Libyan war updates/Stop NATO news: June 29, 2011

====

Libya: NATO Air Missions Exceed 13,000, Combat Sorties Near 5,000

Democracy By Order Of Washington: Next Targets North Africa, Middle East

Senate Gives Obama Blessing For Military Intervention In Libya

Wisconsin Air National Guard Deployed For NATO’s Libyan War

Five Lessons Of The Balkan Conflict

Montenegro: NATO Chief Completing Total Absorption Of Balkans

U.S. Special Forces Chief Nominee Pushes Afghan Night Raids

Afghanistan: NATO Loses Three Drones In As Many Days

Two NATO Soldiers Killed In Southern Afghanistan

Next U.S./NATO Afghan War Commander: 100,000 Foreign Troops To Stay

NATO Chief, North Atlantic Council To Visit Georgia

NATO To Hold “Emerging Security Challenges” Conference In Georgia

NATO, U.S. Experts, Training Group To Visit Azerbaijan

Romania: U.S. Trains Azerbaijani Troops In “Marine Landing Operations”

American Ambassador: U.S., Azerbaijan Share Strategic Interests In Caspian

Baltic Assembly: Azerbaijan Is GUAM’s Leading Force

Pentagon To Concentrate On Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Germany: Fighter Jets Scream Overhead As NATO Rehearses Next War

Saudi Troops To Stay In Bahrain

Pilots Trained In United States: Morocco Becomes 25th “F-16 Ally”

Iran Denies Plans To Bomb NATO Bases In Turkey If Syria Attacked

Pakistan: NATO Accused Of Infiltrating Militants Into Border Areas

====

Libya: NATO Air Missions Exceed 13,000, Combat Sorties Near 5,000
http://www.aco.nato.int/resources/3/documents/Libya%20update%20June%2011/20110629_110629-oup-update.pdf

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
June 29, 2011

NATO and Libya
Allied Joint Force Command NAPLES, SHAPE, NATO HQ

…

Over the past 24 hours, NATO has conducted the following activities associated with Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR:

Air Operations

Since the beginning of the NATO operation (31 March 2011, 08.00GMT) a total of 13,035 sorties, including 4,908 strike sorties, have been conducted.

Sorties conducted 28 JUNE: 148

Strike sorties conducted 28 JUNE: 58

…

====

Democracy By Order Of Washington: Next Targets North Africa, Middle East
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/29/52565554.html

Voice of Russia
June 29, 2011

Dermocracy by order of Washington
Pyotr Iskanderov

-The hidden agenda of the Community is the erection of a cordon around Russia by the U.S and having malleable client countries fits the plan snugly.
East European nations and the Baltic countries are of strategic importance to the U.S in terms of political support throughout the world.
-The next plan of the U.S is the redrawing of the maps of North Africa, the Middle and Near East.

Members of The Community of Democracies are due to meet on June 30-July 1 in Vilnius at a foreign ministerial level. The U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be at the meeting.

The Community of Democracies is an international organization of democracies and democratizing countries with a stated commitment to strengthening and deepening of democratic norms and practices worldwide. It was founded in 2000 on the initiative of the then U.S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Polish Foreign Minister Bronislav Geremek. Countries in Eastern Europe and former republics in the old Soviet Union, regarded by the West as the precursors of democracy joined the Community.

According to a press release by the US State Department, the Vilnius meeting will be attended by officials, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, budding leaders and private sectors representatives, and they are to discuss the strengthening of civil societies and the fledgling democracies.

It should be pointed out that at the time when Madeleine Albright and Bronislav Geremek floated their idea, countries in Eastern Europe, which America called “New Europe,” had just burst onto the scene, but the old Europe, especially Germany and France, were not overjoyed that countries in Eastern Europe were upsetting the existing balance of forces. But the U.S administration was over the moon, because Poland, Lithuania, Estonia Latvia and other nations in the so-called new Europe would help strengthen U.S military and allied influences in Europe.

Not surprisingly, the initiative of the Community of Democracies raised more questions than answers, the major one being about the need for the Community, in view of the fact that the most active members are already members of the EU, an organization which is in a position to help European nations within the framework of the Union. The hidden agenda of the Community is the erection of a cordon around Russia by the U.S and having malleable client countries fits the plan snugly.

East European nations and the Baltic countries are of strategic importance to the U.S in terms of political support throughout the world.

