15 September 2011 — Stop NATO
- Canada To Extend Libya War Mission To End Of Year
- NATO Moving Missile Shield Into Black Sea, Asiatic Turkey
- Boeing To Double Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Interceptor Missile Production
- U.S., NATO Allies Ready To Test MEADS Interceptor System
- AFRICOM Commander Wants ‘More Special Operation Forces Now’
- Africa Partnership Station: U.S. Ship’s Crew Leads Training In Gambia
- Afghan, Iranian Border Guards Exchange Fire
- U.S./NATO Commander: Attack On Afghan Capital Act Of ‘Desperation’
- Longest Sustained Attack In Capital In Ten-Year War: NATO-Assigned New Zealand Special Forces In Kabul Fighting
- Kosovo: Russia Calls On NATO To Prevent New Provocations
- NATO Chief To Visit Kosovo As Tensions Mount
- Azerbaijani Drone Destroyed Over Nagorno-Karabakh
- New Strategic Concept: NATO Hosts 47 States, Blocs On Naval Mission
- Morocco, Jordan, GCC: Pro-West Arab Monarchies Form Unholy Alliance
- Battlefield Of The Future: U.S., Australia Add Cyberwarfare Facet To Growing Military Cooperation
Canada To Extend Libya War Mission To End Of Year
CTV News
September 14, 2011
Canada to extend Libya mission by three months
CTV News has learned Canada will extend its military mission to Libya by up to three months…
CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported the development, which is expected to be formally announced next week when Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets with other NATO leaders in New York.
Canada has been participating in a NATO-led air campaign in Libya since…earlier this year…
Harper, who attended meetings on Libya in Paris recently, has said he received assurances that the NTC would honour existing contracts with Canadian companies.
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NATO Moving Missile Shield Into Black Sea, Asiatic Turkey
http://rt.com/news/missile-defense-system-nato-555/
RT
September 14, 2011
Building missile shield: unclear threat, unknown cost
NATO plans for a phased deployment of a European anti-missile defense system are moving forward, with Turkey and Romania having signed deals to host crucial elements of the system.
The US and Turkey signed a memorandum on Wednesday on the deployment of an American radar station in the east of the country as part of the NATO-backed missile defense system (AMD).
The AN/TPY-2 THAAD radar will be deployed in the southeastern Turkish province of Malatya by the end of the year. It will later become part of the anti-ballistic missile system which the US and NATO are building to protect Europe, supposedly from missile attacks by rogue states.
The news comes just a day after Romania agreed to a deal with Washington under which land-based SM3 interceptor missiles and over 100 military personnel will be based on Romanian soil. The deal also includes the deployment of American Navy cruisers with naval versions of the interceptors along the Romanian coast.
The project has caused concern in Russia, which believes the system may be targeted against its nuclear deterrence capabilities. Washington refused to build a joint Russian-NATO anti-missile system to protect Russia, as suggested by Moscow.
Apart from the potential to tip the strategic military balance, the AMD system may prove costly once you count in the maintenance, argued Ludo de Brabander, spokesman for the Belgium peace movement Verde.
‘The US and NATO are arguing that this is small cost for big advantage,’ he told RT. ‘It is estimated that this project will last 10 years and cost 200 million euros shared by all 28 NATO countries. So it seems little investment for each country. But maintaining this kind of system could cost much more. So it will not be easy to sell this project to the public.’
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http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110914/166843361.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 14, 2011
Turkey agrees to host powerful U.S. radar
Turkey and the United States signed on Wednesday a memorandum on the deployment of a U.S. radar on Turkish territory as part of a ‘missile shield’ to protect NATO allies from potential ballistic missile threats.
An X-band AN/TPY-2 radar, which is part of the THAAD system designed to intercept medium-range missiles at very high altitudes, will be deployed at a military base in the eastern province of Malatya.
…The system is expected to become operational by the end of this year.
According to Turkish media, the radar will be operated from a NATO control center in Germany, but the allies will share data with Turkey.
NATO members agreed to install a missile shield over Europe to protect against ballistic missiles launched by so-called ‘rogue states’ at a summit in Lisbon, Portugal, last year.
…
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Boeing To Double Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Interceptor Missile Production
WAAY TV
September 14, 2011
Boeing Boosts PAC 3 Missile Production
By Chad Rose
Huntsville, Ala. – A big boost for Boeing in the rocket city.
The company has completed a $50 million expansion to its Strategic Missile & Defense Systems facilities in Huntsville.
The work was done in support of Boeing’s seeker production team, which builds the eyes and brains of the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile for the Army.
