Updates on Libyan war/Stop NATO news: November 5, 2011

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Obama: Libya War Proved NATO Is World’s Most Effective Alliance

Israeli President Speaks Of Military Strikes Against Iran

NATO States Provide Israel Bases To Prepare For Air War

Belarus: NATO’s Murder Of Gaddafi Worse Than The Nazis

NATO Action In Libya 21st Vandalism: Belarusian President

Syria Condemns U.S. State Department Statement

Afghanistan: Deputy U.S.-NATO Commander Sacked

Lithuania: NATO Trains Response Force For “Anywhere In The World”

Belarus Fears Regime Change Plans As NATO Advances

NATO Contracts For Interceptor Missile System Upgrades

U.S. Military “Institutionalizes” Past Decade’s Irregular Warfare Lessons

American Patriot Award: National Defense University Honors McCain, Lieberman

AFRICOM: 850 Sierra Leone Troops To Be Deployed In Somalia

West Forges Ahead With Caspian-Caucasus-Black Sea-Balkans Pipeline

Afghan War: NATO Plans Helicopter Training Center In Czech Republic

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Obama: Libya War Proved NATO Is World’s Most Effective Alliance

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65965

U.S. Department of Defense
November 4, 2011

Obama: Libya Mission Underscores NATO’s Effectiveness
By Donna Miles

-The way the mission was conducted underscored NATO’s effectiveness and set a standard for the future, [Obama] said…He noted that American pilots flew French fighter jets off a French carrier in the Mediterranean Sea during the operation. “Allies don’t get any closer than that,” he said.

WASHINGTON: The Operation Unified Protector mission in Libya demonstrated that NATO remains the world’s most effective alliance, President Barack Obama said today as he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the men and women who carried it out.

Speaking alongside Sarkozy at France’s Cannes City Hall following the Group of 20 economic summit, Obama recognized the solidarity their two countries and NATO…

“The United States was proud to play a decisive role, especially in the early days, taking out Libyan air defenses and conducting precision attacks that stopped the regime in its tracks,” Obama said.

The way the mission was conducted underscored NATO’s effectiveness and set a standard for the future, he said.

“We acted quickly, in days,” the president said. “And whether contributing forces or command staff, every single one of NATO’s 28 members played a role.”

Eighteen nations, including Arab states, provided forces to the operation, he said.

“And in an historic first, our NATO allies, including France, and especially the extraordinary leadership of President Sarkozy, helped us to conduct 90 percent of our strike missions,” Obama said.

This showed more nations bearing the burdens and costs of ***peace and prosperity***, he said. “And that’s how our alliance must work in the 21st century,” he added.

Obama praised the way French and American forces served together – commanders who planned and executed the operation, pilots who…tanker crews who sustained the operation from bases in France, airmen who delivered lifesaving aid and the sailors and Marines who enforced the arms embargo at sea, among them.

He noted that American pilots flew French fighter jets off a French carrier in the Mediterranean Sea during the operation. “Allies don’t get any closer than that,” he said.

“Every man and woman in uniform who participated in this effort can know that you have accomplished every objective,” Obama said…

Obama offered a salute to Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, the NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of U.S. European Command; Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of Allied Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy, and U.S. naval forces in Europe and Africa; and Air Force Lt. Gen. Ralph J. Jodice II, commander of Allied Air Component Command Headquarters in Izmir, Turkey, the 16th Air Expeditionary Task Force and U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

They and thousands of other personnel who made Operation Unified Protector a success helped show the world that “after a difficult decade, the tide of war is receding,” Obama said.

“The long war in Iraq is finally coming to an end,” he said. Meanwhile, he added, with France and other allies and partners, “we’ve achieved major victories against al-Qaida, including Osama bin Laden.”

The president noted that French and American forces are fighting together in Afghanistan…

Obama recognized the many times through history when the United States and France stood together to defend their shared ideals.

“I’m confident that we’ll continue to stand together, strong and free, for the centuries to come,” he said. “Long live the alliance between our two great nations.”

