Pence and Merkel embrace NATO but differ on transatlantic partnership by Michael Birnbaum and Ashley Parker In Europe, Pence says US will hold Russia accountable - by Ken Thomas | AP Robert S. Harward, a retired vice admiral and Navy SEAL, during a visit to Zaranj, Afghanistan, in 2011. He refused to replace Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser. Credit Sgt. Shawn Coolman/U.S. Marines Trump’s Pick to Replace Flynn Turns Down the Job - NYT - "Mattis, who has previously accused Russia of trying to break the NATO alliance, told a closed-door session of NATO on Wednesday that it needed to be realistic about the chances of restoring a cooperative relationship with Moscow. He cited Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which plunged U.S.-Russia relations to a post-Cold War low. Mattis said NATO needed "negotiate from a position of strength" as he called for stepped up military spending. That prompted a terse reply from Russia
