January 13, 2012

Army brigades to leave Europe

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/army-brigades-to-leave-europe/2012/01/12/gIQArZqluP_story.html?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost

FORT BLISS, Texas – The Obama administration has decided to remove two of the four U.S. Army brigades remaining in Europe as part of a broader cost-saving effort to cut $487 billion from the Pentagon’s budget over the next decade, said senior U.S. officials.

The reductions in U.S. Army forces, which have not been formally announced, are likely to concern European officials, who worry that the smaller American presence reflects a lessening of interest in the decades-long U.S. partnership with NATO allies in Europe.

Top Pentagon officials have sought to allay those concerns by telling their NATO allies in private meetings that the U.S. will continue to rotate Army units through Europe on training missions to augment the presence provided by the remaining two brigades.

“In the briefing we’ve been giving the Europeans, we have made clear that there is going to be this rotational presence there that will be conducting exercises,” Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said in an interview.

January 2, 2012

Romney blasts Santorum in swing through Iowa

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1392522

"ATLANTIC, Iowa — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney extolled his conservative credentials today in the face of a last-minute surge by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in the Hawkeye State.

“I’m a conservative. I’m proud to be a conservative businessman,” Romney said at the Family Table restaurant in Atlantic, adding that Santorum “was kind enough to endorse me the last time around.”

Santorum has enjoyed a down-to-the-wire boost in Iowa over the New Year’s weekend. Santorum refereed to himself as a “true conservative” today while campaigning in Iowa."

Blasts santorum.... LOL