NATO Wants Dutch in Afghanistan: NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told Dutch officials in Brussels Monday that it is time to end the squabble that prohibits some 1,400 Dutch troops from joining other alliance forces in southern Afghanistan. De Hoop Scheffer must be feeling the pain personally, as a former Dutch government official himself, but he cites the importance of fulfilling this mission to NATO’s standing in the world community fighting terrorism. The alliance is preparing to increase the size of its security force from 9,000 to 15,000, as it expands its peacekeeping operations into the restive southern region. And, we thought the problems were just France, Germany, and Spain.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.