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Israeli President Speaks Of Military Strikes Against Iran

http://en.rian.ru/world/20111105/168427780.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
November 5, 2011

World approaching ‘military option’ on Iran, says Israeli president

TEL AVIV: Israeli President Shimon Peres said he believed a military strike against Iran was a more likely option than a diplomatic solution to the country’s nuclear standoff.

“Intelligence services of various countries understand that time is running out and they are warning their leaders,” Peres said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 on Friday, adding: “I am not sure that conclusions have not been made.”

“It would seem that Iran is getting closer to having nuclear weapons,” Peres said. World leaders need to “fulfill their responsibility” to prevent Iran from becoming anuclear power “whether that means serious sanctions or whether it means a military operation,” he added.

His remarks came following Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seeking his ministers’ support for a military operation against Iran.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has dismissed the reports as “absolutely unacceptable” and “harmful for the country.”

Tensions are mounting against Iran ahead of a crucial report on the country’s nuclear program to be presented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) next week. Western powers suspect Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the guise of peaceful energy generation, a charge Tehran denies.

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NATO States Provide Israel Bases To Prepare For Air War

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-insists-preparedness-drills-and-military-exercises-are-not-tied-to-iran-chatter-1.393384

Ha’aretz
November 3, 2011

IDF insists preparedness drills and military exercises are not tied to Iran chatter
Nevertheless, it’s hard to view the proximity of all these events as strictly accidental
By Anshel Pfeffer

-On Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak flew to London for meetings with senior British defense officials, while Britain’s chief of staff visited Israel this week for a round of similar meetings. Neither government released details of the talks, but senior Israeli officials confirmed that Iran “topped the agenda.”

All the military tests and exercises conducted over the past few days were planned months in advance, and have nothing to do with recent media reports about a debate within the government over whether to attack Iran, defense officials stressed on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to view the proximity of all these events as strictly accidental.

On Wednesday, Haaretz broke the news of a large-scale aerial exercise that took place over the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, some 2,300 kilometers from Israel. The five-day joint exercise, which ended last Friday, involved fighter jets, midair refuelers and airborne warning and control systems from the Israeli, German and Italian air forces. Following Haaretz’s report, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesman’s Office published pictures and additional details of the exercise.

A lieutenant colonel from the Israel Air Force identified only as Yiftah said such exercises are important, because flying over unfamiliar territory “prepares people for battle over unfamiliar ground.”

…

“We train for long-range flights and prepare ourselves for every type of terrain,” he said.

The exercise was the latest in a series of similar drills that the air force has conducted over the last three years, in countries such as Italy, Greece and Romania. These exercises give the IAF practice not only in long-range flights over unfamiliar ground, but also in combat against air forces that use different planes and tactics than Israel does.

News of the Sardinia exercise came just hours after the test launch of a ballistic missile from the Palmahim air force base. The test was not announced in advance, and the Defense Ministry did not release any details after the launch.

But foreign reports say Israel has been working on the Jericho 3 missile, which can carry a 1,300-kilogram nuclear warhead and travel thousands of kilometers, meaning it can strike anywhere in the Middle East.

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Such tests are not trivial affairs: Each costs tens, if not hundreds, of millions of shekels and involve a sea of manpower. They also necessitate closing large swaths of Israel’s air and sea space, since the missile is launched out to sea.

The Home Front Command also began a major exercise in the central Gush Dan region last night that simulates missile strikes on civilian targets. Last night’s events included shooting off flares to summon rescue forces, and today’s events include a test of the emergency sirens, which will go off at 10:05 A.M.

…

All these exercises coincided not only with media reports of the government’s deliberations on Iran, but also with an apparent new closeness in Israel’s defense ties with Britain. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak flew to London for meetings with senior British defense officials, while Britain’s chief of staff visited Israel this week for a round of similar meetings. Neither government released details of the talks, but senior Israeli officials confirmed that Iran “topped the agenda.”