American leaders who are skilled practitioners of double standards will benefit hugely from adopting different approaches to ties with Eastern European countries. Speaking in an interview for VOR, Victor Litovkin, senior editor of the “Independent Military Review,” said that the U.S position on Kosovo on the one hand, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the other hand, was a classic example of American double standards policy.

“The independence of Kosovo was their project. The US and East European nations fought for the tearing away of Kosovo from Serbia and were among the first to recognize it, although the grounds on which the argument for such independence were based are much weaker than the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia”, said Litovkin.

The next plan of the U.S is the redrawing of the maps of North Africa, the Middle and Near East. America is counting on the suppoort of its most loyal allies.

====

Senate Gives Obama Blessing For Military Intervention In Libya
http://rt.com/news/senate-obama-military-libya/

RT
June 29, 2011

Senate gives blessing to Obama for military intervention in Libya

In Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has finally authorized American involvement in the military mission – something President Obama was strongly pushing for.

­The vote was 14 to 5 in the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. The resolution gives approval for US warplanes and unmanned drones to continue limited strikes for up to one year, but forbids the deployment of ground troops.

At the Tuesday hearing, a top US State Department lawyer Harold Koh told a Senate panel, which was divided over Obama’s authority to commit US military resources to the conflict, that the US president was acting within the law in ordering military attacks against Libya. He insisted that the commander-in-chief did not require congressional authorization for his actions.

“This administration is acting lawfully, consistent with both the letter and the spirit of the constitution and the War Powers Resolution,” Koh told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as quoted by AP.

At the same time, Koh faced both Republicans and Democrats who challenged his stance that air strikes and drone attacks on Gaddafi’s forces did not qualify as military intervention.

“We are contributing 70 per cent of the coalition’s intelligence capabilities and the majority of its refuelling assets. The fact that we are leaving most of the shooting to other countries does not mean the United States is not involved in acts of war,” AP quoted a top Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana as saying.

Just days ago, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted down a measure to carry on military action in Libya. This had no immediate effect on the campaign, but represented a symbolic falling-out between congress and the president.

====

Wisconsin Air National Guard Deployed For NATO’s Libyan War
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/124677684.html

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
June 28, 2011

State Air National Guard unit to support NATO effort
By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel

Members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s air refueling unit deployed this month in support of the NATO-led operation in Libya.

Col. Ted Metzgar, commander of the Wisconsin Air National Guard 128th Air Refueling Wing, and a team from the unit left Milwaukee for a 90-day deployment to refuel planes participating in Operation Unified Protector in the skies over Libya.

Metzgar assumed command of the 313th Air Expeditionary Wing in western Europe from a Pennsylvania Air National Guard refueling unit. The 313th Air Expeditionary Wing provides air refueling to NATO aircraft enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya.

====

Five Lessons Of The Balkan Conflict
http://en.rian.ru/valdai_op/20110629/164905004.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
June 29, 2011

Five lessons of the Balkan conflict
By Alexei Fenenko*

On June 25, twenty years ago, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. This was followed by the Serbo-Croatian (1991 – 1995), Bosnian (1992 – 1995), Kosovo (1998 – 1999) and Macedonian (2001) wars, which became the official facts in textbooks on the history of international relations. Thus, the question arises: Do the Balkan wars of the 1990s offer something more than academic interest?

I think they do. The conflicts in the former Yugoslavia took on global significance almost immediately. They became the platform for the formation of the contemporary world order, while at the same time revealing its new contradictions. In this sense, the Balkan wars of the 1990s taught us five lessons that are still relevant today.

Lesson One: The “Atlantic Community” (the EU and NATO) can exist as a united actor only if it has an external enemy. Otherwise, it is prone to break into groups of interest, like any system. The internationalization of the Balkan conflict began in December 1991, when Germany, despite the protests of Britain and France, unilaterally recognized the sovereignty of Slovenia and Croatia and threatened to withdraw from the European Community over it. This move alarmed Britain and France, so they began to view NATO as a mechanism to keep Germany’s growing independence in check. Moreover, this situation posed a threat to European integration. Thus, it was not Warsaw and Vilnius but London and Paris that were primarily responsible for strengthening the alliance in the early 1990s. The Americans took advantage of these sentiments and again joined NATO in its operations in Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999).

This conclusion gives rise to some ideas about the prospects of the alliance’s military policy. Since 2001, NATO’s main opponent has been international terrorism, so the main mission was the operation in Afghanistan. But at the Lisbon Summit on November 20, 2010, NATO leaders pledged to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2014. On June 23, U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed that Americans are ready to implement the “Lisbon strategy.” Who will be the alliance’s new enemy after the Afghan war?

