Word: nato
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...those in Iraq for the first time since 2003. On June 13 hundreds of Taliban escaped in a daring jailbreak in Kandahar city; many joined an audacious attack on a strategic district just outside the former Taliban capital a few days later. Though Afghan National Army forces, backed by NATO troops, were able to contain the assault, it was a stark reminder that the Taliban, declared all but dead in 2002, remains resilient. A campaign of kidnappings, targeted assassinations of government officials and suicide bombings throughout the south has belied claims that stability and security...
There are only 8,500 British troops in Helmand. According to U.S. Army counterinsurgency doctrine, Helmand needs at least 25,000 troops to be secured--nearly half the foreign forces in Afghanistan. NATO officials call the effort in Afghanistan an "economy-of-force operation," meaning that the few troops available have to be applied strategically. In Helmand, that means troops are concentrated in urban areas. In Kajaki, according to Lieut. Colonel Joe O'Sullivan, commander of the 2nd Parachute Regiment, of which Shervington's troops are a part, "the force there at the moment is sufficient to defend the base...
...avoid such a nightmare scenario, the report recommended that American nuclear assets in Europe be "consolidated," which analysts interpret as a recommendation to move the bombs to NATO bases under "U.S. wings," meaning American bases in Europe. But such a move would undermine a "burden-sharing" agreement that has been at the heart of NATO military policy since its inception...
...Although technically owned by the U.S., nuclear bombs stored at NATO bases are designed to be delivered by planes from the host country. That arrangement can be politically uncomfortable: when Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem admitted for the first time in January that the country even housed U.S. weapons, the revelation caused a national controversy, with opposition MPs demanding - in vain - for them to be removed immediately. In 2001, when the Greek air force ordered a new fighter jet, it chose a model that could not carry the B-61, forcing the U.S. to withdraw its weapons...
...Brussels, a NATO official said there is no alliance-wide policy on weapons security: "Security arrangements for U.S. nuclear weapons are made bilaterally between the U.S. and the host country. Any improvements that would be deemed necessary should be discussed between those two governments and not in a NATO context...