Updates on Libyan war/Stop NATO news: September 20, 2011

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Obama: NATO Operation In Libya To Continue

Air War In Libya: 23,248 NATO Sorties, 8,719 Strike Sorties

Eastern European Model: NATO Will “Support Tunisian Democracy”

Target China: Pentagon Pushes NATOization Of Ten-Nation ASEAN

Missiles, Troops, Energy: U.S., Romania Sign Declaration On Strategic Partnership

Black Sea: U.S. Leads NATO Special Forces Exercises In Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine

Romania: U.S., NATO Hold Largest Special Operations Drills In Europe

Russia And Iran Targeted: Local Turks To Protest Against NATO Missile Radar Deployment

NATO Forces Not Welcome In Arctic: Russian Diplomat

Kosovo: Serbs Fortify Barricades, NATO Deploys Troops

Kosovo: West Continues To Coddle Cutthroat Clients

Kosovo: Serbs Continue To Resist, Thwart NATO Troops

Iran Opposes U.S.-NATO Hegemony

Afghan War: 150 Percent Increase In Bomb Attacks On German Troops

U.S. Monitors Asia From Secret Australian Base

Moldova: Israeli Military Leads NATO Emergency Exercise

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Obama: NATO Operation In Libya To Continue

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110920/166987818.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 20, 2011

NATO operation in Libya to continue – Obama

Washington: The NATO-led operation in Libya will continue until the defeat of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, U.S. President Barack Obama said at a meeting with Libya’s interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

“So long as the Libyan people are being threatened, the NATO-led mission to protect them will continue,” Obama said. “And those still holding out must understand-the old regime is over, and it is time to lay down your arms and join the new Libya.”

…

Obama said the U.S. will reopen its embassy in Libya.

“Our ambassador is on his way back to Tripoli, and this week, the American flag that was lowered before our embassy was attacked will be raised again, over a reopened American embassy,” the U.S. president said.

…The international NATO-led military operation began on March 19 following a UN resolution on “targeted measures” to protect civilians.

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Air War In Libya: 23,248 NATO Sorties, 8,719 Strike Sorties

http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_09/20110920_110920-oup-update.pdf

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
September 20, 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, 06.00GMT) a total of 23,248 sorties, including 8,719 strike sorties, have been conducted.

Sorties conducted 19 SEPTEMBER: 91

Strike sorties conducted 19 SEPTEMBER: 32

…

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Eastern European Model: NATO Will “Support Tunisian Democracy”

http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=1711716

Associated Press
September 19, 2011

Official: NATO will support Tunisia democracy
   
               
A top NATO official says the alliance will support Tunisia as it transitions to democracy.

Karl Lamers, the head of the organization’s parliamentary assembly, said Monday that NATO could help based on its experience with Eastern Europe’s democratic transition.

Lamers spoke following a meeting with Tunisian Minister of Defense Abdelkrim Zbid.

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Lamers said Tunisia’s experience will impact the success of democratic experiments across the region.

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Target China: Pentagon Pushes NATOization Of Ten-Nation ASEAN

http://the-diplomat.com/new-leaders-forum/2011/09/20/a-nato-like-asean/

The Diplomat
September 20, 2011

A NATO-Like ASEAN?
By Eddie Walsh

-From an operational perspective, the adoption of NATO standards by ASEAN would advance long-term plug-and-play interoperability between NATO and ASEAN militaries. While this would improve joint-military action across numerous mission spaces, it also would allow Pentagon defence planners to view ASEAN militaries as potential forward-based force multipliers for some regional scenarios with potential adversaries, including China.

Speaking with The Diplomat, a US Pacific Command spokesperson recently suggested that ASEAN’s pursuit of regional defence industry collaboration would help advance US national interests in the Asia-Pacific as it would usher in a new ‘set of standards, similar to NATO, (that) will facilitate interoperability among ASEAN and US militaries.’

But this reasoning seems peculiar because it not only fails to address the impact of ASEAN Defense Industry Collaboration’s (ADIC) accepted raison d’être – to lower ASEAN dependence on defence imports – but because it also emphasizes ADIC – NATO-like standards, which is a shift from previous discussions.

For military analysts, PACOM’s statement therefore raises the serious question of whether the US military perceives ADIC as a mechanism through which to drive adoption of NATO standards by ASEAN member states. If this is the case, there are some genuine operational and defence implications for the broader Asia-Pacific region that should be considered.

