Barack Obama 2010

[MariaDine]

http://www.euronews.net/2010/11/19/n...ans-at-summit/

NATO’s exit strategy from Afghanistan will dominate a crucial summit starting today.

Arriving in Portugal for the talks, Afghan President Hamid Karzai will hear plans to withdraw most of the 150,000 foreign troops within four years.

NATO leaders will endorse a timetable to start handing over security responsibility.

But while international forces are unpopular with many Afghans, some see dangers in their departure.

“The root of the problems in Afghanistan is our neighbours like Pakistan and Iran,” said Said Mostafa Mahmoud of Afghan 1TV. “Because if NATO wanted to leave Afghanistan, then Afghanistan will suffer again problems, because such countries like Pakistan don’t want Afghanistan to be in peace”.

Now in its 10th year, the US-led intervention is widely seen as going badly for Washington and its allies. It has failed to stop a Taliban insurgency and foreign casualties have hit record levels.

Our correspondent in Lisbon, Jose Miguel Sardo, says the NATO summit looks likely to come up with a new two-step plan for Afghanistan. Today, the alliance will approve a new strategy for possible civilian operations there. And tomorrow it is set to discuss the situation after 2014 and the pull out of foreign forces.

Copyright © 2010 euronews

[MariaDine]

I think it is good to post here, in the Avalon Forum, the views of the two sides of the same event ...american and portuguese press and videos... In spite of some repetitions,I hope it will bring more INFO (light) to us all...

Love
MD


(CBS/AP) Back on the world stage for crucial talks, President Barack Obama on Friday quickly encountered European leaders willing to question a president weakened at home and rebuffed abroad.

Standing next to Mr. Obama to address the media after the two met privately, Portugal's president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, complained that the level of U.S. investment in his country is "far from what you would expect."

He said Portuguese trade and exports to the U.S. also were far from where they could be.

Mr. Obama did not respond to Cavaco Silva's comments when it was his turn to speak, choosing to focus on the goals for his latest trip abroad to attend NATO and U.S.-European Union summits.

"We've come to Lisbon again to revitalize the NATO alliance for the 21st century and to strengthen the partnership between the United States and the European Union," Mr. Obama said.

The president said the summit also provides an important opportunity for NATO and European nations to align their approach to transition in Afghanistan "as we move toward a new phase, a transition to Afghan responsibility beginning in 2011 with Afghan forces taking the lead for security across Afghanistan by 2014."

After his meeting with Portugal's president, Mr. Obama sat down with the country's prime minister, Jose Socrates. Mr. Obama told Socrates the United States would work with Portugal and Europe to address financial ills.

"Portugal is working through challenges created by some of the financial markets and I think that it's important to note that the prime minister has committed himself to a very, very vigorous package of economic steps," Mr. Obama said after their meeting, "and we are going to be working with all of Europe as well as Portugal in support of these efforts."

Amid a sluggish global economic recovery and his party's recent midterm election losses, Mr. Obama arrived in Lisbon in a severely weakened position, reports CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante.

With high unemployment still a dominant theme at home and abroad, Mr. Obama also was careful to underscore jobs and economic benefits as the "highest priority for both our countries." He said they'd work to increase trade and investments.

Socrates also highlighted work on economic issues, asserting that the countries agreed on the need for greater multilateral cooperation to reform and better regulate financial institutions.

Socrates said the summit "will also open a new era of relations with Russia" that would contribute to global security. The NATO alliance was originally founded in 1949 to counter the threat of a Soviet invasion.

Socrates also said that he'd guaranteed to Mr. Obama that Portugal would be "stepping up its presence in Afghanistan" by providing training to troops there.

Mr. Obama's two-day Portugal trip comes days after a sometimes disappointing 10-day swing through Asia, the longest foreign trip of his presidency. Though he failed to ink a free-trade deal with South Korea and couldn't rally wide-ranging support for his opposition to China's currency manipulation, he did make clear that fast-growing Asia is central to U.S. foreign policy.

It's a reality not lost in Europe, where some leaders worry that Mr. Obama views the continent as a secondary player in his foreign policy agenda.

