Libya War Reaffirms Global Air Power Dominance Commitment Of “World’s Sole Superpower”
Daalder, Stavridis Hail NATO’s Unprecedented “Victory ” In Libya
Assad: Western Attack On Syria To Set Entire Region On Fire
U.S. Plans NATO Of The Persian Gulf
Iran: NATO’s Plot To Dominate Region Hatched 10 Years Ago
U.S. To Expand Military Power In Persian Gulf
Turkey: NATO Missile Radar Opponents Plan More Protests
Afghan War: NATO Loses 16 Soldiers In One Day
Germany Trains Azeri Troops For NATO’s Afghan War
U.S. Drone Attack Kills Six In Northwestern Pakistan
Imran Khan Rallies 100,000 Pakistanis Against U.S. Missile Strikes
5 Killed, 45 Wounded: Kenya Bombs Refugee Camp In Somalia
NATO Furthers Humilates Ukraine Over Integration Demands
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Libya War Reaffirms Global Air Power Dominance Commitment Of “World’s Sole Superpower”
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?
Al-Manar
October 30, 2011
Nato’s Libya Experiment Encourages US Aircraft Production
-”From humanitarian relief operations to potential regional conflicts or even global war, air power is the crucial underlying factor that helps make the United States the world’s sole superpower.”
AFP published a report Sunday in which it explained that supporters of US military dominance and air power have taken the outcome of Nato’s intervention in Libya as evidence of their position, after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had diminished their effectiveness.
Nato’s military operations in Libya that helped in ending Moammar Gaddafi’s regime yet killed many civilians along it were perceived positively by US air power advocates who considered that regardless of the growing pressure the US defense budget is under, it should invest in new fighters, bombers, tankers, and drones.
AFP quoted retired Air Force General David Deptula as saying: “if America wants to retain its military edge around the world, it has to ensure that it enjoys air dominance.”
“From humanitarian relief operations to potential regional conflicts or even global war, air power is the crucial underlying factor that helps make the United States the world’s sole superpower,” he told AFP.
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Daalder, Stavridis Hail NATO’s Unprecedented “Victory ” In Libya
International Herald Tribune/New York Times
October 30, 2011
NATO’s Success in Libya
By Ivo H. Daalder and James G. Stavridis
Monday, Oct. 31st, seven months after it started, NATO’s operation in Libya will come to an end. It is the first time NATO has ended an operation it started. And it comes on the heels of an historic victory for the people of Libya who, with NATO’s help, transformed their country from an international pariah into a nation with the potential to become a productive partner with the West.
Seven months ago…NATO took command of a significant force of dozens of ships and hundreds of airplanes and commenced military operations…
This was a true alliance effort. The United States played a leading role, first by taking out Libya’s integrated air defense system, then by providing the critical enablers that allowed other NATO countries and partners to shoulder their significant share of the burden. Meanwhile the U.S. provided the vast majority of the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to monitor Qaddafi’s forces and equipment…the targeters that turned this information into targets for NATO forces to strike, and the aerial refueling that enabled our partners to stay up long enough to locate and destroy those targets.
The crucial and irreplaceable U.S. contribution to the overall effort was to enable other allies and partners to fully participate in the operation. In all, 14 NATO members and 4 partner countries provided naval and air forces for NATO’s three missions.
Together, these 18 countries bore the heaviest brunt of the alliance effort. While U.S. planes flew a quarter of all sorties over Libya, France and Britain flew one third of all missions — most of them strikes — and the remaining participants flew roughly 40 percent. The non-U.S. NATO and coalition partners flew 75 percent of the sorties overall.
Ten years earlier, in NATO’s war in Kosovo, the United States was responsible for dropping 90 percent of all precision-guided munitions, with other allies responsible for the remaining 10 percent. In this operation, the percentages were reversed: Allies struck 90 percent of the more than 6,000 targets destroyed in Libya. And they did so with a precision that is historically unprecedented.
Importantly, this was a collective effort. France and Britain played an extraordinary part in the operation, leading the pack in providing air and naval assets and striking over 40 percent of all targets. Italy, too, made an outstanding contribution. Not only was it the fourth largest contributor to the strike mission, it was an indispensable host to hundreds of aircraft at seven airbases.
Smaller allies also punched above their weight. Denmark and Norway together destroyed as many targets as Britain; Denmark, Norway, and Belgium dropped as many bombs as France. Canada, too, was part of the strikers coalition. And Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece and Romania played useful parts, enforcing the no-flight zone and arms embargo at sea. Those NATO members that didn’t contribute forces still supported the operation by staffing the command structure; not one of the 28 members balked at the challenge. Even Sweden, not a NATO member, was a crucial partner, contributing its own naval and air forces.
…Four key Arab partners — the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Morocco — participated in the effort…
As Operation Unified Protector comes to a close, the alliance and its partners can look back at an extraordinary job, well done…And as the alliance ends its operations, NATO remains committed to Libya’s future, ready to help as needed and requested.
Every operation offers lessons to be learned. The Libya operation exposed some shortfalls in allied capabilities, and highlighted the importance of allied commitments to addressing these shortfalls. It also made clear the need for like-minded partners around the world…
Demonstrable need. Regional support. A sound legal basis. These are what made intervention necessary. NATO is what made successful intervention possible.
Ivo H. Daalder is the U.S. permanent representative to NATO. Adm. James G. Stavridis is supreme allied commander, Europe, and commander of the United States European Command.
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Assad: Western Attack On Syria To Set Entire Region On Fire
http://en.rian.ru/world/20111030/168261519.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 30, 2011
Assad says Western action against Syria ‘could burn the whole region’
MOWCOW: Western intervention against Syria, which has been rocked with protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, could cause ‘an earthquake’ that would ‘burn the whole region,’ Assad said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
…
Western countries “are going to ratchet up the pressure, definitely. But Syria is different in every respect from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. The history is different. The politics is different,” Assad told the paper.
“Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake … Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?” he asked.
Assad said the West was nurturing plans to divide Syria.
“Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region,” he told the paper.
Assad admitted that “many mistakes” had been made by his forces at the early stage of the uprising, but added that only “terrorists” were now being targeted.
…
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U.S. Plans NATO Of The Persian Gulf
http://rt.com/news/us-military-iraq-iran-171/
Voice of Russia
October 31, 2011
US envisions NATO of the Gulf
-[W]ith Qatar and the United Arab Emirates participating in the latest NATO-led campaign against Libya, this new “security architecture” will mostly likely expand to carry out a similar function throughout the Middle East.
-[A]s the United States moves towards integrating the six states of the Gulf Co-operation Council into a security alliance that would increase both US and Saudi domination in the region, Iran could very well find itself the next victim of a US-led “humanitarian intervention.”
The end of the Iraq war will do little to sway America’s desire to strengthen its foothold in the Middle East. As the US seeks to beef up its military presence in the Persian Gulf via a NATO-style military alliance, Iran has much cause for alarm.
After eight years of fighting, one trillion in US taxpayer dollars, and 4,481 US troops killed, Barack Obama is making good on his campaign promise to pull out the last remaining troops in Iraq by the end of the year. But as regional allies believe a US reduction of troops could lead to “instability or worse,” the US is busy working out a contingency plan to keep its grip on the region.
According to a New York Times (NYT) report, the United States is seeking to “foster a new ‘security architecture’ for the Persian Gulf that would integrate air and naval patrols and missile defense.”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton echoed this point recently while visiting Tajikistan:
“We will have a robust continuing presence throughout the region, which is proof of our ongoing commitment to Iraq and to the future of that region…,” she was cited by the NYT as saying.
More specifically, while the Obama administration rebuffed Iraqi requests to keep up to 20,000 US troops on the ground past the end of the year, the NYT report noted the US is currently engaged in “negotiations over maintaining a ground combat presence in Kuwait,” as well as “considering sending more naval warships through international waters in the region.”
The new plans could result in a security apparatus that would resemble NATO.
Facing close to a half trillion dollars in defense spending cuts, the Obama administration’s desire to expand military co-operation with the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – will more than likely help the US spread the burden of both intelligence-gathering and more traditional combat operations while remaining firmly behind the wheel.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior US official told the NYT: “It’s not going to be a NATO tomorrow,” but the idea is to move to a more integrated effort.”
And though it still might take some time to develop a highly complex alliance centering on collective defense for the region, with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates participating in the latest NATO-led campaign against Libya, this new “security architecture” will mostly likely expand to carry out a similar function throughout the Middle East.
‘Cut off the head of the snake’
When it comes to security in the region, few have any doubt that the target, as always, is Iran.
In a letter written to the chairman of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, 12 Republican senators argued “the complete withdrawal of our forces from Iraq is likely to be viewed as a strategic victory by our enemies in the Middle East, especially the Iranian regime,” as cited by the NYT.
In this context, the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington on US soil could in fact provide the justification to step up its military presence and co-operation in the region even as the war in Iraq comes to an end.
Since leaked US diplomatic cables published in 2010 by WikiLeaks revealed that Saudi King Abdullah has “frequently exhorted the US to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program,” calls to invade Iran have only intensified among US hawks.
In the same vein, Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to Washington and would-be victim of the highly implausible Iranian assassination plot, went on to tell General David Petraeus in April 2008 that King Abdullah wanted to “cut off the head of the snake,” as cited by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Iran has frequently called on the Gulf States to not allow the United States to divide and conquer the oil-rich Gulf.
Following revelations of the alleged assassination plot earlier this month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said:
“If the US administration is under the impression that by doing this it can create conflict between us and Saudi Arabia, then I have to say the US administration is sorely mistaken.”
He went on to state:
“The US administration is not interested in Iran or in Saudi Arabia. They see their interests in having a dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia – they want to dominate our region,” as cited by Reuters.
…
[A]s the United States moves towards integrating the six states of the Gulf Co-operation Council into a security alliance that would increase both US and Saudi domination in the region, Iran could very well find itself the next victim of a US-led “humanitarian intervention.”
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Iran: NATO’s Plot To Dominate Region Hatched 10 Years Ago
Ahmadinejad: NATO’s Plot to Dominate Region Hatched 10 Years Ago
TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned about the western countries’ long-term plans to loot the regional states’ wealth and resources, and said NATO started its plans for dominating the region 10 years ago.
“The information and reports show that NATO decided to move eastwards to occupy this region over 10 years ago,” Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with a number of Muslim world reporters and journalists in Tehran on Saturday.
“And their main goal was revising the era of colonialism under new slogans,” he added.
Ahmadinejad called on all the regional nations to keep vigilant against such plots, and differentiate “freedom-seeking, justice-seeking and independence from NATO and Zionists’ interference”.
…
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast in September [recalled] the western states’ dual approach towards the developments in the region, and said while the western countries launch a military raid on Libya to guarantee future oil deals and kill scores of civilians in their strikes on the Arab state, they ignore similar popular demands in Yemen and Bahrain, “and this double-standard approach of the West is unacceptable”.
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U.S. To Expand Military Power In Persian Gulf
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/30/59585733.html
Itar-Tass
October 30, 2011
U.S. to enhance military presence in the Gulf
The United States is planning to enhance its military presence in the Persian Gulf after pulling its troops out of Iraq.
The New York Time quotes U.S. diplomatic sources as saying that additional rapid response units will be deployed in Kuwait in case of a worsening situation in Iraq or confrontation with Iran.
The decision followed the Iraqi government’s refusal to extend the U.S. presence in the country and to grant U.S. servicemen immunity from prosecution.
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Turkey: NATO Missile Radar Opponents Plan More Protests
Kürecik protestors denounce NATO radar, plan further protests
İSTANBUL: Local associations and residents of the Kürecik district of Malatya province met on Saturday to denounce the planned construction of a NATO missile defense radar.
Ercan Kısacık, president of the anti-radar Kürecik Cooperation and Consultation Foundation (KYDD), announced at a press conference his concern that the radar would cause health problems for local residents, stating: “The radioactive materials [in the radar] will bring destruction to people and nature. It will poison the water and increase the rate of cancer.”
Kısacık’s words were part of a small meeting to underline local residents’ continued opposition to the radar installation, which Ankara agreed to host this September as part of a defensive “shield” meant to protect NATO countries from ballistic missiles. Opponents of the NATO radar held protests throughout October and promised that another protest would be held on Nov. 19.
The protests against the Kürecik installation have been spearheaded by Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and head of the CHP Malatya branch Veli Ağbaba, who have organized protests and demanded that the radar plan be put to a local referendum. Opponents of the radar argue that the strategic information it gathers will be shared with Israel, while government officials deny that the NATO installation will share any information with Israel, which is not a NATO country.
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Afghan War: NATO Loses 16 Soldiers In One Day
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=158436
Azeri Press Agency
October 29, 2011
16 foreign troops killed in single day in Afghanistan
Baku: The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) experienced a bloody day in Afghanistan as the military alliance lost 16 service members on Saturday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car next to a military convoy in western Kabul at around noon, killing 13 foreign troops and four Afghans, including three civilians and a policeman, according to ISAF and Afghan official statements.
An ISAF spokesman did not identify the nationalities of the dead service members, but all the victims were reportedly Americans.
Taliban militants fighting Afghan and NATO-led troops have claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide attack.
…
In an earlier attack in southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, a man in Afghan military uniform shot dead three Australian soldiers and a local interpreter during morning training of Afghan soldiers, an Afghan army officer in the southern region General Abdul Hamid Wardak said.
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Germany Trains Azeri Troops For NATO’s Afghan War
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1951564.html
Trend News Agency
October 31, 2011
Azerbaijani, German militaries to pass military trainings
M. Aliyev
Baku: Battalion staff exercises will be carried out for Azerbaijani and German soldiers, who will take part in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported on Monday.
The trainings are scheduled for Nov. 8-16 in Berlin and will be held within the framework of bilateral military cooperation program.
Under the same program, there will be organized staff training for militaries of the air force and ground forces. The trainings scheduled for Nov. 9, 2011-to July 31, 2013.
Berlin will also host consultations at the expert level on bilateral military cooperation on Nov. 2-4.
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U.S. Drone Attack Kills Six In Northwestern Pakistan
NORTH WAZIRISTAN: As many as six suspected persons were killed in a US drone attack on a vehicle in North Waziristan Agency on Sunday.
The drone fired four missiles into a vehicle in Datta Khel tehsil, some 30 kilometers west of Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, killing six suspected people.
The sources said that the targeted vehicle was damaged completely. They said that the identity of those killed was not known.
Besides, it has also been reported that a house located nearby the site of the attack was also partially damaged in the missile strike…
Agencies add: A house was also partly destroyed in the attack, said intelligence officials.
It was unclear whether any of the six suspected militants who were killed were in the house at the time, or all in the vehicle. However, according to the locals all the slain people were peaceful tribesmen and didn’t have any connection with militancy or any such other activity.
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Imran Khan Rallies 100,000 Pakistanis Against U.S. Missile Strikes
Pakistani cricket legend rallies 100,000 people in significant display of political strength
ISLAMABAD: Cricket legend and opposition politician Imran Khan railed against the government and its alliance with the U.S. before more than 100,000 flag-waving supporters Sunday, establishing himself as a force in Pakistani politics.
Khan, 58, entered politics 15 years ago when he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice Party, but up to now he has struggled to translate his fame into votes. The rally in the eastern city of Lahore indicated his message may have found new resonance at a time when Pakistanis are fed up with the country’s chronic insecurity and economic malaise.
“I have come here to register my hatred against this corrupt system,” said 29-year-old Nadeem Iqbal, who attended the rally.
A poll conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center in June found Khan, the captain of Pakistan’s 1992 world champion cricket team, to be the most popular political figure in the country.
Khan’s rising popularity could be a concern for the U.S., given his harsh criticism of the Pakistani government’s cooperation with Washington…
He has been especially critical of U.S. drone strikes…The latest suspected strike killed six alleged militants Sunday.
Khan has argued that Pakistan’s alliance with the U.S. is the main reason Pakistan is facing a homegrown Taliban insurgency.
“Our leaders owned this war on terror for the sake of dollars,” Khan told the crowd assembled around the country’s most important national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan. “Let me curse you. You sold out the blood of innocent people.”
Pakistan’s state news agency, The Associated Press of Pakistan, estimated the crowd was over 100,000 people.
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The suspected U.S. missile strike Sunday targeted a vehicle in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The U.S. refuses to acknowledge the CIA-run drone program in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the attacks have killed many senior Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.
Pakistani officials often criticize the attacks as violations of the country’s sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to support the strikes in private. They are extremely unpopular among ordinary people who believe they mainly kill innocent civilians.
____
Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar contributed to this report from Peshawar, Pakistan.
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5 Killed, 45 Wounded: Kenya Bombs Refugee Camp In Somalia
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/31/59642592.html
Itar-Tass
October 31, 2011
Kenya bombs refugee camp in Somalia
At least 5 people were killed and 45, mostly women and children, were wounded when Kenyan planes bombed a refugee camp in Somalia on Monday.
This information was published in the local media.
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NATO Furthers Humilates Ukraine Over Integration Demands
http://un.ua/eng/article/357833.html
Ukrainian News Agency
October 30, 2011
NATO To Consider Tymoshenko Trial When Evaluating Implementation Of Ukraine-NATO Cooperation Program For 2011
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intends to take into account the trial of former prime minister and leader of the Batkivschyna All-Ukrainian Association party Yulia Tymoshenko when evaluating the implementation of the Ukraine-NATO annual national cooperation program for 2011.
James Appathurai, NATO’s deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy, announced this in an interview with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper.
“The general secretary of NATO, through the press secretary of the organization, has expressed his disappointment at the Tymoshenko case. I think that members of the alliance will express their opinions on the implementation of ANP (annual national program), taking account of the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko,” he said.
Appathurai stressed that it was obvious that implementation of this program is not only an important priority for Ukraine, but also the basic format for development of further cooperation with NATO.
…
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an action plan for implementation of the Ukraine-NATO annual national cooperation program for in 2011 in July.
On October 11, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for exceeding her authority during the conclusion of gas contracts with Russia in 2009.
Biggest success? NATO proud of Libya op which killed thousands
With Gaddafi dead and its “military job now done,” NATO has declared its campaign in Libya one of the “most successful in NATO history.” However, untold casualties and a country devastated by war call into question the alliance’s notion of success.
Coming through on last week’s promise to end military operations in Libya, on Friday NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared the military operation in Libya would be wrapped up on October 31, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
His announcement came a day after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to lift the no-fly zone over Libya.
Speaking from Brussels, Rasmussen said that following the death of Gaddafi, military operations were able to wind down quickly, noting triumphantly that “Operation Unified Protector is one of the most successful in NATO history,” as cited by AP.
US President Barack Obama was equally full of praise for the operation. Speaking on the popular late night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Obama told the host operations in Libya “only cost us a billion dollars” and no US troops were killed or injured.
The price of success
Speaking on March 31, Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, reported that “the so-called humanitarian air raids have taken the lives of dozens of civilians in various areas of Tripoli.”
The senior cleric went on to say “in the district of Buslim, a building collapsed because of the bombing, killing 40 people,” as cited by Agenzia Fedes, the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
However, despite the decision to turn a blind eye to the casualty figures, one of the few instances the alliance could not deny culpability in was a June 19 NATO missile strike that resulted in the deaths of nine civilians.
Attacks of this nature were happening on a daily basis throughout the intense bombing campaign.
Speaking in September, the health minister in the new Libyan government estimated that at least 30,000 people had been killed and 50,000 wounded during the first six months of the war. Some, however, have estimated that the real figure could be much higher.
Writing back in September, Thomas C. Mountain, an independent journalist currently living in Africa who was a member of the 1st US Peace Delegation to Libya in 1987, estimated that NATO had dropped over 30,000 bombs on Libya, with an average of “two civilians killed in each attack.” Thus, Mountain has estimated that some 60,000 Libyan civilians had been killed by NATO air strikes alone by the end of August.
Shortly thereafter, when rebel forces began the siege of Sirte, Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the now-deceased Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, told Reuters via telephone on September 19 that “in the last 17 days, more than 2,000 residents of the city of Sirte were killed in NATO air strikes.”
As of today, some 26,000 NATO sorties and 9,600 strike missions have been conducted by NATO, with an average of four bombs used per attack.
A country in ruins
Though it may never be known just how many died in “the most successful operation in NATO history,” the alliance has shown little interest in rebuilding a nation that has in many ways been wrecked by its seven-month military campaign.
According to Palestinian human rights activist Shawan Jabarin, “The military operation damaged everything in Libya, not just Gaddafi and his regime, but the society [as well].”
Former MI5 agent Annie Machon went further, telling RT that NATO’s intervention had plunged Libya back into the Stone Age.
“They’ve had free education, free health, they could study abroad. When they got married they got a certain amount of money. So they were rather the envy of many other citizens of African countries. Now, of course, since NATO’s humanitarian intervention, the infrastructure of their country has been bombed back to the Stone Age,” Machon asserted.
“They will not have the same quality of life. Women probably will not have the same degree of emancipation under any new transitional government. The national wealth is probably going to be siphoned off by Western corporations. Perhaps the standard of living in Libya might have been slightly higher than it is now in America and the UK with the recession,” she concluded.
Outside of the damage done to Libya’s infrastructure and economy, Thursday’s UN resolution also expressed “concern at the proliferation of arms in Libya and its potential impact on regional peace and security,” as cited by Reuters.