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Belarus: NATO’s Murder Of Gaddafi Worse Than The Nazis

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/264409.html

Itar-Tass
November 4, 2011

NATO worse than Nazis in treating Gaddafi – Lukashenko

[Belarus, where my paternal grandfather came from, lost a quarter of its total population to the Nazis in World War Two - RR]

GRODNO REGION: NATO was worse than the Nazis in its treatment of ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday.

“There was an act of aggression and national leaders, including Gaddafi, were killed. He was not killed on a battlefield. NATO security services helped abduct the national leader,” he said.

He was tortured and shot and treated worse than the Nazis did in their time, he said.

Libya was destroyed as a sovereign state, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday.

“Armed conflicts go on in various parts of the globe. Thousands of people die while appeals for democracy are being made,” he said.

“We are constantly witnessing the wish of the Western developed countries to take full control over natural resources of the planet,” he said. “There are massive air strikes and civil wars are orchestrated,” he said.

The goals are achieved with political, economic and information instruments, Lukashenko said. “Information attacks are integral elements. They destabilize countries and incite public protests. Then commando forces get involved. They complete the defeat of a country under the camouflage of public protests and jointly with the ‘fifth column’. The Arab revolutions and the destruction of Libya as a sovereign state are illustrative examples,” he said.

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NATO Action In Libya 21st Vandalism: Belarusian President

http://news.belta.by/en/news/president?id=666308

Belarusian Telegraph Agency
November 4, 2011

NATO operation in Libya branded as vandalism

-”I am not exaggerating this headless and senseless Security Council. I am not exaggerating their role and the role of the United Nations Organization. The latter has evolved into some kind of cover-up. See for yourself: Iraq, Afghanistan, an entire Arabic curve. Why has the UN failed to prevent all of it?”

GRODNO OBLAST: The NATO operation in Libya is an act of 21st century vandalism, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told the press in Grodno Oblast on 4 November.

Asked about Libya’s future taking into account the large number of firearms in people’s hands, proposals voiced to introduce Sharia law and penetration of terrorist groups into Libya, Alexander Lukashenko said: “We can view the situation extremely negatively only. How can we evaluate NATO actions in Libya? As a violation of the mandate of the UN Security Council. I am not exaggerating this headless and senseless Security Council. I am not exaggerating their role and the role of the United Nations Organization. The latter has evolved into some kind of cover-up. See for yourself: Iraq, Afghanistan, an entire Arabic curve. Why has the UN failed to prevent all of it?”

According to Alexander Lukashenko, the UN and the UN Security Council operated in favor of the aggressors. “It seems they have written one mandate while the NATO troops dared to violate the mandate,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

In his words, now many say that NATO has violated the UN mandate, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “I absolutely agree with him,” said the head of state.

“An aggression has been accomplished, the country’s leadership have been murdered, not only Muammar Gaddafi. Besides, he was killed by NATO special forces. They mocked him, tortured him, raped the injured man, broke his arms and then killed him. They did worse the Nazis in their time”.

God forbid that this policy will prevail across the globe, said the Belarusian leader.

Alexander Lukashenko mentioned events in Tunisia and Egypt where positions of radical Islamists have become much stronger. “The situation in Libya will be much worse because the country has colossal deposits of natural resources. Everyone has rushed to get there. Besides the USA, Italy, France and Germany have up to $150 billion of Libyan money now. They are very interested in snatching these riches.”

Alexander Lukashenko remarked that in Libya and other countries of the Arabic curve where revolutions have happened people the West does not exactly like rise to power. “They cannot control this thing. It will serve them well. This act of 21st century vandalism cannot happen,” stressed Alexander Lukashenko.

“But such actions show the face of our so-called teachers of democracy. Do you need this kind of democracy?” wondered Alexander Lukashenko.

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Syria Condemns U.S. State Department Statement

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/05/c_131231074.htm

Xinhua News Agency
November 5, 2011

Syria lashes out at U.S. State Department

DAMASCUS: A Syrian foreign ministry source on Saturday slammed as “irresponsible” a statement made by the U.S. State Department advising Syrians not to surrender themselves after Damascus announced an amnesty for those who gave up their weapons.