From an operational perspective, the adoption of NATO standards by ASEAN would advance long-term plug-and-play interoperability between NATO and ASEAN militaries. While this would improve joint-military action across numerous mission spaces, it also would allow Pentagon defence planners to view ASEAN militaries as potential forward-based force multipliers for some regional scenarios with potential adversaries, including China.

On the defence trade side, Guy Ben-Ari, deputy director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and a fellow with the International Security Programme at CSIS, believes NATO standards could make importing weapon systems and platforms from non-Western suppliers less viable. ‘NATO standards would greatly diminish the ability of countries like China and Russia to win ASEAN competitions,’ he said. This would strengthen the market position of Western companies and also provide them with more efficient supply chains than their strategic competitors.

While these considerations impart clear benefits for US and Western security interests in Asia-Pacific, adoption of NATO-standards by ASEAN could advance their defence collaboration interests as well, including the stated goal of reducing ASEAN dependency on military imports.

According to Ben-Ari, ASEAN countries continue to lag major suppliers in the production of ‘large platforms such as tactical fighters and submarines.’ If platform supplier countries, including the United States, would be willing to permit ASEAN members to develop their own weapon systems, then ASEAN could move away from the all-inclusive purchasing arrangements that ADIC seeks to redress.

Faced with declining budgets in the West, and fierce global competition, Ben-Ari believes that US and its NATO allies probably are willing to cleave weapon systems from platform sales in order to strengthen their position in the Southeast Asian and Indian arms markets. ‘While this would mean losing pieces of the contract (to indigenous production), it also increases (US) chances of winning competition in an increasingly contested global arms market,’ he said. ‘With Western defence companies less and less able to rely on sales at home and within NATO, this is a trade-off they can take.’

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Eddie Walsh is The Diplomat’s Pentagon (accredited) correspondent. His work has been featured by Gulf News, ISN Insights, CSIS, The East Asia Forum, The Jakarta Globe and The Journal of Energy Security. He blogs at Asia-Pacific Reporting, can be reached at asiapacificreporting@gmail.com, and followed @aseanreporting.

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Missiles, Troops, Energy: U.S., Romania Sign Declaration On Strategic Partnership

http://business-review.ro/news/basescu-s-official-us-visit-takes-bilateral-relationship-into-new-stage/12334/

Business Review (Romania)
September 19, 2011

Basescu’s official US visit takes bilateral relationship into new stage
Ovidiu Posirca

The Romanian President, Traian Basescu, met last week with his US counterpart Barack Obama in the White House’s Oval Office. The high-level meeting lasted about 25 minutes and was part of a one-day meeting involving a Romanian delegation that flew to Washington in an effort to consolidate the traditional ties between the two countries.

Other local participants in this state visit included the heads of intelligence services SIE (Foreign Intelligence Service) and SRI (Romanian Intelligence Service), the national defense minister Gabriel Oprea and presidential counselor Iulian Fota, together with foreign affairs minister Teodor Baconschi and the US Ambassador in Romania Mark Gitenstein. During the work visit, each member of the delegation had talks with his American counterpart.

Teodor Baconschi and Hillary Clinton, heads of Romanian and US diplomacy, signed an agreement on the deployment of the US ballistic missile defense system in Romania.

The official document was finalized after eight bilateral meetings. It states that 26 ground rocket interceptors will be hosted in Deveselu Airbase, Olt County, with deployment expected to occur in 2015.

Basescu said at the end of the official visit that once put into practice, this agreement will see Romania achieve the highest level of security in its history.

Basescu also signed with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden a joint declaration on strategic partnership for the 21st century between the United States of America and Romania.

The areas where the US and Romania should strengthen their cooperation include the military, politics, security and the economy.

…

The two countries will also collaborate in the energy sector, on the development of smart grids and alternative energy sources and transport routes such as the Southern Corridor, it was said during the official visit.
Romania will continue its efforts to liberalize its energy market to attract new investments and will also research unconventional sources of energy, including shale gas.

Chevron, an American energy company with extensive experience in shale gas projects, has already concessioned four blocks in Romania, covering 2.1 million acres, in Barlad and the Dobrogea region, which contain significant deposits of shale gas. Exploitation works in these areas may commence after prior agreement from the Romanian government is secured.

A foreign investment made by IBM, an American multinational technology and consulting firm, was also confirmed during talks between Baconschi and Clinton.

