[…] Alla de åtta riksdagspartierna i Försvarsberedningens var i maj 2019 eniga om att främst stärka armén. Men enligt det förslag som ÖB lämnade till regeringen den 15 november så kan endast hälften av Försvarsberedningens förslag genomföras till 2025.

I botten finns en grundläggande skillnad mellan politiken och myndigheten. Enligt Försvarsberedningens rapport Värnkraft ska försvaret ”kunna möta väpnat angrepp mot Sverige inklusive krigshandlingar på svenskt territorium”. Därför satsas på att bygga ut armén, ”den gröna” förvarsgrenen. Försvarsmakten, däremot, vill ”först och främst utgöra en tröskel” för en angripare. Sveriges ”territoriella integritet” upprätthålls av de ”de blå” försvarsgrenarna marinen och flygvapnet. Först i andra hand kommer försvaret mot väpnat angrepp, enligt Försvarsmaktens yttrande.

– Det här är våra prioriteringar. Om man läser uppdraget från regeringen så handlar det om att vi ska gå in och ge våra prioriteringar. Och det är det vi har gjort, säger Micael Bydén om skillnaden.

– Generellt så är det ungefär halva ambitionen som nås 2025 och 75 procent 2030 med angiven ekonomi. Då får vi skjuta saker framåt när det gäller tillväxttakten. I grund och botten har vi inte plockat bort något, säger ÖB.[…]

I viktiga frågor tar ÖB råd av Försvarsmaktsledningen (FML). Trots att armén är största försvarsgrenen så domineras FML av personer med ”blå” bakgrund. Läs artikel

Spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, revealed the mechanism for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, pointing out that the US has not yet set a date for the withdrawal of its forces.

Khalaf announced in statements on Friday, that the Iraqi government submitted a request to the United Nations for the withdrawal of international forces combating Daesh, according to a memorandum sent by the former foreign minister, Ibrahim Al-Jaafari. Khalaf also stressed that Iraq will not have any financial and political commitment, as a result of these forces’ withdrawal from its territories. He explained that the Iraqi authorities issued an order on 3 January prohibiting the flight of aircrafts of the international coalition in its airspace.

Accordingly, the radar signal was withdrawn from these forces. “However, these forces have gone beyond their duties and carried out bombings of foreigners and Iraqis, which necessitated the Foreign Ministry to summon the US ambassador to Baghdad to denounce this behaviour.”

Khalaf confirmed that Iraq is a member state of the international coalition. He insisted that any movement at the level of air sorties through Iraqi airspace take place only after the approval of the local government, which he states: “Has recently been surprised by the air strike carried out by US aircrafts in Qa’im, resulting in the deaths and injuries of 90 victims from the support forces of the Iraqi army, under the pretext of targeting an armed faction in the region.” Läs artikel

[…] Canada will respect any decision by the Iraqi government to expel foreign troops from the country, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Friday, even as reports suggested the United States was considering sanctions and cuts to military aid should Baghdad give American forces the boot.

Speaking to reporters by phone during a visit to the Middle East, where he met with some of the hundreds of Canadian troops participating in the five-year fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Sajjan said Canada wants to continue its military training efforts in Iraq.

However, he added: “We are there at the request of the Iraqi government. If they were to change that, we do have to respect that.”[…]

Canada’s mission in Iraq has two main elements. One involves about 200 troops who have been training local forces through NATO to fight ISIL. A similar number of special forces have been working separately with Iraqi counter-terrorist units as part of the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition.

Both elements saw their missions suspended last week, with orders for the troops to hunker down on military bases or, in some cases, relocate to Kuwait, over fears Iran or its proxies would retaliate for the U.S.’s having killed Iran’s most important general, Qassem Soleimani. Läs artikel

Spenningen stiger i Persiabukta, men forsvarsminister Frank Bakke-Jensen avviser at det er aktuelt å sende norske marineskip til området. Norske soldater i Irak blir værende inntil videre. […]

Norge har ennå ikke svart på henvendelsen, og det er heller ikke aktuelt å gi et svar nå, sier Bakke-Jensen.