This missile is currently deployed abroad with our warfighters.
Boeing began deploying the PAC-3 missile 10 years ago.
Boeing says production will double from 15 to now 30 seekers a month.
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U.S., NATO Allies Ready To Test MEADS Interceptor System
United Press International
September 14, 2011
MEADS testing moves forward
-MEADS is a next-generation, ground-mobile air and missile defense system that incorporates the hit-to-kill Patriot Advanced Capability-3, 360-degree radars, netted and distributed battle management and high-firepower launchers.
ORLANDO, Fla. – MEADS International’s air defense system is progressing to test flight stage beginning in November in New Mexico, the company said.
Progress in development follows a simulated launch by the Medium Extended Air Defense System’s integrated launcher electronics system.
‘The ILES tests confirm increasing readiness for our upcoming flight tests, which will demonstrate the greater defensive coverage and 360-degree capability unique to MEADS,’ said MEADS International Vice President Volker Weidemann. ‘No other air and missile defense system provides the protection and lethality of MEADS.’
MEADS is a next-generation, ground-mobile air and missile defense system that incorporates the hit-to-kill Patriot Advanced Capability-3, 360-degree radars, netted and distributed battle management and high-firepower launchers.
The system combines superior battlefield protection with new flexibility to protect forces and critical assets against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft.
Earlier this year, the ILES was delivered to a Lockheed Martin laboratory where it was evaluated for flight test readiness. Within the first two months at the lab, the ILES was able to power up a simulated PAC-3 MSE missile, check the missile’s health status and fire the missile batteries, MEADS said.
Less than four months after arriving at the laboratory, the ILES and missile performed the complete pre-launch sequence for the first time. Then the ILES powered up a MEADS missile, ignited the batteries, and gave the motor ignition command, enabling the missile to execute a simulated launch.
MEADS International, a multinational joint venture with headquarters in Orlando, Fla., is the prime contractor for the MEADS system. Major subcontractors and joint venture partners are MBDA in Italy, LFK in Germany and Lockheed Martin in the United States.
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AFRICOM Commander Wants ‘More Special Operation Forces Now’
http://www.stripes.com/news/africom-commander-i-d-like-more-special-operations-forces-now-1.155066
Stars and Stripes
September 14, 2011
AFRICOM commander: ‘I’d like more special operations forces now’
By Kevin Baron
-Ham…declined to give details about the levels of U.S. counterterrorism operations, including the military’s use of armed drones over Somalia. But he acknowledged Special Operations Command-Africa has grown…The biggest U.S. military activity under AFRICOM so far has been its participation in NATO’s Libya mission. Ham expects the U.S. will send a normal contingent to protect the embassy in Tripoli, once re-established, and later maybe some trainers for exercises…At Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the U.S. presence for a spectrum of missions is also expanding, in acreage, housing and other facilities designed to meet an influx of additional troops.
WASHINGTON — The commander of U.S. troops in Africa said he wants more special operations forces to handle a growing demand for counterterrorism operations…and to help build up Africa’s own militaries.
‘I’d like more special operations forces now,’ said Army Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, at a defense writer’s breakfast Wednesday in Washington.
Ham said he expects to see incremental increases in the numbers of U.S. special operations forces in Africa over the next couple of years, but doesn’t expect to see a large-scale change until the U.S. draws down in Afghanistan after 2014.
The general is the latest U.S. defense leader to call for more special operations forces, as Washington heads into a budget-slashing exercise. Already this year, several of President Barack Obama’s new crop of top commanders told Congress those elite forces were in high demand, and warned any budget cuts to special operations would threaten national security.
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Those comments follow Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s warning this summer that…the U.S. expected the group to shift its center of gravity to Yemen, Somalia, and across the Middle East and North Africa.
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When the U.S. started the specific combatant command for Africa in 2007, opponents were concerned the U.S. was seeking to militarize America’s presence in Africa, move its headquarters from Germany to the continent and eventually set up permanent U.S. bases.
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The biggest U.S. military activity under AFRICOM so far has been its participation in NATO’s Libya mission. Ham expects the U.S. will send a normal contingent to protect the embassy in Tripoli, once re-established, and later maybe some trainers for exercises…
Ham…declined to give details about the levels of U.S. counterterrorism operations, including the military’s use of armed drones over Somalia. But he acknowledged Special Operations Command-Africa has grown, he works closely with U.S. Special Operations Command and has a ‘wonderful relationship’ with SOCOM’s Adm. William McRaven.