The company will create a new unit in Romania, expected to create 3,000 jobs.

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Black Sea: U.S. Leads NATO Special Forces Exercises In Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/27936/?SID=7508add9d88c4a603ccc174bf843bf78

Defence Professionals
September 19, 2011

Bulgaria hosts Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise for the first time

“For the first time Bulgaria has hosted a Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise in which European NATO member states and partner states participate,” said Bulgarian Defence Minister Anu Anguelov after demonstrations on the VIP day of the Jackal Stone 2011 Multinational Special Operations Forces Exercise at the Novo Selo training range.

The exercise takes place in the period September 6th–30th on the territories of three states – Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine – simultaneously and is coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).

“The exercise allows us to enhance interaction and improve the results of the units’ preparation,” emphasized Minister Anguelov.

The performance of the Bulgarian Special Forces was commended by Mr. Boyko Borisov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria who followed the demonstrations together with Minister Anguelov and H.E. James Warlick, Ambassador of the USA to Bulgaria.

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The Special Forces performed “fast rope” airborne landing from Air Force Cougar helicopters where the aircraft hovered in close proximity to the target..

More than 1500 Special Operations Forces troops from nine states – Bulgaria, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, the USA, Croatia, Ukraine and Hungary take part in it. Jackal Stone-2011 is coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). Chief of the Multinational Joint Special Operations Forces Component Command HQ is Colonel Yavor Mateev, head of the Bulgarian MoD “Joint Facilities” department. 

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Romania: U.S., NATO Hold Largest Special Operations Drills In Europe

http://www.eucom.mil/english/fullstory.asp?article=Jackal-Stone11-kicks-Romania

United States European Command
September 17, 2011

Jackal Stone11 kicks off in Romania
Spc. Bethany L. Little, 40th Public Affairs Detachment

MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIRBASE, Romania: Special operations forces personnel from nine partner nations came together for the opening ceremony of Jackal Stone 11 held Sept. 17 at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania.

Jackal Stone, hosted this year by Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, is an annual multinational special operations forces (SOF) exercise coordinated by U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). With 1,400 SOF and support enablers from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania and Ukraine participating, Jackal Stone is the largest SOF exercise of its kind in Europe.

Welcoming the participants on behalf of the Romania Ministry of Defense to his homeland, Maj. Gen. Illie Botos, the Chief of Romanian Intelligence Directorate, thanked members of the formation for coming to train together and strengthen their relationships.

Romania has participated in the annual event since its inception in 2008, which Botos highlighted during his remarks.

“For Romanian Special Operations Forces, Jackal Stone was and still is the perfect tool to build the required capabilities and achieve interoperability between the participating forces,” Botos said. “Jackal Stone has become critically important for national SOF development that meets North Atlantic Treaty Organization standards of interoperability.”

Botos added that lessons identified and learned from his country’s participation in Jackal Stone has been beneficial in developing SOF capabilities, combat readiness and the ability to prepare, plan, conduct and assess full spectrum SOF specific missions.

…

Repass particularly emphasized how this year’s rendition of Jackal Stone features some very important firsts for the exercise.

“It will be the first time we will have four tactical operating locations. This adds another layer of complexity to this exercise’s command and control relationships, but is very realistic in what we have experienced,” said Repass.

Another change for this years exercise, Repass explained, is how the exercise planners moved to a combined joint force special operations component command framework, which will better align their processes with NATO.

Other firsts for Jackal Stone 11 include: incorporating changeable tactical scenarios and using forensic-enabled intelligence to positively identify targets.

…

“We are certainly building on last year’s success,” said Repass.

After the ceremony, the official party observed a live-tactical demonstration conducted by a maritime Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) consisting of Naval SOF from Norway, Romania, Ukraine and the U.S. at the Constanta Military Harbor.

The demonstration featured the SOTG fast-roping from a Romanian Puma IAR330 helicopter and conducting a Vehicle, Board, Search and Seizure operation from rigid inflatable boats on board a Romanian ship to clear the ship of enemy targets.

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Russia And Iran Targeted: Local Turks To Protest Against NATO Missile Radar Deployment

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-257314-kurecik-to-protest-deployment-of-nato-early-warning-radar-system-in-turkey.html

Zaman
September 20, 2011

Kürecik to protest deployment of NATO early warning radar system in Turkey

-Residents of Malatya’s Kürecik district staged a protest on Sunday against the deployment of a NATO early warning radar system in the region that will protect NATO countries against potential missile threats from ***Russia*** and Iran.