"There is some disappointment in the sense of how much attention he's given to Europe — that maybe he's been more focused on Asia, more focused on other problem areas, and that really the interest in Europe is about how many trainers and forces you can provide for Afghanistan," said Stephen Flanagan, a former State Department official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Those concerns peaked earlier this year when European Union officials were forced to cancel a summit with the U.S. planned for Madrid in May after the White House said Mr. Obama would not attend.

Both U.S. and European officials say the administration has worked hard since then to bridge any divides with Europe, and Obama has called the relationship a "cornerstone" of U.S. foreign policy.

"We are each other's closest partners. Neither Europe nor the United States can confront the challenges of our time without the other," Mr. Obama wrote in a New York Times opinion piece published Thursday.

The White House has been quick to note that Mr. Obama's trip to Portugal will be his eighth trip to the continent since taking office — though many of those stops have been just long enough for the president to spend the night. Two separate visits to Copenhagen, Denmark, last year didn't even allow time for that.

Mr. Obama's direct engagement with the European Union while in Lisbon will be brief. Just two hours have been allocated on Saturday for the delayed U.S.-EU summit, though European nations will play a central role in the more extensive NATO meetings.

Chief among Europe's concerns: Afghanistan, counterterrorism and the economy, which is again causing deep concern on the continent amid news that European countries may have to step in to help stabilize debt-stricken Ireland.

Some in Europe have questioned Mr. Obama's handling of the economic crisis, most notably his reliance on stimulus spending as a path toward recovery when many European nations are slashing spending and raising taxes. Several countries, including Germany, have criticized the Federal Reserve's recent $600 billion bond-purchase plan, saying it would give U.S. exporters a competitive price edge by flooding world markets with dollars. A weaker dollar makes U.S. goods more attractive to foreign buyers.

Despite the growing policy divide, the economic ties between the U.S. and Europe remain strong. By some estimates, one in 10 U.S. jobs is created as a result of the relationship, and $4 trillion in trade and investment flows across the Atlantic each year. Both parties plan to discuss opportunities for more cooperation.

Mr. Obama will also face skepticism from Europe over his strategy in Afghanistan. Many European leaders are under pressure to reduce their countries' combat roles in Afghanistan or shift to a training-focused mission.

The White House hopes a plan NATO is expected to adopt outlining a timeline to transfer security responsibility to the Afghans by 2014 will appease U.S. allies and provide them political cover at home. The agreement will call for the transfer to begin next year and continue across Afghanistan's 34 provinces through the end of 2014, based on conditions on the ground.

Mr. Obama and his European counterparts are also expected to discuss increased security cooperation in light of recent terror threats that led the U.S. to issue travel alerts to Europe after attempted attacks on cargo transport networks.

[MariaDine]

News - Reunion of all defense ministers aprove new Strategy Treaty. In the next 10 years the mesures will protect the nations. Duplication of portuguese troops in Afghanistan in the Spring 2011. Portuguese support and instrution of Afghanistan army troops.

Portuguese Government submits first GNR (National Republican Guard ) to train police in Afghanistan
The defense minister said today that it will propose the deployment of 40 more trainers for the ISAF mission in Afghanistan and that this new force will include military police station, which will form the Afghan police forces.

At a press conference on the sidelines of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), Augusto Santos Silva said he would propose to the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSDN) to send 40 more troops to the mission in Afghanistan and that they should be in ground during the spring of 2011.

"Portugal understands the necessity of this effort [in Afghanistan]," he said.

Santos Silva said that the fact that Portugal is going to reduce its involvement in Kosovo in 150 men (currently have 300) will help to increase the quota in the ISAF mission, keeping the amount budgeted for Detached National Forces from 75 million euros, equal to the State Budget earlier.

Portuguese Defense Minister stressed that this way Portugal will have nearly 250 soldiers in the ISAF mission.

Next year, in addition to this building in Afghanistan, the Navy will also participate in Operation Atalanta, the European Union in combating piracy in Africa.

It is envisaged that the frigate(boat) D. Francisco de Almeida, one of few bought to the Netherlands, will be in this mission between April and July 2011.

