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President Cites NATO's role in rebuilding Iraq NATO is establishing a military academy near Baghdad to train the next generation of Iraqi military leaders, and 17 nations are contributing troops to the NATO training mission. more
International Conference on Iraq
AFGHANISTAN Building Political Institutions Vital to Afghanistan's Recovery As important as the security dimension is in Afghanistan, helping the Afghans build vital political institutions is the most important part of current operations there, says a senior Defense Department official. |
The Afghans are building political infrastructure while systematically filling the vacuum left by the defeat of the Taliban regime, says Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. Rodman testified June 22 before the House Armed Services Committee, which was conducting a hearing to assess current operations and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. more
Nominee for U.S. Envoy to Afghanistan Testifies before Senate Ambassador Ronald Neumann, who has been nominated by President Bush to serve as the next U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, says his recent diplomatic service in Iraq has providing him with valuable experience that he will be able to apply to Afghanistan. "If confirmed, I would take to Kabul the benefit of 16 months' experience in Iraq, where I had the privilege of serving this year as Political-Military Counselor to Ambassador Negroponte," Neumann said in his written statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee June 15. more International Security and Transatlantic Issues
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United States, EU Cooperate Against WMD Proliferation, Terrorism The United States and the European Union (EU) issued a declaration and joint statement June 20 on their cooperative efforts to address the global challenges of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). “Fighting terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, coupled with the risk that such weapons could be acquired by terrorists, remain our greatest security challenges,” said the joint declaration. more
U.S.-European Union Cooperating on Combating Terrorism The State Department released a fact sheet June 17 outlining measures taken to implement the U.S.-European Union Declaration on Combating Terrorism, which was issued at the United States-European Union Summit June 26, 2004, in Shannon, Ireland. Fact Sheet |
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Transatlantic Focus:
A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter
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Rice
Thanks Brussels Conference Participants for Support of Iraq
Citing the opening of “a new chapter for the international
community and for Iraq as we lay the foundation today for a new
international partnership for the people of Iraq on their journey
toward democracy,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice thanked
participants in the International Conference on Iraq for their
support for a new vision for Iraq.
Rice
Calls Iraqi Constitution Chance for National Reconciliation
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice says the Iraqi constitution, now being drafted, offers a chance
for national reconciliation. "It is going to be a chance for all
Iraqis to know that the future includes them, whatever ethnic group
they come from, or whatever religious group they come from. And it's
going to be an opportunity to enshrine the important rights of
individual liberty, of women's rights, of the right to speak freely,
of the right to worship as you please. That is what the constitution
means," Rice said in a June 22 interview with Al Iraqiya TV
in Brussels, Belgium.
Bush
Authorizes $161.5 Million in Defense Items for Afghanistan
President Bush authorized the drawdown of $161.5 million in
defense articles and services from the Department of Defense for
Afghanistan in a June 15 memorandum. The Foreign Assistance Act of
1961, as amended, gives the president the authority to shift or
“draw down” resources from U.S. government agencies' budgets into
security assistance.
President
Welcomes German Chancellor to the White House
In remarks to the press with the
German chancellor at the White House June 27, President Bush said
the development of a nuclear weapon by Iran remains unacceptable,
and urged Germany, France and the United Kingdom, collectively known
as the EU-3, to continue their discussions with Iran to curb that
country's nuclear program. The Bush administration is
concerned that Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons under cover of
a civilian nuclear program, and has accused Tehran of hiding its
nuclear activities from the international community.
United
States Wants Strong European Union as Partner, Bush Says
President Bush met with European Union (EU) leaders June 20 in
Washington and said the United States will continue to support a
strong EU “as a partner in spreading freedom and democracy and
security and prosperity throughout the world.” During a joint press
conference with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Council of the
EU, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission,
Bush said, “My message to these leaders and these friends is that we
want a Europe strong so that we can work together to achieve
important objectives and important goals.” The president also cited
U.S.-EU cooperation in support of peace between Israel and the
Palestinians, as well as cooperation in Iraq, Darfur, Afghanistan,
and the broader Middle East.
