NORWAY:    Military Shrinks to Worrying Levels
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OSLO, Dec 8 (IPS) - Norway's defence forces are changing to  reflect challenges of terrorism, uncertainty, international  interventions and increased expenses following the Cold War.  Meaner and leaner militaries are a feature of most of  today's western world.
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A study ranks Norway as the most peaceful country and Iraq as the least in a survey of 121 countries.
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The head of the Army is increasingly concerned about "the growing gulf between the Army and the nation".
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Special operations would lose cadre of nation-building civil affairs troops to oversea assignments.
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Sri Lanka's peace hopes dimmed further as Norway failed in a secret attempt to save a stumbling initiative to end three decades of ethnic bloodshed, officials close to the process said.
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Several Nordic countries shorten their lists of missing, but tsunami death tolls are expected to rise.
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The British-led NATO force in southern  Afghanistan does not have enough troops to carry out its  mission and the Taliban show worrying signs of growing  stronger, a report by Britain&#39;s parliament has found.
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The United States is worried about weakening Italian and German military commitments in Afghanistan as casualties increase in the fight to stem the bloody Taliban insurgency, officials said.
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National Guard troops are having a deterrent effect, dropping the attempt rate 62 percent in one busy sector.
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The lithium battery company was hit hard by concerns about its military business.
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Decreasing sales threaten the defense contractor's stock price.
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Norway has temporarily closed its embassy in Latvia for security reasons, the country&#39;s foreign ministry said on Monday. But Oslo insisted the measure was not motivated by a new US terror warning for the Baltic state.
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Britain's new army chief has warned that the country's military is stretched to its limits, as commanders reeled from a fatal weekend plane crash and fresh attacks which left another British soldier dead.
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NATO's estimate of Taliban killed this month has created skepticism and worry in Afghanistan, with local officials saying that either the militant force has grown bigger than imagined &#151; or too many innocent Afghans are being killed.
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The U.S. Army, strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, missed its recruiting goal for the second straight month in June, indicating a trend that some defense officials on Monday called worrying.
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Strategic conflicts, rampant confusion and election-year politics are slowing the war on terror.
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The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, police officials said.