NATO

4/1/2008 -- “NATO leaders are meeting this week in Bucharest. The meeting will address a number of issues crucial to American security and the future of the alliance, specifically NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, expanding peace and stability in Europe through further enlargement, and relations with Russia.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Laura and I are on our way to a very important NATO summit, and members of the United States Congress are on their way back to Washington. And they have a lot of work to do.

Congress needs to pass FISA reform. Our intelligence professionals are waiting on the Congress to give them the tools they need to monitor terrorist communications. Congress also needs to provide liability protection to companies that may have helped save lives after September the 11th, 2001.

President George W. Bush tastes Ukranian bread: (White House photo by Eric Draper)    » read more »

March 26, 2008 -- MR. HADLEY: Good afternoon. On Monday, the President and Mrs. Bush will travel to Europe to participate in the President's sixth and final NATO summit.

The President will first visit Ukraine to celebrate the democratic transition that has taken hold in that country since the 2004 Orange Revolution. He will express his support for the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to see their country take its rightful place within Europe, including within it's transatlantic institutions, as Ukraine continues its process of reform.    » read more »

How We Approach the Upcoming NATO Summit is Critical to the Future of the Alliance

March 11, 2008 -- BIDEN: “We always say that a summit is “critical.” But this one really is – it’s critical to the construction of Europe, to the war in Afghanistan and to the future of the alliance itself.”    » read more »

10 February 2008 -- The commander of NATO's military forces is disputing critics who say the alliance is losing in Afghanistan, but he said it is not winning fast enough, and he called for member nations to provide more troops. In Munich, General John Craddock spoke to reporters attending the annual European Security Conference.

General Craddock added his weight to repeated calls by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for European nations to send more troops to participate in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.    » read more »

30 January 2008 -- Afghanistan's interior ministry says Taliban insurgents beheaded four Afghan construction workers in the northeast of the country after their families failed to pay a ransom for their release.

According to the ministry, the four Afghans were kidnapped last week while working on a road project in the northeastern province of Nuristan. The insurgents demanded money for their release and beheaded them after the families did not pay.    » read more »

31 January 2008 -- U.S. experts have warned that Afghanistan risks becoming a failed state if urgent steps are not taken to improve security and reconstruction in the country.

In a report issued Wednesday, former Ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired Marine Corps General James Jones called for NATO to increase troop levels, and for the U.S. government to appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan.    » read more »

January 28, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on Ukraine's readiness to advance a Membership Action Plan (MAP) with NATO:

"I welcome the decision by President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and Parliament Chairman Arseny Yatsenyuk to declare Ukraine's readiness to advance a Membership Action Plan (MAP) with NATO.    » read more »

1/28/2008 -- "I enthusiastically welcome the January 11 letter from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Arsenii Yatsenyuk to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, which outlines Ukraine's desire for a closer relationship with NATO, including a Membership Action Plan.    » read more »

13 November 2007 -- An international human rights group is urging NATO to stop transferring detainees to Afghan security forces because of reports they torture their prisoners.

Amnesty International says the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force could be exposing prisoners to mistreatment and abuse by placing them in the custody of the Afghan National Directorate of Security.

The rights group wants ISAF to temporarily suspend all prisoner handovers to Afghan authorities until proper safeguards are in place.    » read more »

30 October 2007 -- Officials in eastern Afghanistan say a roadside bomb struck the vehicle of a district intelligence chief Tuesday, killing him and three colleagues.

A provincial spokesman said the blast killed the head of the National Directorate of Security for the Qarghai district of Laghman province.

This year has been the deadliest in Afghanistan since a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government in 2001. Taliban militants have established strongholds in the south and east, attacking U.S. and NATO troops and Afghan soldiers in ambushes and suicide bombings.    » read more »

August 27, 2007 -- North Atlantic Treaty Organization Defense Planning Committee member states have agreed to release Gen. Lance L. Smith as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.

The NATO committee, following a request from the president of the United States, agreed with great regret to release Smith from his assignment as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. They expressed to Smith, in the name of the NATO governments, lasting gratitude for his distinguished service.    » read more »

30 July 2007 (By VOA News) -- NATO officials say they plan to use smaller bombs in Afghanistan to limit the rise in civilian casualties.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the number of civilians killed during fighting between NATO with the Taleban has damaged the reputation of the alliance. He added that NATO commanders recently instructed troops to hold off attacking rebels in situations where civilians would be at risk.    » read more »

26 June 2007 -- In the wake of a series of high-profile incidents in which U.S. and NATO attacks have killed Afghan civilians, a senior American officer with responsibility for both forces says allied procedures for avoiding civilian casualties are adequate. The officer blames the Taleban for putting the civilians in danger.

Speaking via satellite from Bagram Air Base near Kabul, Brigadier General Joseph Votel says the recent incidents involving large numbers of civilian casualties have not resulted in any new procedures.    » read more »

16 June 2007 -- Afghan officials say a suicide bomber has struck near a NATO convoy in the capital, Kabul, killing four civilians.

Saturday's bombing wounded at least five people, including one foreigner. Afghan officials say the bomber planted his explosives in a car. Several vehicles were damaged in the attack.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force says it is investigating the bombing.

The suicide bombing is the third in Afghanistan in two days.    » read more »