As the circumstances surrounding Muammar Gaddafi’s death remain a mystery following his capture by a mob on the streets of Sirte, analysts fear that armed groups answering to no central authority could prove to be the new ruling model for some time to come in NATO’s newly-liberated Libya.
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NATO Gives Libyans Choices: Tyranny Or Theocracy – Russian Envoy
NATO has practically privatized the right to choose Libya’s future, which comes down to choice between tyranny and Islamism, said Russia’s ambassador to the military bloc, Dmitry Rogozin.
Rogozin said he disagreed with NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen who claims that NATO stuck to the letter of the UN mandate on establishing a no-fly zone over Libya, protecting its civilian population and enforcing the arms trade embargo.
“We will not evade the analysis of the consequences of NATO’s actions in Libya where the alliance used the most liberal interpretation of the UN resolutions to actually take the right to decide about the country’s future, depriving the Libyans of such right,” Russian news agencies quoted Rogozin as saying on Friday.
The people of Libya are now forced to choose between tyranny and Islamism, Rogozin said.
The NATO Council on Friday agreed to end the operation in Libya on October 31. This came after a UN Security Council vote on Thursday to end the international military operation on October 31 at 23:59.
The military operation, which began on March 17, resulted in the death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a victory for the National Transitional Council.
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http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/259052.html
Itar-Tass
October 28, 2011
NATO assumes right to choose Libyan future – Rogozin
BRUSSELS: NATO has assumed the right to choose the Libyan future, and this choice is between a tyrant and Islamism, Russian Permanent Representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin told Itar-Tass on Friday.
He did not quite agree with the statement by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who said that the alliance had fully complied with the UN Security Council mandate in the protection of civilian population, the provision of the no-fly zone and the arms embargo.
The ministerial conference of the Russia-NATO Council due on December 8 “will have a rather hard time analyzing the lessons of Libya,” he said.
“We cannot avoid an analysis of the aftereffects of the NATO campaign in Libya, where the alliance freely interpreted the UN resolution and actually assumed the right to choose the future for Libya,” Rogozin said.
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Libya: NATO To Stop Bombing But Not War
http://en.rian.ru/opinion/20111028/168226264.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 28, 2011
NATO will stop bombing Libya but won’t leave
Yelena Suponina
-It was only after the victors tied up the loose ends that the issue was submitted for a vote at the Security Council. Important political decisions are no longer made in the UN, no matter how much China and Russia are trying to resist this or present it in a different light.
-NATO forces will remain in Libya at least to the end of this year and maybe even longer, even after adopting to the resolution. They will simply change the name of the operation and slightly alter the staff.
-[M]military officials that attended the meeting suggested to me that the aircraft of the partner countries may continue patrolling Libya’s air space. Libyans will be steadily adopting NATO standards in military training.
NATO’s war in Libya will come to an end on October 31, 2011. Preparations are currently underway. On Thursday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution announcing that Libya’s air space will be open to both NATO aircraft and local airliners starting next Monday. This resolution ends the no-fly zone introduced by the Security Council in mid March, just two days before the war. The draft resolution, proposed jointly by Russia and Britain, was unanimously approved.
The Security Council did not end the war
Does this mean that the war in Libya is over? Will NATO forces really leave? How can the Security Council make the decision to end a war it did not start?
Let’s recall that Resolution 1973 of March authorized force against the Gaddafi regime but did not mention war as such.
Russia still maintains that this document did not sanction combat operations and that the Western countries that started the war with the support of several Arab monarchies, particularly Qatar, violated the resolution. Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said yesterday that the lessons of the events in Libya must be learned. Western politicians, for their part, tell Moscow not to play dumb – it allowed the resolution to pass with its abstention. Experts had no doubt that this would automatically lead to war.
Today I have seen for myself that it was not the Security Council and not Russia that made the decision to end NATO’s military actions in Libya. I saw firsthand in Doha (the capital of the small but significant Qatar) how such strategic plans are adopted.
Friends of Libya set Oct. 31 deadline
As a political scientist, I was allowed to attend the Doha meeting of the Libya Contact Group (also called the Friends of Libya), which is now winding down. Established in London on March 29, ten days after the start of the war, it was initially involved in overthrowing the Gaddafi regime. Now it has embarked on building a new Libya.
The new Libyan leaders have been meeting with high-ranking diplomats and military officials from allied countries in different cities of the world. Russia’s official representatives have not yet attended these meetings. On this occasion, the Friends of Libya gathered in one of the Doha’s finest hotels.
Libya was represented by National Transitional Council (NTC) Chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil and some of his deputies and associates, including Defense Minister Jalal al-Digheili. The Islamist Abdul Hakim Belhadj is also considered to be a leader of the rebel military forces. A fierce struggle for the top spots in the new government is underway.
Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Crown Prince of Qatar, attended the opening of the meeting. On October 26, one day before the Security Council passed its resolution, they finalized their earlier agreement that NATO should officially announce the end of combat operations in Libya. The meeting was lead by Gen. Hamad bin Ali al-Attiya, Qatari chief of staff and a relative of the emir. He told me that they had also suggested the date – October 31.
A new military coalition to help Libya
It was only after the victors tied up the loose ends that the issue was submitted for a vote at the Security Council. Important political decisions are no longer made in the UN, no matter how much China and Russia are trying to resist this or present it in a different light.
Some meticulous analysts have noted that at the very same meeting in Doha Libyan leader Abdul-Jalil declared for some reason that he would like NATO to continue its activities in Libya “at least up to the end of this year.” Some commentators see this as a contradiction: the agreement was to wind down NATO involvement by the end of this month, and yet there is this suggestion that it could be extended.
This is not a contradiction. Abdul-Jalil (a former justice minister in the Gaddafi government) is not well versed in big time politics. He said what was on his mind and what is actually happening on the ground. NATO forces will remain in Libya at least to the end of this year and maybe even longer, even after adopting to the resolution. They will simply change the name of the operation and slightly alter the staff.
This would no longer be a NATO operation but a mission of the Friends of Libya coalition. Gen. Hamad bin Ali al-Attiya told me that it “will consist of 13 or more countries,” led by Qatar. The United Arab Emirates will likely join. France, Britain, the United States and some other NATO members have already agreed to participate. So in reality NATO forces will continue to be geared towards Libya, although this won’t be so obvious to the public eye.
Moreover, the military officials that attended the meeting suggested to me that the aircraft of the partner countries may continue patrolling Libya’s air space. Libyans will be steadily adopting NATO standards in military training.
The allies are refining their mission as events develop. However, all participants in the meeting agreed that the war in Libya was not yet over. The Libyans talked at length about Gaddafi supporters that were still fighting, and the inability of the new leaders to protect the country’s land and maritime borders or put an end to arms trafficking.
To sum up, the war will continue for some time, and NATO will remain in Libya for a long time to come, even though it has achieved its main goal – the Libyan opposition and its friends from several dozen Western and Arab countries have ousted Gaddafi.
Yelena Suponina is a Middle East scholar and a commentator for The Moscow News. She filed this report for RIA Novosti from Doha, the capital of Qatar.
On February 23, under the title “Cynicism’s danse macabre,” I stated:
“The politics of plunder imposed by the United States and its NATO allies in the Middle East is in crisis.”
“Thanks to Sadat’s betrayal at Camp David, the Palestinian Arab State has not come into existence, despite the United Nations agreements of November 1947, and Israel has become a powerful nuclear force allied with the United States and NATO.
“The U.S. military-industrial complex supplies tens of billions of dollars every year to Israel and to the very Arab states that it subjugates and humiliates.
“The genie is out of the bottle and NATO doesn’t know how to control it.
“They are going to try and take maximum advantage of the lamentable events in Libya. No one is capable of knowing at this time what is happening there.
All of the figures and versions, even the most improbable, have been disseminated by the empire through the mass media, sowing chaos and misinformation.
“It is evident that a civil war is developing in Libya. Why and how was this unleashed? Who will suffer the consequences? The Reuters news agency, repeating the opinion of the well-known Nomura Japanese bank, said that the price of oil could surpass all limits.”
“…What will be the consequences for the food crisis?
“The principal NATO leaders are exalted. British Prime Minister David Cameron, informed ANSA, `…admitted in a speech in Kuwait that the Western countries made a mistake in supporting non-democratic governments in the Arab world.’”
“His French colleague Nicolas Sarkozy declared, `The prolonged brutal and bloody repression of the Libyan civilian population is repugnant.’”
“Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini declared `believable’ the figure of one thousand dead in Tripoli […] `the tragic figure will be a bloodbath.’”
“Hillary Clinton declared, `…the bloodbath is completely unacceptable and has to stop…’”
“Ban Ki-moon added, `The use of violence in the country is absolutely unacceptable.’”
“…’the Security Council will act in accordance with what the international community decides.’”
“‘We are considering a number of options.’”
“What Ban Ki-moon is really waiting for is that Obama give the final word.
“The President of the United States spoke Wednesday afternoon and stated that the Secretary of State would leave for Europe in order to reach an agreement with the NATO European allies as to what measures to take. Noticeable on his face was his readiness to take on the right-wing Republican John McCain; Joseph Lieberman, the pro-Israel Senator from Connecticut; and Tea Party leaders, in order to guarantee his nomination by the Democratic Party.
“The empire’s mass media have prepared the ground for action. There would be nothing strange about a military intervention in Libya, which would, additionally, guarantee Europe almost two million barrels of light oil a day, if events do not occur beforehand to put an end to the presidency or life of Gaddafi.
“In any event, Obama’s role is complicated enough. What would the Arab and Islamic world’s reaction be if much blood is spilt in this country in such an adventure? Would the revolutionary wave unleashed in Egypt stop a NATO intervention?
“In Iraq the innocent blood of more than a million Arab citizens was shed when this country was invaded on false pretenses. Mission accomplished, George W. Bush proclaimed.
“No one in the world will ever be in favor of the deaths of defenseless civilians in Libya or anywhere else. I ask myself, would the United States and NATO apply that principle to the defenseless civilians killed every day by yankee drones and this organization’s soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan?
“It is a danse macabre of cynicism.”
While I was meditating on these events, the United Nations debate scheduled for yesterday, Tuesday, October 25 on the “Necessity of ending the commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba began. This is something which has been demanded by the vast majority of this institution’s member countries for 20 years.
This time the numerous elemental and just arguments – which for United States governments were no more than rhetorical exercises – revealed, like never before, the political and moral weakness of the most powerful empire ever to have existed, and to whose oligarchical interests and insatiable thirst for power and riches all the planet’s inhabitants have been subjected, including the very people of that country.
The United States is tyrannizing and plundering the globalized world with its political, economic, technological and military might.
That truth is becoming more and more obvious in the wake of the honest and courageous debates which have taken place in the United Nations during the last 20 years, with the support of states which one would imagine are expressing the will of the vast majority of the planet’s inhabitants.
Before [Cuban Foreign Minister] Bruno’s speech, many country organizations expressed their points of view through one of their members. The first was Argentina, in the name of the Group of 77 plus China; followed by Egypt,in the name of the Non-Aligned Movement; Kenya, in the name of the African Union; Belize, in the name of CARICOM; Kazakhstan, in the name of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; and Uruguay, in the name of MERCOSUR.
Independently of these expressions of a collective nature, China, a country of growing political and economic weight in the world, India and Indonesia strongly supported the resolution via their ambassadors; between the three of them they represent 2.7 billion inhabitants. The ambassadors of the Russian Federation, Belarus, South Africa, Algeria, Venezuela and Mexico did likewise. The impassioned words of solidarity expressed by the ambassador of Belize, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean community, and those of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Bolivia, resonated among the poorest countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. Their arguments in the context of the solidarity of our people – despite a blockade which has already lasted 50 years – will be a constant stimulus for our doctors, educators and scientists.
Nicaragua spoke before the vote, to bravely explain why it would vote against this perfidious measure.
The United States representative also spoke before the vote, in order to explain the inexplicable. I felt sorry for him. It is the role that they assigned to him.
At the hour of voting, two countries were absent: Libya and Sweden; three abstained: Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau; two voted against: the United States and Israel. Adding together those who voted against, abstained or were absent: the United States, with 313 million inhabitants; Israel, with 7.4 million; Sweden, with 9.1 million; Libya, with 6.5 million; Marshall Islands, with 67,100; Micronesia, 106,800; Palau, with 20,900, the total amounts to 336.948 million, equivalent to 4.8% of the world population, which has already risen to seven billion this month.
After the vote, speaking in the name of the European Union, Poland explained the votes of members of this bloc which, in spite of its close alliance with the United States and its obligatory participation in the blockade, is against this criminal measure.
Subsequently, 17 countries addressed the Assembly to explain, resolutely and decisively, why they voted for the resolution against the blockade.
I will continue Friday the 28th.
Fidel Castro Ruz
October 26, 2011
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Portugal: NATO Military Committee Builds On Past Wars For New Ones
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
October 27, 2011
Military Committee visits Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in Lisbon
Lisbon: The NATO Military Committee (MC), led by its Chairman Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, conducted their annual meeting with the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in Lisbon.
Discussions focused on “Lessons Learned of Yesterday to the Solutions of Tomorrow”.
Welcomed by General Stephane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), the ACT staff discussed with the MC lessons learned from current operations and the implications for training, exercises, capability development, and the NATO Command Structure, in order to draw a comprehensive vision of future requirements.
The Commanders of the Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC) and Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) contributed to the meeting by illustrating the ongoing work to make training more integrated and sychronized.
Following the discussions, the NATO delegation proceeded to Monsanto where they visited the Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC), NATO’s lead Agency for Joint Analysis, where the Commander, Brigadier General Peter Sonneby, briefed the Military Committee on the most important current projects.
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Thirteen NATO Soldiers Killed In Attack In Afghan Capital
KABUL: Thirteen soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, the coalition force confirmed.
Foreign troops among 4 killed by Afghan soldier
By Bashir Ahmad Naadem
KANDAHAR CITY: An Afghan soldier shot dead two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers and one of their interpreters in central Uruzgan province on Saturday, an official said.
The shooting happened during a training session in Tirinkot, the provincial capital, Brig. Gen. Abdul Hamid Hamid, a Kandahar-based commander of the 205th Atal Military Corps, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
One Afghan National Army (ANA) officer was also killed in the incident before noon, according to Gen. Hamid, who said that another six international servicemembers were wounded.
“An individual in Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform apparently turned his weapon on Afghan and coalition forces,” an ISAF statement said, adding the shooter was also killed during the incident.
Since the beginning of the current year, 499 foreign soldiers have been killed in the country, where the NATO-led force lost 711 soldiers in 2010. Mostly, Australian troops are stationed in Uruzgan.
Foreign soldier killed in roadside bombing
By Mir Agha Samimi
KABUL: An International Security and Assistance Forces (ISAF) soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan on Friday, the alliance said.
The soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack, an ISAF statement said, without revealing the servicemember’s nationality or the exact location.
Mostly, US, British and Canadian soldiers are deployed to the volatile south – the heartland of the Taliban insurgency.
A day earlier, coalition troops and Afghan police beat back an insurgent assault on a US-run base in Kandahar province. One Afghan interpreter was killed in the group attack.
Since the beginning of the current year, 497 foreign soldiers, including 396 US troops, have been killed in the country, where the NATO-led force lost 711 soldiers in 2010.
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Pakistan: Huge Rally Condemns U.S. Drone Massacres
Huge Pakistan rally demands halt to U.S. drone strikes
By Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD: A large number of tribesmen rallied here Friday to demand an immediate halt to the U.S. drone strikes in tribal regions.
Tribesmen from the North Waziristan tribal region marched on Islamabad’s main road leading to the house of parliament and chanted slogans against the United States.
They were holding banners and placards against the strikes by American spy aircraft in the tribal areas and described the CIA operation as a violation of international law.
The U.S. routinely fires missiles into Pakistan’s Waziristan tribal region…
The anti-U.S. rally was organized a day after two drone strikes in North and South Waziristan on Thursday killed at least 10 people…
Earlier, tribesmen from North Waziristan held a traditional Jirga, or council of elders, in Islamabad and they said in a resolution that the drone strikes were “killing innocent civilians.”
“The Jirga takes note of the fact that the CIA, the secret service of the United States, is carrying out these drone attacks and that these attacks are coordinated through CIA officials operating from within and outside Pakistan, thus violating Pakistani and international law by intentionally killing Pakistani citizens,” the resolution said.
Several tribesmen who lost family members also took part in the Jirga and the rally who recalled the miseries they are undergoing due to drone strikes.
17-year Saadullah, who lost his two legs in a drone strike, also attended the rally. He said three relatives were killed when a U.S. unmanned aircraft struck his house last year.
Karim Khan, who lost his son in a U.S. drone attack in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, now runs the campaign against the drone strikes and has also filed a case against the former CIA station chief in Islamabad for running the secret drone strikes operation.
Khan said that the majority of tribesmen are opposed to the drone strikes on their soil and said he will pursue the legal case against the United States.
A tribal elder from North Waziristan, Malik Khan Mirjan, told the Jirga that the infamous American Blackwater is using some Western-funded NGOs to disrupt peace in their areas. He said tribesmen would fight a holy war against the United States in Afghanistan if the drone strikes were not stopped.
President of the Tribal Union of Journalists, Safdar Hayat Khan, said that 70 percent of the people in the area, particularly women and children, have become psychologically sick due to drone strikes fear. He said the drone strikes have also caused the spread of different diseases.
A former Pakistani ambassador, Ayaz Wazir, told the Jirga that drone aircraft fly almost daily over the Waziristan region, creating panic among the people, especially women and children.
After the Jirga, the tribesmen started a procession and marched on the main road leading to the parliament house.
Chief of Tehrik-e-Insaf (Justice Party), Imran Khan, told the huge rally that U.S. drone strikes and military operations are actually creating and strengthening militants in the tribal regions.
He said Pakistan should quit the U.S.-led international coalition, stop military operations and take into confidence the tribal elders who are able to contain the militants’ activities.
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Pakistan: NATO’s Unbearable Provocative Acts
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=122110
Pakistan Observer
October 28, 2011
NATO’s unbearable provocative acts
After Admiral Mike Mullen’s tirade last month against the ISI created a diplomatic row, followed by a series of retractions, twists and clarifications often loaded with paradoxes, it appears that the United States is bent upon taking some sort of action inside Pakistani territory under the pretext of hot pursuit.
First US troops allowed militant attacks from the Afghan side of the border on our security check posts and on Wednesday NATO helicopters violated our airspace over North Wazirtistan
The intrusion of two helicopters several kilometres inside Pakistani territory coupled with other similar acts ring alarm bells and Pakistani authorities will have to understand these red signals.
American covert raids into Pakistan in the past, about a dozen since its invasion of Afghanistan, were kept secret by the Pakistani authorities to avoid strong public reaction.
In our view the statement of Admiral Mullen was a clear indication that the US was creating a justification to launch attacks in North Waziristan against alleged Haqqani network [personnel] and reports in the American media also quoted American intelligence officials arguing that more aggressive ground raids in Pakistan were necessary.
If that happens, it would be an unbearable provocative act and the Pakistani armed forces and the people would not tolerate it. No sovereign country would allow the boots of American troops on its soil, and a proof of that was the refusal of the Iraqi government to allow even limited US presence there.
A vast majority of Afghans are opposed to the presence of foreign forces in their country and the swelling ranks of Taliban are a proof of that.
The US had better see the writing on the wall and avoid indulging in provocative acts against Pakistan. Perhaps they are not aware that any breach of Pakistan sovereignty will further unleash extremist forces not only on this side of the border but in Afghanistan as well. Already Al-Qaeda and Taliban on this and that side of the Durand Line and other militant outfits have started joining hands to give a crushing blow to the Americans before they leave Afghanistan. Therefore we would suggest that Washington should avoid provocative acts against Pakistan, find a negotiated solution of Afghanistan for an honourable exit so that it could pay more attention to overcome its financial crisis.
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U.S. And Iran: Might Is Right
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/28/59516425.html
Voice of Russia
October 28, 2011
“Might is Right”
Boris Volkhonsky
-[N]ow that the Internet has proved to be a weapon no less powerful than air-strikes, and has been very fast and productive in overthrowing governments, it is hardly surprising that the administration is going to resort to virtual means in trying to deal with a regime they do not like.
-[As] the U.S. no longer has a deciding voice in the Security Council, the administration is ready to use alternative ways to achieve its goals – the main one being the change of regime in Iran, whether by means of a covert war or by a “virtual embassy”, the two being not much different from one another.
“La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure,” (“The reason of the strongest one is always the best”) wrote Jean de La Fontaine in his “Le Loup et L’Agneau” (The Wolf and the Lamb) fable. Or to put it into English, “Might is Right”. Something of the kind comes to mind when you try to look at the recent developments in U.S.–Iranian relations.
Two recent events require close attention. One is the hearing at the House of Representatives where some conservatives demanded that the Obama administration should take retaliation measures against Iran. The other one (or, rather, two) is the two interviews given by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Persian language services of the BBC and Voice of America.
The rhetoric used by this high-ranking member of president Barack Obama’s team and his critics may differ in wording, but is similar in its essence.
