European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 6 stars and stripes Mideast edition june 2qq7 Gates visits rejects criticism of Petraeus by Lolita Baldor the associated press Baghdad defense Secretary Rob Ert Gates made a Surprise visit Friday to Iraq and expressed support for the top commander saying the military was not trying to paint an Overly optimistic Pic Ture of How the War is its a very mixed Gates told re porters on his plane when asked whether the military and David Petraeus were offering realistic assessments of the Vio Lence in where the number of troops has been increased Over the past few i have every Confidence in general Petraeus and in his ability and willingness to Call it As he sees Gates Gates arrived in Baghdad late Friday night to meet with military and iraqi political this is his fourth trip to the country since taking Over As defense chief in december his most recent Stop Here was in the additional five combat brigades that make up the recent troop buildup Are now All in As part of an increased Effort to stabilize the violence in Gates visit came As iraqi officials ordered a citywide Security crackdown after the bombing wednesday that toppled the two minarets of the Sakariya Petraeus was criticized this week by Senate majority Leader Harry who accused the top commander in Iraq and Peter chairman of the joint chiefs of of failing to provide con Gress a candid assessment of the Iraq on his Way to defended saying he Doest pull any the Pentagon plans to focus this summer on calming Baghdad in Hopes of enabling iraqi leaders to pursue political reconciliation and stabilize the which now is divided among warring factions of sunnis and Gates told reporters that he believes Mili tary leaders should have a Good sense by the end of the summer of the direction the country is but its too soon to say whether there will be nato backs instructors for afghan army the associated press Belgium nato allies agreed Friday to deploy More trainers with the afghan aiming to build it up so it can eventually replace the International troops in Afghani the offer fell Short of requirements and natos top Diplomat joined Afghanistan de sense minister in urging a greater commitment from Allied governments to provide More instructors and we have to do More to train and equip the afghan National nato Secretary Gener Al Jaap de hoop we do need More training teams to keep up the to increase the Speed at which we can help with train in not yet Satis nato command ers Are seek ing to deploy almost 50 teams with about 50 military experts each who can integrate into afghan units and provide infield train ing As they take the Battle to Tali ban they Are seen As essential for building up the effectiveness of the local armed at a meeting of nato defense ministers that wrapped up Fri de hoop Scheffer France offered to form three such Romania and Slovakia also stepped de hoop Scheffer told a news Confer ence those offers would bring the total to almost joining his nato counter afghan defense minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said an eventual handover to local forces was the Only Way to sustain Lon term Security in the coun we do not want to be a Perma nent Burden on the International he told we want to stand on our own two the afghan army currently numbers about soldiers and but is due to increase up to by the end of next nato to Widen military training for Iraq forces Belgium nato defense ministers agreed Friday to Widen the Alliance training mis Sion for Iraq Security forces to include instruction for paramilitary police units As Well As the Mil the ministers responded to a request from the iraqi govern ment to provide gendarmerie training to complement the Mili tary said nato spokes Man James the paramilitary training is due to begin in with about 50 extra nato personnel deployed to the alliances training Center in the outskirts of Bagh Europe seeking made transport planes Belgium euro Pean nations Are quickly moving ahead with plans to acquire a airlifted to improve their transport capabilities to far Flung Heaters of operations such As Africa or Southeast a spokesman said eighteen european members of nato and Neutral Sweden Are planning to form a consortium to buy three or four Boeing c17 Globe master these would be used for to aug ment natos transport capabilities and also to provide strategic logistical support for european Union from the associated press missile defense system plan met with silence by Lolita Baldor the associated press Belgium de sense Secretary Robert Gates assertion that the Bush administration will not replace its plan for a missile defense system in East Ern Europe with russian counterproposal for a radar site in Azerbaijan was met Friday with is Gates met briefly with russian defense minister Anatoly ser and told reporters after Ward that the hotly debated mis Sile defense plan simply did not come i guess i would have to i was somewhat sur said who is attend ing a today meeting of nato defense ministers i dont know How to read to be Hon the silence came a Day after other russian officials blasted the and warned that the new Sites could be Gates said he did not bring the matter up in his session with ser Dyukov because i Felt id been pretty explicit yesterday in the session so i didst feel the need Gates they talked about plans for an upcoming meeting Between president Bush and russian president Vladimir during a session on Gates told the allies that the will proceed with its plans for a radar system in the czech Republic to watch for missile threats and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland to shoot Down any he flatly dismissed any notion that russian push for joint use of a radar station in Azerbaijan could replace the broader he also said he doubts there could be any agreement with Russia by next when Bush meets with Putin at Ken i was very explicit in the nato meeting that we saw the azeri radar As an additional Capa that we intended to proceed with the band radar in the czech Gates said russian officials earlier this week called for a freeze on the arguing that it would undermine russian nuclear de and they reportedly is sued threats against the planned Sites in Poland and the czech re nato ordered its military experts to draw up plans for a possible Short Range missile defense system to protect nations on the alliances Southern flank that would be left exposed by proposed antimissile units in Central Virginia n defense Secretary Robert shakes hands on Friday with russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov at nato Headquarters in save thousands on your new car san note online ordering representatives in the Middle East to serve take delivery at your local Dealership in the free 4 year maintenance plan deliveries overseas can be All us government card holsters overseas Bow military sates serving Superior motors 00 973 17 813 fax 00 973 17 kingdom of Bahrain