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It has taken five major crises to convince the EU and NATO that it was time to set aside their differences and cooperate. This is what they announced just before NATO leaders began their summit on July 8–9 in the Polish capital of Warsaw. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the EU and NATO had agreed on a timetable for coordinating exercises, including hybrid operations, that should begin in 2017. The two organizations will also try to promote stronger defense industries and greater defense research and industrial cooperation in Europe and across the Atlantic. …

Turkey's haphazard (and apparently failed) coup — led by parts of the largest standing army in NATO outside the U.S.'s own — has justified the growing skepticism around today's international order that has defined Donald Trump's White House run. Amid all the uncertainty and hollowness of Trump's myriad proclamations, so unnerving in such an uncertain and hollow time, great clarity has suffused his sharply divergent view of the world and America's role in it. Trump believes that the U.S. has lost its power and force because the structure it helped create to order the globe has lost its efficacy and...

Unconfirmed .... "Unconfirmed Reports Of Gunfire, Explosions Inside Incirlik Airbase - Local Sources"

9:05 p.m. President Barack Obama is pledging U.S. cooperation with the Turkish government to help maintain safety after the failed coup attempt. In a statement, the White House says Obama received a morning briefing from national security advisers about the situation in Turkey. The White House says there are no indications that any Americans were killed or injured in the violence. Obama stressed the need for the democratically elected government "to act within the rule of law" and avoid actions leading to further instability. Obama has instructed his team to continue working with the Turkish government to maintain the safety...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is urging all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A chill just went down my spine... What happens if Erdgogan demands that NATO re-install him into pawer? Would we have a scenario where European and US soldiers are ordered to shoot on the anti-erdogan forces?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying-jets-and-gunfire-heard-in-ankara1/

Col. [Ret.] Igor Korotchenko, the editor-in-chief of "National Security Magazine," said that Russia needs to declare the entire post-Soviet area as "the zone of its special and exclusive interests" and to "bare our teeth at the Americans and at NATO, because this Anglo-Saxon breed understands nothing but force." He was speaking on the Russia 1 Sunday evening flagship talk show on July 10, following the Warsaw NATO summit. Following are excerpts Igor Korotchenko: We Russians have to officially declare that the entire post-Soviet area is the zone of the special and exclusive interests of the Russian Federation. Neither NATO or...

Published on Jul 14, 2016 HILLARY CLINTON FULL INTERVIEW WITH BILL O'REILLY (7/14/2016)

Barack Obama confronting again the frustrating sting of his unfinished business. The lingering shortfalls of his presidency -- on guns, race, war, and politics -- seemed to confront Obama in each hallway and beyond every podium during his stop in the Polish capital. Obama insisted Saturday he's not keen to assess his own legacy as his term winds down, preferring to leave that task to historians. He says he's focused more on finishing his presidency at a sprint. And for the first time in years, a majority of Americans say in polls they approve of his job performance. That doesn't...

WARSAW, Poland—Russian aggression, radical Islamist terrorism, the refugee crisis, Brexit, Afghanistan. The list of challenges NATO leaders faced at the biennial summit here over the weekend was diverse, highlighting what some consider to be a post-Cold War moment of truth for the alliance to prove it still matters. Speaking to reporters Saturday, President Barack Obama addressed what he called a “pivotal moment” for NATO. “In the 70 years of NATO, we have perhaps never faced so many challenges at once,” Obama said. “We’re moving forward with the most significant reinforcement of our common defense at any time since the Cold...

Myth or Reality? Russian Missiles on Kurils in Response to THAAD in S Korea Military & Intelligence 16:03 09.07.2016(updated 12:48 10.07.2016) Russia may deploy additional missile systems to the Far East, including on the Kuril Islands, in response to the plans of the United States to deploy missile defense complexes in South Korea, Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, told RIA Novosti. The expert commented on recent reports citing a source in the Russian Foreign Minister. In particular, the source said that Russian military planning will take into account Seoul’s decision to deploy US THAAD missile systems...

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday rejected a proposal to include a statement in the party's platform calling for Israel's "end to occupations and illegal settlements," CNN reported. ... While the committee voted against the addition 95-73, CNN reported that the move garnered the loudest negative response of the day from the audience. ... One crowd member was escorted out of the meeting after he stood up and yelled that the party had "sold out" to AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee).

The Times quoted the mother of three as saying having children meant she had "a very real stake" in Britain's future... It is the Conservative Party membership that votes on who should be leader and there may well be some who would like their next leader and prime minister to be a mother...

The British government has rejected an online petition signed by 4.1 million people calling for a new referendum on whether to leave the European Union. Britons voted by 52 to 48 percent, or 17.4 million votes to 16.1 million, to leave the EU in a June 23 referendum, a result which most politicians have said should be respected but which some who voted "remain" are struggling to accept. The petition called for the government to enact a rule that there should be another referendum if the vote for "remain" or "leave" was less than 60 percent based on a turnout...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s popularity has rebounded after the British vote to leave the EU, an opinion poll showed Saturday, reversing a fall in her appeal caused by the refugee crisis. The poll was the second in a few days to suggest a popularity boost for the German leader. Saturday’s poll, commissioned jointly by Stern magazine and Die Welt newspaper and carried out by the Forsa market research institute, showed Ms. Merkel’s appeal up two points to 48 percent. “What’s more, three quarters of CSU supporters now back Merkel,” said Forsa director Manfred Gullner, referring to the southern German affiliate...

BRISTOL, UK — Among cheering crowds, four street preachers were arrested in the UK on Wednesday for causing a “disturbance” while exhorting men to “obey God and keep His commands.” The incident occurred as local resident Mike Overd was open air preaching outside of the Bristol shopping center, while others engaged passersby in conversation and/or held gospel signs. Some of those joining Overd in the evangelism effort included American citizens visiting the country to share the gospel. “The purpose of mankind is to worship God and enjoy Him,” Overd preached, according to recorded footage of their arrest. “You need to...

Pat Condell finally weighs in :) Enjoy.

NATO took command of a U.S.-built missile shield in Europe on Friday after France won assurances that the multi-billion-dollar system would not be under Washington’s direct control. The missile shield, billed as a defense against any strike by a “rogue state” against European cities, is one of the most sensitive aspects of U.S. military support for Europe. Russia says the system is in fact intended by Washington to blunt its nuclear arsenal, which the U.S. denies. “Today we have decided to declare initial operational capability of the NATO ballistic missile defense system,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference....

BREAKING: Today we recognized cyberspace as a new operational domain, joining land, air & sea - SG @jensstoltenberg at #NATOSummit— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) July 8, 2016