“Why are we permitting Quds Force leaders who have been organizing this killing of us for 30 years to go around still walking around?” The Los Angeles Times cited retired General Jack Keane speaking at a House subcommittee hearing. “Why don’t we kill them? We kill other people who are running terrorist organizations against the United States.”
He and his conservative fellows also urged Obama’s administration to wage a covert war against Iran and criticized the administration’s approach to Iran as not aggressive enough. Their suggestions ranged from limited cyber attacks to covert CIA action and unilateral U.S. raids.
“The only way that I would argue that you are going to stop that type of mentality is that you have to convince them that you will escalate,” said Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA officer now at the neoconservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. “You don’t want to run away from that war, you want to run towards it.”
Ms. Clinton in her interviews was overtly much less aggressive, but, to think of it, her proposals concerning U.S. policy towards Iran may be even much more far-reaching than a “covert war” proposed by the administration’s conservative critics.
The core of her proposal was the establishment of a “virtual U.S. embassy” in the Internet that would allow the U.S. to make contact directly with the Iranian people circumventing the Iranian government. Overtly, the proposal aims at giving more information to ordinary Iranians on U.S. visas and education and other programs. But isn’t it an open secret that any U.S. embassy is a hub of activities that cannot always can be called purely diplomatic? And now that the Internet has proved to be a weapon no less powerful than air-strikes, and has been very fast and productive in overthrowing governments, it is hardly surprising that the administration is going to resort to virtual means in trying to deal with a regime they do not like.
In this context only a few people in the U.S. really question whether there has been substantial evidence that Iranian authorities are in any way involved in the plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Most take the official reasoning for granted – and Ms. Hillary reiterated it in her interviews, saying, “I taught criminal law some years ago. It’s a very strong case. It certainly raises the right questions and I think it will be a successful case.”
So, before the suspects are convicted, and even before any evidence has been presented, the fate of the Iranians seems to be decided. And not only of the two alleged assassins, but of the ruling authorities as well. In clear violation of the presumption of innocence, the U.S. is only eager to bring the case to the U.N. Security Council, thus turning it into a courtroom with a pre-designed verdict and sentence.
While this is unlikely to succeed, since the U.S. no longer has a deciding voice in the Security Council, the administration is ready to use alternative ways to achieve its goals – the main one being the change of regime in Iran, whether by means of a covert war or by a “virtual embassy”, the two being not much different from one another.
The fact that the administration and its conservative critics, albeit in different voices, are basically demanding the same thing is also easily explainable. While the power struggle for both the Capitol Hill and White House is intensifying, he (or, she) who exposes more “bad guys” and proposes the strictest measures, will have the better chances to win in 2012.
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Denmark Contributes To NATO Military Build-Up Off Somalia
Denmark to deploy surveillance aircraft against Somali pirates
-Meanwhile, the Danish frigate Absalon is sailing again to the waters off the Horn of Africa with a crew of 150 to strengthen the NATO mission known as Operation Ocean Shield…
COPENHAGEN: Denmark will deploy one surveillance aircraft off Somalia’s coast in a bid to tackle piracy in the region, the Danish government said Friday.
From January 2012, the Challenger surveillance aircraft will assist in aerial patrols for an initial two-month period as part of a NATO coalition force operating…in the Gulf of Aden.
“Other countries have aircraft there, but it is a gigantic nautical area,” said Defence Minister Nick Haekkerup.
“Therefore it is important to know where to place the (coalition’s) ships,” he added, explaining the need for deploying surveillance aircraft.
The decision to deploy the aircraft was confirmed at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Danish Parliament on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Danish frigate Absalon is sailing again to the waters off the Horn of Africa with a crew of 150 to strengthen the NATO mission known as Operation Ocean Shield, said Danish news agency Ritzau.
The Absalon has already seen action in the region and its tour of duty is now extended by six months. Its arrival means there will be four international ships operating under Ocean Shield as of Nov. 1.
With the latest developments, the total number of Danish military personnel deployed in the Gulf of Aden operations rises to 190 persons, Ritzau said, marking a sharp increase in Danish counter-piracy initiatives.
Ocean Shield has operated since 2008, and been involved in several actions against pirates…
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AFRICOM/Africa Partnership Station: U.S.-Led Eight-Nation Naval Exercise In Somali Basin
U.S. Navy
U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet
October 28, 2011
Exercise Cutlass Express
By Lt. Cmdr. Suzanna Brugler, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs
USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS, At Sea: USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) completed the inaugural at-sea portion of exercise Cutlass Express, in the Somali Basin region, Oct. 25-28.
Cutlass Express is an exercise sponsored by U.S. Africa Command, and focuses on addressing piracy through information sharing and coordinated operations among international navies.
The at-sea portion of Cutlass Express was a multinational communications exercise designed to improve cooperation among participating nations to increase counter-piracy capabilities in the waters off the Horn of Africa. In addition, this exercise is a branch of Africa Partnership Station (APS), during which Samuel B. Roberts was the training platform in the most recent edition of APS East that took place July through September of this year.
“Exercise Cutlass Express was the culmination of all the relationship-building Samuel B. Roberts has facilitated in the East African region over the past four months while executing the APS mission,” said Cmdr. Angel Cruz, commanding officer of Samuel B. Roberts.
…
Samuel B. Roberts’ role in Cutlass Express was primarily geared towards providing ship-boarding operation training to the eight marines of the Uganda People’s Defense Force who were embarked aboard the ship. The ship also had two ship riders from the South African navy who observed Cutlass Express and the day-to-day underway operations aboard Samuel B. Roberts…
…
The ashore portion of the exercise featured simulated civilian and military operations centers that seek to enhance both cooperation and capacity on the East African coast, which took place July 18-22. The weeklong table-top planning exercise paved the way for all that would happen during the recent at-sea portion of Cutlass Express.
…
Exercise Cutlass Express is yet another pillar that demonstrates U.S. and participant-nation commitment to regional stability and maritime security, with participating nations including Djibouti, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, The Seychelles, Uganda and the United States…
Exercise Cutlass Express took place at sea in the vicinity of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Mombasa, Kenya, and The Seychelles with coordination among regional maritime operations centers. Samuel B. Roberts provided at-sea U.S. warship platform participation while several Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet staff personnel also participated as exercise planners and trainers.
Samuel B. Roberts is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate that is homeported in Naval Station Mayport, Fla., and is currently on a scheduled deployment to the U.S. Naval Forces Africa area of responsibility.
APS is an international security cooperation initiative, facilitated by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, aimed at strengthening global maritime partnerships…
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Ambassador: U.S. Supports Kenyan Attacks Inside Somalia
U. S. says backing Kenya’s military operation in Somalia
NAIROBI: The United States said on Friday it has sold military equipment and offered logistical support and military training to Kenyan troops on a mission to flush out the Al Qaeda-linked militia group in Somalia, Al Shabaab.
“We have been providing our assistance in an overt way through the Kenya Navy, Army and Air Force for long time and we will continue…, ” U.S Ambassador in Kenya Scott Gration said during a courtesy call on Kenyan Defense Minister Yusuf Haji.
Gration, a retired major general of the U.S. Air Force, said in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that his government will continue supporting Kenya…
Earlier reports indicated that Washington shipped military equipment worth 45 million U.S dollars to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in June. The equipment included four drones, body armor and night vision communication equipment…
The remarks came amid reports last Friday of a U.S. drone attack which killed 44 Al Shabaab militia in the town of Ras Kiamboni, fueling speculation of the Washington’s involvement.
…
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U.S. Plans To Shut Down “Rogue Websites”
http://rt.com/news/us-bill-rogue-websites-991/
RT
October 28, 2011
US eyes blackout of ‘rogue websites’
New anti-piracy legislation placed before the US House of Representatives would allow copyright law to be used to close down websites. Sites such as Wikileaks would be vulnerable, sparking fears that the bill could be used to stifle free speech.
The bill, submitted on Wednesday, is called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and will be reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee on November 16.
If approved, SOPA will enable individuals or organizations claiming copyright to effectively block any website they suspect of infringing their rights. They would simply send complaints to advertisers, payment services, search engines and even internet service providers operating in the US, who would stop doing business with the site in question.
No court decision would be necessary, and third parties would be granted immunity from any reprisals resulting from their voluntary action against the alleged offenders. Not-for-profit websites would not be spared.
The lawmakers behind the “rogue websites” bill say it would deal a blow to online pirates and producers of counterfeit brand products like designer fashion items or medicines, reports AFP.
“The bill prevents online thieves from selling counterfeit goods in the US, expands international protection for intellectual property, and protects American consumers from dangerous counterfeit products,” House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, said in a statement.
Howard Berman, a Democrat from California who co-sponsored the legislation, said it is “an important next step in the fight against digital theft and sends a strong message that the United States will not waiver in our battle to protect America’s creators and innovators.”
This stance is not shared by some human rights groups, however. The Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) says the House bill “raises serious red flags.
“It includes the most controversial parts of the Senate’s Protect IP Act, but radically expands its scope,” the CDT said in a statement. “Any website that features user-generated content or that enables cloud-based data storage could end up in its crosshairs.”
There are fears that the legislation could be exploited to gag political rivals. Recently, the controversial whistleblower website WikiLeaks had to stop publishing new leaks due to what they called an unlawful financial blockade by payment services and banks. The move leaves open the possibility of the US State Department copyrighting cables to give them protection under SOPA.
Harsh austerity measures imposed on the Greek people are making them look to the past for unfavorable comparisons. Overnight, posters featuring Chancellor Angela Merkel dressed as a Nazi officer have appeared all over the capital, Athens.
Berlin’s interference in the Greek economy has caused people to make comparisons with Hitler’s occupation and destruction of the country 65 years ago. For many, Germany’s involvement in their affairs is pure meddling, while some have actually called on Germany to bail out Greece “on the grounds it owes Athens money for war atrocities in the past.”
And it’s not just the ordinary citizens who feel this way. Even the Greek Prime Minister, while claiming that the move has helped his country avoid “a national mortal danger,” mentioned the national gold “taken” by Nazi Germany during the occupation and never “returned.”
The deal, which will see half of Greece’s national debt written off, has infuriated the country’s people. That’s despite many economists calling it a last-ditch effort to stave off a Greek default on its sovereign debt – which is tantamount to bankruptcy. But opposition parties claim the $130 billion deal will put the country through “nine more years of collapse and poverty”.
Greek government officials who agreed to the belt-tightening moves have been portrayed in cartoons giving the Nazi “Sieg Heil” salute. And Reuters news agency reports that German tourists flocking to ancient heritage sites are not receiving a warm welcome either. And despite the fact that protests in the country have cooled down, for many this is just the calm before the storm.
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U.S. Middle East Envoy Speaks Of “West Bank Spring”
The revolutions rocking the Arab world could upturn Palestinian politics if a real peace process got off the ground, a top US diplomat has suggested AFP reported
Hamas could be swept out of power if the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority is able to show “tangible” results from peace negotiations with Israel, US envoy for Middle East Peace David Hale told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Thursday.
The envoy said that the PA had yet to show the benefits of talks, but warned that pursuing statehood at UN bodies could undo the peace process.
PLO officials say they are taking the membership application to the UN because 20 years of negotiations have brought them no closer to independence and with nothing to show for their efforts but more Israeli settlement on Palestinian land.
Hale said while the security and economic reforms that have been achieved by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank are “valued” they “aren’t enough.”
When the Palestinian people “see that the leadership that is committed to peace has something to offer, then I think then you will see a very different dynamic underway,” he added.
“The Palestinians are no more immune to the currents of change and demand for democratization, reform and freedom than any of the other people in the region,” Hale said.
“I think you will see those same forces affect Hamas because clearly their leadership is not characterized by any of those words.”
Hamas – which is blacklisted by the US – won democratic national elections in 2006, before seizing the Gaza Strip after fighting with long-term rivals Fatah erupted into near civil war, and split Palestinians into separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.
…
Hale cautioned that Palestinian attempts to seek statehood at the United Nations – including Monday’s vote to grant Palestine full member status at the UN cultural agency UNESCO – could instead complicate, delay or even “derail” the peace process.
“Peace will not come through statements or actions or votes in the United Nations,” he said, adding that such action will simply raise expectations “that we fear will be frustrated because it will do nothing to change the situation on the ground the day after the vote.”
…
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Turkish-Azeri Energy Deal To “Change Existing Balance In Region”
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=158421
Azeri Press Agency
October 29, 2011
Turkish Minister of Energy: We have signed an agreement with Azerbaijan that will change the existing balance in the region
Baku: “We have signed an agreement with Azerbaijan that will change the existing balance in the region,” Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz told local journalists, APA reports quoting Haberturk. He said the agreement signed with Azerbaijan on Shah Deniz 2 project is the only real document signed in the area of natural gas in the region.
Minister said with this agreement Turkey demonstrated to Europe its decisiveness in the transfer of natural gas.
“We have included the construction of the new pipeline into the agreement. This pipeline is a strong alternative, but is not designed against Nabucco,” he said.
Taner Yildiz said the companies in Shah Deniz consortium will invest approximately $22 billion in this project and the first gas will be transported in 2018.
“Within the framework of this project Turkey will import 6 billion cu m of gas. We have the right to reexport this gas. 10 billion cu m of gas will be exported to Europe,” he said.
Minister said the right of revision of prices of the natural gas purchased by Turkey from Azerbaijan within the framework of Shah Deniz 1 project had been frozen.
Turkey pays for Azerbaijan’s natural gas 30% less than for the gas purchased from other countries.
Our bugles had sung, for the night-cloud had lower’d,
And the centinal stars set them watch in the sky,
And thousands had sunk on the ground overpower’d,
The weary to sleep and the wounded to die!
When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,
By the wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain,
At the dead of the night, a sweet vision I saw,
And twice ere the cock crew, I dreamt it again.
Methought, from the battle field’s dreadful array,
Far, far I had roam’d on a desolate track,
Till nature and sunshine disclos’d the sweet way
To the house of my Father that welcom’d me back.
I flew to the pleasant fields travell’d so oft,
In life’s morning’s march when my bosom was young,
I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft,
And well knew the strain that the corn-reapers sung.
Then pledg’d we the cup, and fondly we swore,
From my home, and my weeping friends never to part;
My little ones miss’d me a thousand times o’er,
And my wife sobb’d aloud in the fulness of heart!
Stay! stay with us! rest! thou art weary and worn;
And fain was the war-broken soldier to stay;
But sorrow return’d with the dawning of morn,
And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away.
Battle of Austerlitz
Hohenlinden
On Linden when the sun was low,
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow,
And dark as winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
But Linden saw another sight
When the drum beat, at dead of night,
Commanding fires of death to light
The darkness of her scenery.
By torch and trumpet fast arrayed
Each horseman drew his battle blade,
And furious every charger neighed,
To join the dreadful revelry.
Then shook the hills with thunder riven,
Then rushed the steed to battle driven,
And louder than the bolts of heaven
Far flashed the red artillery.
And redder yet those fires shall glow
On Linden’s hills of blood-stained snow,
And darker yet shall be the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.
‘Tis morn, but scarce yon lurid sun
Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,
Where furious Frank and fiery Hun
Shout in their sulphurous canopy.
The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory, or the grave!
Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave!
And charge with all thy chivalry!
Ah! few shall part where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding-sheet,
And every turf beneath their feet
Shall be a soldier’s sepulchre.
Rasmussen calls NATO Libya operation “great success”
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the seven-month NATO operation in Libya had been a “great success” and that the decision to end it was final, DPA reported.
Speaking in Berlin after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he said the operation had probably been one of the most successful in NATO’s history.
Rasmussen said NATO would make an official declaration on Friday that the operation would terminate on Monday, October 31, in line with a UN Security Council resolution in New York.
NATO had fulfilled its mission fully, the former Danish prime minister said, adding that he saw no major role for the alliance in Libya from now on. The National Transitional Council had previously appealed to NATO to continue its operation to the end of the year.
…
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State Department: NATO Shifts To “Post-Conflict” Role In Libya
NATO was weighing a possible new role in Libya following Moamer Kadhafi’s death, as France said the UN would vote on Thursday to end the alliance’s mandate for an air war on October 31.
Tripoli’s interim rulers have pleaded for an extension to the alliance’s mandate, but French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said the request was unlikely to be granted.
“The fall of Sirte led the Libyan authorities to declare the liberation of Libyan territory as of October 23,” Valero told a media conference in Paris.
…
In Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said discussions had started at NATO headquarters in Brussels and with Libya’s NTC about the end of the UN mandate.
She said the NTC “may foresee a future role for NATO,” and that discussions have been held about that as well.
“Some things have been discussed, like support for border security, support for demobilisation, decommissioning of weapons, these kinds of things,” she said.
NATO “does have quite a bit of experience after the combat phase is over in helping countries around the world, and particularly partner countries, to train and equip their own military, restructure, particularly in the decommissioning of weapons,” Nuland said.
…
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Libya, Somalia, Uganda: AFRICOM At War Across African Continent
Somalia, Libya, Uganda: US military increases focus on militant threats from Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya: While putting few U.S. troops at risk, the United States is playing a growing role in Africa’s military battles, using special forces advisers, drones and tens of millions of dollars in military aid…
Once again, the focus is Somalia, the lawless nation that was the site of America’s last large-scale military intervention in Africa in the early 1990s. By the time U.S. forces departed, 44 Army soldiers, Marines and airmen had been killed and dozens more wounded.
While putting few U.S. troops at risk, the United States is providing intelligence and training to fight militants across the continent, from Mauritania in the west along the Atlantic Ocean, to Somalia in the east along the Indian Ocean.
This time the United States is playing a less visible role, providing intelligence and training to fight militants across the continent, from Mauritania in the west along the Atlantic coast, to Somalia in the east along the Indian Ocean.
…
“If you ask me what keeps me awake at night, it is the thought of an American passport-holding person who transits through a training camp in Somalia and gets some skill and then finds their way back into the United States to attack Americans,” Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of the U.S. Africa Command, said in Washington this month. “That’s mission failure for us.”
…
The U.S. is conducting counterterrorism training and equipping militaries in countries including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia…according to the U.S. Africa Command.
In Somalia, the U.S. helps support 9,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi to fight militants in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. In June, the Pentagon moved to send nearly $45 million in military equipment, including four drones, body armor and night-vision and communications gear, for use in the fight against al-Shabab.
The U.S. also announced this month it is sending 100 advisers, most of them special forces, to help direct the fight against the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army in Central Africa and efforts to kill or capture its leader, Joseph Kony…In Libya, U.S. fighter planes helped rebels defeat…Moammar Gadhafi.
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Clinton, Panetta: Libyan NTC Fighters To Be Treated In Boston
U.S. to treat 24 seriously wounded Libyan fighters
WASHINGTON: The United States will offer medical treatment to 24 Libyan fighters who were seriously wounded in the recent battles to oust former leader Muammar Gaddafi, senior U.S. officials said Thursday.
The United States will be transporting 24 seriously wounded fighters to Spaulding Hospital in Boston for treatment on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a joint statement.
“All of these patients were injured as a result of recent fighting and suffer from conditions that cannot currently be treated in Libya,” the two officials said.
The offer was made in response to a request by the National Transitional Council (NTC), the interim governing body in Libya.
An additional six critical cases will be transferred to Germany for immediate care.
…
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Pentagon To Treat Proxies, AFRICOM Resumes Libyan Mission
U.S. Africa Command
U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs
October 28, 2011
U.S. military transports wounded Libyans to hospitals in U.S. and Germany
-U.S. Africa Command, commanded by General Carter F. Ham, last month directed its Army component, U.S. Army Africa, to establish Joint Task Force Odyssey Guard to plan for any potential U.S. military missions in post-conflict Libya. Major General David R. Hogg, the U.S Army Africa commander, is also commander of the joint task force.
CASERMA EDERLE, Vicenza, Italy: The U.S. military is assisting the Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) by transporting approximately 30 Libyans injured during recent fighting from Tripoli to hospitals in Europe and the United States.
According to a joint press release from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, “Saturday, in response to a request by the Transitional National Council, the United States is transporting 24 seriously wounded fighters to Spaulding Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. An additional six critical cases will be transferred to Germany for immediate care. All of these patients were injured as a result of recent fighting and suffer from conditions that cannot currently be treated in Libya.”
Two U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying medical teams will fly the injured to medical facilities in Germany and the United States. Specialized U.S. Air Force medical teams will care for the injured on the two flights.
The TNC requested this U.S. humanitarian assistance through the U.S. Department of State. “The United States offers this humanitarian gesture of emergency medical evacuation assistance as a small token of our support, because we are committed to Libya’s future,” reads the joint statement.
U.S. Africa Command, commanded by General Carter F. Ham, last month directed its Army component, U.S. Army Africa, to establish Joint Task Force Odyssey Guard to plan for any potential U.S. military missions in post-conflict Libya. Major General David R. Hogg, the U.S Army Africa commander, is also commander of the joint task force.
Col Qadhafi has been killed by an angry Libyan or died in a ‘cross-fire’ as claimed by the TNC. This ends an era of what has been termed a despotic rule by a tyrant.
His body was placed in a meat-house and was being visited by people wearing masks, apparently because of the stench.
I hold no brief for the slain. One report says that he was very generous in doling out money to his people, but it is true that he did little for his country. With the wealth from oil he had, he could have made Libya an ideal place.
