Russia has serious concerns about U.S. plans to deploy missile interceptors in Romania, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. The statement from ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko reflected Moscow’s irritation about the U.S. missile defense plans and signaled tensions in relations with Washington. Nesterenko said that Russia has been annoyed to learn about the move from the media. “We... 

Russian Bear Awoken Last month, Russia signed a deal establishing a military base in the breakaway state of Abkhazia, reinforcing Russia’s image as a threat to stability in the region. The deal allows for the building of a military base that would house 3,000 Russian troops for 49 years. Plans to build a naval base in Abkhazia’s port of Ochamchire also indicate Russia’s commitment to future presence... 

Moscow's Red Square Moscow, which conspicuously left out any mention of China’s growing influence and power in its newly adopted military doctrine, is revealing the depth of its alarm, however, through its trade and business decisions, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. The new doctrine takes aim at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Moscow identifies... 

Protesters in Greece are demanding that the plutocrats pay The recession has increased the wealth gap to dangerous levels, and George Osborne does not seem serious about tackling it, says Edmund Conway. If you don’t work in the City or in economics, you may not have heard of the annual Mais lecture, which was delivered last night by George Osborne. But it’s a big deal, arguably the most... 

Sources close to the Israeli government have warned Executive Intelligence Review that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner cabinet is close to making a decision to launch a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Such a decision, that would be a further step closer to a devastating regional confrontation, could come as early as Sunday, when the Israeli cabinet convenes.... 

Europe has demilitarized too much since the end of the Cold War and its underfunded defense budgets are undermining shared security goals, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Gates, addressing a NATO seminar in Washington, said too few helicopters and cargo aircraft for the NATO mission in Afghanistan were “directly impacting operations.” NATO also needed more aerial refueling... 

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Russia’s new military doctrine does not identify NATO as its major threat but Moscow is disturbed by the alliance’s “endless enlargement”, President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published on Thursday. Russia has made future NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, two former Soviet republics, a ‘red line’ in its relations... 

Russia will have to respond as it is concerned by NATO’s active eastward expansion and the U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Europe, Russia’s top military officer said on Wednesday. “If we say that we should tackle possible threats together, we should respect each other and trust each other instead of strengthening military blocs near the Russian border,”... 

A UN nuclear watchdog report suggests Iran could be developing a nuclear bomb, apparently confirming long-held suspicions in the West. But Tehran denies the claims, again insisting that its atomic intentions are peaceful. Michel Chossudovsky, who’s from an independent Canadian policy research group, believes that what Iran says hardly matters, because the U.S. is planning for war.  Read More »

US Vice President Joe Biden US Vice President Joe Biden says Washington should seek an “adaptive missile defense shield” and conventional warheads with global range. Biden, who spoke at the National Defense University on Thursday, added that development of programs such as the planned anti-missile in Europe would allow the United States to decrease its nuclear weaponry. “Capabilities... 

Lebanese troops opened fire Sunday on four Israeli warplanes that flew into Lebanese airspace, the army said. Israeli warplanes frequently fly over Lebanese territory in what Israel says are reconnaissance missions. The overflights have been a constant source of friction between the two countries. Sunday’s incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following some of the sharpest... 

The city of Dresden after Allied air raids in 1945. Right-wing nationalist groups have referred to the Dresden raids as the “German Hiroshima”. Berlin // Dresden is bracing itself for what could be Germany’s biggest neo-Nazi rally since the Second World War tomorrow when the city marks the 65th anniversary of the Allied air raid that devastated it and killed up to 25,000 people. Authorities... 

Ahmadinejad tells Assad Jewish state must be "resisted with full force." Ahmadinejad tells Assad Jewish state must be “resisted with full force.” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel “must be resisted” and finished off “once and for all” if it launches a military operation in the Middle East, Reuters cited... 

Nikolai Makarov Russia’s top general said on Tuesday that plans for a U.S. missile shield are directed against his country. “The development and establishment of the (U.S.) missile shield is directed against the Russian Federation,” Interfax news agency quoted Russian armed forces chief of staff, Nikolai Makarov, as saying. Source  Read More »

U.S. plans to place elements of its global missile shield in Romania pose a real threat to Russia’s national security, a Russian military analyst said on Friday. Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Thursday his country was ready to host U.S. medium-range interceptor missiles to counter a potential ballistic missile attack, but stressed that they would not be directed at Russia. “We...