Lesson two: NATO remains the priority for the United States. It is how America makes its presence felt in Europe. The wars in Croatia and Bosnia frightened Americans, too. But the reason was not a serious human rights violation (if necessary, Washington can tolerate such things.) The key worry for the White House was the possibility of disagreement among the NATO allies. The growing rift between Britain and France, on the one hand, and Germany, on the other hand, threatened to undermine transatlantic unity. Thus, the alliance needed some joint military operation that could unite the allies in shared sacrifice.

Alongside this, the Clinton Administration managed to solve another problem. In 1992, in the early days of the European Union, the Petersburg Declaration was adopted, which announced the new challenges of the Western European Union: humanitarian missions and crisis management. Washington considered this as an attempt to create duplicate NATO defense structures. Thus, the Balkan wars allowed them to assign both of these missions to the alliance. In 1996 (just after the Bosnian conflict) the “Berlin formula” was applied: the EU created its own armed forces based on NATO infrastructure. So far, Brussels has not been able to go beyond its scope.

Lesson three: The military operations in Yugoslavia clearly demonstrated that the U.S. would not allow the resurgence of communist regimes in the former Soviet bloc (except Russia). The Croats, Albanians, and Bosnian Muslims were no less cruel than the Serbs. However, NATO carried out a peace keeping operation only against the latter. Why? A possible explanation may be that the leader of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, emphasized his continuity with Tito’s communist regime. Yugoslavia was used as an example to show the socialists of Eastern Europe that they could gain power only if they accepted the conditions of the “Washington Consensus” (1989).

Lesson four: During the Balkan wars there appeared a new type of “war punishment.” Until the late 20th century, war had been traditionally aimed at forcing the enemy to compromise or to bend to the winner’s will. The latter required ground operations: the arrival of the victorious army to establish the desired order. Along with nuclear weapons, the technical impossibility of such a war largely guaranteed the peaceful nature of the Soviet-American relations.

Now the situation has changed. Air operations against the Bosnian Serbs and Yugoslavia, by contrast, were staged only to create conditions for regime change and the subsequent dismemberment of the country. From an ideological perspective, war is not waged on a state but on its “pernicious regime.” The regime is depicted as a pariah well in advance, thus threatening international stability. Similarly, an opposition must be created in advance to carry out the necessary changes.

Lesson five: The Balkan wars of the 1990s developed and consolidated a system of separated legitimacy. Adopted by the Clinton Administration in 1993, the concept of “expansion of democracy” included: (1) strengthening transatlantic unity, (2) the inclusion of the former socialist countries (except Russia) in the common institutions and (3) carrying out “humanitarian actions”. The wars in Bosnia and Kosovo consolidated this. A system was created within which certain regimes now can be given limited rights to conduct domestic policies on their own. Moreover, their leaders cannot be guaranteed personal safety under any circumstance (the “Arab Spring” of 2011 proved that such security is not guaranteed for the allies either, if the U.S. and the EU do not consider them fully legitimate).

These lessons show why the Balkan events caused such a nervous reaction in Russia. It was not because of the “Slavic unity” of 1914. Regarding the fate of Bosnia and Kosovo, Russian elite felt that both the U.S. and the EU countries considered Russia to be alien to them. Thus, it causes fears that under certain conditions the “Balkan scenario” may well be applied to Russia, too. Hence, the discussions over disarmament issues, human rights, criticism of domestic policy, etc. After the events in Yugoslavia, these issues have become not only a matter of morality (as it was during the Gorbachev period), but also an instrument for protecting or, conversely, weakening national security.

In the 1960s, the establishment of nuclear parity with the United States gave the Brezhnev elite a sense of external security that was unprecedented in Russian history. Without it, it would have been hardly possible to demolish or restructure the old system. However, in the 1990s, under the influence of the Balkan developments, this confidence began to recede. Another more vital, question arose: How would the world change if Russia’s military potential was diminished? This issue is still quite relevant today in the context of the Libyan war and the heated debate over missile defense.

*Alexei Fenenko is Leading Research Fellow, Institute of International Security Studies of RAS, Russian Academy of Sciences.

