Flying home through bumpy weather from Pristina, Kosovo after a very full day visiting our Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops.  Along with me are the Ambassadors of the United States, Germany, and Turkey to NATO.  We spent a rainy, muddy day alongside 13,000 soldiers from over 30 countries — all deeply involved in the vital mission of maintaining a safe and secure environment in Kosovo.

The NATO effort in Kosovo has a long, successful history since 1999, and while the KFOR force will undergo changes, the mission will not change. I recommended earlier this year that we reduce our overall force down to 10,000 troops by the end of January, and that has been approved by the North Atlantic Council, the supreme political decision making body of NATO.  I made that recommendation after careful study of the security situation, and progress by the international community in advancing positive civil-military cooperation. more…

 

 Yesterday President Obama laid out the strategy for Afghanistan, and announced the addition of 30,000 troops.  Today and Friday, the NATO Foreign Ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss a wide range of NATO topics, including Afghanistan of course.  Secretary Clinton will lead the U.S. delegation.  I will be there to brief the Foreign Ministers and I look forward to it.  I will be joined by General McChrystal and General Ramms, my key team leaders focused on Afghanistan. 

Early next week, at our headquarters here in Mons, Belgium, we will lead the “Force Generation Conference” at which all 28 NATO allies will pledge forces as did the U.S.  I am confident we’ll top 5,000 additional allied troops, and I expect more — hopefully several thousand more — in the months ahead. 

This is a team challenge in Afghanistan, and in addition to 28 NATO nations, there are 15 other significant contributing countries to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, for which we are grateful.  The United Nations supports this fully, with hundreds of workers “on the ground.”  This is indeed a global effort. more…

I just completed an excellent visit to Canada, our neighbor and NATO partner just north of the United States.  As every U.S. citizens learns in elementary school, we sit side-by-side along the longest undefended border in the world, completely at peace with good friends who live in a land of remarkable beauty and culture.

Every time I go to Canada, I am struck by the bilingual / bicultural nature of that nation of 33 million.  With a population that has both strong French (30%) and English (60%) linguistic roots, they carefully balance the language, education, government work, and laws to ensure that both languages and cultures are nurtured and protected.  In the Canadian military, for example, the more senior an individual becomes the greater requirement for facility in both French and English.  Living as I do now in the similarly bilingual country of Belgium (French and Flemish, principally), I know this is challenging but important.
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