– Vi har ikke vurdert at vi kan bidra med noe nede i Hormuz per nå, sier han.[…]

Det har vært stor usikkerhet om Nato-styrkene i Irak etter at USA drepte den iranske generalen Qasem Soleimani i Bagdad forrige fredag. Tyske myndigheter ga i går ordre om å trekke ut deler av den tyske kontingenten i landet, og det har de siste dagene kommet flere ulike meldinger om de amerikanske soldatene i Irak skal ut eller ikke. […]

– Vi avventer en eventuell kontakt med irakiske myndigheter, hvis det skal komme endringer i det oppdraget vi har nede i Irak, sier han.[…]

Forsvarsministeren holdt mandag kveld foredrag i Oslo Militære Samfund. I foredraget advarte han mot en utvikling der rivaliseringen mellom stormaktene i verden gjør livet vanskeligere for et lite land som Norge. Små land som Norge kan «risikere å miste innflytelse og sikkerhet fordi stormaktene tar seg mer til rette», sa Bakke-Jensen i talen.

– Når det blir større rivalisering mellom stormaktene, så vil konsekvensene for et lite land være at man kan komme i skvis, forklarer han. Läs artikel

A conservative veterans’ group backed by the Koch family is launching a multimillion-dollar ad blitz in three presidential battleground states Thursday, seeking to tap into rising public support for withdrawing all American troops from Afghanistan.

The appeal organized by Concerned Veterans for America — ”Tell Washington it’s time to bring our troops home!” — marks a new and more aggressive effort to roust voters in both parties to demand an end to the United States’ longest war, which has killed nearly 2,400 U.S. troops since 2001, including two more who died in a blast last weekend. […]

”We’ve been engaged for 18 years in Afghanistan,” said CVA Executive Director Nate Anderson, a former Army Green Beret. ”That is an injustice both to the shrinking population of men and women who wear the uniform, willing to put their lives on the line, as well as the American taxpayers who pay the bill for that.”

”The public opinion on this issue shows very clearly that the majority of American people, including veterans, would be supportive of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan,” he added. Läs artikel

The US threatened to impose 25% tariffs on cars to push Europeans to initiate proceedings against Iran for violating the nuclear deal, the German defence minister has confirmed.

“This threat exists,” said the German defence minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, at a press conference in London.

She was asked about an article in the Washington Post that claimed Trump had secretly warned France, Germany and the UK that the US would impose a “25% tariffs on European cars” if they did not activate the mechanism for the settlement of disputes (MRD) of the Iranian international nuclear agreement reached in Vienna in 2015.

Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters on Thursday: “This expression or threat, as you will, does exist.” She is in the UK to meet her counterpart, Ben Wallace, to discuss Anglo-European defence cooperation post-Brexit. Läs artikel

[…] Och så detta: vilket prejudikatsbekymmer uppstår i och med att en stat med anspråk på rättsstatlighet avlivar en representant för ett annat land? Hur sätter man gränser, vad kommer sedan, i vad mån kan andra stater uppleva att det amerikanska föredömet nu skapar ett klimat av fritt fram och uppmaningar till efterföljd? […]

Och samtidigt tvingas både USA och övriga i anti-IS-koalitionen, däribland Danmark (snart med tilldelat huvudansvar för koalitionens och NATO:s Irakinsats) och Sverige (med 70 soldater på plats), att nu hantera en svår säkerhetssituation på marken; det handlar då både om ett mer storskaligt hot om ytterligare iranska ”svar” på Suleimani och andra motiv och ett mer eller mindre diffust angreppshot – i skuggan av den stora konflikten – av både kvarvarande IS och Iran-sympatiserande miliser. Hur allvarligt och långvarigt detta kombinerade hot bedöms vara avgör hur de involverade länderna nu agerar: lämna landet hals över huvud eller vara kvar, helt eller delvis, men i så fall i skydd och utan möjligheter att utföra de uppgifter (träna irakier, bekämpa IS) som legitimerar att man alls finns på plats. Läs artikel

The decision to restart military operations in Iraq came less than two weeks after Iraq’s Parliament voted to expel all American forces from Iraq. […]

It was unclear on Wednesday whether anyone in the Iraqi government approved the resumption of joint missions — it was the Americans who stopped them, not the Iraqis — and Iraqi officials could not be reached for comment.

Iraq’s acting prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, who has said that his government would comply with Parliament’s order to expel American forces, seemed to soften his position on Wednesday.