Ham said he is confident other commands will support AFRICOM whenever they have ‘high-priority assignments.’
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At Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the U.S. presence for a spectrum of missions is also expanding, in acreage, housing and other facilities designed to meet an influx of additional troops.
‘In Djibouti, we have grown. It’s a little bit larger. It’s a very, very interesting and important hub, not only for U.S. Africa Command, but for Central Command, of course Special Operations Command, for Transportation Command,’ Ham said, ‘It’s a very, very important place for us.’
Ham said special operations forces require enablers, but not a large infrastructure base, so small teams that are out training in countries like Mali are a ‘pretty bare bones operation,’ where host nations provide barracks and other sustainment.
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Africa Partnership Station: U.S. Ship’s Crew Leads Training In Gambia
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=62734
Navy NewsStand
September 14, 2011
APS West: HSV Swift Kicks off Training in The Gambia
BANJUL, The Gambia: High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV) 2 kicked off the first day of Africa Partnership Station (APS) West training engagements with The Gambian navy in Banjul, Sept. 13.
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This APS platform will support sustained and focused maritime training facilitated by instructors from Swift’s crew and the Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training (MCAST) command from Dam Neck, Va.
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In addition to maritime training, Swift leadership will participate in key leader engagements with The Gambian senior military personnel and government officials…
HSV Swift is a catamaran and operates with a hybrid crew of both U.S. Navy Sailors and civilian mariners chartered by Military Sealift Command.
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Afghan, Iranian Border Guards Exchange Fire
http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/09/14/afghan-iranian-border-guards-trade-fire
Pajhwok Afghan News
September 14, 2011
Afghan, Iranian border guards trade fire
By Ramin
ZARANJ: Afghan and Iranian border police traded fire in southwestern Nimroz province on Wednesday, a police officer said.
The 30-minute clash, which caused Afghan border guards no casualties, ended after the Iranians retreated, Nimroz police chief Brig. Gen Abdul Jabbar Purdali told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said the fire exchange erupted at 10:30am, when Iranian border guards violated Afghanistan’s border. The Iranians wanted to set up a check-post, a transit road, and a canal in a disputed area.
Both countries stake claims to the Guzar-i-Khwaja area, two kilometers from Zaranj — the capital of Nimroz. But a timely response from Afghan border police, forced the Iranians to pull back.
A local border police official said on condition of anonymity that a 9.7-kilometre area from Lakhshak to Brechi has been the subject of dispute between the neighbours since 1973 when five Afghan policemen were killed in a clash.
As Col. Qasimkhel, the provincial border police chief, refused to comment on the incident, resident Juma Khan said: ‘Four mortar shells fired by Iranian forces landed in the area, causing no casualties.’
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U.S./NATO Commander: Attack On Afghan Capital Act Of ‘Desperation’
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65332
U.S. Department of Defense
American Forces Press Service
September 14, 2011
Allen: Kabul Attack Shows Enemy’s Desperation
By Donna Miles
WASHINGTON: Warning of the likelihood of more high-profile attacks like yesterday’s on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as insurgents grow increasingly desperate, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan declared the attack a military failure…,Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen said today during a news briefing in the Afghan capital.
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In the meantime, Allen warned that more insurgent attacks are likely to follow.
‘This is not the first such attack by the insurgents, and we do not expect that it will be the last,’ he said….
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Longest Sustained Attack In Capital In Ten-Year War: NATO-Assigned New Zealand Special Forces In Kabul Fighting
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/5625107/NZ-SAS-in-Kabul-fighting
Fairfax NZ and Reuters
September 15, 2011
NZ SAS in Kabul fighting
-Afghan security forces backed by Nato and Afghan attack helicopters fought Taleban insurgents floor-by-floor in the building in the longest sustained attack on the capital since the US-led invasion a decade ago.
Elite New Zealand troops backed up Afghan forces during a 20 hour shoot-out with Taleban insurgents in the Afghanistan capital, Kabul.
Nine insurgents were killed in the attack, which began on Tuesday, along with four Afghan policemen and at least two civilians.
A spokeswoman for Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said…SAS troops took a mentoring role throughout, advising the Afghan Crisis Response Unit (CRU) during the assault on the heavily-defended area around the United States Embassy and Nato headquarters.
But she could not rule out that the New Zealanders fired their weapons during the battle.
The attack was the boldest since the assault on the British Council last month in which 41-year-old NZ SAS soldier Corporal Doug Grant was killed.
The CRU led that engagement but called in the SAS when they were overwhelmed.
