The two countries' navies also participated as "training increased in complexity as the operation developed, with more advanced flight manoeuvres and joint exercises with the British HMS Cumberland, which was conducting maritime security operations in the Gulf."
"The Royal Navy relies on the UAE for ports, and the RAF participates in training alongside Emirati forces at the Air Warfare Centre."
The Emirates' Al Minhad Air Base, in addition to accommodating Western military aircraft, "provides logistical support to British vessels deployed in the Gulf for 'broader regional stability' and enhanced ties with the UAE." [27]
NATO has announced that it is prepared to extend its six-year-old NATO Training Mission - Iraq, which has trained over 10,000 military personnel - officers and troops - and internal security forces, beyond 2011. [28]
After the NATO summit in Portugal, an editorial in the Washington Post stated:
"NATO's Lisbon summit meeting last weekend was encouraging. All of the alliance's members - and the more than 20 other nations that have joined the international force in Afghanistan - signed on to a plan to continue the mission until at least the end of 2014....
"The Afghan experience....offers the United States the assurance that should it have to undertake wars such as Afghanistan in the future, it will not need to act alone." [29]
When a confrontation - or far worse - with Iran occurs, the U.S. and NATO will have military forces in place all around the nation.
1) Lisbon Summit: NATO Proclaims Itself Global Military Force
Stop NATO, November 22, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/lisbon-summit-nato-proclaims-itself-global-military-force
2) NATO In Persian Gulf: From Third World War To Istanbul
Stop NATO, February 6, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/nato-in-persian-gulf-from-third-world-war-to-istanbul
3) NATO's Role In The Military Encirclement Of Iran
Stop NATO, February 10, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/natos-role-in-the-military-encirclement-of-iran
4) The National, December 5, 2010
5) Arabian Sea: Center Of West's 21st Century War
Stop NATO, October 25, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/arabian-sea-center-of-wests-21st-century-war
6) Bloomberg News, May 20, 2010
7) Asian News International, November 25, 2010
8) Daily Times, November 28, 2010
9) Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, Is the U.S. Violating Turkmenistan's
Neutrality with the NDN?
EurasiaNet, August 1, 2010
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/61652
10) Kazakhstan: U.S., NATO Seek Military Outpost Between Russia And China
Stop NATO, April 14, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/kazakhstan-u-s-nato-seek-military-outpost-between-russia-and-china
11) Central Asia Newswire, November 15, 2010
12) RTT News, November 29, 2010
13) Kyrgyzstan: Bloodstained Geopolitical Chessboard
Stop NATO, June 16, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/1848
14) Reuters, December 2, 2010
15) UzReport, December 3, 2010
16) Pentagon Chief In Azerbaijan: Afghan War Arc Stretches To Caspian And
Caucasus
Stop NATO, June 8, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/1761/
17) Atlantic Council: Securing The 21st Century For NATO
Stop NATO, April 30, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/atlantic-council-securing-the-21st-century-for-nato
18) News.Az, November 26, 2010
19) Civil Georgia, December 3, 2010
20) International Institute for Strategic Studies, December 3, 2010
http://www.iiss.org/conferences/the-iiss-regional-security-summit/manama-dialogue-2010/plenary-sessions-and-speeches/special-address/hillary-rodham-clinton
21) U.S. Department of State, March 22, 2010
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/03/138732.htm
22) Khaleej Times, December 5, 2010
23) Institute of Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA)
http://www.inegma.com/?navigation=event_details&cat=fe&eid=46
24) Zaman, November 30, 2010
25) Middle East Loses Trillions As U.S. Strikes Record Arms Deals
Stop NATO, September 2, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/middle-east-loses-trillions-as-u-s-strikes-record-arms-deals
26) Arabian Sea: Center Of West's 21st Century War
Stop NATO, October 25, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/arabian-sea-center-of-wests-21st-century-war
27) The National, December 5, 2010
28) Iraq: NATO Assists In Building New Middle East Proxy Army
Stop NATO, August 13, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/iraq-nato-assists-in-building-new-middle-east-proxy-army
29) Washington Post, November 25, 2010
....
NATO: Afghan War Model For Future 21st Century Operations
Stop NATO, November 19, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/nato-afghan-war-model-for-future-21st-century-operations
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