====

Montenegro: NATO Chief Completing Total Absorption Of Balkans
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_75568.htm

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
June 29, 2011

NATO Secretary General visits Montenegro and calls for Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans

-“My message to all the political leaders, of all the countries in this region, is clear. You are responsible for breaking with the past, and focusing on the future. For taking your countries forward. And into Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community of nations.”

The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Budva, Montenegro on Wednesday, 29th June 2011. During his visit, the Secretary General met with President Filip Vujanovic and with Prime Minister Igor Luksic.

They discussed progress made in the first year of Montenegro’s Membership Action Plan (MAP), the situation in the Western Balkans as well as NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Libya. In a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, Mr. Rasmussen thanked Montenegro for substantial contributions to the Alliance’s operation in Afghanistan.

…

The Secretary General also commended the participation of Montenegro in the Adriatic Charter initiative aimed at providing trainers to Afghanistan.

…

Mr. Rasmussen stressed that the joint Adriatic Charter initiative “is an excellent example of how we can produce security in the future”.

…

Mr. Rasmussen also commended Montenegro for the constructive role it has played in promoting security and stability in the region.

“It is my vision to see all countries in the Western Balkans improve their relationship with NATO and the EU in the future”, he emphasised.

The Secretary General praised the Government of Montenegro for “its efforts to reform the Montenegrin society.”

“Your first year in the MAP process has been a great success. Montenegro has achieved a lot of progress in its reform process”.

The Secretary General underlined that nevertheless “there is still some work to do when it comes to fight against organised crime and corruption” and concluded: “I welcome the strong commitment of the Government to continue the reform work”.

In his address to the Adriatic Charter Conference, the Secretary General urged the leaders of the region to focus on the common ground and the common good.

“My message to all the political leaders, of all the countries in this region, is clear. You are responsible for breaking with the past, and focusing on the future. For taking your countries forward. And into Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community of nations”, he said.

====

U.S. Special Forces Chief Nominee Pushes Afghan Night Raids
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/afghanistan/top-special-ops-nominee-defends-night-raids-in-afghan-war-1.147757

Stars and Stripes
June 29, 2011

Top special ops nominee defends night raids in Afghan war

In spite of the criticism against U.S. and NATO forces’ use of night raids in Afghanistan, the man tapped to be the next head of Special Operations Command defended the practice during testimony before Congress, the National Journal reports.

Vice Adm. William McRaven, the man who commanded the operation that kill Osama bin Laden in May, told lawmakers that the missions, typically carried out by special forces, ***often are misconstrued as violent***, the journal reports. President Obama has nominated McRaven for the top special operations spot.

The use of night raids has been controversial and has drawn the ire of Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who repeatedly has called for U.S. and NATO forces to stop conducting such missions.

In 2010, then-Gen. Stanley McChrystal put NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan under new orders to refrain from night raids whenever it’s not absolutely merited. Gen. David Petraeus reinstated more use of night raids when he took over as commander.

McRaven said ending night raids in the Afghan war, written about in the National Journal, would be detrimental to missions.

====

Afghanistan: NATO Loses Three Drones In As Many Days
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/28/52526944.html

Voice of Russia
June 29, 2011

ISAF drone crashes in A’stan

A NATO drone crashed in Afghanistan on Tuesday – already the third unmanned
aircraft to go down in the past three days, RIA Novosti reports.

Tuesday’s crash was in Kunar province and the previous two in Kapisa and Gerat
provinces.

The ISAF confirmed the incidents in a press release, noting that none of the
drones had come under ground fire.

A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, said all the three had been shot down by rebels.

====

Two NATO Soldiers Killed In Southern Afghanistan
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=150467

Azeri Press Agency
June 28, 2011

Two US-led troops killed in Afghan war

Baku: Two US-led foreign soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in troubled southern Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, NATO says, APA reports quoting Press TV.

The US-led military alliance says one of the soldiers was killed in a militant attack and the other one in a bomb blast.

The coalition has neither disclosed the nationality of the soldiers nor the exact location of the incidents.

At least 276 US-led foreign forces have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.

Over 2,557 foreign troops have been killed since the US-led war began in Afghanistan a decade ago.

As the US-led forces casualties continue to rise in Afghanistan, public opinion in the United States and other Western countries is increasingly turning against the Afghan war.

The security situation has steadily deteriorated across Afghanistan over the past few years despite the presence of around 150,000 US-led foreign troops in the country.