In July two SAS soldiers were injured after the CRU was forced to call for help to deal with an attack on the InterContinental Hotel.
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FIGHTING FLOOR-BY-FLOOR
Afghan security forces backed by Nato and Afghan attack helicopters fought Taleban insurgents floor-by-floor in the building in the longest sustained attack on the capital since the US-led invasion a decade ago.
One or two fighters held out overnight in the high-rise building, site of the most spectacular of four coordinated attacks across the city. Suicide bombers had targeted police buildings in other parts of the city.
The ability of the Taleban to penetrate Kabul’s vaunted was a clear show of strength ahead of a handover of security to Afghan forces slated for 2014.
A squad of insurgents were armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and suicide bomb vests, a Taleban spokesman said, but the amount of time they held off foreign and Afghan troops prompted speculation they had weapons and ammunition hidden in the building before the attack.
Gunfire continued throughout the night, with residents of nearby buildings staying indoors with their lights off, as children panicked and helicopters flew low overhead.
’It would go silent for 30 to 35 minutes and then there were explosions and the sound of heavy machine guns,’ he said.
Explosions were interspersed with gunfire all afternoon on Tuesday (local time) and several rockets landed in the upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan district, near the British and other embassies…
’There was almost certainly either a break-down in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure,’ said Andrew Exum, fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
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Violence is at its worst since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taleban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths and record civilian casualties.
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Kosovo: Russia Calls On NATO To Prevent New Provocations
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=14&nav_id=76390
Tanjug News Agency
September 14, 2011
Moscow calls on KFOR to prevent provocations
MOSCOW: Russia has voiced serious concern over information that the Kosovo Albanian authorities intend to take unilateral violent actions against Serbs in the north.
A statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday evening said that such a move would be aimed at assuming control over administrative crossings, and called on KFOR to prevent the provocations in line with its mandate.
A similar violent act directed at resolving the ‘customs issues’ in the north of the province in July caused a serious crisis, which put the lives of several hundred people at risk, stressed the statement.
‘We are of the opinion that the international forces stationed in Kosovo (KFOR) which are responsible for security in the province, should resolutely prevent the provocations,’ the release adds.
Russia counts on a more active role of EULEX in preventing an escalation of tensions and violence towards civilians, the statement reads.
All issues relating to the stability and security in Kosovo should be discussed based on fundamental principles of the international law and the UN decisions, particularly UN SC Resolution 1244, as well as within the Belgrade-Priština dialogue, the Russian MFA concluded.
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NATO Chief To Visit Kosovo As Tensions Mount
http://www.rferl.org/content/nato_chief_due_in_kosovo_amid_tensions_/24328807.html
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 14, 2011
NATO Chief Due In Kosovo Amid Tensions
-Hashim Thaci…said the plan would go ahead on September 16 with the help of the European Union police force in Kosovo, EULEX, and NATO peacekeepers.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is due to visit Kosovo today amid rising tensions.
Ethnic Serbs in the north of Kosovo oppose plans by Kosovo’s mainly ethnic Albanian leaders to man two border crossings there.
Serbian President Boris Tadic has warned the plan could spark violence. The country has also sent an official complaint to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
For his part, Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, has accused the Serbs of preparing to use violence to block the move.
He also said the plan would go ahead on September 16 with the help of the European Union police force in Kosovo, EULEX, and NATO peacekeepers.
A statement by the head of EULEX, Xavier bout de Marnhac, said ‘operational work’ at the border crossings ‘will be done by EULEX.’
On September 14, Serbs in the north were reported to have halted a convoy of German NATO soldiers heading north to the border.
Serbs in the divided town of Mitrovica set up barricades of buses, rocks and trucks loaded with stones.
Kosovo tried in July to station police and customs officials at the two crossings with Serbia.
Serbs responded by setting up roadblocks and stopped NATO peacekeepers from reaching bases in the north.
With backing from the West, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Today, [only] 80 countries recognize it as an independent country.
Serbia is under pressure from the EU to work out its problems with Pristina if it wants to gain EU candidate status.
compiled from agency reports
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Azerbaijani Drone Destroyed Over Nagorno-Karabakh
http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=2&id=273174
Interfax
September 14, 2011
Nagorno-Karabakh claims destroying Azeri reconnaissance drone
STEPANAKERT: The armed forces of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic have destroyed an Azeri military unmanned aerial vehicle on Wednesday, Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Ministry press secretary Senor Asratian told Interfax.
‘I can confirm that an Azeri reconnaissance drone has been destroyed. More detailed official information will be reported soon,’ Asratian said.
