RIA Novosti – Russia
12 January 2009
Kyrgyzstan’s president plans to terminate an agreement with the U.S. on a military airbase in the Central Asian state …
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev … plans to sign a decree ordering the closure within six months of the Gansi base, located at Manas airport in the country’s capital, Bishkek, which the U.S. has run since the 2001 antiterrorism war in Afghanistan …
AfterDowningStreet.org
Sat, 31 Jan 2009
…. About two hundred activists of the “No Dal Molin” movement entered the area of the Vicenza airport where a few days ago the construction of the new U.S. military base Camp Ederle 2 began.
The blitz was announced by the members of the movement themselves.
The police are on the site – including the Questore of Vicenza – and are overseeing the peaceful occupation of the area.
To enter the area the protesters cut a piece of the fence. The Questore Sarlo is trying to start negotiations with the demonstrators. There are also members of the Disobbedienti who arrived from Padova and other cities of the Veneto region.
The situation for the moment is calm. The demonstrators displayed banners and posters against the U.S. military, and with the spray paint wrote “Vicenza City of Peace” and “You demolish, we build peace”. The protesters have not reached the area from the inside of Dal Molin, protected by a fence, which is being developed by the company in charge of demolishing the existing structures. ….
Video in ItalianYou can also follow updates in Italian on the No Dal Molin and And Global Project sites: http://www.nodalmolin.it For background, see the dossier in English: |
U.S. Department of Defense
January 29, 2009
The Department of Defense released today the 2009 Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review (QRM) Report to Congress in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. Although the department has completed similar reviews in the past, this was the first review conducted with the intention of establishing a framework for performing roles and missions analysis on a recurring basis every four years.
Within the 2009 QRM review, the DoD defined its core missions and core competencies. In addition, the department reviewed recent efforts undertaken across the force to improve its ability to conduct joint operations in several evolving mission areas.
The department defined its core mission areas as “missions for which DoD is uniquely responsible, provides the preponderance of capabilities, or is the U.S. government lead as established by national policy.” The DoD’s core mission areas are: homeland defense and civilian support; deterrence operations; major combat operations; irregular warfare; military support to stabilization, security, transition and reconstruction operations; and military contribution to cooperative security.
In order to link DoD core mission areas with its capabilities development processes, the department identified nine core competencies: force application; command and control; battlespace awareness; net centric; building partnerships; protection; logistics; force support; and corporate management and support.
The 2009 QRM review also describes how the department reviewed the rapidly-evolving roles, missions, and capabilities associated with irregular warfare, cyberspace operations, unmanned aircraft systems, and intratheater airlift. The report discusses ways the department is working to enhance operations in these areas, as well as opportunities to improve whole-of-government approaches to solving problems in today’s complex security environment.
The department will continue initiatives to establish the right balance between winning today’s wars while preventing tomorrow’s conflicts.
The report can be found at www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2009/QRMFinalReport_v26Jan.pdf.
