Rumsfeld discussing troops for Iraq, Afghanistan with tiny Montenegro

[Barrett808]

Rumsfeld discussing troops for Iraq, Afghanistan with tiny Montenegro
by Jim Mannion

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AFP) - Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic told US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld his newly independent country's tiny military is prepared to join US forces in the US-backed war on terror.

Djukanovic, whose party won parliamentary elections earlier this month, tied the pledge to his government's aspiration to membership in
NATO's Partnership for Peace and ultimately NATO, saying it was ready to accept responsibilities of membership.

"And that's why we are prepared to participate in the US-led coalition in fighting the terrorism threat to global peace," he said at a press conference with Rumsfeld.

Montenegro, a remnant of the former Yugoslavia, has a tiny 4,000-member army and plans to shrink it to 2,500.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060926/pl_afp/montenegrousmilitary

[babylonsister]

1. No desperation there. Sad. nt

[saigon68]

10. Foreign Mercenary Forces with BIG Under the Table payments

To Insiders

[Botany]

2. So how much is Rummy paying Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic?

Better check his Swiss bank account.

[lutefisk]

9. More accurately, how much are "we" paying...

I am really tired of paying for bribes to support this administration's policies, making payoffs to Republican supporters for their dirty work in elections, and paying for the transition of the U.S. military to a mercenary arm of the PNAC and other corporate interests.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Is the troop deployment to Iraq

part of Montenegro's plan to shrink their military from 4,000 to 2,500 troops?

just askin'...

[FightingIrish]

4. It could be his "We'll bomb you back to the stone age" ploy

[rodeodance]

5. It is shameful that we go after these countres with our rotten carrots!

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. "...has a tiny 4,000-member army and plans to shrink it to 2,500."

Well, sending them into a war zone seems like a good start on shrinking their numbers. It's working well for us.

[anotherdrew]

7. rumsfeld, bush . cheney, all will be prosecuted for war crimes

nations should think twice about lining up behind their shamefully pathetic idiocy.

[rodeodance]

8. partner it with a US national guard unit.-------

Rumsfeld said the United States stood ready to advise it on defense reforms to make the force more compatible with NATO allies, and to partner it with a US national guard unit.

Despite the Montenegrin forces' small size, Rumsfeld singled out peacekeeping and special operations as possible niche area.

"We've been asked to look for ways we might be helpful to them as they wrest with the task of destroying somewhat outdated and dangerous or unstable weapons from another era," Rumsfeld added.

Djukanovic said concrete proposals would be discussed in future talks between US and defense officials, but he too mentioned his country's special operations forces as an asset in international operations.

[rodeodance]

11. says begging by Rummy has been his major job of late:

US military commanders have also abandoned plans for a gradual cut back in US forces in Iraq because of a surge of sectarian violence.

The United States also is foregoing cuts in its 21,000-member force in Afghanistan until at least next year in the wake of the fiercest Taliban offensive since the Islamic fundamentalists were ousted from power in late 2001.

Strains on US forces have grown so great that the army's chief of staff is reported to have withheld a 2008 budget outline because the service could not meet its requirements without billions of dollars in additional funding.

Maintaining international support for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has become a staple of Rumsfeld's trips overseas.