President
Bush Gives U.S. Green Light to Two New NATO Members.
On October 24, President Bush signed the
accession protocols that pave the way for Albania and
Croatia to become full members of NATO. Both countries
were invited to join NATO at the April 2008 Summit in
Bucharest, Romania. The Bucharest communiqué said
Albania and Croatia “have demonstrated a solid
commitment to the basic principles set out in the [1949]
Washington Treaty, as well as their ability and
readiness to protect freedom and … shared values by
contributing to the alliance’s collective defense and
full range of missions.”
The U.S. Senate ratified the accession protocols for
Albania and Croatia in September. All 26 NATO members
must ratify before they can join the Alliance. more
Secretary
General of NATO Visit in Washington.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
visited Washington on Friday, October 24. He met with
President Bush and other Senior Administration
officials, and attended the signing ceremony of the
Albanian and Croatian accession protocols to the North
Atlantic Treaty. more
NATO
Defense Ministers Meet in Budapest.
On October
9-10, NATO Defense Ministers met in Budapest to discuss
NATO operations and Alliance capabilities. In response
to a request from the Afghan government, Defense
Ministers made a key decision to enable ISAF troops,
working work with their Afghan counterparts, to act
against narcotics labs and traffickers and in effect cut
off a major source of funding for the Taliban. Defense
Ministers also agreed to provide Alliance ships to
patrol the waters off Somalia, securing key shipping
lanes from increasing piracy and, importantly, providing
an escort to ships delivering food aid to thousands
under the World Food Program.
more
NATO
Ministers Give ISAF “Green Light” to Target Drug
Networks. On October 10, NATO Defense
Ministers approved a proposal that will allow
ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan to shut down drug
networks that funnel money to the Taliban. “I’m
quite satisfied with the outcome on
counter-narcotics – going after the networks of
those who fund the Taliban,” said U.S. Defense
Secretary Gates. He emphasized that the Taliban
is earning millions of dollars in drug
trafficking profits each year, which is
“corrosive to good governance” and directly
finances those who are killing Afghan, U.S. and
coalition soldiers.
more
NATO
Ministers Reaffirm Support for Georgia.
On October 10 in Budapest, the NATO-Georgia
Commission met for the first time at Ministerial
level since it was created. During the meeting,
Defense Ministers discussed NATO’s assistance to
Georgia in recovering from the recent conflict
in areas such as defense and security
cooperation, security sector reform and airspace
management. NATO Ministers also reaffirmed the
Alliance’s support for Georgia's territorial
integrity and NATO aspirations.
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