Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Friday 27 OctOber 2017
Senators diverge on Niger ambush after briefing NATO chief says
allies concerned
By RICHARD LARDNER to prevent this assault.” phe that we saw here,” Blu- a tragedy that is evolving about Russian
Associated Press But Sen. Richard Blumen- menthal said. into a political dispute. phone jamming
WASHINGTON (AP) — Re- thal, D-Conn., pointed to a Sen. John McCain, the “I had a lot of questions.
publican and Democratic shortfall in intelligence and chairman who has de- All of us had questions,” he By LORNE COOK
senators emerged from a overhead reconnaissance manded Defense Secre- said. Associated Press
classified briefing about support for U.S. forces in tary Jim Mattis keep the McCain responded tes- BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO al-
the deadly ambush in the Africa as a potential factor Armed Services Committee tily when asked if the early lies have raised concerns
African nation of Niger with in an attack that caught informed, said the briefing October mission that led to about what they call Rus-
different opinions about many lawmakers off guard. conducted by two senior the deaths of the Ameri- sia’s use of a kind of elec-
whether the attack that “I could not look those Pentagon officials shed can troops in Niger was a tronic warfare during mili-
killed four U.S. soldiers could families in the eye and say light in a number of ar- failure. tary exercises last month
have been averted. we’re doing everything we eas. But McCain, who had “Do you think there’s a fail- that jammed some phone
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said need to do to provide suf- threatened a subpoena to ure if four Americans are networks, alliance Secre-
Thursday that “on the ini- ficient intelligence that will get information, said other killed?” he said. tary-General Jens Stolten-
tial assessment there were enable them to be suc- key questions remain unan- Asked if the result was bad berg said Thursday.
not significant steps that cessful in their missions and swered as the U.S. military luck or bad strategy, Mc- “At least two allies have
could have been taken avoid the kind of catastro- continues to investigate Cain answered: “Both.”q reported about that,” Stol-
Tillerson wraps up seven nation trip in Geneva tenberg told reporters after
chairing talks in Brussels be-
tween ambassadors from
By MATTHEW LEE NATO and Russia. He said it
AP Diplomatic Writer highlights the need for Rus-
GENEVA (AP) — Through sia to be more transparent
seven nations across three with war games “to make
different parts of the world, sure there are no miscalcu-
Secretary of State Rex Til- lations, misunderstandings,
lerson devoted himself to because these kinds of ac-
his president’s overarch- tivities can have serious ef-
ing foreign policy mission: fects.”
Defeating terrorism. His trip Phone services in Latvia,
concluded Thursday with Norway and Sweden’s
limited success. Oeland islands were re-
In the Persian Gulf and Iraq, ported to have been shut
the top American diplomat down for a few hours dur-
sought to keep a region ing the Sept. 14-20 Zapad
fracturing at the seams exercises that Russia held
focused on defeating the with Belarus. The jamming
Islamic State group and is suspected to have been
countering Iran. In Afghan- launched by a Russian
istan, Pakistan and India, communications ship from
Tillerson addressed long- the Baltic Sea.
term plans for stabilizing an “My phone shut down for
Afghan government be- Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks to staff members at the U.S. Mission to the U.N., Thursday, about four or five hours.
sieged by the Taliban insur- Oct. 26, 2017, in Geneva, Switzerland. The suspicion is that it was
gency. In Switzerland, the (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) a Russian ship in the Baltic
former oil man dove back and international partners fighters to “go home.” In istration’s “asks” of these Sea, with the technology
into the years-long drive to doing more to help. Islamabad, government of- countries in a direct and capable of blocking cel-
end Syria’s civil war, the ori- The fact that two of Til- ficials saw his demands for frank manner. lular signals,” Latvian law-
gins of an IS threat that has lerson’s stops — Afghani- cracking down on extrem- On his pursuit of a Saudi- maker Ojars Kalnins said
spread worldwide. stan and Iraq — had to be ist havens as lecturing. Iraqi front against Iran, he earlier this month.
All represented diplomatic cloaked in secrecy and Some of Tilleron’s other am- said, “What we’re saying to He said the jamming “fo-
moonshots. They remain heavy security only under- bitious projects seem to rely Iraq is you must develop a cused on the Oeland is-
so. scored America’s failure to on overturning all conven- capacity to stand on your lands in Sweden” but that
Speaking to reporters dur- provide stability after com- tional wisdom. own and resist that influ- “it did shut down all com-
ing his last stop in Geneva, mitting to a decade-and- Are Sunni-led Saudi Arabia ence.” munications, including
Tillerson noted in under- a-half of military efforts and and Shiite-majority Iraq go- “Iraqis are Arab, they are emergency phone service
statement that many of trillions of dollars in each ing to join in a grand alli- not Persian. Whether it’s in Latvia.
the countries he visited country. ance against Iran? Iraqi Sunni or Iraqi Shia, it’s Our 911 service was shut
over the last week “are And his message in several Is Pakistan going to do any- Iraqi Arabs, not Iraqi Per- down for several hours dur-
still embroiled in significant places appeared to fall thing that helps India shape sians,” Tillerson said, tout- ing this experimental at-
conflict.” flat. the future of Afghanistan? ing the enormous potential tack.”
Offering a grand vision Saudi Arabia and Qatar Are Syrian President Bashar of an Iraqi partnership with Norway’s intelligence
of America’s role in the rebuffed the push to end Assad’s supporters, Russia the Saudis. “It’s important chief, Morten Haga Lunde,
world, Tillerson said: “The a five-month old crisis be- and Iran, even willing to to facilitate Iraq standing said in Wednesday’s edi-
United States will continue tween the American allies entertain any process to re- on its own so that it doesn’t tion of the Aftenposten
to provide global leader- that has distracted from move him from power — let have to look only to the newspaper that Russia had
ship, promote security, sta- the U.S-led campaign to alone Assad himself? east.” also used a kind of elec-
bility and prosperity for all destroy IS. In a wide-ranging 40-min- After meeting Tillerson in tronic attack that could
people.” He then quickly In Baghdad, Prime Minister ute discussion with report- Riyadh and Baghdad this have endangered civilian
pivoted to a more Trumpi- Haider al-Abadi was dis- ers, Tillerson on Thursday week, where they also a dis- aircraft in the area.
an theme about nations pleased with Tillerson’s call rejected international cussed a tense Iraqi-Kurdish “There were exercises in
taking greater responsibil- for Iranian-backed militia complaints. He said he pre- dispute, al-Abadi promptly GPS jamming — in elec-
ity for their own problems, composed of mainly Iraqi sented the Trump admin- traveled to Tehran.q tronic warfare,” he said. q