Irrespective of what he was, he deserved at least a kangaroo court like Saddam Hussein while he was alive, and a better treatment now that he was dead.
Another thought that comes to mind is what appears as a new sanction of international law called ‘R2P’, i.e., responsibility to protect people. This means that any so-called civilised country can attack or ask an obedient organisation like Nato to attack a sovereign state to save its people from the real or perceived hardship that they might be suffering at the hands of an unkind ruler, but in reality to take undue benefit from that country’s natural wealth: a new exposition of ‘white man’s burden’. We should be wary of what is likely to happen in Balochistan.
S.M. ANWAR
Karachi
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Expanded Syrian Conflict: The West’s Unwinnable War
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/206968.html
Press TV
October 27, 2011
Syria, America’s unwinnable game
By Arash Zahedi
In its latest foreign diplomacy move, the US State Department has recalled its ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, citing safety reasons.
Tensions were running high as the ambassador had recently been touring different Syrian cities and been involved in talks with the heads of the country’s opposition.
The ups and downs in Syria-US relations in the past few months definitely represent a gesture of anything but good will as they now host no envoys in one another’s lands.
The situation has been aggravated even more with the death of Libya’s once long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi. America, having been more or less disengaged from the Libya game, is now building up pressure against Syria by escalating accusations against it.
The once US presidential hopeful, Republican Senator John McCain, best known for its “bomb, bomb” rhetoric, is now describing Syria as the focal point of US attention. He has also talked of the use of military force against Damascus. A choice always on the US’s famous “table of options”, that can be considered when it unilaterally deems it necessary or when it fails to meaningfully engage in talks.
There are growing fears among political circles now that Damascus might, to some extent, play the role of the next Tripoli given recent US rhetoric that comes along with sanctions and intimidations.
Given the UK’s and France’s recently emboldened anti-Damascus views as well as the role the allegedly foreign-backed armed gangs play in today’s Syria, one has to watch the events of the next few weeks or months with caution.
The West’s Libya adventure is largely characterized by the bloc’s hunger for Libya’s riches and energy resources. Syria, however, is not of great energy or resource significance when compared with Libya. So what is at stake for the US in Syria?
Experts say it is the geographical location of Syria which makes it extremely strategic to Israel’s existence. Syria is so far the only country experiencing an upheaval that shares a border with Israel. The two sides have never enjoyed the best of ties and even have a history of war.
Given the reality that almost all the uprisings in the Middle East were, to some extent, fueled by Arab nations’ anti-US and anti-Israel sentiments, one can quickly realize why Syria has become the “focal point” at this juncture and not Yemen for instance.
Yemen, a poor regional country, has seen its own wave of uprising along with other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. But, unlike Libya and now Syria, it has never been threatened militarily by the US or any of its Western allies.
But what if such, as some term it, Western sabre-rattling turns into an all-out war?
Experts warn seriously against such a move. They argue this is going to turn the whole region into a burning ball of fire which the US will by no means be able to handle. Many say it will be the West’s unwinnable war.
Another argument is that seeing the end of Gaddafi and speculations over the future conditions of Libya or studying the fate of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and the situation in that country today after eight years of its US occupation will even unite the Syrian government and supporters with some of today’s dissidents against a foreign threat, enabling Syria to put up a genuinely strong resistance, thus making losses greater than gains for the Western countries whose public opinion resents the loss of 30,000 lives in Libya and the two million that died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In terms of military might, Syria and Libya belong to two different leagues. Unlike Libya, Syria’s army is one of the strongest in the Arab world and observers say it will resolve to fight to the end in case of war. This means a longer war with far too many casualties for both sides.
In the meantime, let’s not forget about Israel’s geographical proximity to Syria…
As mentioned, the anti-Israeli and anti-US feelings, to a certain degree, characterized the Arab world’s recent Islamic awakening. A US attack on Syria and likely Israeli involvement will cause people in other countries to put pressure on their governments to intervene. The issue will not be overlooked in Cairo, for instance, where people had even attacked the Israeli embassy, deeming Tel Aviv as the root cause of many of their historical miseries. Also of immeasurable concern to Israel and the US will be the reaction of other regional sympathizing powerhouses.
There is no doubt the West will have to pay dearly in case of opening another front, with Damascus this time around, and the price will not be the same as with Libya.
Launching another war for the US that is seeing its Wall Street occupied by angry tax payers, if not an empty threat, may mean the nation will, for a long time to come, completely fall out with a government that needs their support in these hard economic times and their votes in future elections.
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2,000 Innocent Civilians Killed: Pakistanis Protest Against U.S. Drone Attacks
Tribesmen to rally against U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan
By Muhammad Tahir
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani tribesmen will march in Islamabad on Friday against the U.S. drone aircraft strikes in the tribal regions, in which they said many innocent people had been killed, local media reported on Friday.
Several victims of the drone attacks will also join the protest march outside the parliament house.
Representatives of foreign and Pakistani human rights groups will also take part in the protest.
The protest comes just a day after two strikes conducted by U.S. spy aircraft killed at least 10 people in the Waziristan tribal region.
Tribal elders Thursday told a news conference in Islamabad that nearly 2,000 innocent people have so far been killed in 300 drone strikes in the tribal regions.
The tribal elders will meet before their march and will discuss a protest plan and legal action against the CIA which runs the secret drone mission.
Chief of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (Justice Party) Imran Khan will preside over the tribal jirga and will later lead a protest march.
Mr. Khan said Pakistan was capable of shooting down drones but the government was reluctant to do so because it was beholden to the West.
Mr. Khan wondered why human rights organizations had failed to see the gross violation of human rights and international laws in the case of drone attacks.
He said his party had made efforts to stop American aggression against innocent people by trying to stop NATO supplies through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Karachi port, but the protesters were detained by the administration despite parliament’s resolutions against drone attacks.
Khan said the government should resign if it was unable to stop the drone attacks. He alleged that the attacks were being carried out with the tacit consent of the rulers.
ISLAMABAD: A U.S. pilotless aircraft fired four missiles on a house in Mir Ali area in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region Thursday night, killing at least six people, Dawn TV reported.
It was not clear who was targeted in the second strike on Thursday.
Earlier in the morning, an American unmanned aircraft fired missiles on a vehicle at Azam Warsak in South Waziristan tribal region, an area near the Afghan border, killing six people…
Pakistan publicly opposes the drone strikes, which are run by the CIA. The U.S. has refused to halt the strikes despite Islamabad’s protest and insists that it is an effective operation to target suspected militants in Pakistan’s tribal regions.
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Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen: U.S. Drones Kill 50 In One Day
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/206934.html
Press TV
October 27, 2011
US drones kill nearly 50 in single day
Nearly fifty people have been killed in separate US assassination drone strikes in Somalia, Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, and Yemen in a single day.
On Thursday, 13 people were killed and several others were injured when the US military launched an attack using a remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle on the outskirts of Bilis Qooqaani town, which is located 448 kilometers (278 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The US also launched drone strikes on the outskirts of Afmadow city, situated in the middle of the Juba region and 620 kilometers (385 miles) south of Mogadishu, on Thursday. At least 25 people were killed in the aerial attack.
In addition, six people were killed in a non-UN-sanctioned US drone attack on Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.
According to Pakistani officials, two unmanned aircraft fired six missiles at a vehicle traveling through Tura Gula village in the Azam Warsak area on Thursday.
Three people were also killed in attacks carried out by unmanned US aircraft in southern Yemen on Thursday.
A Yemeni government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the drone strikes targeted Shaqra village in Abyan Province. He added that six people were also injured in the aerial attacks.
The US says its remote-controlled unmanned drones only target militants. However, reports have shown that most of the people killed in the drone strikes are civilians.
WASHINGTON: The United States is using armed drones to carry out counterterrorism missions in Ethiopia, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The secret operations involving Reaper drones have been confirmed by Master Sergeant James Fisher, a spokesman for the 17th Air Force, which oversees operations in Africa, according to the report.
Fisher said an unspecified number of Air Force personnel are working at the Ethiopian airfield “to provide operation and technical support for our security assistance programs.”
The drone flights “will continue as long as the government of Ethiopia welcomes our cooperation on these varied security programs,” he added.
The drone base is located at the Arba Minch airport, about 480 km south of Addis Ababa and about 960 km east of the Somali border, within the 1,840-km reach of standard models of the Reaper, according to the report.
The newspaper reported last month that the United States is building a series of secret drone bases in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of counterterrorism efforts targeting al-Qaida’s affiliates in Somalia and Yemen. But it did not disclose the location of the Ethiopian base and the fact that it became operational this year.
The report came at a time when the United States has been expanding the use of drones on counterterrorism missions, and has increasingly targeted al-Qaida’s affiliates outside South Asia, particularly in Yemen and Somalia.
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U.S. Congress Authorizes Covert Operations Against Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/206959.html
Press TV
October 27, 2011
US Congress for black ops against Iran
By Ismail Salami
The US secret agenda for tightening its vice-like grip on the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken on an apparently new form after the anti-Iran alleged assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, raised many eyebrows among experts and analysts around the world.
With a strong penchant for pushing for tougher action on Iran, the Obama administration has already imposed a series of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. However, a Republican-controlled congressional committee has recently heard testimony demanding an extensive range of covert operations against the country.
The operations, which range from cyber attacks to political assassinations, are speculated to be conducted under the feeble excuse that Iran was the alleged architect of an assassination plot against the Saudi envoy to the United States. By political assassination, the US congressmen unconsciously mean the liquidation of the Iranian nuclear scientists, an act they actually started long ago.
Retired Army Gen. John Keane told a hearing of two key subcommittees of the House Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday, “We’ve got to put our hand around their throat now. Why don’t we kill them? We kill other people who kill others.”
Also, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) poured some pearls of wisdom over others and called for “sober, reasoned discussion.”
“Iran’s leaders must be held accountable for their action,” she said, “but we cannot take any reckless actions which may lead to opening another front in the ‘War on Terror,’ which the American people do not want and cannot afford.”
Naturally, the US government, in essence, cannot afford to wage another war, at least in view of the economic woes it has wrought upon American citizens, regardless of other influencing factors.
The stone that started rolling fell into the hands of New York Congressman Peter King, who made an extremely bizarre comment. He suggested that the US should kick out Iranian officials at the UN in New York and in Washington and accused them of being spies, ignorant of the fact that the UN is considered an independent international body and that the US has no authority to ‘kick out’ diplomats accredited there en masse.
Overwhelmed with a sense of false eagerness, he renewed the anti-Iran alleged assassination ploy and said excitedly, “So you have the assassination of a foreign ambassador, you have the willingness to kill hundreds of Americans – this is an act of war,” King said, “I don’t think we can just do business as usual or even carry out sanctions as usual.”
The volley of vitriolic words against Iran which issued from Mr. King reeks of blind enmity long egged on by other hawks in Washington.
In point of fact, the anti-Iran moves practically started in 2007 when the US Congress agreed with George W. Bush, the then-US president, to fund a major increase in covert operations against Iran.
According to the intelligence officials who spoke to the Blotter on ABCNews.com, the CIA was then given presidential approval to commence its covert ‘black’ operations inside Iran. To that effect, over four hundred million dollars were allocated in a Presidential Finding signed by George W. Bush. The ultimate goal of the finding was to cripple Iran’s religious government and the operations involved throwing support behind minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchis and other opposition groups as well as amassing intelligence about Iran’s nuclear sites.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, the intelligence officials confirmed that Bush had signed a “nonlethal presidential finding” giving the CIA carte blanche to engage in any sabotage activities including a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions in order to destabilize and eventually achieve regime change in Iran.
“I can’t confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime,” said Bruce Riedel, a retired CIA senior official, an expert on Iran and the Middle East (ABCNEWS.com May 22, 2007).
In June 2007, The New Yorker magazine also ran a similar story by Seymour Hersh, confirming that the finding had been signed by Bush and intended to destabilize the Islamic government.
“The Finding was focused on undermining Iran’s nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change,” the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, and involved “working with opposition groups and passing money.”
From an intelligence point of view, the fact that the US government is resorting to covert black operations against Iran rules out the possibility of a military strike against the country.
According to reports, US ambassadors in Islamabad have repeatedly asked for opening a consulate in the province of Baluchistan, a suspicious demand from the US. In 2011, the call was renewed by US ambassador Cameron Munter to Islamabad. Persistence in this demand is to be taken seriously. Baluchistan is strategically important as it is a harbor for the anti-Iran terrorist group Jundullah in the first place and a separatist Pakistani province in the second place.
In fact, Washington greatly favors the establishment of a ‘Greater Baluchistan’ which would integrate the Baluch areas of Pakistan with those of Iran. Military expert Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters suggests that Pakistan should be broken up, leading to the formation of a separate country: ‘Greater Baluchistan’ or ‘Free Baluchistan’ (June 2006, The Armed Forces Journal). As a result, this would incorporate the Baluch provinces of Pakistan and Iran into a single political entity which can be tailored to suit the interests of Washington.
So it seems that the US harbors two main ulterior motives if this demand is answered. First, it can fulfill its dream of establishing a Greater Baluchistan, consolidate a firm presence in this separatist part of Pakistan and, secondly, it will be in a position to avail itself of this influence to carry out its sabotaging activities within Iran.
Earlier in 2007, the Blotter on ABCNews.com revealed the role of the US government in backing the terrorist Iranian group, which is responsible for a number of gruesome assassinations of Iranian civilians on the Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The terrorist group spares no efforts in sowing the seed of terror in the southern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan and their lust for murder and cruelty knows no remission. The victims the group has so far claimed include many women and children who have become the direct targets of their killing. In July 2010, the group mounted a pair of suicide attacks on a major Shi’ite mosque in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan Province, killing dozens of worshippers and wounding over 100 people.
Although US officials deny any ‘direct funding’ of the terrorist group, they acknowledge that they are in contact with the leader of the group on a regular basis. A similar terroristic attack was launched by the same group on a mosque in Zahedan in May 2009, which led to the martyrdom of many worshippers.
Sadly enough, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) implicitly supports the group and reportedly shelters some of its high-profile members in coordination with the CIA.
Isn’t it paradoxical that Jundullah, a terrorist group and an offshoot of al-Qaeda, is directly funded by the US government which keeps bandying about its so-called ‘war on terror’ in the world?
This is enough to cause the US to hang its head low in shame and humility.
– Ismail Salami is an Iranian author and political analyst. A prolific writer, he has written numerous books and articles on the Middle East. His articles have been translated into a number of languages.
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NATO Continues Training Iraqi Federal And Oil Police
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
October 27, 2011
NTM-I and UN Assistance Mission for Iraq strengthen their relationship
Baghdad, Iraq: Deputy Commander of NATO Training Mission – Iraq (NTM-I) Maj. Gen. Giovanni Armentani met with United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General (political) Mr. Jerzy Skuratowicz, as well as police and military advisors at UNAMI Headquarters on 26 October 2011.
During the meeting, Maj. Gen. Armentani and Mr. Skuratowicz discussed the current activities and plans of their organizations, and the increasing importance of providing political advice to Iraqi Institutions…Maj. Gen. Armentani also stressed that Human Rights and Rule of Law education formed an integral component of training provided by NTM-I to the Iraqi Federal and Oil Police. Senior representatives also agreed to work on the possibility of UNAMI delegate participation in the next Joint Committee for Future Training, which will meet in January 2012.
At the end of meeting, Maj. Gen. Armentani and Mr. Skuratowicz agreed to develop closer coordination between NTM-I and UNAMI, and to continue to strengthen relations in the future.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I) was established in 2004…The aim of NTM-I is to assist in the development of Iraqi security forces training structures and institutions…
NTM-I…is a distinct training mission, under the political control of NATO’s North Atlantic Council. Its operational emphasis is on training and mentoring. The activities of the mission are coordinated with Iraqi authorities and the Office for Security and Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I) Chief, who is also dual-hatted as the Commander of NTM-I. NATO has an enduring commitment to Iraq.
NTM-I advises and supports the Defence University for Military Studies, National Defence College, War College, and the Defence Language Institute with the other institutions in Baghdad. Other cooperation projects for NATO in Iraq are out-of-country training courses for Iraqi nationals at NATO schools as well as the Iraqi Police (Iraqi Federal Police and Oil Police) training led by Italian Carabinieri.
Currently, NTM-I is a small tactical force of NATO/PfP personnel, representing 13 member nations (as of October 2011): Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine (Partner for Peace), UK, USA.
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Canada To Spend Nearly Half Billion Dollars On U.S. Military Satellites
Ottawa to spend up to $477M on U.S. military satellites
By Lee Berthiaume
-”After Afghanistan and Libya, our efforts in those two countries have proven that the exchange of information between headquarters and deployed elements is critical to modern military operations and their success,” said Daniel Blouin, a spokesman for Canada’s Department of National Defence.
-The federal government is looking to create a two-satellite system over the Arctic to provide Canada with improved military communication services and aid in defence operations.
OTTAWA: The federal government is planning to spend as much as $477-million to participate in a U.S.-led military satellite program that has been subject to delays and cost overruns over the past decade, Postmedia News has learned.
The Wideband Global Satellite system has been advertised by the U.S. Defense Department as a communications system for “U.S. warfighters, allies and coalition partners during all levels of conflict, short of nuclear war.”
The idea is to have as many as nine military satellites hovering over different parts of the world, ready to provide high-frequency bandwidth for U.S. and allied forces wherever they may be operating.
Daniel Blouin, a spokesman for Canada’s Department of National Defence, said the Canadian Forces has identified improved communication capabilities as a necessity.
“After Afghanistan and Libya, our efforts in those two countries have proven that the exchange of information between headquarters and deployed elements is critical to modern military operations and their success,” Blouin said.
“So, in order to meet that intent…we’re seeking out an agreement with international allies that will provide Canadian forces with access to an international constellation of satellites.”
If Canada does join the Wideband Global Satellite System, or WGS, it will be the latest ally to get onboard the project.
Australia agreed in 2007 to contribute more than $800 million US to pay for the sixth satellite in return for a portion of the system’s overall bandwidth. New Zealand, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands also have expressed interest.
Several weeks ago, Cabinet gave Defence Minister Peter MacKay permission to pay up to $477-million to ensure Canadian participation.
…
The federal government is looking to create a two-satellite system over the Arctic to provide Canada with improved military communication services and aid in defence operations.
Blouin said the Polar Communications and Weather Mission may complement the WGS, which does not cover the High Arctic, but the two systems are separate.
The U.S. military’s intention to secure allied participation in the WGS is no secret.
“Our close ally Australia has bought into the system, and the [U.S.] Air Force is in the final phases of developing similar arrangements with several other allies,” Gregory Schulte, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, told a conference in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 4.
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The second satellite, positioned over the Middle East and Afghanistan, was declared operational in June 2009 and the third, placed over the Atlantic Ocean, in March 2010.
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The assessment also says the cost per satellite has increased 27.2 per cent, and the overall project is 39.5 per cent above budget projections.
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The program is now expected to cost more than $3.5 billion US. The U.S. military has asked Congress for $469 million US for the WGS for the coming fiscal year alone.
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Liberal defence critic John McKay said he was worried about handing too much control over Canadian capabilities to the U.S.
“The thing that comes to mind immediately is the vulnerabilities that come with sharing your sovereignty with the Americans, which is essentially what you’re doing,” he said.
By participating in such a program, he said, there’s a risk of making Canada more likely to become involved in future U.S. military operations.
NATO said Friday a roadside blast has killed one of its service members in southern Afghanistan.
The international coalition did not give any other details.
Separately, Afghan officials said Friday Taliban insurgents have killed an Afghan interpreter in an attack on a U.S.-run base in Kandahar city.
NATO says five service members, a U.S. contractor and two Afghan security guards were wounded in the attack that began Thursday.
At least three armed militants fired shots at the base from a nearby building. The interior ministry said two of the attackers were killed by security forces.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said the assault continued for several hours, with the attackers also firing rocket-propelled grenades at the base.
The Kandahar base is home to NATO troops and a provincial reconstruction team.
A nearby road was blocked as security forces worked to defuse explosives found in vehicles parked near the base.
Agence France-Presse/Radio Netherlands
October 27, 2011
Obama to visit Australia’s far north
US President Barack Obama will become the first sitting US president to visit Australia’s Northern Territory next month, the White House said on Thursday.
Obama will visit Darwin after making a previously announced address to the Australian parliament in Canberra during his one night stay in Australia, a trip that has been postponed twice under the pressure of US domestic politics.
The president’s visit on November 16 and 17 will mark the 60th anniversary of the military alliance between Australia and the United States and stress an increasing US diplomatic and military focus on the Pacific region.
Obama will travel to the Indonesian resort island of Bali following Australia for the East Asia summit and will begin his visit by hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit (APEC) in his native Hawaii.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
October 27, 2011
Ten years of Operation Active Endeavour
Naples: “On 26 October 2001 – ten years ago today – Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) was formally activated. It was a clear and solid demonstration of NATO’s resolve and solidarity…,” said Vice Admiral Rinaldo VERI, Commander Allied Maritime Command Naples and Commander OAE…
The activation followed the 12 September implementation of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty following the 11 September Terrorist attacks against the United States. For the first time in NATO’s history, Alliance assets were deployed in support of Article 5 operations. NATO contributed Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft (AWACS) to the United States and also deployed elements of its Standing Naval Forces to the Eastern Mediterranean. AWACS provided air surveillance and early warning capability by transmitting data to command and control centres on land, sea and in the air. The Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED), which was participating in Exercise Destined Glory 2001 off the southern coast of Spain, was re-assigned in order to provide an immediate NATO military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.