İSTANBUL: The deployment of a NATO warning system in Malatya’s Kürecik district has come under harsh criticism by opposition parties and the residents of the region.

Residents of Malatya’s Kürecik district met on Sunday to announce that on Oct. 2 they will hold a protest against the NATO radar system that is to be deployed within the boundaries of their town.

Residents of Malatya’s Kürecik district staged a protest on Sunday against the deployment of a NATO early warning radar system in the region that will protect NATO countries against potential missile threats from Russia and Iran. The Kürecik Mutual Benefit and Relief Association held a meeting in which the decision to organize a protest was accepted by residents and is expected to be widely attended.

Association President İbrahim Duman declared, “We, the residents of Kürecik, announce that we are against all variety of things that can harm humanity.” He added, “We are against war and any type of mechanism that serves war.”

It was agreed last week that Turkey will station an early warning radar system as part of NATO’s missile defense system in Kürecik, which is widely opposed not just by residents but by many others in the region. The US-operated early warning radar system, to be implemented under NATO’s umbrella, will be protected by 50 US soldiers who will be responsible for internal security at the Kürecik radar base.

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Turkish and American officials engaged in feasibility studies for the deployment of the radar system in the eastern region of the country and agreed on Wednesday that Kürecik in Malatya would be the ideal location.

US officials were concerned that it was too isolated a location for security personnel to provide adequate protection for the radar system from attacks to sabotage the base, particularly from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Hezbollah and even Iran. However, Ankara responded to their concerns with the promise to implement extensive security measures in the zone surrounding the base.

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According to the NATO plan, missile interceptors in Romania and Poland combined with the radar in Turkey will create a broad system of protection for every NATO country against mid-range missile attacks…

He said Turkey is a NATO member country and that previously there was a base in Kürecik…

Erdoğan said…that deploying the radar system in Kürecik is not based on bilateral agreement, Erdoğan said it is a part of the NATO program and that cities such as Adana, Diyarbakır and Erzurum were examined as well. He added that as there was a NATO base before in Kürecik, the site was decided on as the best place to host the radar system.

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NATO Forces Not Welcome In Arctic: Russian Diplomat

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=6&id=274300

Interfax
September 20, 2011

NATO forces are not needed in Arctic region – Russian diplomat

MOSCOW: There are no problems in the Arctic whose solution requires the presence of NATO forces, said Russian special envoy Anton Vasilyev.

There are no problems at all there whose solution needs military force, he said. “Problems do exist in the Arctic, but we have no questions there which require military force. We do not need the presence of military-political blocs in the Arctic,” the diplomat said in an interview with Interfax.

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http://rt.com/politics/russia-arctic-nato-oil-putin-947/

RT
September 20, 2011

Russia gives NATO cold shoulder on Arctic militarization
Robert Bridge

As the race to lay claim to the Arctic region and its huge oil reserves heats up, Russia tells the Western military bloc that its presence is not required.

With Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expected to take part in an international forum devoted to the subject of Arctic transport routes, Russian special envoy Anton Vasilyev says that there are no problems in the Arctic to which a military presence would be a solution.

“Problems do exist in the Arctic, but we have no questions there which would require military force. We do not need the presence of military-political blocs in the Arctic,” the diplomat said in an interview with Interfax.

Vasilyev rebuked claims that one of the coldest spots on the planet is being militarized.

“Some (observers) are writing about an arms race allegedly occurring in the Arctic. But, mildly speaking, this is an exaggeration, in my opinion,” he said.

While agreeing that the Arctic states – comprised of Canada, Denmark (by way of Greenland), Norway, Russia and the United States – have been paying more attention to their military presence in the region, Vasilyev said the military build-up is not large-scale and should not cause alarm.
“It is a logical and natural occurrence, in my opinion. It is of limited scope and is not a factor of instability, or a symptom of an arms race. We are talking about conventional armaments in the Arctic,”
the diplomat told Interfax.

It should be noted that all of the Arctic countries except Russia are NATO members.

Meanwhile, Vasilyev emphasized that the Arctic must be declared a nuclear-free zone, but then went on to say that NATO’s nuclear doctrine could present certain difficulties.

