the officers that appeared in the state-run Outlook Weekly.
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The Stolen Valor act is still being kicked around the op-ed pages as it waits to go before the courts.
Especially at a time when the United States is fighting two wars, valor in battle is venerated, even by those who may disagree with policies that put our warriors in harm's way. So it's particularly despicable for political candidates or others to lie about having received military honors. But the proper response to such repellent résumé padding is exposure, scorn and, where politicians are concerned, rejection at the ballot box — not arrest and imprisonment.
Congress apparently disagrees, and in 2006 passed the Stolen Valor Act, which expanded a previous law against fraudulently wearing a service medal to include falsely representing that one had received that honor. Violators can be fined or jailed for up to six months. Now two men — one from California — are challenging the constitutionality of the act. The federal courts should rule in their favor, not because their misrepresentation is innocuous — it's not — but because criminalizing lies that aren't part of a fraud would open a loophole in the First Amendment's protection of free speech.
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And in Afghanistan, NATO has arrested a local Afghan cop who's been aiding and abetting the Taliban.
NATO forces swooped down on the home of a senior Afghan police official, arrested him and accused him of helping insurgents make and plant roadside bombs, Western military officials said Sunday.
The incident, which took place last week in Kapisa province in eastern Afghanistan, is likely to raise tensions between foreign forces and the national police.
That partnership is considered a crucial element of plans by the Obama administration to draw down American forces starting next year. Before any large-scale Western pullout occurs, Afghan security forces are supposed to take on more responsibility for safeguarding the country.
If the charges against the arrested official are borne out, the case would represent one of the most serious instances to date of complicity with the Taliban or other militant groups by a ranking Afghan security official.
But Afghan officials raised doubts about the man's guilt, and the Interior Ministry, which oversees the national police, said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had been asked for an explanation.
In a statement describing Friday's raid, NATO did not name the official, who was arrested along with a bodyguard. But provincial authorities identified him as Attaullah Wahab, who served as the deputy chief and security head of the national police in the province.
By: Brant
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