There have been significant milestones in the development of OAE. These include the 29 April 2003 decision to begin boarding operations…
On 16 March 2004, NATO announced the extension of the Area of Operations to the whole Mediterranean and that EAPC/PfP Partners, Mediterranean Dialogue countries and other selected nations would be asked to support OAE.
Furthermore at the NATO Summit in Istanbul, on 28 June 2004, the Alliance decided to enhance Operation Active Endeavour, including through the contributory support of partner countries, including the Mediterranean Dialogue countries…
The first flagship of OAE was HMS Chatham and since then numerous surface and sub-surface assets have rotated through the Operation. (HMS Chatham was flagship of STANAVFORMED which then also comprised FGS Bayern, frigate, Germany; HS Formion, destroyer, Greece; ITS Aliseo, frigate, Italy; HNLMS Van Nes, frigate, The Netherlands; SPS Santa Maria, frigate, Spain; TCG Giresun, frigate, Turkey; USS Elrod, frigate, US.)
Today the SNMG2 flagship, TCG ORUCREIS along with FGS SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN is patrolling the Mediterranean Sea in support of OAE.
Building on the experience acquired over the years, OAE has become largely network-based and has developed a considerable Maritime Situational Awareness through the use of modern tracking and analysis technologies. It also benefits enormously from cooperation with non-NATO contributing nations. However, surge operations remain an integral part of OAE…in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to Vice Admiral Veri: “The ship remains at the centre of NATO’s presence in the Mediterranean but it is what lies behind and supports this presence which is now so very impressive. Networking both in the sense of NATO networking with other countries and organisations, as well as in the sense of computer and digital networks, gives me a vision of the Area of Operations that just wasn’t there for the first commander of OAE. And although they are two distinct operations, the situational awareness that OAE has given me has been of enormous use during the maritime operations carried out in Operation Unified Protector.”
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Berlin: NATO Chief Discusses Global Operations, Chicago Summit
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
October 27, 2011
NATO Secretary General discusses NATO operations in Berlin
-The Secetary General praised the reforms conducted by Germany in order to make its armed forces leaner, more capable and more deployable.
The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Berlin on Thursday, 27 October and met with Chancellor Angela Merkel in order to discuss Alliance operations and preparations for the summit to be held in Chicago next year.
The Secretary General thanked the Chancellor particularly for Germany’s commitment to NATO’s operations in Afghanistan and in Kosovo.
“Your troops are doing a magnificent job”, the Secretary General said. “I saw that for myself recently in Kosovo. Over the past 12 years, KFOR, now led by Germany, has helped turned one of Europe’s hotspots into a largely peaceful place. And we will not allow recent tensions to turn back the clock.”
The Secretary General noted that Germany is the third largest troop contributor to NATO’s ISAF operation in Afghanistan.
…
The Secretary General also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle and with Minister of Defence Thomas de Maizière.
During his meetings, the Secretary General also discussed how to make sure that the Alliance remains flexible and effective in order to counter modern challenges. The Secetary General praised the reforms conducted by Germany in order to make its armed forces leaner, more capable and more deployable.
“The reforms show that Germany is committed to spending better on defence, even when we may not be able to spend more”, the Secretary General said. “This is what I call Smart Defence and it will be a key item on the agenda for our summit in Chicago next May.”
In Berlin the Secretary General also addressed the NATO Review Conference organised by the German Foundation SWP.
…
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New Maginot Line: Top U.S. Cyberwarrior Stresses Integration With Allies
Cyber Defense Requires Teamwork, Agility, Alexander Says
By Donna Miles
-“We are the guys who helped create the Internet. We are the ones that built that. We ought to be the first ones to secure it.”
WASHINGTON: The commander of U.S. Cyber Command called for increased collaboration among the government, industry and America’s allies in developing more defensible networks to confront escalating global cyber threats.
Current network security protections aren’t nimble enough to defend against the exploding number of threats, Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander told government, academic and private-sector professionals yesterday at the Security Innovation Network’s Showcase 2011 conference here.
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“It’s like the Maginot Line,” Alexander explained, referring to the fortifications France built along its border with Germany after World War I with hopes of preventing another cross-border attack. Germany responded during World War II by doing the unexpected: attacking instead through the Ardennes Forest.
“That’s the same thing that happens in your network,” Alexander said, noting in cyberspace adversaries have “all the advantages.” They can scan networks, he said, and identify what software is being run, and pounce when they identify a vulnerability.
“That’s the dynamic we have to change,” Alexander said.
“We are the guys who helped create the Internet. We are the ones that built that. We ought to be the first ones to secure it.”
The White House’s International Strategy for Cyberspace and Defense Department strategy represent a start in that direction, Alexander said. But he emphasized that developing more defensible systems isn’t something the Defense Department or any other entity can do alone.
It requires government agencies working as a team, he said, while also working with industry and U.S. allies and partners.
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Alexander cited the explosion of network communications around the world. As of March 31, 30 percent of the world population had access to the Internet. During 2010, 107 trillion emails were sent – that’s 294 billion per day. By 2015, he said, it’s predicted that there will be twice as many Internet devices as people on the planet.
Such growth, the general said, has created vulnerabilities which leave no sector immune – from hackings at well-respected companies such as Nasdaq, RSA Security and Booz Allen Hamilton to denial-of-service attacks in ***Estonia, Georgia*** and elsewhere.
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[A] pilot program in which the Defense Department shares classified threat intelligence with industry is helping to increase military cyber defenses and preventing enemy intrusions into other sensitive government networks.
Alexander called the Defense Industrial Base Cyber Pilot, launched in partnership with the Homeland Security Department, “a huge step”…
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North Atlantic Council Visit: “Georgia Will Definitely Join NATO”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=24076
Civil Georgia
October 27, 2011
NATO Envoy Speaks of Ties with Georgia
-“In principle the decision is already made by all the [NATO-member states] that Georgia will join NATO,” Baramidze said referring to 2008 NATO Bucharest summit decision.
Tbilisi: The North Atlantic Council (NAC) will hail Georgia’s progress in reforms when this senior decision-making body of NATO visits Tbilisi in two weeks, James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said on October 27.
“This visit by the North Atlantic Council, led by the General Secretary, will be first and foremost a visible sign of commitment the NATO has to our partnership with Georgia,” he said at a joint news conference with Georgian State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Issues Giorgi Baramidze.
NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and diplomats from NATO’s senior decision-making body, North Atlantic Council, will visit Georgia on November 9-10.
“I am quite sure that President Saakashvili and the leadership of the country will hear from the North Atlantic Council that they are very positive on the reform progress that Georgia has achieved over the past year,” said Appathurai, who is in Tbilisi to prepare the upcoming visit.
…
Appathurai said he would not start speculating on what might happen during the NATO summit in Chicago in May, 2012 and whether it would be possible or not for Georgia to receive a Membership Action Plan. He, however, said that the Chicago summit would reaffirm “very clearly” the decision of the 2008 Bucharest summit that Georgia would one day join the Alliance.
He said that NATO’s assessment of Georgia’s implementation of its Annual National Programme (ANP) was in overall positive. ANP, a mechanism of cooperation introduced in December 2008, outlines reform targets; it is drawn by the Georgian government and reviewed annually by NATO. The document is not publicly available. Appathurai said that progress in reforms would create “a positive environment” for taking next steps in NATO-Georgia relations.
Giorgi Baramidze, the Georgian state minister for Euro-Atlantic integration issues, said that because of progress in reforms Georgia “deserves” to be granted “a serious step forward” on its path of NATO integration.
He, however, also said that Georgia already had all the necessary mechanisms with NATO – Annual National Programme and NATO-Georgia Commission – required for the country to carry out reforms in order to prepare for membership.
Referring to the Membership Action Plan (MAP), which Georgia was not granted at NATO’s 2008 Bucharest summit, Baramidze said that “the name of the mechanism does not matter.”
“What matters is what we are doing; what matters is that Georgia’s democratic institutions are being upgraded to NATO standards,” Baramidze said, adding that skepticism of some countries towards Georgia’s NATO integration is related to the timeframe and not to the principle itself.
“In principle the decision is already made by all the [NATO-member states] that Georgia will join NATO,” Baramidze said referring to 2008 NATO Bucharest summit decision.
He said that bar set for Georgia “is higher” than it was for other aspirant countries, “but this bar is not so high not to overcome it.”
“There should not be inadequate expectations about NATO accession. But there should not be frustration either, because Georgia will definitely join NATO. It will take not too much time, but not too little time either. It will take several years; we have to pass upcoming elections [in next two years] and after that the process becomes easier. We are focused on reforms,” Baramidze said.
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U.S. Troops Lead 200 Bulgarian Counterparts In Jump Exercise
Joint jumpmasters soar in sky with Bulgarian armed forces
by Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria: A successful personnel drop starts with proper preparation and that can only be accomplished through practice.
With the help of one Airman from the 435th Contingency Response Group, four Soldiers and two sailors, more than 200 Bulgarian armed forces members took a dive out of a C-130J Super Hercules.
According to Staff Sgt. Myron Austin, a jumpmaster for the 435th CRG, nothing else compares to it.
“Most people don’t want to do it; for me, it’s something different,” said Austin. “Being in a unit like the CRG, provides me an airborne capability that I wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise.”
With the conclusion of Operation Thracian Fall 2011, Austin has been involved in four exercises and operations involving coalition and fellow armed services jumps…
After the two weeks of the OTF11 jumps were complete, five of the Army jumpmasters came back to the jump site to for some on-the-job training with the Bulgarian parajumpers.
…
The 435th CRG played an integral part of accomplishing the training, from the drop-zone team who set up the area where the jumpers land, to gathering the available jumpmasters from the Kaiserslautern Military Community, including the Navy and Army.
As the lead airborne planner, gathering those jumpmasters was Austin’s main objective before the operation started.
Quest for global democracy may backfire on US
By Aaron Adams
-Washington must ask itself which it values more: promoting democracy around the world, or its empire. Burdened by massive deficits while paying for an already overstretched military, it would be the height of folly for the US to assume it can always have both.
It is a basic assumption among US political leaders that a democratic China would only contribute to maintaining the US-led international order. But this logic stems from the belief first, that the wishes of the Chinese people would be consistent with the security goals of the United States, and second, that democratic governments are inherently peaceful. Yet the US insistence that Western-style democracy is a panacea for world conflict will ultimately undermine international stability as well as US national interests.
In their book, Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go To War (2005), and their earlier journal articles, such as “Democratization and the Danger of War,” Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder presented extensive research to prove that states transitioning from authoritarianism to democracy have been twice as likely to go to war. More importantly for China, they found that when great powers have democratized almost every one of them “has gone on the warpath during the initial phase of its entry into the era of mass politics.” A key reason, the authors observed, is that leaders of democratizing nations have more incentives to exploit nationalist passions to win elections.
Belief among Americans that the triumph of democracy in China would solve our two countries’ foreign policy differences also stems from the assumption that any desire on the part of everyday Chinese citizens for a more assertive foreign policy is a fabrication by the Communist Party of China.
This misconception marred US press coverage of the reaction of the Chinese people to the 1999 bombing of their embassy in Belgrade. Sinologist Peter Hayes Gries noted that “a brief review of major US editorials (during the demonstrations in China) reveals a consensus view: The Chinese people are not angry with America; they were, rather, manipulated by Communist propaganda.”
A typical example appeared in the Boston Globe, attributing the outrage in the streets of China to “state-supervised anger that had no constituency among the majority of the Chinese people.” The American press also failed to give any credit to the Chinese government for its role in calming public passions and bringing the riots under control.
As many Chinese know already, the cautious realists that lead their nation are a model of restraint, considering the temptations of popular nationalism in a rising power, particularly one that has grievances over unresolved historical injustices and current US policies. If the leadership in Beijing had to constantly cater to the latest poll numbers, China’s foreign policy would be far more hawkish and far less patient.
Popular nationalism and frustration with China’s current and past treatment on the world stage are not the invention of China’s leaders, but originate from the concerns of the people.
A survey of Chinese social science professors, published in the academic journal Asian Perspectives in 2006, asked what the main reasons were for the revival of nationalism in their country. The most popular answer, chosen by 53 percent of respondents, was that the rise of nationalism was a defensive reaction to both the West’s viewing China as a threat and Japan’s overall refusal to apologize for the commission of past war crimes, such as the Nanjing Massacre.
Although China’s current policy of a “peaceful rise” is arguably best for China’s long-term interests, it does not poll as well among the Chinese people as an aggressive foreign policy. Huanqiu.com conducted a survey last June of over 23,000 Chinese citizens, asking how they wanted their government to resolve the South China Sea disputes. 80 percent favored resolving the issue through military action, while only 18 percent supported the current cautious foreign policy.
If, in such an environment, electoral politics were to dictate foreign policy, China’s leaders could attempt to tap into nationalist sentiment by outbidding each other with ever more strident proposals for resolving the Taiwan or South China Sea issues.
By lending money to the US at generous interest rates, China has made itself a critical part of US attempts to recover from the current financial crisis. In a democracy, the expressed will of the Chinese people might favor halting new loans to the US, and instead, spending China’s $2 trillion surplus to become a dominant military power, as the authors of Unhappy China, a runaway best-seller, advocated. If this were the outcome, would the US still cheer the arrival of Chinese democracy?
Washington must ask itself which it values more: promoting democracy around the world, or its empire. Burdened by massive deficits while paying for an already overstretched military, it would be the height of folly for the US to assume it can always have both.
The author is a researcher with the history department of the University of Washington.
Like dominoes they are falling: Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. Even al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was taken out in a surprise ambush by US special forces at his secret hideout inside of nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Since its first act of aggression on the territory of a sovereign state (on February 28, 1994, NATO aircraft shot down four jets in the Bosnian War) each successive NATO operation is revealing an increasingly disturbing trend: the leaders of the condemned countries are meeting violent, even barbaric ends. Has the rule of law taken a back seat in NATO’s global juggernaut?
Compare the ‘natural’ death of Slobodan Milosevic, former President of Serbia and Yugoslavia, with that of the grisly murder of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Shortly after the end of the Yugoslavian War, which saw a massive NATO aerial bombardment that lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999, Milosevic was sent to The Hague to stand trial for charges of war crimes. Milosevic surprised his accusers by deciding to represent himself in the five-year trial. The case, however, abruptly ended without a verdict when the former four-term leader died of an apparent heart attack.
Although NATO’s participation in the Yugoslav War was flawed from the start (it did not have the full support of the UN Security Council), at least Milosevic was treated to a semblance of civilized legal procedure and decorum. Incidentally, Yugoslavia filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice against ten NATO member countries (Belgium, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United States). The Court did not decide upon the case, however, because it ruled that Yugoslavia was not a member of the UN during the war.
NATO’s next violation of international law occurred in Iraq, where the United States led a wild goose chase in the hunt for weapons of mass destruction, which failed to materialize.
The Bush administration was then obliged to change its mission statement in Iraq to “democracy building” – an interesting concept from a man who entered the White House due to his selection by a right-leaning Supreme Court, as opposed to his election by We the People.
Meanwhile, Iraq President Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a hole in Tikrit, whereupon he was treated to the humiliation of a medical examination in full view of media cameras. It was a nice gesture, but Hussein was ultimately hanged on Dec. 30, 2006 by the Iraqi interim government. Many observers questioned why the Baathist leader was not granted a ‘fair trial’ at the ICC as opposed to a show trial arranged by his political opponents.
That brings us to Libya, where the world was just treated to ghastly images of Muammar Gaddafi being torn apart by a wild mob moments after his capture. Not only does this barbaric execution – the autopsy revealed Gaddafi died from a gunshot wound to the head – speak volumes about what the future holds for this North African nation (which was doing fairly well for itself with free healthcare and education before the civil war began) it shows exactly how callous NATO has become in its coordination of these jolly little wars.
Although NATO was the primary firepower behind the Libyan opposition’s victory, it did nothing to protect Muammar Gaddafi and ensure that he received a fair trial at the ICC. This was in its power. NATO could have made specific demands on Libya’s opposition that it wanted Gaddafi taken alive. But, possibly not wanting a replay of another highly publicized international trial (ala Slobodan Milosevic), NATO even attacked Gaddafi’s caravan as it was attempting to flee from Sirte. The United Nations resolution never mentioned NATO taking sides in the civil war. It only mentioned that the western military bloc was empowered to “protect civilians.”
Commenting on Gaddafi’s demise, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 85, denounced NATO for its role in the overthrow of Libyan leader, saying the “brutal military alliance has become the most perfidious instrument of repression the history of humanity has known.”
Castro also expressed indignation at the killing of Gaddafi and the subsequent treatment of his body, which he said was “kidnapped and exhibited like a trophy of war, a conduct that violates the most elemental principles of Muslim norms and other religious beliefs.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called images of Gaddafi being beaten by the mob “disgusting.”
The killing of Gaddafi was not the first time that a wanted individual received what could best be described as barbaric treatment at the hands of his enemies.
As horrible as al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was, what did the US forces who killed him at his ‘secret’ hideout in Pakistan have to gain by not taking him out alive? By all accounts, bin Laden was unarmed and offered no resistance during the much-hyped gunfight. After his summary execution, his body was dumped into the sea, yet flying him back to Afghanistan alive would have been a much shorter trip. And imagine all the secrets bin Laden took to his grave!
Yes. Osama bin Laden was suspected of committing terrible crimes, but what did his enemies gain by killing him and then disposing of his body in a way that would only further enrage his followers? The answer is simple: nothing.
When will NATO and its member states begin to behave better than their avowed enemies?
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Bodies Of 267 Libyan Loyalists Found In Sirte Mass Graves
http://en.ria.ru/world/20111027/168149469.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 27, 2011
Bodies of 267 Gaddafi loyalists found in Sirte
The bodies of 267 people have been found buried in mass graves in Sirte…Fox News said.
Most of the dead were supporters of Gaddafi and had been executed, Fox News reported late on Wednesday citing a Red Cross source who spoke with an online Libyan newspaper.
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The discovery of mass graves in Sirte and its surroundings comes a day after Gaddafi and one of his sons were buried at a secret location in the Libyan desert.
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Bacchanal of Blood: Putin Condemns World Media’s Coverage Of Gaddafi Killing
http://en.rian.ru/world/20111026/168144832.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 26, 2011
Putin condemns footage showing Gaddafi death
MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday condemned the way world media covered the death of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
“Nearly the entire Gaddafi family was killed. His corpse was shown on all world TV channels. It’s impossible to look at it without disgust!” Putin said at a meeting of the coordination council of the All-Russian People’s Front.
Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, died shortly after being captured alive by National Transitional Council fighters near his hometown of Sirte last week.
Putin said journalists should be aware of what they are doing when they show such footage.
“Inside of their community, people should realize what they are doing and bear moral responsibility,” he said.
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Might Is Right: Libya, New NATO Model For Syria And Beyond
Media worldwide have been bent on speculation since Colonel Gaddafi was dragged out of a drainpipe and met a violent end: the killing of Gaddafi would send shivers down the spine of Syria’s al-Assad regime.
This coincided with the tit-for-tat ambassador withdrawal between Damascus and Washington.
The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria on October 24 over “fears for his safety” in the face of what the U.S. said was a growing campaign of incitement against him being orchestrated by the Syrian regime.
The Syrian government gave a quick response the same day, ordering home its envoy to Washington for the sake of consulting on its relations with Washington, actually raising the diplomatic stakes.
With NATO operations in Libya coming to an end, which is said to conclude on October 31, some NATO members somewhat suggested Syria could be the next target.
France, which started the air strikes on Libya, is currently pushing for the UN to take “responsibilities” and sanction the “bloody repression” in Syria.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe was cited as saying, “France is asking the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities and [enforce] sanction[s against] the bloody repression.”
“I hope we will soon reach an agreement on multilateral action that can step up pressure on the Syrian regime,” Juppe said.
U.S. vice-president, Joe Biden, last week triggered the speculation by saying that the military model used in Libya – US air power in support of rebels on the ground backed by French and British special forces – could be used elsewhere.
Further, U.S. senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain has also hinted that there is a real chance of intervention in Syria.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum, he said: “Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria.”
It seems that NATO, especially the U.S., finally relished and so cherished the rare victorious fruit from its battle fronts on foreign soils, and Libya acts as an outlandish model which has satisfied the appetite of the powers involved for the unchallenged position of super-military might, as well as its logic: Might is Right.
But, whether or not NATO would recalibrate its focus upon Syria is not merely a question of its willingness and ambition to sweep away all the “anti-West regimes”, but more of a question whether or not the Libya military model could be replicated elsewhere, and how far the proxy war can go.
At least, one thing needs pondering: To launch operations is to “protect civilian lives” from “bloody repression”, but is “friendly casualties” – civilians killed through mistaken bombing, accident and negligence – any less bloody?
Riyadh: On a recent visit to Jordan, US Republican Senator John McCain stopped short of referring to striking Syria by US or NATO, but said, “there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered” against President Bashar Assad’s regime.
