German company to build a major Army training center in Russia; Iraqi President Jalal Talabani; Iraq needs US troops for training
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    • Reports noted that the Düsseldorf-based German company Rheinmetall Group has signed a contract with the Russian Defense Department to build a major Army training center in Mulino by 2014. Upon completion, the facility in the Volga region will be able to train 30,000 troops a year, the company announced this on November 24. The company entered into a strategic partnership with Russian company JSCo Oboronservis, which will be the general contractor for the deal and subsequently operate the facility on behalf of the Russian armed forces. Rheinmetall Group expects the deal to generate revenue of more than 100 million euros ($133.6 million), including further options.1
    In another development, Iraq President Jalal Talabani has said that Iraqi forces need an American troop presence. He said this in a statement on the Iraqi presidency's website according to a November 26. He stated, regarding "internal security, I believe that the police and army forces are capable of maintaining security as it is now…But there is a big problem in air and naval defense, and in using new weapons… I have read, as the president of the republic, reports from officers responsible for… the air force and the navy and armor and infantry… And all these reports found that Iraq needs an American presence or at least the presence of American trainers, because they say we are not capable now of defending our skies and our waters, nor to use the weapons we will buy or obtain from the Americans."" Talabani said in an interview with Iraqiya television, according to the statement. It would be worth noting that U.S. President Barack Obama announced on October 21 that all U.S. troops would depart Iraq by the end of the year, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war that has left thousands of U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.2

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