“In principle, we support the idea of a nuclear-free zone,” the special envoy said. “It is one of the most important instruments for spreading the regime of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons in the world.”

Vasilyev, raising the question of the Arctic’s non-military stature, went on to ask how Russia should respond to a situation when the other Arctic states, as full-fledged NATO members, are bound to comply with the military bloc’s nuclear doctrine.

“How can this idea be organized, specifically in the Arctic, where, alongside Russia, NATO countries are present and each of them is bound by NATO’s nuclear doctrine? This is a big issue,” he said.

The Russian diplomat went on to mention that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to take part in a international forum, entitled “Arctic a Territory of Dialogue,” which begins in the Far North Russian city of Arkhangelsk on Thursday.

Putin addressed the first forum, which was held in Moscow in September 2010.

This year’s forum will focus on the development of transport routes in the Arctic region, noted Vasilyev, who also represents Russia in the Arctic Council.

“We will discuss all issues. But transport routes, first of all the Northern Sea Route, will be given priority,” he said.

In the opinion of other members of the Arctic Council, which also includes the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, the Moscow forum was very successful, Vasilyev said.
“This forum gained respect very soon and Russia asserted its reputation of leader in the Arctic region, which is not surprising. After all, half of the Arctic region is Russia,” he said.

Vasilyev reiterated the forum’s central concept, which is to “exchange information and views on development trends in the region, to establish contacts between people and, most importantly, to exchange ideas about how the Arctic region can be developed in co-operation.”

On the question of addressing Russia’s right to expand the borders of the Arctic continental shelf with the UN, the special envoy said Russia is still collecting the necessary scientific data to forward its claim.
“It’s difficult to say exactly when we will submit this bid to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and when it will make the decision. First, we must get the entire package of scientific data and, second, we must process these data into concrete terms and formulas, and convince the Commission that we are right. We are sure we will manage to do this,” he said.

“But we will not have the sovereign right to lay cables or pipelines in this territory,” Vasilyev stressed.

On August 2, 2007, a Russian expedition led by Artur Chilingarov, an explorer and member of the State Duma, made history when they successfully descended to the floor of the North Pole in a submersible vehicle. There, the team took soil and water samples, and even planted a titanium Russian flag on the seabed for posterity.

The mission went a long way towards proving that the eastern section of seabed known as the Lomonosov Ridge is in fact an extension of Russia’s landmass.

If the claim is verified, “Russia will be able to increase its continental shelf by 1.2 million square kilometers [460,000 square miles] with potential hydrocarbon reserves of not less than 9,000 to 10,000 billion tonnes of conventional fuel beyond the 200-mile [322 kilometer] economic zone in the Arctic Ocean,” Viktor Posyolov, an official with Russia’s Agency for Management of Mineral Resources, told Itar-Tass.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters: “The aim of this expedition is not to stake Russia’s claim but to show that our shelf reaches to the North Pole.”

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Kosovo: Serbs Fortify Barricades, NATO Deploys Troops

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/09/20/56439039.html

Voice of Russia
September 20, 2011

Kosovo Serbs fortify barricades

Kosovo Serbs are fortifying barricades on the roads linking the north and the south of the province, as well as fortifying the checkpoints in the built-up areas Jarinje and Brnjak.

Last night, trucks again brought gravel and stones to the makeshift checkpoints despite a warning by the KFOR international force in Kosovo.

Earlier, the Command of the KFOR German contingent took the decision to send riot squads to disperse demonstrations, and heavy machinery to tear down the barricades.

The situation in the province was drastically aggravated following Pristina’s unilateral moves to assume control over the Jarinje and Brnjak checkpoints on the dividing line between Serbia and its former autonomy.

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Kosovo: West Continues To Coddle Cutthroat Clients

http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Politics/Kosovo-Witness-gets-two-months-jail-for-contempt-of-UN-court_312457106352.html

ADN Kronos International
September 16, 2011

Kosovo: Witness gets two months jail for contempt of UN court

The Hague: A witness for the in the trial of former Kosovo prime minister Ramus Haradinaj was sentenced to two months in jail on Friday by the United Nation War Crimes Tribunal for contempt of court.

Sefcet Kabashi, a key witness against Haradinaj, who is accused of war crimes against Serb, Roma and non-loyal Albanian civilians during 1998/99 conflict, refused to testify in 2007, saying several witnesses had been killed.