With its statement the U.S. administration has proved once again its flagrant intervention in the Syrian affairs and revealed its policy that supports killing, as well as its funding of “terrorist groups,” the source was quoted by the state news agency as saying.

The Syrian interior ministry on Friday called on those who carried, sold or distributed weapons but didn’t commit homicides to turn themselves in within a week to receive amnesty.

In a statement carried by the state TV, the ministry pledged to release those who turned themselves in between Nov. 5 and 12, saying that “this will be considered as an amnesty to those who surrender themselves and hand over their weapons.”

After the issue of the Syrian statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters that “I wouldn’t advise anybody to turn themselves in to the (Syrian) authorities at the moment.”

“This would be about the fourth amnesty that they’ve offered since I took this job about five months ago,” she said, “So we’ll see if it has any more traction than it’s had.”

The Syrian government “condemns this irresponsible statement that couldn’t be interpreted but as aiming to foment sedition and support killing and terrorism practiced by armed groups against Syrian citizens,” the foreign ministry source said.

The Syrian government urged the international community to confront those policies “that run against the rules of the international law and the UN Security Council resolutions pertaining to combating and funding terrorism,” the source said.

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http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/05/379999.htm

Syrian Arab News Agency
November 5, 2011

Official Source: Statements of US Department of State Spokesperson Prove US Policies in Support of Killing and Financing Armed Groups
H. Zain and R. al-Jazaeri

DAMASCUS: An official source at the Ministry of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs stated that the US administration disclosed again its blatant interference in Syria’s internal affairs, and its policy which supports killing, in addition to its funding of terrorist groups in Syria.

The evidence on that is the statement of US Department of State spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, which she made on 04/11/2011 in which she said that she doesn’t advise the terrorists to turn themselves in to the Syrian authorities and this statement came in a response to the general amnesty decision taken by the Syrian Government which includes whoever hands his illegal weapon to the Syrian authorities, the source added.

The source said that the Syrian Government condemns these irresponsible statements which only aim at inciting sedition, supporting acts of killing and the terrorism practiced by the armed groups against the Syrian citizens.

The Syrian Government calls on the international community to stand against these policies which contradict the provisions of international law and the UN Security Council’s resolutions related to combating terrorism and financing it, the source added.

Earlier on Friday, Nuland advised gunmen in Syria not to hand their weapons over to Syrian authorities in a response to the amnesty offer by the Ministry of Interior.

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Afghanistan: Deputy U.S.-NATO Commander Sacked

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-04/deputy-u-s-nato-training-chief-in-afghanistan-is-fired.html

Bloomberg News
November 4, 2011

Deputy U.S., NATO Training Chief in Afghanistan Is Fired

The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan has fired a deputy commander in the training program for his remarks critical of the Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai.

Army Major General Peter Fuller, deputy commander for programs in the NATO Training Mission, made “inappropriate” comments and has been relieved of his duties, the coalition said in an e-mailed statement today.

The “inappropriate” remarks are not “indicative of our current solid relationship with the government of Afghanistan, its leadership or our joint commitment to prevail here in Afghanistan,” said Marine General John Allen, the top commander of the U.S.-led coalition, in the e-mailed statement.

Fuller was quoted yesterday by Politico, a Washington-based news organization, as saying the Afghan government was “isolated from reality” and didn’t recognize the sacrifices the U.S. was making in Afghanistan. He also said a recent comment by Karzai was “erratic,” according to Politico.

…

–Editors: Terry Atlas, Steven Komarow

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Lithuania: NATO Trains Response Force For “Anywhere In The World”

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/29541/?SID=c2471c400998443f0dfd29bb8fc0c35b

Defence Professionals
November 4, 2011

NATO exercise Steadfast Juncture 2011 is conducted in Lithuania

-NATO constantly conducts exercises to support the NRF’s readiness for rapid redeployment of troops and reaction to crisis situations in areas of operations in any place in the world.