====

Next U.S./NATO Afghan War Commander: 100,000 Foreign Troops To Stay
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=64491

U.S. Department of Defense
June 28, 2011

Allen Vows to Emulate Petraeus’ Leadership
By Lisa Daniel

-Allen recently became a special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after serving as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters. He was the deputy commanding general of Multinational Force Iraq – West and commanded the II Marine Expeditionary Force in Anbar province, Iraq, from 2006 to 2008.

WASHINGTON: If he becomes the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John R. Allen said he’ll seek to equal the strong leadership of his predecessor, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus.

“If confirmed, I will seek to emulate General Petraeus’ resolute leadership,” Allen said today during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Petraeus appeared before the committee last week for his confirmation hearing to become President Barack Obama’s CIA director, replacing Leon Panetta, who becomes defense secretary on July 1.

…

Allen noted that 68,000 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of NATO forces will remain in Afghanistan after the surge forces redeploy. He added under questioning that it will be enough to continue counterinsurgency operations there, and that if confirmed, he will monitor the drawdown closely.

“It is my intention, as commander, to monitor that progress,” he said. “Should I become concerned that our ability to accomplish our objectives is threatened, I will give forthright recommendations up the chain of command.”

Allen recently became a special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after serving as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters. He was the deputy commanding general of Multinational Force Iraq – West and commanded the II Marine Expeditionary Force in Anbar province, Iraq, from 2006 to 2008.

If confirmed as commander in Afghanistan, Allen said he looks forward to serving again with Ryan Crocker, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and the new ambassador in Afghanistan, and will “fully synchronize” military and civilian efforts there.

…

====

NATO Chief, North Atlantic Council To Visit Georgia
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1897876.html

Trend News Agency
June 28, 2011

NATO official to arrive in Georgia in November
N. Kirtskhalia

Tbilisi: Issues of conducting the NATO Council in Tbilisi have been considered today by Chairman of the Georgian Parliament David Bakradze and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The parties discussed the issues of NATO ambassadors’ and the NATO Secretary General’s visits to Tbilisi, the First Channel of the Georgian Public Broadcasting reported.

According to the preliminary data, the NATO Council will be held in Tbilisi in November. The Secretary General will chair the meeting.

This will be Rasmussen’s second visit to Tbilisi as NATO Secretary General. He was in Tbilisi in September last year.

====

NATO To Hold “Emerging Security Challenges” Conference In Georgia
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_75833.htm

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
June 29, 2011

NATO-Georgia conference on ”Emerging Security Challenges”
7- 8 July

NATO and Georgia will co-host a conference on “Emerging Security Challenges” on 7 and 8 July in Tbilisi.

The purpose of this conference, which is supported by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme, is to bring together experts, academia, industry and policy makers from NATO and partner nations to discuss the cross-cutting nature of emerging security challenges (cyber defence, energy security and terrorism), identify measures to enhance the prevention and resilience to emerging security risks, and propose relevant research projects as part of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme.

…

====

NATO, U.S. Experts, Training Group To Visit Azerbaijan
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=150498

Azeri Press Agency
June 29, 2011

NATO expert groups to visit Azerbaijan next month
Rashad Suleymanov

Baku: Experts and training groups from NATO’s various organizations will visit Azerbaijan in July, the press service of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan told APA.

NATO and US experts will visit Azerbaijan on July 5-6. During the visit they will discuss the continuation of expert assistance to the Military Academy of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the education sphere.

The mobile training group of NATO’s Naples Joint Forces Command will visit Baku on July 10-12.

The expert staff meeting will be held in Baku on July 20-23 with the participation of Izmir-based NATO Air Forces Command.

====

Romania: U.S. Trains Azerbaijani Troops In “Marine Landing Operations”
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1898147.html

Trend News Agency
June 29, 2011

Azerbaijani soldiers to attend int’l events
K. Zarbaliyeva

Baku: Azerbaijani servicemen are to take part in events held in several foreign countries in July.

According to the Azerbaijani-Turkish bilateral military cooperation plan, officers will take part in exercises on the open sea in Turkey from July 17 to Aug.9, the Defense Ministry told Trend.

Azerbaijani servicemen will participate in a command and staff course with ground troops in Pakistan from July 18 to June 17, 2012 in accordance with the Azerbaijani-Pakistani bilateral cooperation plan.

According to the Azerbaijani-German bilateral cooperation program, officers will take part in the fourth international training workshop on the efficient training of medical personnel for peacekeeping operations in Munich on July 18-22.

According to the Azerbaijani-America worker plan, Azerbaijani officers are to take part in the “Marine landing operations” in Romania from July 27 to 31 July.