He was arrested by Netherlands authorities in August and handed over to the tribunal. But he again refused to answer questions by the prosecution at Haradinaj’s retrial which is currently going on in The Hague.

Haradinaj, a former military commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought against Serbian rule, was acquitted in the first trial for “lack of evidence”. But the tribunal’s appeals panel said the first trial was conducted in an “atmosphere of intimidation of witnesses” and ordered a retrial.

Kabashi could have been sentenced up to seven years in jail and/or 100,000 euros for contempt of court. But the tribunal said it took into account Akashi’s “family situation and post-traumatic problems” as mitigating circumstances.

He has already served one month in jail and will be freed after serving another thirty days.

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Kosovo: Serbs Continue To Resist, Thwart NATO Troops

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=19&nav_id=76458

B92/Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency
September 19, 2011

Kosovo: Serbs in north continue to block roads

ZUBIN POTOK: There were no incidents last night in northern Kosovo as local Serbs continued to block and monitor all major roads leading toward administrative checkpoints.

They are determined to maintain a total blockade of roads in that part of the province until ethnic Albanian customs workers and members of the police sent by the government in Priština have been removed from Brnjak and Jarinje.

During the day, KFOR troops threw leaflets printed in Serbian and English from helicopeters, warning that the barricades were “illegal, and do not represent peaceful protest”.

Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica responded to this by hauling in more rocks and sand to the main bridge over the Ibar River, reinforcing their barricade there.

Several hundred citizens are gathered near the bridge where they say they are “monitoring the situation”.

The situation in the ethnically divided town and elsewhere in the north was peaceful but tense throughout Monday, said reports.

Also on Monday, EULEX head Xavier de Marnhac visited the administrative crossings at Jarinje and Brnjak in northern Kosovo and called for the removal of barricades.

Marnhac said that both posts, which EULEX refers to as “gates 1 and 31″ were “technically ready to be fully operational, but that the barricades that were placed on nearby roads impair their opening”.

Meanwhile there have been reports about shortages of food and fuel in the north, leading to reduced traffic and expensive taxi services.

NATO troops in Kosovo, KFOR, on Monday morning started carrying out detailed checks of all passengers and cars traveling from Kosovska Mitrovica to Zubin Potok.

They set up a checkpoint on the road leading toward the ethnic Albanian village of Čabar, where a large number of Serbs also gathered this morning.

After Serb representatives negotiated with those of KFOR for an hour and a half, reports said that “it was agreed that the soldiers would withdraw from this part of the road, but would remain on the part of the road leading toward Čabar”.

A Tanjug news agency report also says that KFOR tried to set up a new traffic checkpoint on Zvečan-Zubin Potok road in the village of Jagnjenica, the Zubin Potok municipality.

Local Serbs, who were upset by this move, quickly rallied in the village and blocked KFOR.

KFOR retreated about 20 meters away from the checkpoint, thus leaving the Zvečan-Zubin Potok road open for traffic after a one-hour halt.

The largest barricade set up by Serbs in the area is near Zupče, on the road leading from Zubin Potok to southern Kosovska Mitrovica.

In Belgrade, the daily Politika writes that the government decided during a telephone session on Friday to “reintegrate northern Kosovo into the country’s tax system”, cancel a decree related to customs procedures at control checkpoints, and start collecting VAT.

According to Belgrade’s chief negotiator in the Kosovo talks Borislav Stefanović, the reason for the decision was “to prove that the north is not in the hands of criminals”.

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Iran Opposes U.S.-NATO Hegemony

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110919/166963776.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 19, 2011

U.S. hegemony should end – Iranian security chief

The period of global domination of the United States should come to an end, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Council said on Monday.

“We should say goodbye to the period of U.S. hegemony,” Saeed Jalili said at a news conference at the Moscow State University of International Relations.

“The Islamic Republic is against the hegemony of the U.S. and NATO,” he continued.

Iran and the United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1979.

The U.S. and other Western nations accuse Iran of attempting to build weapons under the guise of peaceful nuclear energy generation and demand Teheran suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program. Tehran has repeatedly rejected the demand, insisting it is pursuing a purely civilian program.

“If we are talking about democracy, if we’re talking about relationships in the world, they too must be democratic,” Jalili said.

