Assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN
HomeMEDIA RESOURCES20103 February 2010 - Members of the Defence and Security Committee met new Allied Commander Transformation Stephane Abrial, Obama National Security Adviser James Jones and General David Petraeus, CENTCOM

3 February 2010 - Members of the Defence and Security Committee met Stephane Abrial, James Jones and General David Petraeus in annual visit to the United States

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At a time of complex challenges in the international security system, the Obama administration places a high value on its alliances and partnerships, none more so than the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), according to senior administration officials. The Administration plans to work closely with its NATO partners on issues from ongoing efforts in Afghanistan, to relations with Russia, to countering the missile threat from the Middle East.

This was the principal message that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Defence and Security Committee brought back from its visit to Washington DC, and Florida on 25 to 29 January  2010.   The delegation was composed of 40 members of parliament from some 20 NATO member states and led by Committee Chairman Julio Miranda Calha (Portugal ) and accompanied by NATO Parliamentary Assembly President John Tanner (USA). 

The delegation visited Washington for meetings with senior Obama administration officials including General James Jones, National Security Advisor to the President and Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security; as well as other officials from the State and Defense Departments, and independent experts from the Center for American Progress, the German Marshall Fund, and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. 

In addition, the delegation engaged in an extensive discussion about the Alliance   ’s future with NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Stéphane Abrial.  Challenges in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region and the broader Middle East were the principal subjects of the delegation’s meeting with General David Petraeus at Central Command as well as with Admiral Eric Olson, Commander of Special Operations Command.

In the Committee’s annual visit to U.S.  military facilities, the delegation was welcomed at Central Command as well as at Hurlburt Field, where Lt. General Donny Wurster briefed the delegation on the Field’s missions, with a strong focus on the Air Force Special Operations Command.  The delegation also received briefings on the 33rd Fighter Wing and its role in standing up a training centre for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.  

A full report on the visit will be available shortly.

 

Members of the delegation with General David Petraeus, CENTCOM, January 29, 2010.

 
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