On November 1, NATO exercise Steadfast Juncture 2011 began in the Lithuanian Armed Forces Pabrade Training Area. The exercise is aimed at certifying NATO Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFC) Headquarters and Allied Force Command (FC) Headquarters Heidelberg Deployable Joint Staff Element (DJSE 2) to command and control a multinational deployed force for NATO Response Force (NRF) 2012 standby period.

October 31, most participants of the exercise arrived at the Pabrade Training Area; during the exercise they will be living and working in a mobile command post.

Simultaneously with Lithuania, in the exercise Steadfast Juncture 2011 will participate other NATO countries deployed within different locations in Europe: NATO Deployable Corps Greece, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO in Italy, Allied Force Command Headquarters in Germany, Spanish Army Special Operations Command, Joint Combat Training Centre in Norway, and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Battalion Headquarters in the Czech Republic.

During the exercise, units’ command and control and constant change of information between all exercise participants will be transmitted by the NATO communications and data channels.

NRF is a highly ready and technologically advanced multinational force made up of land, maritime and Special Forces components that the Alliance can deploy quickly to operations conducted in any district of the world.

NATO constantly conducts exercises to support the NRF’s readiness for rapid redeployment of troops and reaction to crisis situations in areas of operations in any place in the world.

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Belarus Fears Regime Change Plans As NATO Advances

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=285160

Interfax
November 4, 2011

Lukashenko believes West wants to turn Belarus into area of its influence

GRODNO: The West is doubling its efforts to destabilize the situation in Belarus by imposing various sanctions on it and applying informational pressure, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

“They are pressing on us all the time and criticizing us for lack of freedom of speech and pluralism. The West’s goal is seen with the naked eye: they seek to shatter the situation in Belarus, cut if off from active involvement in international sociopolitical processes, and then involve it into its area of influence,” Lukashenko said at military exercises on the Gozhsky range on Friday.

“NATO is rapidly expanding in the European region,” Lukashenko said. “We see our western and northern neighbors actively bolstering military infrastructure near our borders,” he said.

Lukashenko called it an alarming factor that “some neighboring countries have lately been regularly holding briefings and special conferences attended by high-ranking U.S. State Department officials and senators and European ministers and policymakers, whose agenda is quite provocative.”

The participants in these conference discuss “how to start a revolution in Belarus, how to change its constitutional system and similar openly hostile themes,” he said.

“Such statements cannot be underestimated,” he said.

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NATO Contracts For Interceptor Missile System Upgrades

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/29543/?SID=d6ecc95e44a18f340a4cd3e8e4f5f98f

Defence Professionals
November 4, 2011

NATO contracts missile defence upgrades

-Industry engineers from TRS will work in support of the ALTBMD programme to deliver an upgraded interim capability that will serve NATO’s operational needs for the next several years and can also form the basis of an interim territorial ballistic missile defence capability. The results of the work will be implemented in the NATO command and control network within the next six months to broaden the capabilities of the NATO Commander to perform ballistic missile defence missions.

Brussels: The NATO Air Command and Control System Management Agency on behalf of the NATO Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Programme Office (ALTBMD PO) and in coordination with the NATO C3 Agency, signed today a contract with ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) to implement operator identified requirements in NATO’s Interim Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Capability.

The contract will upgrade the operational hardware and software of the interim capability to the standards being implemented in the latest configuration of NATO’s Air Command and Control System (ACCS).

Industry engineers from TRS will work in support of the ALTBMD programme to deliver an upgraded interim capability that will serve NATO’s operational needs for the next several years and can also form the basis of an interim territorial ballistic missile defence capability. The results of the work will be implemented in the NATO command and control network within the next six months to broaden the capabilities of the NATO Commander to perform ballistic missile defence missions.

“The signature of this contract represent another incremental step in the effort to provide the NATO Commander with a new, critical capability against the growing proliferation of ballistic missiles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction,” said Mr Bernard Garot ACCS Programme Director and MG (ret) Alessandro Pera, ALTBMD Programme Manager. “In cooperation with our industry and national partners we continue to keep a rapid pace of programme implementation.”