McCain said that military action to protect civilians in Syria might be considered now that NATO’s air campaign in Libya is ending.
The US seem to be having a very busy schedule. It started with Afghanistan, then it moved to Iraq, followed by Libya and now eying Syria with the intention of having a go at Iran too. The senator, who is a Vietnam War veteran, has said, “No issue unifies the American people more than the need to protect our friends, our allies — Israel — from the comprehensive threat posed by the Iranian regime.” It looks that the US will never get fed up with war; in short, it has become a pastime for it. However, all these wars are fought not to protect its own borders but thousands of miles away in foreign countries.
The excuse being fighting a “threat to American security”! In the meantime, one wonders why it does not worry about the Yemeni people as much as it worried about the Libyans and the Syrians. The region has become a happy hunting ground for the warmongers because of the two impotent organizations, namely the Arab League and the OIC in which these affected or threatened countries are members.
-If the West launches a war in Syria, it probably will have to pay a price that is much higher than the price it had paid for the Libyan War. The war probably will even turn into a blasting fuse and lead the entire Middle East into irremediable chaos.
The U.S. State Department recently withdrew its ambassador in Syria Robert Ford because of serious concerns about his personal safety.
It seems that the recent changes of situations are proving that Syria will be the next Libya. Since Qaddafi was killed, the contradictions between the United States and Syria have been intensifying. Both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors. As the U.S. ambassador in Syria was being withdrawn, the severity of United Sates’ accusations against Syria is also escalating. John McCain, a senator of the Republican Party of the United States, said that Syria is a focal point of the United States’ attention and the military operation is an option for the United States.
According to the current situations faced by Syria, including the sanctions and intimidations from the United States, United Kingdom, France and other countries and the prepared Syrian rebels, it seems that Bashar al-Assad will be the next Qaddafi.
Though it may not have the same natural resources as Libya, Syria is important for its strategic geographic position. If the West launches a war in Syria, it probably will have to pay a price that is much higher than the price it had paid for the Libyan War. The war probably will even turn into a blasting fuse and lead the entire Middle East into irremediable chaos. Therefore, it is a gamble for the West to launch a war in Syria, and it is uncertain that whether the West will win or not.
Some media agencies and experts said that the losses were greater than gains in the Libya war. Particularly, the serious injury and death of the long-term leader Muammar Qaddafi have enabled some countries to see through many things. Syrian President Bashar Assad has perhaps been very impressed with Qaddafi’s suffering just before and after his death. The miserable end of Qaddafi will only make Assad tougher.
The death toll in the Libya war has reached at least 30,000. If a war takes place in Syria, Assad, who is clearly aware of the consequences of failure, will perhaps take lessons from Qaddafi and try all means to fight the opposition. Such a mindset would likely result in a higher number of deaths and injuries related to the Syria war.
Syria has a far stronger military than Libya. Syria’s military is the strongest in the Arab world. If Assad resolves to fight to the end, the Syria war will be crueler than the Libya war, with more deaths and a longer duration.
At the same time, al-Assad may make the desperate move of attacking Israel. According to a report by the Israel-based Jerusalem Post in July, the Israeli intelligence agency found that the Syrian military was conducting unusual troop movements in border areas and might launch long-range ballistic missiles toward Israel. Israel said that Syria might want to distract domestic and international attention by fighting a war with Israel.
…
If a war in Syria occurs, blood, violence, and chaos will again become key buzzwords in the Middle East and North Africa. Under current circumstances, a Syrian war would cost Western powers dearly, and it would be an unwise move and a risky gamble to launch such a war.
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Oakland Versus Damascus: Time For No-Fly Zone Over U.S.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/27/59455904.html
Voice of Russia
October 27, 2011
Damascus, Oakland and further on…
Boris Volkhonsky
-In the end, the only type of measures the U.S. establishment seems to resort to is teargas. But then, who can tell in what way Oakland is different from Damascus? And won’t this become a habitual practice for the governments of the “civilized” world to handle whatever challenges they may face in future?
“If Occupy Oakland was in Damascus, the U.S. State Department would be telling Wolf Blitzer (a famous CNN journalist and TV show host. – BV) how unacceptable it was to teargas peaceful marchers,” The Huffington Post writes citing a Twitter blogger.
In fact, what started as a marginal event and a kind of theatrical performance staged by a few dozen activists in New York some six weeks ago, has now grown into a global phenomenon no one can put a blind eye to. Protesters are marching in all major U.S. cities and all over Western Europe. Politicians are making conflicting remarks on the “Occupy” movement. Still, the exact goals of the protesters and a possible outcome of the protests remain unclear.
It is clear what they are against – the corporate greed, the unevenness of the public wealth’s distribution, the corrupt legal authorities and governing structures that have proved their complete impotence in the face of the crisis that erupted in 2008, but is far from being over yet.
It is even less clear what reaction is to be expected from local authorities confronting a phenomenon unheard-of in major Western nations since 1968. The recent events in Oakland, where the police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, show that the U.S. authorities are not too different in their methods than the much-condemned rulers of Syria. Some blame what happened in Oakland on Mayor Jean Quan, stating that was just an excess of zeal. But while the protests are gaining momentum, many more U.S. mayors might be ready to follow Ms. Quan’s example. At least, according to “Occupy Arrests” Twitter feed, there have already been more than 2,500 arrests world-wide, associated with the Occupy movement. How many are to follow?
The funny thing (if anything can be funny about the use of teargas) is that several weeks ago Jean Quan herself marched with the protesters – in line with Democratic Party policies to position the Occupy movement as a left-wing counter-balance to the Tea Party on the right. But despite the deep political distinction between the two, there is one thing they do have in common – that is, a complete distrust in the existing governing system.
The mistrust of the government is clearly demonstrated by all the latest polls. President Barack Obama enjoys the low rating of 46 percent. A slight consolation for him might be that the Congress is even less trusted – with only about 9 percent approval.
This trend is developing against the growing popularity of the “Occupy” movement. The latest CBS News/New York Times poll shows that 43 percent of Americans agree with the views of the movement.
As usually happens at crisis times, too many people and institutions seek to use the growing popularity of a public phenomenon they have never been associated with. For example, a married couple in Long Island has filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register a trade mark “Occupy Wall Street”, seeing a potential of it becoming a global trend.
This only reminds of one the early 2000s, when Osama bin Laden’s portrait was printed on thousands of T-shirts in countries like Pakistan.
Osama bin Laden remained the most dreaded terrorist despite the fact that his face was looking out from T-shirts. Likewise, the “Occupy” movement still remains a growing trend and a growing threat to the establishment, while the establishment itself seems not to know how to handle it.
In the end, the only type of measures the U.S. establishment seems to resort to is teargas. But then, who can tell in what way Oakland is different from Damascus? And won’t this become a habitual practice for the governments of the “civilized” world to handle whatever challenges they may face in future?
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Venezuela Won’t Recognize Libyan Regime NATO Has Installed
Venezuela’s Chavez says he won’t recognize new government in Libya
CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that he won’t recognize Libya’s new government and predicted more war in the country.
…
“For us, there is no government in Libya,” Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace.
“We don’t recognize the government that NATO has installed. It’s installed a government through bombs in Libya and through a genocide…and an assassination,” Chavez said.
“Independently of who the president was, whether you or others didn’t like him…he was the president of Libya,” Chavez said.
He said the conflict has left behind a shattered country, and he predicted that it isn’t over.
“Libya isn’t under anyone’s control. A war will start there now,” Chavez said. “Well, it already started, imposed by NATO and the United Nations Security Council.”
“They destroyed that country, and now there’s chaos there, violence everywhere,” he added.
…
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Military Partner: NATO Validates Tunisian Election
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
October 24, 2011
NATO Secretary General statement on the Tunisian elections
I congratulate the Tunisian people who participated in the country’s first free and fair elections for the Constituent Assembly. They showed their firm commitment to freedom and democracy. This is a historic achievement for the country that opened the way for the Arab Spring and another important milestone for the whole region.
Tunisia is a valued partner in NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and I look forward to enhancing our partnership.
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Ukraine: NATO Wants To Oversee Legal System, Dictate Verdicts
http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/83658/
Interfax-Ukraine
October 26, 2011
NATO member-states may discuss situation in Ukraine while assessing implementation of annual national plan, says Appathurai
-The official…said that during their work in Ukraine they would hold meetings not only with Ukrainian authorities, but also with representatives of the country’s opposition.
NATO member-states may discuss the latest political developments in Ukraine in the context of the country’s implementation of its annual national program for 2011, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy James Appathurai said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday
The latest political events in Ukraine cannot but cause concern and the alliance has already expressed its position, Appathurai said. He stressed the importance of the observance of the law in Ukraine.
Appathurai didn’t rule out that these issues would be considered by the member-states during the assessment of the implementation of the annual national program for 2011, since it has a political aspect.
“The national annual plan has a section on legal reform – the reform of the judicial system. Thus, I cannot rule out the possibility that it will also be discussed when we put up this issue (the implementation of the annual national plan) for general discussion by the NATO countries,” he said.
The official said that the alliance’s delegation arrived in Ukraine to assess the implementation of the annual national program for 2011. Appathurai recalled that the national program deals with the reforms that Ukraine itself put on the plan.
The official also said that during their work in Ukraine they would hold meetings not only with Ukrainian authorities, but also with representatives of the country’s opposition.
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U.S. Aegis Class Guided Missile Ship Visits Bulgaria
USS Philippine Sea Visits Bulgaria
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gary A. Prill, Navy Public Affairs Support Element-East Detachment Sigonella
BURGAS, Bulgaria: Guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) arrived in Burgas, Oct. 25, for a regularly scheduled port visit as part of U.S. 6th Fleet’s strategy to enhance regional stability in the Black Sea by strengthening maritime partnerships.
During their visit to Burgas, the first by a U.S. Navy ship in 12 years, the crew will host a reception for local military and civilian officials.
“We have a very busy schedule to include a formal dinner with local military and civilian leaders,” said Capt. Stephen Shinego, commanding officer of Philippine Sea…
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Georgian Defense Conference: NATO Agenda From Lisbon To Chicago
On October 27-28 the Georgian Defence and Security Conference will be held at the Radisson Blu Iveria hotel. Georgian and international representatives will discuss the new challenges of the global security sphere, ongoing defence reforms of Georgia and achieved progress at the conference organized by the Ministry of Defence of Georgia…
Duirng two days the participants of the conference will discuss important issues such as the NATO Agenda from Lisbon to Chicago, Georgia’s NATO membership perspectives, the Black Sea Region in the Euroatlantic security dimension, challenges of the security sphere, the ongoing reform in the Georgian defence sphere, main trends in military education, view of civil society and its contribution, democratic control and existing challenges and the way ahead for the ISAF mission.
Along with the forum, the participants of the conference will also hold bilateral meetings with foreign visitors.
10:00 - opening remarks – Vice Prime Minister of Georgia and State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Giorgi Baramidze;
(During 10 minutes photo and video shooting are allowed)
10:45 - Vice Prime Minister of Georgia and State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Giorgi Baramidze meets with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Celeste Wallander;
(At the beginning of the conference cameramen will be allowed only for 3 minutes)
14:30 Minister of Defence of Georgia Bacho Akhalaia meets with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Celeste Wallander.
(At the beginning of the conference cameramen will be allowed only for 3 minutes)
After the end of the meeting, official statements will be made for media.
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U.S., NATO Preside Over Georgia Defense And Security Conference
Tbilisi hosts Georgia`s Defense and Security Conference
The Hotel Radisson is hosting a conference dedicated to defense and security issues in Georgia. The Personal Representative of the NATO Secretary General for the South Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, and the ambassador of the United States to Georgia John Bass are attending the conference along with Georgian authorities.
The conference was opened by the Vice Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Baramidze. But before the beginning of the event, James Appathurai talked to journalists about the goals of the visit.
“This is a defense and security conference and shows the evolution of the strategic culture here in this country. The program will be very interesting and there are a number of very important issues to be addressed. I will have series of bilateral meetings to prepare the important visit coming up which is the visit of the North Atlantic Council led by the Secretary General.
“They are all very much looking forward to this meeting, because they want to do a few things. One is to reconfirm with this visit the commitment of the NATO to out partnership with this country. The principles of our partnership with Georgia have not changed and that includes the Bucharest decisions, which the allies continue to stand by. But we also want to learn more about very substantial reforms carried out by Georgian government,`
Appathurai said and emphasized the significance of Georgia`s participation in the ISAF mission.
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Georgia: NATO Caucasus Representative Prepares Chieftain’s Visit
Appathurai preparing NATO secretary-general’s visit to Georgia
TBILISI: NATO Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai arrived in Tbilisi on Thursday to lay the groundwork for a November visit to Georgia by NATO Council members and the alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Appathurai said that the first thing he would do upon arrival in Tbilisi would be to open an important conference on NATO’s role in security.
The NATO official said he planned to meet with Georgia’s leadership, and the main issue he would discuss at these meetings would be the NATO Secretary General’s upcoming visit.
The Personal Representative of the NATO Secretary General for the South Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, has arrived in Georgia this morning. Within the two-day visit, Appathurai will hold meetings with the Prime Minister, Vice PM and the National Security Secretary. Meetings will be held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs too.
One of the main goals of his second visit to the country is to prepare the upcoming visit of the NATO Secretary General to Georgia.
Appathurai is attending the defense and security conference at the Radisson Blu Iveria at the moment.
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NATO Head’s Visit To Demonstrate Support For Georgia
Special representative: NATO Secretary General’s visit to Tbilisi – display of support for Georgia
N. Kirtskhalia
Tbilisi: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s visit to Tbilisi is a display of the Alliance’s support for Georgia, NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai told journalists in Tbilisi on Thursday.
“Georgia has achieved great successes with its NATO integration, reforming the country, and we recognize this success of Georgia,” he said.
However, Appathurai said Georgia will have to carry the reforms on the democratization of the country and armed forces to completion to meet NATO standards.
“We help Georgia in this matter. In this regard the Georgia-NATO Commission was established and we implement annual programs. All this brings Georgia close to accession to the Alliance,” he said.
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Azerbaijan, Turkey Finalize Caspian-EU Direct Energy Route
http://en.trend.az/capital/viewpoint/1949697.html
Trend News Agency
October 26, 2011
Europe becomes closer to Azerbaijani gas
Trend Agency expert Seymur Aliyev
BAKU: Azerbaijan and Turkey have recently agreed on a package of documents in the gas sector. This has historical importance for these countries, Europe and Caspian Basin countries. In essence, these agreements, including the most important document on gas transit via Turkey, opened a direct route for Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
Moreover, by signing this agreement, Azerbaijan removed the last obstacles to implement several major energy projects, such as the development of the second stage of the giant field Shah Deniz and the construction of major export gas pipelines (Nabucco, ITGI, TAP). However, this agreement will facilitate the implementation of such projects as the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, the development of new gas fields in the Caspian Sea and, especially, in Azerbaijan.
The agreement on gas transit allows Baku to determine the route of transporting gas to Europe. Earlier, the Nabucco, ITGI, and TAP pipelines, included in the Southern Gas Corridor submitted their proposals to the Shah Deniz partners. A route will be chosen in the nearest future. Afterwards, a sanction will be given to implement the Shah Deniz second stage (before the end of this year).
Gas, produced from the field, is considered as the main source for the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor. It is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It intends to diversify the routes and sources of energy supplies and thereby increase EU ***energy security***.
Azerbaijan plans to supply 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe from 2017 within the Shah Deniz 2 project.
Another 6 billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey in addition to 6.6 billion cubic meters within the Shah Deniz first stage of development.
The contract to develop the offshore Shah Deniz field was signed June 4, 1996. Participants in the agreement are: BP (operator) – 25.5 percent, Statoil Hydro – 25.5 percent, NICO – 10 percent, Total – 10 percent, LukAgip – 10 percent, TPAO – 9 percent, SOCAR-10 percent.
Reserves of the Shah Deniz field are estimated at 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Presently gas has been transported to Georgia and Turkey via the South Caucasus gas pipeline.
Peak production at the field is projected at 9 billion cubic meters in the first phase.
According to forecasts, gas production will be brought up to 24 billion cubic meters per year within the second stage of field development.
However, gas supplies to Europe may begin much earlier. Today, Turkey re-exports part of Azerbaijani gas to Greece. The signing of the transit agreement will allow transporting direct gas supplies to this country. There is an agreement between the countries participating in this process.
The transit agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey actually connected Europe and the Caspian region by an energy chain. This agreement opens the way to Europe not only for gas from the Shah Deniz field. Gas from such big Azerbaijani gas fields as Umid, Absheron and other prospective structures may be delivered through this way in the future.
This corridor will also transport natural gas from other countries of the Caspian region.
One can say that after signing the transit agreement, Europe has become even closer to Azerbaijan. Brussels is closer to Baku. It is explained by the necessity to diversify energy supplies to the EU to ensure energy security. This is also explained by the fact that Azerbaijan is the only real supplier of natural gas in this direction today. It has large proven gas reserves worth 2.6 billion cubic meters.
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http://en.trend.az/capital/energy/1949881.html
Trend News Agency
October 26, 2011
Shah Deniz partners hail signing of gas agreements package between Azerbaijan and Turkey
BAKU: The partners in the development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field welcome the signing of an agreement to purchase Azerbaijani gas, its transit and an intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey signed on Oct. 25, BP-Azerbaijan Foreign Relations Department head Tamam Bayatli told Trend on Wednesday.
“The signed agreements will contribute to BP and its partners’ efforts on the development of the Shah Deniz field, making a final investment decision on the implementation of the second phase of its development, as well as the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor projects,” Bayatli said.
She said the signing of these documents will allow the Shah Deniz consortium to continue choosing a pipeline for gas export to Europe, as well as approve agreement on gas sale with potential buyers.
The transit agreement is necessary for the implementation of projects of Azerbaijani gas transportation to Europe within the Southern Gas Corridor.
The gas produced during the second stage of Shah Deniz field development is regarded as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Within Shah Deniz-2 project, Azerbaijan is planning to deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe.
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EU Holds Talks With Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan On Trans-Caspian Pipeline
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=158229
Azeri Pres Agency
October 27, 2011
European Union starts negotiations with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on Trans-Caspian gas pipeline
Victoria Dementieva
Baku: The European Union started negotiations on the legal basis of a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
APA reports that Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said that the first meeting in this framework was held in Brussels: “The first talks were held in the second week of October in Brussels. Representatives of the European Union, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan participated in the negotiations”.
On September 7, the EU approved the mandate given to the European Commission to negotiate an agreement for the legal framework for a Trans-Caspian gas pipeline system with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The Trans-Caspian pipeline is supposed to connect the Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan shores of the Caspian Sea to export gas via Azerbaijan to Europe. The expected annual capacity of the Tengiz (Kazakhstan) Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) Baku (Azerbaijan) Tbilisi (Georgia) Erzurum (Turkey) route amounts to 20-30 billion cubic meters of gas. The cost of the project is estimated at 7.9 billion euros.
On September 13, Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that the realization of Trans-Caspian project was impossible till the determination of the legal status of the Caspian Sea by five Caspian littoral states.
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Eastern Partnership: “South Caucasus Very Important For European Union”
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=158270
Azeri Press Agency
October 27, 2011
Philippe Lefort: “The South Caucasus is very important for the European Union”
Victoria Dementieva
-“Your region has an enormous potential. After the settlement of conflicts, which slows the development of the region, the region’s significance will increase more”.
Baku: “EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton dispalys a great interest in the South Caucasus region, that’s why this region is very important for the European Union”, European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crises in Georgia Philippe Lefort, APA reports.
Lefort recalled that within the Eastern Partnership Summit held recently in Poland, Ashton met with leaders of all three South Caucasus countries: “She plans to visit the region, but the date of the visit is still unknown”.
Lefort said that the EU displayed great interest in the region especially because of the gas export project to Europe: “Your region has an enormous potential. After the settlement of conflicts, which slows the development of the region, the region’s significance will increase more”.
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Azerbaijan Euro-Atlantic Council Conducts Inaugural Meeting
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=158235
Azeri Press Agency
October 27, 2011
Azerbaijan Euro-Atlantic Council holds inaugural meeting
Ramil Mammadli
Baku: The inaugural meeting of Azerbaijan Euro-Atlantic Council has been held today. APA reports that the agenda of the meeting was approved after its official opening. Chairman of the organization’s organizing committee Sulhaddin Akbar delivered a speech. Then the members of inaugural meeting’s chairmanship, editorial staff and counting commission were elected.
The decision was passed after the discussions on inauguration of the council, the organization’s charter was approved after amendments and annexes. The organizing issues were also considered at the meeting. The council’s Board of Directors and Utilization Review Committee were elected. Former Chairman of Musavat Party’s Assembly Sulhaddin Akbar was elected the Chairman of Euro-Atlantic Council.
The Council’s Manifest was adopted at the conference. Then the current issues were considered.
The council was founded by 145 organizations represented in the NGO sector and an individual person.
