-The French are sending an additional 700-800 troops.- Poland, Romania, Spain and Britain are also boosting troop levels.

NATO Enlargement:

- Croatia and Albania were invited in.- Ukraine and Georgia were blocked from the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP), a program of preparation for NATO inclusion. This is due in part to Ukraine’s internal unpreparedness for NATO and Russian objections. The slimy, vote-stealing Yanukovych is jubilant.- President Bush deserves a lot of credit for supporting their bids despite French and German woosiness. NATO will review their MAP membership bids in December.- Macedonia was blocked by the Greeks. This is connected to the Macedonia name dispute, one of the weirdest conflicts in political history.

Missile Defense:

- A big win for Bush. NATO endorsed his plan for Europe-based missile defense.- Czech Republic formally agreed to base the tracking radars on its soil. Poland is moving toward an agreement to house missile interceptors in their country.- Here’s a graphic on how the European section of the shield works. Click here for full-size:

Source: Wired News

• President Bush is on his way to Europe for a four-nation visit that includes Ukraine, Russia, Croatia and a NATO summit in Romania. He’s going to try and hammer out an agreement with the Russians on missile defense emplacements in Europe.

• Lt. General Henry A. Trey Obering, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, believes we can begin construction of installations in Poland and Czech Republic by the end of 2009 if negotiations continue tracking the way they are.

• Here’s a press release from Northrop Grumman outlining some of their current missile defense projects.

• The (firewalled) journal Inside Missile Defense reports that:
  “The Missile Defense Agency plans in 2009 to test the booster rocket for the missile interceptors it will put in the ground in Poland as part of a European missile defense.” This is necessary before Congress will release funds for the European project.

• Inside Missile Defense also has good news on the negotiations with the Czechs:

“Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek this week lambasted European and domestic opposition to the proposed stationing of a U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Defense tracking radar in his country as well as interceptor missiles in Poland.’This [opposition] goes hand in hand with ignorance or inadequate understanding of all the potential threats and risks,’Topolanek said through an interpreter following a Feb. 26 address at the Heritage Foundation, adding: ‘Unfortunately, I think we are again seeing another ghost in Europe — the ghost of appeasement.’

Further Reading:

Noisy Room / Fresno Zionism / Robert Amsterdam / La Russophobe