Earlier this year Team TRS engineers from companies across Europe and US formed a core technical team that started work to define the next steps of the ALTBMD Programme – the TBMD Initial Operational Capability.

…

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U.S. Military “Institutionalizes” Past Decade’s Irregular Warfare Lessons

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65952

U.S. Department of Defense
November 3, 2011

Services Have Learned Irregular Warfare, Leaders Say
By Lisa Daniel

WASHINGTON: The military has institutionalized lessons learned from the past decade of nonconventional warfare and will work to maintain doctrine and skills that allow the services to balance readiness for traditional defenses as well as irregular fighting, service leaders told a congressional committee today.

“In 2002, the nation effectively went to war with two armies,” Maj. Gen. Peter Bayer, the Army’s director of strategy, plans and policy, told the House Armed Services Committee. “One, comprised of general-purpose forces, was prepared to excel against traditional adversaries in direct combat. The second, comprised largely of special operations forces, was prepared to prevail in an irregular environment.

“The Army quickly learned that success on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq required adaptation in both general-purpose and special operations forces,” Bayer said. The Army has adapted since then by institutionalizing irregular warfare capabilities and capacity across the force, he said.

Bayer was joined by Rear Adm. Sinclair M. Harris, director of the Navy irregular warfare office; Brig. Gen. Daniel O’Donohue, director of the Marine Corps’ capabilities development directorate; and Brig. Gen. Jerry P. Martinez, director for joint integration in the Air Force’s directorate of operational capability requirements. All four said readiness for irregular warfare is critical to future operations, and they described how each of the services has blended conventional and irregular warfighting doctrine and skills.

The Navy has leveraged its Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and established maritime partnership stations and maritime headquarters with maritime operations centers to meet demands, Harris said. “The evolution of intelligence and strike capabilities has enabled the Navy to meet urgent combatant commander requirements for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations,” he said.

The Navy Irregular Warfare Office, created in 2008, has led the institutionalization of irregular capabilities, Harris said.

The Marine Corps has designed a readiness force for post-Afghanistan operations – beyond 2014 – “that mitigates this hybrid threat, creates options and provides decision space for senior leadership” that considers joint, interagency and allied responses,” O’Donohue said.

That force will be fundamentally different from the current or pre-9/11 force, O’Donohue said. “It draws on a rich history of innovations in irregular warfare, but is recast as a scalable crisis response force ready to counter complex irregular, conventional and hybrid threats – and the gray areas in between,” he said.

“Above all,” O’Donohue added, “we prepare to operate in and adapt to unpredictable, uncertain, complex environments at a moment’s notice.” He noted that irregular warfare is not new, and had the same definition in the Marines’ Small Wars Manual of 1940 as it does today.

…

By assessing, training, advising and equipping a troubled partner air force, airmen can contribute to that nation’s sovereignty…

…

The most important thing the Army can do to advance the institutionalization of irregular warfare is to continue educating its leaders, Bayer said.

“By developing adaptive and creative leaders, the Army ensures its ability to respond to a wide range of future tasks,” he said. “Maintaining a highly professional education system is crucial to institutionalizing the lessons of the past decade and ensuring that we do not repeat the mistakes of post-Vietnam by thinking that these kinds of operations are behind us.”

Future battlefields will be populated with hybrid threats…

The Army demonstrated flexibility in Iraq and Afghanistan with modular brigades that included a host of irregular warfare specialties, including information operations, public affairs and civil affairs, Bayer said.

All of the officers said foreign language and cultural training will grow as a requirement for service members.

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American Patriot Award: National Defense University Honors McCain, Lieberman

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65960

U.S. Department of Defense
November 4, 2011

McCain, Lieberman Receive NDU Foundation Award
By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON: Senior defense and national security leaders were on hand here yesterday as the National Defense University Foundation honored Arizona Sen. John McCain and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman at its American Patriot Award dinner.

The annual event highlights the role of the National Defense University, based at Fort Lesley J. McNair here, as the pinnacle of professional military education.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said one of his first trips as chairman was to NDU.