[MariaDine]

...........Tss...Off hand,it seems that new nuclear weapons will be developed...

[MariaDine]

Rasmussen presnts new Nato strategy concept for the nest 10 years.


http://sic.sapo.pt/online/video/info...010-194729.htm

[Fredkc]

Best I can see, nobody in NATO wants to be in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

All they're sure about is that they really don't want Afg. to revert to the Taliban.
Which it is anyway, as they seem to be the only group interested in a formal central government. The Pashtuns, and other tribes could give a rip.
Outside influence in this is a complete waste of time, and has been for over 2,500 years. And every come-lately empire thinks, "Yeah, but we're different!" Sure you are.

At this point, in my opinion, NATO's only relevance for the US is that we're used to spending the money.

For those of you in Europe, I am curious. Russia's exports to you have become their main cash cow. Do you seriously think Russia would invade/impoverish their best customer?

Seems to me, re. Obama's trip to both Asia and Europe, all the military talk has the same old flaw. They're trying to fight "the last war" next time. Ain't never worked, Ain't never gonna.

china isn't winning with weapons, they're winning by impoverishing the US, and we are helping. Now, NATO seems all about an invasion that isn't going to happen. And... turn the treaty around for a second:

If China struck the US, how many NATO countries would hold up their end of the treaty by declaring war on China?

This whole structure needs to be dumped in the ocean and re-thought, says I.
Fred

[Operator]

What is NATO doing anyway outside NATO territory ?

[Arpheus]

I totally agree with you on this one Fred.

[MariaDine]

Dear Avalonian friends...............what can I say ???
In the States , people have a bad idea about the United Nations and the Nato. So it's pointless to discuss the subject, as I'm not going to change anybody's mind.

The main importance of this world event is, to try «see» through the decisions made in this 28 countries reunion. Decisions that have a 10 year span and that are already starting to affect our lives. Forget the past, the reasons that made these instituitions come into being. They are in motion and the american people side by side with all the other countries are in the same boat, The World Boat. Foreign police is the future and it is here to «stay». Independent solutions don't work anymore.

[Taurean]

Am I being nieve here, but with Missile Launches, Earthquakes, Stargates, Disclosure, UFO's, Spirals, Pole Shifting, not to mention the Financial Crisis all going on at the moment, why is this lot just talking about pulling out of Afganistan in - ??? 2015 ???

They certainly don't look as though anything serious is going on at the moment.

[MariaDine]

After the «fall» of the Monroe Strategy, all USA intervention in foreign affairs is conducted outside their national borders. Roosevelt played a major part in the change. Better fight terrorism and other threats far from USA.

[MariaDine]

http://sic.sapo.pt/online/scripts/TvDirecto.html

Obama is going to start talking in a few minutes...

[MariaDine]

http://sic.sapo.pt/online/scripts/TvDirecto.html

[Operator]

Thanks for your up to date postings ... it's good to have forum members all over the world.
Unfortunately the translating voice makes English inaudible ... can you please give a summary at the end ?

[MariaDine]

Ok ! he his now talking to the Press. I'll sum up in the end.

[MariaDine]

Obama answers - «American lidership is important in these matters, because we USA, have been working on this since 10 years ago. We have enormous support from our allies. Securaty , in particular. Russia is on our side now. Russia is cooperating with us, as you know. So, we have all the conditions,inside and outside USA, to «get the job done». We agree to a deal in missil defense.
After 30 years of war , Afghanistan is willing to solve the problems. To train Afgahn forces, for securaty is something they want , Ensures peace either way.»

[MariaDine]

http://edition.cnn.com/video/flashLi...stream=stream1

Live CNN

[Seikou-Kishi]

I hear the Obama is the news for having received a bloody lip in playing basketball... this is in the UK... and we're receiving such piddling news? It seems they'll throw anything at us.

[Carmody]

So.... somebody threw the ball at him.

Really hard.

And he caught it with his face.

[Malcolm Linus]

Posted by Carmody (here)
So.... somebody threw the ball at him.

Really hard.

And he caught it with his face.

Actually, it was an elbow.

...I'm ashamed I know that.