====

American Ambassador: U.S., Azerbaijan Share Strategic Interests In Caspian
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1898065.html

Trend News Agency
June 29, 2011

Ambassador Matthew Bryza: US and Azerbaijan are sharing three sets of strategic interests
V. Zhavoronkova

Baku: US-Azerbaijani relations are strong and are growing stronger, the US ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza said in an interview with Trend on the eve of the U.S. Independence Day, celebrated on July 4.

“We did go through a difficult period for several months but I strongly feel that we not only have come out of the negative trend but we’ve built on an already existing strong foundation and we are moving forward,” he said.

He said the US and Azerbaijan share three sets of strategic interests: interests in security, in energy and in internal reforms.

“Not in any particular order, just three broad sets of interest we believe need to keep moving forward together at the same time so that we can achieve our broad strategic goals and so we can have a stable and deepening partnership,” he said.

Security dialogue

Last Friday’s bilateral security dialog was very positive and achieved several concrete results, said Bryza.

“One is that we are going to accelerate our cooperation to help Azerbaijan protect its critical energy infrastructure. Two, move ahead with some military exercises and cooperative programs including one that will take place in Romania in August, one other one will be in Germany involving a hundred or more Azerbaijani solders with NATO partners,” said the ambassador.

He said the sides also had a chance in depth to exchange US and Azerbaijani views on how to work together to achieve common strategic goals and even how to find those common strategic goals.

…

Cooperation in Caspian

The US has been working for years with Azerbaijan and international companies on investing in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the South Caucasus gas pipeline to help ensure that the physical security of those projects will be maintained, the Ambassador said.

“Now we realize that offshore on the Caspian sea there are a limited number, small number of very important pieces of infrastructure like oil and gas platforms and underwater pipelines that are responsible for huge amount of wealth generated in this country,” said Bryza.

And they are also very responsible to our European allies as they diversify their supplies of natural gas as well as oil, he said.

…

Compared to where the overall question of exporting Caspian gas to Europe was in 2005 and 2006, he said.

“There has been a dramatic set of activities, set of changes the strategic map and a commercial map in this part of the world and in Europe in a profound way and that is great. That is great for everyone,” said Bryza.

Countries in Europe and companies from Europe are working with Azerbaijani partners to increase competition for European gas markets, he said.

…

“Similarly on [the] Trans-Caspian, we in the United States and our European Union allies who will consume the gas believe it makes sense for some volume of gas from the Eastern side of the Caspian Sea to come to Europe via the Southern Corridor, said the Ambassador.

“Of course, it doesn’t make sense for all of that gas to come Eastward, but some of it. Some of it is just situated in deposits in the Caspian Sea or near the Caspian Sea for which the most economical mode of export is across the Caspian Sea.

“And the United States will not consume any of the natural gas probably ever because it will all go to Europe,” said Bryza.

“But we have an interest in our friends who produce the natural gas being able to decide their own future, their own destiny as independent states that we respect. If they decide to send gas in one direction or another, we believe they should have a right to do so, and we hope some will make its way to Europe. And we can only hope that they will find a way to do this as the states themselves have said regardless of what they ultimately decide where to draw their boundary,” said Bryza.

====

Baltic Assembly: Azerbaijan Is GUAM’s Leading Force
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=150539

Azeri Press Agency
June 29, 2011

Vice-Speaker of Baltic Assembly: “Azerbaijan is GUAM’s leading force”
Rashad Suleymanov

-A resolution on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity was adopted in the organization in 2009.
Reirs noted that one of the important issues for Latvia was energy security…

Baku: The First Deputy Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafet Asgarov received a delegation led by the president of the Baltic Assembly, Chairman of the Latvian delegation to this organization Janis Reirs, the press service of the Azerbaijani Parliament told APA.

Noting the greater strengthening of relations between the countries, Reirs said that Latvia intended to increase investment capital in Azerbaijan. The chances of the Azerbaijani side to invest capital in Latvia are broad.

Speaking about the GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova] forum which will be held in October, Reirs underlined that Azerbaijan was a leading force of this organization and noted the importance of broadening the relations between the Baltic Assembly and GUAM.

They noted the importance of public statements on the history of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and its peaceful solution. It was said that the processes in the South Caucasus are kept in the focus of attention in the Baltic Assembly. A resolution on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity was adopted in the organization in 2009.