Iran is currently under four sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

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Afghan War: 150 Percent Increase In Bomb Attacks On German Troops

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1663606.php/Surge-in-bombings-targeting-German-military-in-Afghanistan

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 18, 2011

Surge in bombings targeting German military in Afghanistan

Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan: The German military has registered a dramatic surge in bombings targeting them in Afghanistan, while attacks with small arms or rockets have dropped slightly, a regional German military commander said Sunday.

Such attacks increased by 150 per cent this year, said Major General Markus Kneip, the commander of German troops in Afghanistan. He was speaking during a visit to the country by Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

By comparison, other forms of attack had dipped by around 10 to 15 per cent, he said.

Maiziere, on his third trip to Afghanistan since becoming defence minister earlier this year, deviated from the usual trail of politicians heading to Kunduz, instead visiting Meymaneh, Hazrat-e-Soltan and Mazar-e-Sharif in the north.

The Norwegian units commanding military operations in Meymaneh showed de Maiziere maps tracing the advance of insurgents across the province since 2006. ‘Bad news,’ came the minister’s response.

…

For the time being, Berlin must wait for the US to decide how many troops should withdraw from the north. Next, the 18 countries stationed in northern Afghanistan must agree on the next steps. Once this has happened, the German government and parliament will vote on troop withdrawal.

German public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of an immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan…

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U.S. Monitors Asia From Secret Australian Base

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hesLI6Xh3IacafEYtOIi0h43kq6A?docId=CNG.28c11c361d6e2f8ba96e2eaaacdd26f8.3e1

Agence France-Presse
September 19, 2011

US eyes Asia from secret Australian base
By Amy Coopes

SYDNEY: Deep in the silence of Australia’s Outback desert an imposing American spy post set up at the height of the Cold War is now turning its attention to Asia’s growing armies and arsenals.

Officially designated United States territory and manned by agents from some of America’s most sensitive intelligence agencies, the Pine Gap satellite station has been involved in some of the biggest conflicts in modern times.

But its role in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, and in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, had been little recognised until one of its most senior spies broke ranks recently to pen a tell-all account.

Intelligence analyst David Rosenberg spent 18 years at the base, 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) south of Alice Springs, working with top-secret clearance for the National Security Agency (NSA), home to America’s code-cracking elite.

Formally known as the “Joint Defence Space Research Facility”, Pine Gap is one of Washington’s biggest intelligence collection posts, intercepting weapons and communications signals via a series of satellites orbiting Earth.

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Former prime minister Gough Whitlam was sensationally sacked by the British monarchy – allegedly at American urging – not long after he threatened to close Pine Gap in 1975…

Its futuristic domes were originally built as a weapon in America’s spy war with Russia, officially starting operations in 1970, but Rosenberg says it is now targeting the US-led “war on terror” and Asia’s military boom.

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The career spy is under a lifetime secrecy agreement with the NSA, meaning he cannot reveal classified information and is limited in what he can say about his time at Pine Gap, but said North Korea and China were among its targets.

“I think any country that has a large military, is a large weapons producer, is always going to be a focus for the intelligence community and China of course is growing and it’s growing rapidly,” he said.

“There are developments there that we are looking at.”

India and Pakistan were also “very much of a concern”, he added…

The latter half of his time at the mysterious station known to locals as the “Space Base” was dominated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…

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Moldova: Israeli Military Leads NATO Emergency Exercise

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4124645,00.html

Ynetnews
September 20, 2011

IDF oversees NATO emergency drill
Yoav Zitun

Reputation precedes them – Representatives of the Home Front Command, Magen David Adom emergency services, the Israel police and the Health Ministry trained over 1,000 soldiers and rescue delegations from dozens of countries – including Turkey, Holland, Greece, Italy, and Britain – in a NATO emergency drill held in Moldova.

The one-week training exercise is held annually and simulates different disaster scenarios.

This year for the first time, 17 members of the Israeli team headed by Home Front Command’s Northern District Chief Colonel Anwar Saab were tasked with training some 1,000 soldiers, paramedics, police officers, and search and rescue personnel, critiquing their performance and assigning grades.

The main scenario in this year’s drill simulated a strong earthquake in the center of the country, resulting in heavy damage and thousands of injuries. Other scenarios included floods, leakage of hazardous substances and a civilian plane crash.

IDF officials stated that choosing Moldova for this year’s drill and Azerbaijan for next year was not incidental, and was meant to challenge weaker states that might need to call for help from a neighboring country.

“The Moldovans are behind in resources, knowledge and transmission of information to the public in real time,” one of the officials stated.

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