The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

NATO Military Intelligence on Russia 'Not Good Enough': Breedlove Wednesday May 4 th , 2016  at  4:47 PM Newsweek 1 Share U.S. General Philip Breedlove, the outgoing NATO commander in Europe, has praised allied intelligence officers but also warned that the West’s desire to partner with Russia means military intelligence wasn’t good enough before the Ukraine crisis and “isn’t good enough now.” Breedlove, who came into the role of commander in 2013 and was succeeded by General Curtis Scaparrotti on Tuesday, presided over a period of deteriorating relations between the West and Russia, including Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. He spoke to  The Wall Street Journal  prior to his departure to give his thoughts on how the Kremlin’s military posture had changed of late. “Russia has proved itself to be a learning and adaptive military force. They performed pretty badly in Georgia,” he said, referring to the 2008 conflict that failed to

Justice Dept. Takes Steps to Restore Watchdogs’ Access to Records – The New York Times Justice Dept. Takes Steps to Restore Watchdogs’ Access to Records Wednesday May 4 th , 2016  at  10:30 AM 1 Share WASHINGTON — The Justice Department took steps Tuesday to restore the access of some government watchdogs to sensitive internal records, but officials called on Congress to enact a permanent, wider fix. The inspector general offices for 72 agencies across the federal government charged that legal policy changes made by the Obama administration over the last several years had curtailed their access to records, harmed a wide range of investigations and compromised their independence. At least 20 investigations into topics such as sexual abuse at the Peace Corps and fatal shootings by the Drug Enforcement Administration were  slowed, hindered, or sometimes closed  as a result of the changes, the inspectors general said. Justice Department officials