Reirs noted that one of the important issues for Latvia was energy security and wished the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan to open its representation in their country.

Vice-speaker Asgarov said that Azerbaijan was interested in cooperation with the Baltic Assembly.

====

Pentagon To Concentrate On Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
http://en.trend.az/news/karabakh/1898475.html

Trend News Agency
June 29, 2011

Pentagon to concentrate on separate areas of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

The Pentagon cannot ignore the fact that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is a major problem for Azerbaijan and Armenia. It causes significant problems in U.S. relations with these countries, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense on Russia, Ukraine and Eurasian Affairs Celeste Wallander said in an interview with the Armenian Service of “Liberty” radio.

She said that Pentagon intends to concentrate on those areas of the Nagorno-Karabakh where it can provide constructive assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan, News.am. reported.

…

====

Germany: Fighter Jets Scream Overhead As NATO Rehearses Next War
http://www.usafe.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123261897

U.S. Air Forces in Europe
June 28, 2011

Extensive planning effort pays off at Allied Strike 2011
by Capt. Tristan Hinderliter
USAFE Public Affairs

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany: Fighter jets scream overhead here as the execution phase of Allied Strike 2011 is in full swing this week, capping months of extensive planning that has brought together nearly 350 people from the U.S. and 14 NATO partner nations for the largest Close Air Support exercise in Europe.

“The planning effort was massive,” said Capt. Ruven Yarbrough, exercise deputy director from the 4th Air Support Operations Group in Heidelberg, Germany. “It was a giant undertaking, but one that we could do…”

This is the fifth iteration of the annual exercise, which has grown exponentially each year. Planning for this year’s exercise really started right after last year’s exercise, although most of the planning has happened in the past nine months…

As part of the planning process, exercise organizers looked closely at the after-action reports from the previous year, building on the good and improving on or cutting the bad. In addition to the Joint Terminal Attack Controllers the exercise is designed to train, many other career fields integral to the exercise were involved in the planning process, including Weather, Security Forces, Combat Communications, Intelligence, Logistics, Transportation and others.

…

====

Saudi Troops To Stay In Bahrain
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110629/164898915.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
June 29, 2011

No plans to pull out all Saudi troops from Bahrain – source

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has no plans to withdraw its entire security contingent from Bahrain “because the threats still remain,” a Bahrain government source told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

A 1,500-strong force from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, dubbed the Peninsula Shield, was sent to Bahrain in mid-March to help quell Shiite opposition protests that swept the country since February.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia was preparing to pull out its contingent from Bahrain starting next week because the situation in the country had stabilized.

“Part of the Peninsula Shield contingent will return to Saudi Arabia, but that does not mean all the troops will be pulled out because there are still some threats remaining,” the source said on the condition of anonymity.

The current political unrest in Bahrain started in February with opposition protesters demanding far-reaching democratic reforms in the mainly Shiite country which has been ruled by a Sunni Muslim dynasty for more than 200 years.

Bahrain, which is home to the United States’ 5th Fleet, and its Arab neighbors from the Gulf Cooperation Council have accused Shiite protesters of having links to foreign militant groups such as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Since the arrival of the Saudi-led contingent in the country and the introduction of a three-month curfew, the opposition has faced waves of arrests and deadly crackdowns. The curfew was lifted on June 1.

====

Pilots Trained In United States: Morocco Becomes 25th “F-16 Ally”
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123261739

U.S. Air Forces in Europe
June 28, 2011

First Moroccan F-16 pilots to complete training in Arizona
by Maj. Gabe Johnson
162nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

-”We are modernizing our fleet and we’ve chosen the F-16, not only because it is a high-quality airplane, but also because of the close relationship we have with the United States,” said Deputy Inspector of the Royal Moroccan Air Force, Brig. Gen. Abdelali Houari.
-As students, the pilots averaged three sorties per week and accumulated more than 150 F-16 hours each. Once home, they will be responsible not only for training others, but will also be instrumental in implementing F-16 operations at Ben Guerir Air Base.
Ben Guerir is a former U.S. air base located about 36 miles north of Marrakech and once served as a transatlantic abort landing site for the space shuttle. It’s currently undergoing upgrades that, according to Moroccan officials, are modeled after U.S. Air Force bases.

TUCSON, Ariz. – In July, the Kingdom of Morocco, a strategic partner for U.S. forces in North Africa, will become the 25th country to own and operate F-16s.

The pilots tapped to fly them are scheduled to finish training here in time to bring them home, July 30.