The drone was shot down near the village of Vazgenashen in the Martuni district of Nagorno-Karabakh, the ministry told Interfax.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army has recorded numerous flights of Azeri drones along the self-proclaimed republic’s borders in the past several days, and they have even flown into Nagorno-Karabakh airspace several times, it said.
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New Strategic Concept: NATO Hosts 47 States, Blocs On Naval Mission
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-9C97296D-C8A4B0B3/natolive/news_78064.htm
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
September 14, 2011
NATO engages Partners around the globe in counter-piracy dialogue
Representatives from 47 nations and organisations involved in counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean met at NATO Headquarters today to exchange views, share experiences and discuss ways to ***enhance synergies*** between their respective efforts in the Indian Ocean.
Participants included representatives from Australia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. The European Union, which runs Operation Atalanta, the United Nations and the African Union also attended the meeting.
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Launched in 2009, NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield complements other international and national counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia and in the wider Indian Ocean. Its current mandate runs until 2012.
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This meeting, the first in such format, marks NATO’s new engagement with partners across the globe on functional issues of shared interest, as laid out in the new Strategic Concept.
‘This meeting is a demonstration of the new NATO…Anders Fogh Rasmussen underlined…
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Morocco, Jordan, GCC: Pro-West Arab Monarchies Form Unholy Alliance
http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1931837.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 14, 2011
Jordan, Morocco in coordination talks ahead of GCC admission
Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fehri held coordination talks with Jordanian leaders on Wednesday in the run-up to the two countries’ planned admission to the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), dpa reported.
Fehri discussed with King Abdullah II the ‘latest developments in the Middle East, particularly the political changes in the region,’ a royal court statement said in reference to the uprisings in several Arab states.
The discussions also tackled means of boosting bilateral ties as well as steps being taken in preparation for the admission of Jordan and Morocco to the GCC.
Fehri and his Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Judeh, on Sunday met in Jeddah with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman to try work out a roadmap for the admission of Jordan and Morocco to the Arab political bloc in response to an offer made in May by the GCC leaders.
The Moroccan foreign minister was briefed during his meetings with the monarch and Judeh on the political reforms adopted by Jordan, including a revision of the constitution.
Fehri pointed out that Jordan’s reformist steps were ‘identical’ with those adopted by King Mohammad VI of Morocco.
The reforms carried out by the two hereditary monarchies in Jordan and Morocco over the past five months are seen to have been inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
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Battlefield Of The Future: U.S., Australia Add Cyberwarfare Facet To Growing Military Cooperation
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44527648/ns/technology_and_science-security/
Associated Press
September 14, 2011
Cyber security added to US-Australia treaty
‘Cyber is the battlefield of the future,’ Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says
-U.S. and Australian leaders are also expected to make progress on an agreement to allow the United States to expand its military presence in Australia, including positioning U.S. equipment there, increasing American access to bases, and conducting more joint exercises and training. The plan could allow the U.S. to use port facilities.
SAN FRANCISCO: U.S. and Australian officials have decided to include cooperation on cyber security as part of their defense treaty, marking the first time the Obama administration has formally carved out that kind of partnership with a country outside NATO.
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‘Cyber is the battlefield of the future,’ Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday. ‘We are all going to have to work very hard not only to defend against cyber attacks, but to be aggressive with regards to cyber attacks as well.’
The best way to accomplish that goal is to work with allies such as Australia, Panetta told reporters traveling with to California. Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton were to meet Thursday in San Francisco with their Australian counterparts for their annual talks on security cooperation.
Cyber security is just one element of the efforts by U.S. and Australian officials to expand their defense cooperation in the tumultuous Pacific region, where both China and North Korea have moved aggressively to increase their military posture.
Officials expect to announce the expanded cooperation during the bilateral meetings.
U.S. and Australian leaders are also expected to make progress on an agreement to allow the United States to expand its military presence in Australia, including positioning U.S. equipment there, increasing American access to bases, and conducting more joint exercises and training. The plan could allow the U.S. to use port facilities.
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The decision to add cyber space to the two nations’ bilateral treaty, along with every other warfighting domain, would clarify that the two allies will work together in the event of a computer-related attack.
A senior defense official said the move would underscore that the existing security cooperation between the U.S. and Australia would apply in a digital attack, just as it would in a bombing or other kinetic assault. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been announced.
NATO allies have already included cyber space in their security framework.
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The White House released its international cyber security strategy in May, as part of an effort to improve cooperation on global cyber crime and set guidelines for Internet oversight.
The New Dark Age 
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