Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Jul 8, 2020 11 tweets 9 min read Read on X
"We are an important base for US troops" #Germany Defense Minister @akk Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer tells #EUDefense in prerecorded interview when asked about impending US pullout

"We on German soil are also contributing to American security"
"What we are discussing is the security of the [@NATO] alliance" per @akk "If there are troop reductions in #Germany, which we regret, if the decision is being taken, then the question is where do the soldiers deploy?"
"If they were redeploying within #Europe then that would mean that the strong commitment of the United States in the transatlantic partnership and the focus on Europe would remain, and that would be an important message for @NATO" per #Germany's defense minister
"We see that #Russia is more assertive, more aggressive but I think the strength of @NATO is also that we don't play tit for tat" per #Germany DefMin @akk
"America needs allies. America need like-minded allies based on the same values and those are especially the states in #Europe" per #Germany DefMin "These states will only be able to maintain their independence & their values if they have strong defense foundations..."
"#China indeed is a systemic challenge for us...with a regime that shows you can work successfully economically without needing to have the same standards in terms of human rights" per #Germany DefMin @akk "That is a first for mankind"
On issues like #climatechange, "addressing that without #China is not possible" per #Germany DefMin @akk

"We must find a way to use our economic ties to demonstrate our views, our values...We must send clear messages"
"If we see that #China is trying to increase its influence in int'l organizations, not to further multilateralism but to push its own interests, then we must not weaken the int'l organizations" per #Germany DefMin @akk

"On the contrary, we must engage stronger there"
"It's easy & it gives you a good feeling inside if you use strong words but we also know that this approach is often one that blocks every contact & every possible influence" w/#China, per #Germany DefMin @akk, saying Germany is constantly working quietly behind the scences
#Africa #Sahel #terrorism #migrant issues exacerbated by #climatechange - "That 1st & foremost affect European security interests & that is why Europeans needs to give a stronger response" per #Germany DefMin @akk "We need to be better able to act"
"What we're lacking is a common strategic compass" per per #Germany DefMin @akk "We haven't got a common threat perception yet of how to approach operations"

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More from @jseldin

Jan 30
HAPPENING NOW: Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing for Tulsi Gabbard to serve as US Director of National Intelligence
"It’s fair to say Ms. Gabbard’s nomination has generated a bit more interest and attention than do most nominees before this committee" per Senate Committee Chairman, Tom Cotton
"But I want to stress that Ms. Gabbard has been and will be treated with the exact same respect, consideration, and professionalism that we have extended to every other nominee" per Cotton
Read 65 tweets
Jan 10
NEW: US intelligence agencies pushing back vs claims health ailments linked to Havana Syndrome were caused by a foreign adversary

"The intelligence does not link a foreign actor to these events. Indeed, it points away from their involvement" per a US intelligence official
"5 elements of the intelligence community continue to assess that it's very unlikely of foreign actors responsible" per the US intelligence official

BUT 2 intelligence agencies have reevaluated - "shift from unlikely w/low confidence to roughly even chance with low confidence"
The US intelligence official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, describe the shift in view about the possible involvement of foreign adversaries as "subtle" - "They have a low confidence in their judgments"
Read 9 tweets
Nov 20, 2024
NEW: Islamic State-Somalia getting boost from an "influx of foreign fighters"

A just-issued UN sanctions monitoring team report warns the foreign fighters "have expanded and enhanced the group’s capabilities against al-Shabaab"
Influx of foreign fighters to IS-Somalia " has coincided with the re-emergence of the Al-Karrar office as a
key administrative and financial hub for [ISIS] globally" per the UN report
IS-Somalia being led by "a cadre of former al-Shabaab
militants based in the Bari region of Puntland" per UN report

Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud is the emir of IS-Somalia, per report, "responsible for [ISIS] operations in Somalia"
Read 11 tweets
Nov 15, 2024
NEW: Senate Democrats ask @DeptofDefense @TheJusticeDept to look at Elon Musk's reported contact w/Russian officials - "determine whether this behavior should force a review of Mr. Musk’s
continued involvement in SpaceX’s varying contracts" w/the US government Image
Image
"Communications between Russian government officials and any individual with a security
clearance have the potential to put our security at risk" per @SenatorShaheen @SenJackReed

"We urge you to take appropriate action immediately"
Musk's alleged contacts with Russian officials was first reported by @WSJ, which cited current and former U.S., European and Russian officials
Read 5 tweets
Nov 8, 2024
JUST IN: Iranian, 2 men from New York charged in connection with plot to kill Americans, including President-elect Donald Trump & a US journalist of Iranian origin
.@TheJusticeDept filed charges against 51yo Farhad Shakeri of Iran, 49yo Carlisle Rivera & 36yo Jonathon Loadholt

Shakeri remains at large in Iran

Rivera & Loadholt have been detained pending trial
@TheJusticeDept US Atty General Merrick Garland, in statement, calls Shakeri "an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump"
Read 12 tweets
Oct 9, 2024
#Ukraine taking toll on #Russia|n forces

Pentagon assesses since February 2022, Russia's suffered 600,000 casualties

This September, "Russian forces sustained more casualties in terms of both killed & wounded in action than in any other month" per a sr US defense official
"#Russia|n losses, again, both killed & wounded in action in just the 1st year of the war exceeded the total of all Russian losses or Soviet losses in any conflict since World War Two combined" per sr US defense official
#Ukraine "have sunk, destroyed or damaged at least 32 medium to large #Russia|n Federation navy vessels in the #BlackSea" per sr US defense official
Read 18 tweets

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