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Canada, U.S. Jointly Host NATO’s Largest-Ever International Non-Lethal Capabilities Technology Showcase
Canada and U.S. Jointly Host NATO’s Largest Ever International Non-Lethal Capabilities Technology Showcase
OTTAWA, ONTARIO: The 2011 North American Technology Demonstration (NATD) being held at the Ottawa Convention Centre is bringing together a thousand of the world’s leaders in defence and security. NATO’s three-day technology demonstration is hosted jointly by the Department of National Defence (DND) and the United States Department of Defence’s Non-Lethal Weapons Program and is expected to attract military and civilian members from over 30 different countries. The 2011 NATD will showcase non-lethal capabilities that can be acquired and fielded quickly in support of NATO and counter-terrorism operations.
“Non-lethal capabilities provide operating forces with an important capability that reduces casualties and collateral damage, and saves lives in situations where distinguishing between adversaries and innocent civilians is difficult,” said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence. “In hosting this year’s conference, we are injecting over $1.5 million dollars into the Canadian economy.”
Canada is the chairman of the NATO Defence Against Terrorism (DAT) programme of work’s 11th Initiative on non-lethal capabilities. The programme of work for the DAT’s 11th initiative serves to provide NATO forces with better response capabilities that minimize collateral damage.
…
The schedule for the 2011 NATD includes NATO and Allied Working Group Meetings on 25 October, a conference and static display on 26 October, and a dynamic demonstration of non-lethal capabilities on 27 October.
PRT office in Kandahar comes under attack
By Bashir Ahmad Naadem
KANDAHAR CITY: A group of militants attacked the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) office in southern Kandahar on Thursday afternoon, a witness said.
The American PRT office in the Shirkat Miwa area of the 10th police district came under gunfire at 2.30pm from fighters holed up in a house, Basir told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Kandahar deputy police chief, Col. Rahmatullah Atrafi, acknowledged the assault but gave no further details.
A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, said a group of insurgents had launched an attack on a joint Afghan-ISAF base in the area. Qari Yousaf Ahmadi said the armed clash was still ongoing.
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Pakistan Fires Warning Shots At NATO Helicopters In FATA
PESHAWAR: Pakistani officials on Wednesday accused NATO helicopters of violating Pakistan’s airspace over…North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.
“Two helicopters intruded several kilometres inside Pakistan territory in Datta Khel town around 2:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday),” a military official told AFP.
The helicopters flew in from the eastern Afghan province of Paktia and circled the border village of Zoi Nara for more than five minutes, the official in the provincial capital Peshawar said.
…
A Pakistani military official said the choppers left after “warning shots” were fired by Pakistan troops. Officials said they were not attack helicopters.
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Pentagon Strengthens Military Ties With Cambodia, ASEAN
Cambodia’s visit paves way for military cooperation: senior U.S. defense official
PHNOM PENH: The United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, Robert Scher, said Thursday that his two-day visit to Cambodia is fruitful and creates opportunities for the two countries’ future bilateral military cooperation.
“It’s a fruitful visit. I participated in a series of productive meetings with the Cambodian Ministry of Defense and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) to discuss the growing U.S.-Cambodia bilateral defense relationship and how the two countries can continue to make progress together,” he said during a press briefing to conclude his visit.
…
He said that he also had discussions about Cambodia’s objectives as it approaches to take over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2012.
The U.S. Department of Defense is committed to continuing to work with the RCAF to develop a professional force that will contribute to regional and international peace and stability, he said, adding that the United States’ overall commitment is to enhance its engagement in the Asia-Pacific region in the future.
“I’d like to stress that the department is committed to continuing to assist in building up the professional capacity of the RCAF…,” he said.
He said the visit reaffirmed to him the important role that a stable and prosperous Cambodia can and does play within ASEAN and the region.
Oh shame to men! Devil with Devil damn’d
Firm concord holds, men only disagree
Of creatures rational, though under hope
Of Heavenly Grace: and God proclaiming peace,
Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife
Among themselves, and levy cruel wars,
Wasting the earth, each other to destroy:
As if (which might induce us to accord)
Man had not hellish foes enow besides,
That day and night for his destruction wait.
Libya: Clients Want NATO To Stay At Least To End Of Year
Pentagon Chief Panetta: Libya To Be Left To NATO
International Criminal Court: Gaddafi Family To File War Crimes Complaint Against NATO
Russia Accuses U.S. Of Violating International Law
Video And Text: In Praise Of Lynching – U.S. Media On Gaddafi
Fidel Castro: NATO’s Genocidal Role (Part II)
NATO In Libya: From Arab Spring To Sharia Autumn
Video And Text: Charges Of U.S. Enriched-Uranium Weapon Use In Iraq
State Department Acknowledges U.S. Nuclear Superiority Over Russia
Pentagon: Central African Operation Similar To Bosnian, Georgian Ones
Pentagon Pivoting From Middle East To Asia-Pacific
Pentagon to Expand Activities In Asia
Pentagon Chief’s Distorted Account Of Chinese Military
Pakistani Warning Shots Chase Off NATO Helicopters
U.S. Readies THAAD Interceptor Missiles For Deployment
NATO MEADS Missile Interception Launcher Ready For Flight Test
Emirates Seek French Military Satellite, 60 Warplanes Against Iran
Kosovo Serbs Remind German NATO Troops Of Ancestors’ Fate
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Libya: Clients Want NATO To Stay At Least To End Of Year
http://en.rian.ru/world/20111026/168131136.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 26, 2011
Libya interim leader urges NATO to stay till yearend
MOSCOW: Acting Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil has urged NATO to continue its operations in the country until at least the end of 2011, al Jazeera television reported on Wednesday.
Jalil, the head of Libya’s National Transition Council (NTC), was speaking during a conference in Qatar, one of the first countries to recognize the NTC as Libya’s legitimate government.
“We look forward to NATO continuing its operations until the end of the year,” Jalil said.
Last week, following the killing of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, NATO said it would end its operations by October 31.
However, a NATO official said a meeting of the alliance’s ambassadors to formalize the decision, originally set for Wednesday, had been postponed until Friday.
“The Libya discussion has been moved to Friday to accommodate the ongoing consultations with the United Nations and the National Transitional Council,” the NATO official said.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Gaddafi’s relatives told a French radio station the family would take NATO to court over his killing.
NATO to Lead on Libya Ties, Panetta Says
By Elizabeth Bumiller and Martin Fackler
TOKYO: Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta declined on Tuesday to say whether the
United States would have a future military relationship with Libya and instead
said he would take cues from allies in Europe.
“What I would do at this point is leave the decision as to a future security
involvement in the hands of NATO,” Mr. Panetta said. “And then, beyond that,
that will give us a basis on which to determine whether there’s an additional
role that we can play.”
[I]nitial concerns within the Obama administration that the rebels might have
ties to Al Qaeda and other militant groups have for the most part been assuaged.
The United States maintains military ties with many nations around the world,
and also frequently trains foreign militaries.
…
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International Criminal Court: Gaddafi Family To File War Crimes Complaint Against NATO
-”The wilful killing (of someone protected by the Geneva Convention) is defined as a war crime by Article 8 of the ICC’s Rome Statute…”Kadhafi’s homicide shows that the goal of (NATO) member states was not to protect civilians but to overthrow the regime.”
PARIS: Moamer Kadhafi’s family plans to file a war crimes complaint against NATO with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the alliance’s alleged role in his death, the family’s lawyer said Wednesday.
The 69-year-old ex-leader was captured and killed Thursday near the city of Sirte in circumstances that are still unclear, but it has been confirmed NATO aircraft fired on pro-Kadhafi vehicles driving in a convoy from the city.
Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer who previously worked for Kadhafi’s regime and now represents his family, told AFP that a complaint would be filed with the Hague-based ICC because NATO’s attack on the convoy led directly to his death.
“The wilful killing (of someone protected by the Geneva Convention) is defined as a war crime by Article 8 of the ICC’s Rome Statute,” he said.
He said he could not yet say when the complaint would be filed, but said it would target both NATO executive bodies and the leaders of alliance member states.
“Kadhafi’s homicide shows that the goal of (NATO) member states was not to protect civilians but to overthrow the regime,” Ceccaldi said.
“Either the ICC intervenes as an independent and impartial jurisdiction or it doesn’t, in which case force will overrule the law,” he said.
…
International disquiet has grown over how Kadhafi met his end after NTC fighters hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following NATO air strikes on the convoy in which he had been trying to flee his falling hometown.
…
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Russia Accuses U.S. Of Violating International Law
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111026/168132544.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 26, 2011
Moscow accuses Washington of violating international law
MOSCOW: Russia is worried by U.S. violations of international law and UN regulations , Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
Lavrov said that Russia had enough “causes for concern about U.S. activity.”
“Our concern is about the necessity to prevent new violations of the internatioanal law as well as new violations of UN rules,” he added.
Lavrov’s comments come after U.S. House of Representatives speaker John Boehner called on the Obama administration to rethink its approach to Russia, warning that the country was trying “to restore Soviet-style power and influence” and would soon be led by a man who “harbors intense Soviet nostalgia.”
“We realize our concerns not through the lists game, inexplicably loved by the United States, but through outlining direct issues like the ones we put forward during the Libyan conflcit,” Lavrov went on.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry unveiled a list of ‘undesirable’ U.S. officials barred from entry to Russia. Moscow’s move comes after Washington issued in August the ‘Magnitsky blacklist’, a list of Russian officials, implicated in the death of Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Lavrov also urged U.S. officials to discuss issues in the correct format, instead of posting on micro-blogs.
“I can understand the appeal of communication in Twitter, but for expressing official, serious suggestions, other formats are used,” he said.
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Video And Text: In Praise Of Lynching – U.S. Media On Gaddafi
The mainstream US media has reacted to Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal lynching with a tidal wave of cheers and approval, trumpeting the Colonel’s death as the start of a new era for Libya.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the triumphant celebrations of Gaddafi’s death with her immortal line, “We came, we saw, he died!” – words which are sure to be remembered far beyond America’s shores.
Joy at the killing of the killing of the African leader spread like wildfire through the US media.
“It cost us a trillion dollars to get Saddam and a billion dollars to get Gaddafi,” remarked television host Bill Maher.
“And Libya says they’re going to pay back the billion that we spent, too. So it’s going to end up being sort of free for nothing,” cheered the host of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show.
Senator Lindsey Graham gave it to us straight:
“Let’s get in on the ground, there is a lot of money to be made in the future in Libya, there is a lot of oil to be produced,” he said.
Not a single American soldier killed and great opportunities ahead – it seems like the perfect new warfare, and one that serves as a sharp lesson to others.
“I think it sends an important message to other leaders in the region,” lectured a CNN commentator.
“Boy, I tell you, these Arab dictators – they’re not very original. Just like Saddam Hussein, caught him in a hole,” sneered Bill Maher.
“Muammar Gaddafi was a bad guy,” Fox concluded.
Although many Libyans would argue whether he was really so bad, considering what Gaddafi did for the country’s social welfare and women’s rights, in the eyes of the US media, he was the ultimate evil.
“It is a demonization, every step of the way, against Gaddafi. In the media today always one man, one leader of a country, becomes a justification for destroying an entire country,” acknowledged Sara Flounders, member of the Workers World Party.
For a few days, the media savored the bloody images of Gaddafi’s killing and laughed at similarities between his capture in a ditch and that of Saddam Hussein.
In the eyes of the American public, the celebration of Gaddafi’s killing effectively erases the bad taste left by the NATO campaign – no mention of Libyan civilians killed in NATO strikes, not much talk about the destruction to the country caused by those strikes. Gaddafi’s killing is presented as a triumph, creating a perception that somehow it is perfectly OK to invade a country and help its leader be lynched. But if it is presented as such a success – doesn’t it become more tempting to try the same methods somewhere else?
Reflections by Fidel Castro: NATO’s Genocidal Role (Part II)
Havana, Oct 25 (Prensa Latina) “NATO’s Genocidal Role” (Part II) is the title of the latest reflection by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
Prensa Latina is posting below the full text of Fidel Castro’s reflection.
REFLECTIONS BY FIDEL: NATO’S GENOCIDAL ROLE (PART II)
A little more than eight months ago, on February 21 of this year, I affirmed with full conviction, “NATO’s plan is to occupy Libya.” Under this title I addressed the issue for the first time in a Reflection the content of which appeared to be pure fantasy.
I include in these lines the facts which led me to that conclusion.
“Oil became the principal wealth in the hands of the large yankee transnationals; with that source of energy, they had at their disposal an instrument that considerably increased their political power in the world.”
“Current civilization was developed on the basis of this source of energy. Of the nations in this hemisphere it was Venezuela which paid the highest price. The United States made itself the owner of the vast oilfields which nature endowed upon that sister nation.
“At the end of the last World War it began to extract large volumes from oilfields in Iran, as well as those of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Arab countries located around them. These came to be the principal suppliers. World consumption rose progressively to the fabulous figure of approximately 80 million barrels per day, including those pumped in U.S. territory, to which gas, hydro-electric and nuclear energy were subsequently added.”
“The squandering of oil and gas is associated with one of the greatest tragedies, totally unresolved, being endured by humanity: climate change.”
“In December of 1951, Libya became the first African country to attain its independence after World War II, during which its territory was the scene of significant battles between German and British troops…”
“The total desert covers 95% of its territory. Technology made it possible to find significant fields of excellent quality light oil, currently providing 800 billion barrels per day, and abundant natural gas deposits. [... ] Its harsh desert is located above an enormous lake of fossil water, equivalent to more than three times the land surface of Cuba, which has made it possible to construct a broad network of fresh water pipes which extends throughout the country.”
“The Libyan Revolution took place in September 1969. Its principal leader was Muammar al-Gaddafi, a soldier of Bedouin origin who was inspired in his early youth by the ideas of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. Without any doubt, many of his decisions are associated with the changes that came about when, as in Egypt, a weak and corrupt monarchy was overthrown in Libya.”
“One can be in agreement with Gaddafi or not. The world has been invaded with all kind of news, especially through the mass media. We shall have to wait the time needed to discover precisely how much is truth or lies, or a mix of the events, of all kinds, which, in the midst of chaos, have been taking place in Libya. What is absolutely evident to me is that the government of the United States is totally unconcerned about peace in Libya and will not hesitate to give NATO the order to invade that rich country, possibly in a matter of hours or a few days.
“Those who, with perfidious intentions, invented the lie that Gaddafi was headed for Venezuela, as they did yesterday afternoon Sunday, February 20, today received a worthy response from Nicolás Maduro…”
“For my part, I cannot imagine the Libyan leader abandoning the country, eluding the responsibilities attributed to him, whether or not this news is partly or totally false.”
“An honest person will always be against any injustice committed against any nation of the world, and the worst injustice, at this moment, would be to remain silent in the face of the crime that NATO is preparing to commit against the Libyan people.
“The chief of that military organization is being urged to do so. This must be condemned!”
At that early date I had taken note of what was absolutely obvious.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 25, our Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez will be speaking in the United Nations headquarters denouncing the criminal United States blockade of Cuba. We shall be closely following this battle which will once again demonstrate the need to bring to an end, not only the blockade, but the system which engenders injustice on our planet, squanders its natural resources and is placing humanity’s survival at risk. We will pay special attention to Cuba’s arguments.
I will continue Wednesday the 26th.
Fidel Castro Ruz
October 24, 2011
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NATO In Libya: From Arab Spring To Sharia Autumn
http://abc.az/eng/news_25_10_2011_58957.html
Azerbaijan Business Center
October 25, 2011
NATO establishes its first Islamic state and surprises that
Baku: “The Arab Spring” has been replaced in the Maghreb countries with “Sharia autumn”.
Democratic Libya, created by NATO member states’ bombers and task forces, has declared itself an Islamic state. The Transitional National Council of Libya has already announced that no other laws, except for sharia, will act in the country any longer.
The “Founding Fathers” from NATO, engaged by internal debt problems and division of Libyan oil and gas resources, only sluggishly called the TNC to comply with democratic norms and human rights.
The peacekeepers on the aircraft carriers did not want to admit that “dictator” Gaddafi, who trampled on NATO money and who actually created a unified Libya 40 years ago, warned that he fought Islamic militants. Instead, the father of the new Libyan democracy and a newborn girl, President Sarkozy, suggested Prime Minister of Great Britain James Cameron to shut up and to not pry into the affairs of the Eurozone.
In parallel, the Islamist party Ennahda (Revival) has won in the elections in Tunisia, from which the Arab Spring began. The party was supported by at least 40% of voters. As well as in Iran in 1979, this party is headed by a politician who was in 20-year exile.
Probably, the process of Islamization of the Maghreb will continue and cover at least Egypt, much to the surprise of NATO. Although, actually, all this happens within the conclusions made by the French Orientalists: when socialism goes, Islam comes. And all the overthrown regimes in the Maghreb, at least once, declared their socialist status.
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Video And Text: Charges Of U.S. Enriched-Uranium Weapon Use In Iraq
US uranium to blame for deformed babies in Fallujah?
Alleged use of uranium-enhanced weapons by US-led forces might have caused birth defects and cancer increase
-This material from the Gulf Wars is slowly contaminating the whole planet. It is poisoning the human gene pool, leading to increases in cancer, congenital anomalies, miscarriages and infertility. We must stop the military from using it. It has probably been employed in Libya, so we must wait and see what levels of cancer and congenital disease appears there.
A number of reports have been published claiming that the use of uranium in Iraq was much more widespread than originally believed. Christopher Busby, a visiting biomedical studies professor at the University of Ulster, is the coauthor of two such reports. Busby sat down with RT to discuss the findings in his reports.
RT:Professor Busby, you have now made two studies of Fallujah. Before we move to the latest one, can you remind us what you found in the first study?
Christopher Busby: A lot of cancer, birth defects, sex ratio change after 2004, showing big genetic damage to the population starting after the battles there. But that was just a health study, we didn’t investigate any cause.
RT: What did you do next?
C.B.: We needed to examine the environment and look inside the people. We obtained 25 parents of children with congenital anomalies and measured the concentration of 52 elements in the hair of the mothers and fathers. We also looked at the surface soil, river water and drinking water. We used a very powerful scientific technique called ICPMS.
RT: What did you find?
C.B.: We found high levels of a number of common elements – calcium, aluminum, strontium, bismuth mercury – but the only substance we found that could explain the high levels of genetic damage was the radioactive element uranium.
RT: So the cause, as everyone thought, was depleted uranium, DU?
C.B.: No. Astonishingly, it was not depleted uranium. It was slightly enriched uranium, the kind that is used in nuclear reactors or atomic bombs. We found it in the hair and also in the soil. We concentrated the soil chemically so there could be no mistake. Results showed slightly enriched uranium – manmade.
RT: Could you explain the difference between enriched and depleted uranium?
C.B.: When uranium is mined, it is refined in such a way that one of the isotopes, U235, which is used in nuclear power stations and in atom bombs, is separated. And the rest of the uranium which does not contain so much U235 is called depleted uranium, and it’s a sort of waste product. The other sort, which is, as I said, used in atom bombs and nuclear power stations…we found in the environment of Fallujah – that is, in the soil, in the water and also in the hair of the parents whose children had anomalies. [That] is what we believe is the cause of the cancer increase, anomalies and other genetic effects that we found in earlier studies.
RT: Could you connect this with the battles in 2004?
C.B.: Yes. We did something clever. Uranium is excreted into hair and hair grows at a known rate: 1 centimeter per month. We obtained very long hair samples from some women and measured the uranium along the lengths of the hair, which gave us historic levels back as far as 2005. In one woman, whose hair was 80 centimeters, the uranium concentration went up toward the tip of the hair, showing very high exposures in the past.
RT: Very high relative to what? Could this have been from a local uranium deposit or from drinking water?
C.B.: The levels were compared with measurements made in many countries, but specifically with Israel and Sweden. They were significantly higher now and massively higher in the past. The measurements in soil and water could not explain these levels in the hair, and in any case, the uranium was manmade, it was enriched uranium. Not natural.
RT: So where is the enriched uranium from? Why use it?
C.B.: We are not sure. We believe these results prove the existence of a new secret uranium weapon. We have found some US patents for thermobaric and directed charge warheads which employ uranium powder to increase their effect. It seems clear these uranium weapons have moved on from the simple anti-tank penetrators used in the first Gulf War, which were basically lumps of metal. Since 2003, it seems the military has been using something else entirely. Something quite scary.
RT:But why enriched uranium? Isn’t that expensive?
C.B.: Well, war is expensive. A cruise missile is expensive. The cost of using slightly enriched uranium would make very little difference, a marginal cost, and there will be a lot of it about from the decommissioning of nuclear weapons, which would cost a lot of money to dispose of. We don’t really know the answer. One suggestion is that it could cover their tracks, so they could truthfully say they didn’t use depleted uranium, and save themselves from any war crimes litigation that might emerge when the civilians began to die. And they almost got away with that one. It is only the development of these modern sophisticated measuring systems that enabled us to find it. Another suggestion is that there is an entirely new weapon, a neutron bomb, which employs enriched uranium with heavy hydrogen to produce cold fusion and a neutron blast which would kill people only.
RT: Do you have any supporting evidence?
C.B.: We investigated bomb craters in Lebanon in 2006 after the Israeli attacks and found one which was radioactive and which contained enriched uranium. We found enriched uranium in car air filters from Lebanon and also from Gaza. Others have found evidence of its use in Afghanistan and possibly also in the Balkans.
RT: So what is the overall importance of these findings? What comes next?
