[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters – China will boost military spending by 11.2 percent this year, the government said on Sunday, unveiling Beijing’s first defense budget since President Barack Obama launched a “pivot” to reinforce U.S. influence across the Asia-Pacific.
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Jan 7, 2012 Israel and US to stage major defense drill The Israeli military says it is gearing up with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise. The announcement comes as tension between Iran and the West escalates.
The drill is called “Austere Challenge 12″ and is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. It follows a 10-day Iranian naval exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Israel’s military says the drill with the U.S. was planned long ago and is not tied to recent events. Both Israeli and U.S. officials said the exercise would be the largest-ever joint drill by the two countries.
Watch Egyptian-Turkish naval exercise: VIDEO - While Iran held a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf, a similar maneuver was carried out not far from Israel. Several days ago, the Turkish and Egyptian armies concluded one of the biggest military exercises held in the region in recent months. Read more at Ynet News?
Source: http://israelitkan.ning.com/xn/detail/4588325%3ABlogPost%3A51373
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Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called the Supercommittee, speaks to reporters following a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called the Supercommittee, speaks to reporters following a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, co-chair of the supercommittee, tells reporters outside his office that the deficit reduction panel would work over the weekend as the deadline for its work nears, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called the Supercommittee, returns to closed-door talks after speaking briefly to reporters as she and fellow Democrats on the panel meet at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., arrives for a meeting with bi-partisan members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, often called the Supercommittee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A breakdown in high-stakes budget talks in Congress could threaten plans for a missile defense shield in Europe.
Congressional negotiators have shown little sign they will be able to meet Wednesday’s deadline for reducing the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. If they fail to agree, a new law mandates cuts throughout the federal government, including a big slice of the defense budget.
While it is not known what military spending would be cut, an expensive program aimed primarily at defending Europe is unlikely to be spared.
The U.S. sees the missile defense system, aimed at countering a threat from Iran, as part of its contribution to the NATO military alliance. With the United States often complaining that it makes a disproportionately large contribution to NATO, missile defense could be especially vulnerable to budget-cutters.
“A missile defense system for NATO? It’s going to be hard to keep people committed if they think the U.S. is picking up the tab for Europe,” says Kurt Volker, who was ambassador to NATO at the end of the George W. Bush administration.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that the European missile defense program could be threatened if the special deficit reduction committee should fail to work out a deal. That suggestion, though, may have been intended mostly to nudge lawmakers to resolve their differences and avoid the automatic cuts to one of their favorite programs.
It is still possible that committee members could set aside intense partisan differences and reach a deal by Wednesday. If they do not, Congress might find a way to cancel the cuts before they take effect in 2013.
That may only delay the scaling back of the U.S. military role in Europe. A decade-long expansion of military spending appears to be coming to an end, and the Obama administration has indicated it is shifting its foreign policy toward Asia, where it sees the greatest opportunities and threats of coming decades.
“Where does that leave Europe? Lower down the list,” says Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Beyond missile defense, the automatic cuts could prompt the U.S. to save money by shifting some warships away from Europe but probably would not lead to fewer U.S. troops there.
The United States has already reduced its presence in Europe from more than 200,000 in 1989 to slightly more than 40,000 today. It has plans for a further pullback by 2015 but is unlikely to accelerate that simply because there are no short-term savings to be had from moving troops out of their European bases.
“We can’t take the remaining bases with us,” says Christopher Wiley, an analyst with the trans-Atlantic relations program at the Bertelsmann Foundation who is preparing a report on the impact of budget cuts on U.S. policy in Europe. “It’s not a good place to save cash.”
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Online:
U.S. Missile Defense Agency: http://www.mda.mil
Associated Press
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned on
Sunday against sharply cutting the size and reach of the U.S. armed forces to
trim the deficit, portraying America’s military might as an essential
safeguard of global stability.
Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/92446201?client_source=feed&format=rss
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