Four Royal Moroccan Air Force officers, former F-5 pilots, will conclude 15 months of instruction at the 162nd Fighter Wing, the international F-16 training unit at Tucson International Airport.

They are the first from their country to accomplish consecutive courses in basic qualification, flight lead upgrade and instructor pilot certification in the multi-role fighter.

A handful of Air National Guard pilots will accompany them as they deliver the first four of Morocco’s 24-aircraft purchase. The new planes, block-52 versions of the fighter, will be fresh off the assembly line and are a considerable step up in technology from the third generation fighters Morocco currently flies.

“We are modernizing our fleet and we’ve chosen the F-16, not only because it is a high-quality airplane, but also because of the close relationship we have with the United States,” said Deputy Inspector of the Royal Moroccan Air Force, Brig. Gen. Abdelali Houari.

“We are really happy to send our pilots here to be trained,” he said. “After a year and a half in the United States, our pilots are happy. Of course they want to return home, but they have gained a lot of experience here with the Arizona Air National Guard.”

Lt. Col. Steve Haase, the Morocco program manager for the 162nd FW, has worked with the Royal Moroccon Air Force for three years. He’s trained fighter pilots from all over the world and fully understands the scope of the students’ historic accomplishment.

“It’s all them,” he said. “It’s a big commitment to be the first F-16 pilots for Morocco. It’s a testament to their positive attitude and work ethic. They are excited about the F-16 and its capabilities; yet they understand how much work there will be to build up an F-16 base.”

As students, the pilots averaged three sorties per week and accumulated more than 150 F-16 hours each. Once home, they will be responsible not only for training others, but will also be instrumental in implementing F-16 operations at Ben Guerir Air Base.

Ben Guerir is a former U.S. air base located about 36 miles north of Marrakech and once served as a transatlantic abort landing site for the space shuttle. It’s currently undergoing upgrades that, according to Moroccan officials, are modeled after U.S. Air Force bases.

…

Six additional Moroccan pilots are in the basic F-16 course in Tucson with graduation planned for September. They too will return home to help manage Morocco’s growing F-16 fleet.

It’s unclear if more student pilots from Morocco will train in Tucson; however, according to Colonel Haase, the 162nd FW stands ready.

…

Since 1989, the 162nd FW has trained with virtually every nation that flies the F-16. In addition to Morocco, the wing trains with pilots from Singapore, Norway, Belgium, Chile, the South Korea, and the Netherlands.

====

Iran Denies Plans To Bomb NATO Bases In Turkey If Syria Attacked
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/73501/

PanArmenian.net
June 29, 2011

Iran denies it plans to bomb NATO

Iran has denied claims that it threatened to hit NATO bases in Turkey in case the alliance launches an attack against Syria.

“Such reports fall within the media commotion, which is being fueled by certain Western media outlets,” Tehran Times quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

“Our relations with Turkey are very good, and the reports that are being released about NATO’s actions have no basis in fact,” he stated.

“NATO is not able to enter a new game as it has faced many problems in Afghanistan. Turkish officials are wise enough not to engage themselves in games designed by the West.”

====

Pakistan: NATO Accused Of Infiltrating Militants Into Border Areas
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=55041&Cat=7&dt=6/29/2011

News International
June 28, 2011

Nato accused of infiltrating militants into border areas

PESHAWAR: Amn Tehrik Chairman Syed Kamal Shah on Tuesday accused the Afghanistan-based Nato forces of sending trained militants into the border areas of Pakistan to create unrest.

“The US wants to pit the Pakhtuns living on both sides of the Durand Line against each other before pulling out troops of Afghanistan,” he said in a statement. Expressing concern over the recent infiltration of militants into Pakistan border areas, he said the US was executing a well-hatched conspiracy to weaken the Pakhtuns.

Kamal Shah alleged the Afghanistan-based Nato forces had trained the militants who infiltrated into Pakistan’s territory recently. He said a jirga of impartial elders belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, tribal areas and Afghanistan would be convened after Ramazan to seek a solution to the problems being faced by the Pakhtun nation.

“It’s an unprecedented situation. We need to take bold steps to save the Pakhtuns from being killed,” he said, adding that it was also the responsibility of the Pakhtun leadership to come forward and save the future of the Pakhtuns. Kamal Shah said the youth also needed to contribute to the efforts being made to remove the sense of deprivation among the Pakhtuns.

====

About these ads