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In a video message posted to Facebook on Thursday evening, Anders Fogh Rasmussen appealed to the US to be the world’s “policeman” and to stop “leading from behind”. […] “Obama’s decision to draw the infamous red line to Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria and then not follow it up with action was, in my opinion, a disaster,” Rasmussen said in a video message posted to Facebook. …

Half a century ago, George Orwell, writing on literary censorship, wrote that “unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need for any official ban.” That dynamic now broadly extends to an opaque network of government agencies and self-proclaimed anti-misinformation groups that have repressed online speech. There’s no official ban on discussing the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines or criticizing American involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war, but editors and journalists have realized that writing on such topics can come at a cost. News publishers have been demonetized and shadow-banned for reporting dissenting views and the bureaucratic means...

One year after rejoining NATO military command, France wants to see the alliance's headquarters cut down in size, officials in Defence Minister Herve Morin's office told AFP on Tuesday. French officers feel the Atlantic alliance's 12,500-strong command staff is too large and its structures too unwieldy for 21st century combat. Paris officials have contacted NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates urging that plans be drawn up to abolish redundant and overlapping command structures, they said. "This rationalisation could allow us to cut down manpower and command structures by a third and at the same...

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato's newly appointed secretary general, has sought to placate Muslims by giving Turkey senior posts in the alliance, as he moves to distance himself from a three-year-old row over publication in Denmark of cartoons caricaturing Islam's Prophet Mohammed. Mr Rasmussen, Denmark's prime minister until Sunday, said in Istanbul that he would respect Islam. "I was deeply distressed that the cartoons were seen by many Muslims as an attempt by Denmark to mark and insult or behave disrespectfully towards Islam or the Prophet Mohammed. Nothing could be further from my mind," he said. "I respect Islam as one...

There will be no apologies for the Mohammed cartoons says NATO's next Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Turkey. Turkey should not expect any apologies when NATO's next Secretary-General and former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen makes a speech in Istanbul today. “Listen. In Denmark we do not apologise for having freedom of speech,” Fogh Rasmussen is quoted by Ritzau as saying. “You all know that a Danish Prime Minister cannot apologise on behalf of a newspaper,” he continues. The newly-appointed upcoming secretary-general for NATO is in Turkey to speak at a United Nations conference on intercultural dialogue and understanding....

To become NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen will apologize for the Mohammed cartoons.

NATO averts split, names Danish PM as new chief No other details yet

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Turkey blocked Europe's candidate to head NATO, souring a summit marking the military alliance's 60th anniversary and opening a new rift between Ankara and its Western European allies. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen had emerged as the front-runner to replace the outgoing NATO secretary-general but Turkey objected on Friday, criticising his handling of a row over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that offended Muslims. U.S. President Barack Obama, making his first overseas tour since taking office in January, had signalled to Europe that he would support Rasmussen. NATO officials put a brave face on the...

Turkey's Islamist Prime Minister Erdogan is raising cain over Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen becoming NATO Secretary General. He cites "lingering anger" of Muslims over Danish cartoons of Muhammed, and Rasmussen's defense of freedom of speech in that regard. Muslim majority countries are urging Turkey,[sadly a NATO member], to veto Rasmussen's nomination. This is another good reason why Turkey should not be in the EU.

Filed at 11:49 a.m. ET COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- As it takes its turn at the European Union's helm for the next six months, Denmark feels it has an image problem. The reason is its rightward turn in elections last November, and its ensuing crackdown on immigration which, while largely in line with the European trend, is thought by some Danes to be at odds with their country's image of tolerance. The vote catapulted Liberal Party leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen to power promising a tougher stance on asylum-seekers and on foreigners benefiting from the country's generous welfare system. By unseating...