C.B.: This is an astonishing discovery with many global implications.
We have to reexamine the health of the Gulf War veterans, especially those from the second Gulf War. They are having children with congenital anomalies and are themselves suffering ill health. They were found to have high levels of uranium in urine tests, but because the uranium was not depleted, the findings were dismissed. This has to be revisited, since we now know why this is.
It is clear that the military has a secret uranium weapon of some sort. It causes widespread and terrifying genetic defects, causing cancer and birth anomalies and poisoning the gene pool of whole populations. This is a war crime and must be properly investigated.
The focus of activists and parliaments on depleted uranium is misplaced. All uranium weapons must be banned as weapons of indiscriminate effect, like poison gas.
This material from the Gulf Wars is slowly contaminating the whole planet. It is poisoning the human gene pool, leading to increases in cancer, congenital anomalies, miscarriages and infertility. We must stop the military from using it. It has probably been employed in Libya, so we must wait and see what levels of cancer and congenital disease appears there.
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State Department Acknowledges U.S. Nuclear Superiority Over Russia
http://en.rian.ru/world/20111025/168112458.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 25, 2011
U.S. has ‘nuclear superiority’ over Russia
WASHINGTON: Data published by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday indicates that the United States has some 300 more deployed nuclear weapons than Russia.
According to New START Treaty Aggregate Numbers of Strategic Offensive Arms facts sheet, posted on the State Department’s website, the United States has 822 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers, while Russia has 516.
Russia is also at a disadvantage in the number of warheads on deployed carriers – 1,566 warheads against 1,790 American warheads.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which entered into force on February 5, 2011, commits the United States and the Russian Federation to reduce and limit the number of deployed and non-deployed strategic offensive arms to the agreed aggregate numbers.
Beginning April 6, 2011, inspections under the New START Treaty are regularly conducted in the Russian Federation and the United States with consistent data exchange carried out every six months.
To date, the U.S. has conducted twelve inspections while Russia has conducted eleven inspections. These inspections have taken place at ICBM, SLBM, and heavy bomber bases, storage facilities, conversion or elimination facilities, and test ranges.
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Pentagon: Central African Operation Similar To Bosnian, Georgian Ones
Official: Troops in Central Africa for Months, Not Years
By Lisa Daniel
WASHINGTON: About a hundred U.S. troops being deployed to Central Africa will be there for months – not years – and only until the national armies of the region are capable of dismantling the terrorist group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army, a senior Pentagon official told Congress members today.
…Alexander Vershbow, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee…
…He appeared before the committee alongside Donald Yamamoto, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, to explain the operation President Barack Obama announced Oct. 14.
The U.S. troops – mostly Army Special Forces – will work with the militaries of Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan to capture or kill Kony and other LRA commanders, Vershbow said.
…
U.S. Africa Command has provided training and equipment to central African militaries, and those militaries have been successful against the LRA, which is down to about 200 core fighters and about 600 supporters…
[S]ome U.S. troops already have moved into the affected area, Vershbow said. Most will stay in Uganda, but some will forward deploy with African troops, he added.
…
The cost and duration of the deployment is unclear, Vershbow said, but it likely will cost tens of millions of dollars and last several months.
…
The action is similar to those the U.S. military undertook in training and equipping Georgian and Bosnian militaries in recent years, Vershbow said.
…
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Pentagon Pivoting From Middle East To Asia-Pacific
Pivoting from Middle East to the Pacific
By Pentagon Producer Larry Shaughnessy in Tokyo, Japan
If there’s been one theme U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has tried to hammer home at every opportunity during his weeklong tour of Asia it is this: “The United States, as a Pacific nation, is and will remain a Pacific power in this region. We will always maintain a strong presence in the Pacific.”
Those assurances come from a defense secretary facing major cuts at home.
“It’s no secret that the United States faces some very tough fiscal decisions back home,” Panetta said Tuesday during a news conference with the Japanese defense minister. “But let me reassure the people of Japan: The one thing that we have agreed upon is that the Pacific will remain a key priority. I will continue to strengthen our forces in this part of the world.”
So if the Department of Defense has to make cuts, and it’s clear it will, how will the American military be strengthened in the Far East? Perhaps by looking to the west.
The U.S. military will be out of Iraq by New Year’s Day and the mission in Libya with NATO could be over by Halloween. Even in Afghanistan, where no one is claiming victory, America’s troop presence is shrinking; 10,000 troops are to come out by the end of 2011.
Panetta called it a “turning point after a decade of war.”
Will the Pacific nations that count on the U.S. military benefit from that “turning point”?
Panetta hinted Monday that might be the case.
“We have the opportunity now to be able to focus on those challenges,” he told a gathering of American troops at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo. “Most importantly, we have the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the Pacific. And we will.”
But when asked at his Tuesday news conference about some details, he wasn’t clear.
“There are a number of steps that we can take, it seems to me, to strengthen our position in the Pacific,” he said. One of the few specifics he mentioned was more training exercises for U.S. troops and their Japanese counterparts.
…
“Probably the greatest opportunities in the years ahead will be found in the Asia Pacific region, which is why we have renewed America’s leadership and pre-eminent role there,” Clinton said in the speech October 12.
Pentagon to Expand Activities in Asia
Pentagon Will Add to Asia Operations
By Adam Entous
TOKYO: The Obama administration plans to conduct more military exercises in Asia and take other steps to expand its influence in the region, amid concerns about China’s buildup, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
The stepped-up military activity, to be planned with U.S. allies in the region, would be a component of what officials describe as a global “rebalancing” of U.S. interests as Washington shifts more of its attention to the Pacific while winding down the war in Iraq and beginning to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
In his first trip to Asia since becoming Pentagon chief on July 1, Mr. Panetta promised to strengthen the U.S. military presence in Asia…
At a news conference in Tokyo with Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa, Mr. Panetta said the Pentagon was “looking at increasing exercises in the Pacific region,” including training drills with Asian allies.
…
Mr. Panetta didn’t say whether the U.S. planned to deploy more aircraft carriers or station more troops permanently in the region. The U.S. has six carriers based in the Pacific.
Mr. Panetta has ruled out cutting U.S. forces in the region, but also made clear that the Obama administration expects its Asian allies to play a larger role to keep Chinese ambitions in check.
“It is very important that we work with our partners in the Pacific region to try to develop their capabilities so that they, too, can improve the security that they provide to this region,” he said.
He cited U.S. efforts to strengthen security cooperation with South Korea, Australia and other allies as a way to “more effectively address the many shared challenges that we face” and to “encourage China’s emergence as a responsible and positive partner.”
Asking Asian allies to share the burden reflects President Barack Obama’s general approach to global security challenges. In the conflict in Libya, for example, he insisted that European states play a leading role.
At each stop, first in Bali, Indonesia and then in Tokyo, Mr. Panetta touted the coming shift in U.S. focus to Asia and toughened his tone on Beijing and Pyongyang.
In newspaper op-eds published this week, Mr. Panetta said China was rapidly modernizing its military with a “troubling lack of transparency.” He likewise warned of North Korea’s “reckless and provocative” behavior.
…
In Tokyo, Mr. Panetta said expanding the security alliance with Japan was a critical part of the Obama administration’s realignment in Asia.
…
Of about 47,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, about half are in Okinawa.
…
—Yuka Hayashi contributed to this article.
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Pentagon Chief’s Distorted Account Of Chinese Military
Pentagon chief distorted story of Chinese military
By Li Hongmei
-Abroad, the winding down of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the removal of the U.S. “thorn in flesh” with the death of Libya’s Gaddafi might mark a pivot turning point for the U.S. military, which must now focus on “looming threats” such as the rising military might – an allusion to China.
-His restatement of “China Threat” also echoed a well-accepted American logic: We can wield stick at your doorsteps, but you should never flex muscles for self-defense.
BEIJING: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta kicked off his debut visit to the Asian allies. The visit is Panetta’s first since he took over from his predecessor Robert Gates, and he appears keen to follow up on the Pacific vision defined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, showing a clear U.S. dedication to all-round engagement and diversified presence in Asia as part of its global repositioning strategy.
To reiterate the U.S. intention to “come back” to Asia and to refocus on the region, and to soothe the nerves of its regional allies in the presence of a rising power like China might well serve as the new Pentagon chief’s paramount mission during his week-long Asia trip.
Panetta’s Asia tour is tightly-scheduled – he arrived in Japan Monday from Bali, Indonesia, where he met with defense ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On Tuesday, Panetta is scheduled to meet with Japan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, as well as his defense and foreign ministers. On Wednesday he is to meet with U.S. sailors aboard a ship at the nearby Yokosuka Naval Base and then travel to South Korea for annual security consultations.
The U.S. defense chief marked a sharp change in tone from his predecessor Robert Gates who used to reach out to China to seek after an improved tie between militaries albeit strained by U.S. arm sales to Taiwan.
Panetta produced an opinion piece in Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper as he arrived there, warning of a “troubling lack of transparency” over China‘s rapid military modernization, and expressed concern over China’s “increasingly assertive activity in the East and South China Seas.”
His comments came against such a backdrop: At home, the intense pressure to slash military spending as part of a deficit-reduction effort. Abroad, the winding down of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the removal of the U.S. “thorn in flesh” with the death of Libya’s Gaddafi might mark a pivot turning point for the U.S. military, which must now focus on “looming threats” such as the rising military might – an allusion to China.
The visit also coincided with a time when the U.S. is considering near-term possibilities of bolstering its position in Asia by increasing U.S. Navy port calls and conducting more regular exercises with Asian and Pacific nations.
As expected, Panetta used his first Japan trip to sound an emerging theme of the Obama administration: America will remain a global economic and military power despite coming budget reductions, and the Asia-Pacific region will be vital to U.S. national security strategy.
His restatement of “China Threat” also echoed a well-accepted American logic: We can wield stick at your doorsteps, but you should never flex muscles for self-defense.
In actuality, China’s consistent good-neighborly policy is all based on considering neighboring countries’ security concerns and enhancing military mutual trust and cooperation with neighbors. In so doing, China can avoid being plunged into a “security dilemma” itself and thereby it does not engage in regional arms race or try to pursue regional hegemony.
China is one of the few countries facing a complicated geopolitical environment. It has a vast territory with a land border of more than 22,000 kilometers and a coastline of over 18,000 km. Therefore, it is justified in modernizing its defense capabilities for its national security and to protect its peaceful development.
History has proven and will continue to prove that the build-up of the Chinese military is to safeguard its sovereignty, security, territorial integrity and its people’s peaceful life, rather than pursuing hegemony and external expansion.
The upgrading of the Chinese military is all in response to the need of the national defense. Panetta’s “anxiety” that China will turn its growing economic strength into military might and thus pose a threat to the region is totally baseless.
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Pakistani Warning Shots Chase Off NATO Helicopters
NATO choppers violated air space: Pakistan officials
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani officials on Wednesday accused NATO helicopters of violating Pakistan’s air space over…North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.
“Two helicopters intruded several kilometres inside Pakistan territory in Datta Khel town around 2:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday),” a military official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The helicopters flew in from the eastern Afghan province of Paktia and circled the border village of Zoi Nara for more than five minutes, the official in the provincial capital Peshawar said.
…
A Pakistani military official said the choppers left after “warning shots” were fired by Pakistan troops…
Dildar Khan, a tribal police official in Datta Khel, said the helicopters flew at a relatively low altitude and returned after the warning shots.
…
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U.S. Readies THAAD Interceptor Missiles For Deployment
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Propulsion Systems Successfully Maneuver Missile Defense Interceptors to Destroy Ballistic Missile Targets
CANOGA PARK, Calif. – Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS) for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor successfully positioned missile defense interceptors to simultaneously destroy two short-range ballistic missile targets in a demonstration of the weapon system’s ability to help protect troops and other U.S. interests around the world. The THAAD operational test was conducted by the Ballistic Missile Defense System Operational Test Agency, with the support of the Missile Defense Agency, at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii on Oct. 5…
“Both interceptors scored direct hits,” said Craig Larson, THAAD program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne developed the Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS) for the THAAD interceptor. DACS is a high-precision, quick-reaction propulsion system that positions the interceptor to defeat an incoming ballistic missile. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is under contract with Lockheed Martin, the THAAD Weapon System Prime contractor, to produce the DACS.
THAAD is designed to protect deployed troops around the world, and other important assets and population centers against short to medium range ballistic missiles in the final phase of flight.
…
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NATO MEADS Missile Interception Launcher Ready For Flight Test
ORLANDO, Fla. – The first Medium Extended Air Defense System launcher has arrived in New Mexico for an initial flight test following system integration testing.
MEADS is to demonstrate an unprecedented over-the-shoulder launch of a PAC-3 MSE against a simulated target that attacks from behind.
The test will demonstrate a 360-degree capability that current air and missile defense systems cannot provide. The 360-degree coverage is necessary to protect soldiers and critical assets from highly maneuverable cruise missiles and easily relocatable short- and medium-range tactical ballistic missiles.
“The lightweight MEADS launcher is one of the most advanced mobile launchers in existence today and it is easily adaptable to different nations’ vehicles,” said NATO MEADS Management Agency General Manager Gregory Kee.
“With this upcoming test, we will demonstrate the ability to launch an interceptor 360 degrees from a single launcher, thereby providing more capability to the warfighter at a lower cost to protect our soldiers against a growing air and missile threat.”
The lightweight MEADS launcher is easily transportable, tactically mobile and capable of rapid reload. It carries up to eight PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement Missiles and achieves launch readiness in minimum time.
MEADS International, a multinational joint venture with headquarters in Orlando, Fla., is the prime contractor for the MEADS system. Major sub-contractors and joint venture partners are MBDA in Italy, LFK in Germany and Lockheed Martin in the United States.
The MEADS program management agency is in Huntsville, Ala.
MEADS International said integration and checkout tests are continuing in preparation for a November flight test.
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Emirates Seek French Military Satellite, 60 Warplanes Against Iran
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: The United Arab Emirates has reopened negotiations with France for a military surveillance satellite, underlining the Persian Gulf state’s concerns about Iran…
The move, however, could also be linked to the protracted negotiations to buy 60 Dassault Aviation Rafale multi-role fighter jets, a deal that could be worth up to $10 billion.
The satellite project was first mooted in 2008, shortly after the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, consisting of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, scrapped its HudHud program.
That at one point involved French-Italian Thales Alenia Space company, which would produce radar-optical observation satellites for a joint Saudi-Qatari-Emirates program. The project was abandoned in 2008.
On April 24, the emirates launched its fifth communications satellite into orbit, the first to provide secure and independent telecommunications for its armed forces amid a drive by Arab states in the gulf to boost their military capabilities against Iran.
The Emirates’ Y1A satellite was launched from the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, atop an Ariane 5 rocket.
It was built by Yahsat, the Emirates’ Al Yah Satellite Communication Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Co., which has headquarters in Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich economic powerhouse of the seven-member federation.
Mubadala, the government’s investment arm, is heavily involved in the Emirates’ drive to build up its defense industry.
The satellite was developed and built by Astrium, the aerospace subsidiary of the European Aeronautics Defense and Space Co. and Thales Alenia Space, which has headquarters in Cannes, France. That’s owned by Thales Aerospace of France and Finmeccanica of Italy.
The satellite, based on Astrium’s Eurostar E3000 platform, had been originally scheduled to be launched March 31 but that was delayed for technical reasons.
A second satellite, Y1B, should be launched before the end of the year to complete the $1.6 billion Yahsat program.
Y1A and Y1B will also provide commercial communications across the Middle East, Africa, South West Asia and Europe.
The emirates spearhead efforts by the GCC states to acquire their own military surveillance satellite system to bolster the early warning system they have been seeking to develop for several years.
The GCC states have been talking about a joint early warning system for a decade.
But, largely due to dynastic squabbles within the alliance established in 1982 at the height of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war this and other GCC military aims remain unfulfilled.
However, the growing tension between the GCC states and Iran could provide the spur for them to set aside their differences and work together to develop their common military capabilities and lessen dependence on the United States for early warning.
The development of the emirates satellite has strategic implications for the Gulf Arab states. The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology runs the satellite program.
…
The United Arab Emirates has established itself as the space technology hub in the region and has had dealings with foreign companies that specialize in military satellites.
In September 1997, the U.S. Hughes Space and Communications International signed a $1 billion communications satellite deal, at that time the Arab world’s largest satellite contract, with Abu Dhabi’s Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Organization, which groups investors in 14 Arab states.
Thuraya has sent three communications into orbit. It’s one of the region’s biggest telecommunications companies. Its main shareholder is the state-run Emirates Telecommunications Co.
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Kosovo Serbs Remind German NATO Troops Of Ancestors’ Fate
Serb Nationalist Flyers Decry KFOR ‘Occupation,’ ‘Killings’
Leaflets in German and Serbian have been targeting German troops serving in the NATO-led Kosovo Force
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The…organization Nasi has begun distributing leaflets in German and Serbian, targeting German troops serving in the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) contingent in Kosovo.
The leaflets show photographs of German soldiers from World War I, World War II, and KFOR with the captions: “We killed your great-grandfather. We killed your grandfather. We will defeat you as well.” And under it all is the general slogan: “Kosovo Is Serbia!”
In an October 20 press release announcing the new propaganda campaign, Nasi said its purpose is to “encourage the Serbian people to resist the occupation of NATO forces.”
The group said the campaign was “accelerated” because of recent clashes between KFOR troops and ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo.
“The aim of the German-language posters is to influence German soldiers to understand they are making the same mistake and committing an injustice against Serbs and their ancestors and to remind them that Serbia will not be conquered,” the press release states.
Earlier this month, Nasi launched a “1,001 Candles” campaign to remember what the group claims are “the 1,001 ethnic Serbs who have been killed in Kosovo since the beginning of the occupation.”
Envoys from the wolves once came to a flock of sheep offering to make a solemn treaty of guaranteed peace, on condition that the dogs be given to them for punishment; it was only because of them that the wolves and the sheep were hostile to each other and ever at war.
The sheep, being silly creatures given to bleating helplessly on all occasions, were about to hand over the dogs. But an old ram among them, whose wool began to bristle from the roots up, exclaimed: “What a strange deal this is! How am I to live with you unguarded? It’s on their account, the wolves’, that even now I can’t graze in your company without danger, though the dogs are guarding me.”
*****
From The Aesop Romance
Translated by Lloyd W. Daly
The wolves said to the dogs: “Why, since you are like us in every way, don’t you show a brotherly spirit toward us? The only difference between us is one of principle. We live a life of freedom together, but though you skulk and slave for men, all you get from them is beatings; you get collars put around your necks, and have to guard their sheep. But when they eat, all they throw you is the bones. Why don’t you listen to us. Turn the flocks over to us; we’ll share everything and have all we want to eat.” So the dogs did as they said but as soon as they got into the shelters where the sheep were kept, the dogs were the wolves’ first victims.
*****
Ivan Krylov
Translated by Bernard Pares
The Wolves and the Sheep
The wolves so plagued the sheep, that life was not worth living;
It got so bad, that in the end,
The rulers of the beasts, their best attentions giving
Sought how the sheep they might defend.
So High Commissioners were summoned to attend;
Now, some of these were wolves, the truth to tell;
But wolves there are of whom report speaks well;
Such honorable wolves – and oft the story’s told,
With proofs that cannot be rebutted -
Were seen to walk right past the fold
In perfect peace – when they were fairly glutted;
Then why refuse a vote to wolves of good repute?
The sheep may claim a hearing for their suit: -
No reason there, the wolves to persecute!
Deep in the forest’s wilds the Council opens session,
To every plea gives due expression,
And drafts a law quite perfect and complete;
And word for word this law I here repeat: -
“So soon as wolf on fold shall make aggression,
And sheep thereby suffer from oppression,
Then straightway shall that sheep be free,
No matter who that wolf may be,
To seize him by the throat, and drag to judgment-seat
In nearest copse or wood.”
There’s nothing left to add, and nothing to delete;
Only the way it works is not so good.
For though the court, they say, is scrupulously fair,
The sheep may plaintiff or defendant be -
The dragging’s never done by him, and he
Has yet to make his first appearance there.
*****
Jean de La Fontaine The Wolves and the Sheep
By-gone a thousand years of war,
The wearers of the fleece
And wolves at last made peace;
Which both appear’d the better for;
For if the wolves had now and then
Eat up a straggling ewe or wether,
As often had the shepherd men
Turn’d wolf-skins into leather.
Fear always spoil’d the verdant herbage,
And so it did the bloody carnage.
Hence peace was sweet; and, lest it should be riven,
On both sides hostages were given.
The sheep, as by the terms arranged,
For pups of wolves their dogs exchanged;
Which being done above suspicion,
Confirm’d and seal’d by high commission,
What time the pups were fully grown,
And felt an appetite for prey,
And saw the sheepfold left alone,
The shepherds all away,
They seized the fattest lambs they could,
And, choking, dragg’d them to the wood;
Of which, by secret means apprised,
Their sires, as is surmised,
Fell on the hostage guardians of the sheep,
And slew them all asleep.
So quick the deed of perfidy was done,
There fled to tell the tale not one!
From which we may conclude
That peace with villains will be rued.
Peace in itself, ’tis true,
May be a good for you;
But ’tis an evil, nathless,
When enemies are faithless.
