In an interview with Margaret Warner of PBS’ Newshour, U.S. Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton says the Afghanistan strategy will beconstantly reassessed, and that troop levels are merely one decision that must be made as part of a larger policy process. Full transcript.
The Russian-state-sponsored television channel Russia Today quotes thechief of the Russian armed forces general staff as saying Russia wouldview any U.S. missile defense system negatively unless it were jointlydeveloped with Russia. It remains to be seen whether Russia will dropits plans to deploy missiles to its westernmost Kaliningrad region, thechannel reports. Related from WPR: Global Insights: Tough Road for NATO-Russian BMD Cooperation
In this interview with Gary Thomas of Voice of America, CIADirector Leon Panetta says President Hamid Karzai will in alllikelihood still emerge as the winner of the presidentialcontest in Afghanistan, even after contested votes are thrown out.Panetta also says there aredifferences among Iran’s leaders about whether to actually build anuclear bomb, and he talks about the CIA’s reaction to the U.S.attorney general’s investigation into interrogation techniques.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the decision to abandon the Bushadministration’s plans for a land-based missile defense system inEastern Europe came about because of a change in the U.S. perception ofthe threat posed by Iran. The Associated Press reports.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is leading a new diplomatic effort to strengthen ties with a set of distant partners. He signed a new billion-dollar arms deal with Russia, and has promised to ship gasoline to Iran to circumvent possible international sanctions. VOA’s Brian Wagner reports these moves have raised eyebrows in the Western Hemisphere, and especially in Washington.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new phased, adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe, a revision of the Bush administration’s 2007 plan for missile defense. The administration says the new approach is based on an assessment of the Iranian missile threat, and a commitment to deploy technology that is “proven, cost-effective, and adaptable to an evolving security environment.”
Elements of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division are engaged in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, southwest of Kabul. The division’s Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, lost 8 killed and 25 wounded in just three months in mid-2009. Twenty-one-year-old Spc. Justin Pellerin, who was killed by a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan Aug. 20, is one such casualty. In the days following his death, Pellerin’s friends remembered him, and mourned his loss. David Axe and Jason Reich report for World Politics Review.
Fariborz Ghadar of CSIS discusses whether tougher sanctions on Iran,including an embargo against the importation of gasoline, could beeffective.
A panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Sept. 2 examinedthe Japan elections and their consequences for Asia and the UnitedStates. The panelists included Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation, and Michael Green of CSIS. Related from WPR: Japan Elections: DPJ Promises Change, But Can it Deliver?Likely LDP Defeat Has Implications for Japanese Defense
In an interivew with Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation,former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Anthony Zinni discusses the wars in Iraqand Afghanistan, the perils of special envoys, and why Obama needs anational security strategy.