…

The military is the premier leader development institution in the United States, “and leaders are what we need to move into an uncertain future,” he said.

…

CIA Director David H. Petraeus, a retired Army general, said McCain and Lieberman have “walked point here in Washington for our troopers, intelligence professionals and diplomats – two men who have answered the call of duty over expediency, the call of country over party.”

The senators have worked from their convictions to implement policies to meet wartime goals, Petraeus said, even when their positions were not politically popular.

…

The senators have served together on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and both have made repeated and in-depth visits to Iraq and Afghanistan. Lieberman has served in the Senate since 1989 and was the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee in 2000, but supported McCain, a Republican, in his bid for the presidency in 2008.

…

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AFRICOM: 850 Sierra Leone Troops To Be Deployed In Somalia

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/world/africa/somalia-sierra-leone-to-send-troops.html

New York Times
November 3, 2011

Somalia: Sierra Leone to Send Troops
Josh Kron

Sierra Leone will send 850 soldiers to an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, a military official said Thursday. The official, Lt. Col. Ronnie Harleston, Sierra Leone’s military attaché to the United Nations, said the troops would deploy in the middle of next year.

They will join approximately 9,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi, who are currently trying to secure the Somali capital, Mogadishu, from Islamist rebels. Djibouti plans to contribute 850 troops to the force this month.

The force has a mandate for 12,000 peacekeepers, but African Union officials say they would need 20,000 to try to pacify the entire country, which has been in a state of civil unrest for roughly 20 years.

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West Forges Ahead With Caspian-Caucasus-Black Sea-Balkans Pipeline

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=158928

Azeri Press Agency
November 5, 2011

SOCAR: Pipeline to be constructed for gas transportation from Azerbaijan to Turkey will have at least 16 billion cubic meters capacity
Nijat Mustafayev

Baku: The new pipeline to be constructed for gas transportation from Azerbaijan to Turkey within the Shahdeniz-2 project will have at least 16 billion cubic meters of capacity per year, head of the investment department of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Vagif Aliyev said.

He said there were two options for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Turkey – construction of a new pipeline and extension of the current infrastructure. “Several companies from the Shahdeniz consortium can join the construction of the new pipeline, which will depend on technical-economic substantiation. The new pipeline is expected to have at last 16 bln c/m capacity per year”.

Aliyev said the new pipeline is not against other projects for transportation of Azeri gas to Europe.

The pipeline will be constructed from Turkey’s eastern borders with Georgia to its borders with Bulgaria and Greece.

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Afghan War: NATO Plans Helicopter Training Center In Czech Republic

http://praguemonitor.com/2011/11/04/us-general-praises-czech-training-afghan-pilots

Czech News Agency
November 3, 2011

U.S. general praises Czech training of Afghan pilots

-The Afghan air force now comprises 5000 out of 8000 planned members. They are being trained directly in Afghanistan and pilots also in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic.
The training of another four Afghan helicopter pilots will start at the Pardubice base these days.

New York: U.S. General Timothy Ray, who is in charge of building the Afghan air force, has praised the Czech training of Afghan helicopter pilots and the work of Czech air mechanics, he has told CTK during his visit to New York.

Czech military experts are teaching Afghan pilots to fly Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters and maintain them, both in the Czech Republic and in Afghanistan.

Ray called the work of Czech instructors excellent and he also appreciated the skillfulness of Czech air mechanics who have experience with Russian military equipment, unlike their colleagues in NATO.

Czechs would like to establish a NATO helicopter pilot training centre in Pardubice, east Bohemia.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas presented the plan to U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Washington last week. Necas said the United States expressed an accommodating stance on the proposal.

Ray also supported broader cooperation with the Czech Republic in this respect.

…

Ray recalled that Afghanistan had a very modern air force in the 1970s and 80s, primarily based on Russian aircraft, but it lost most of them in fighting and under the government of the Taliban radical Islamist movement that did not maintain planes and helicopters, he added.

This is why coalition units must build a brand new air force in Afghanistan for which they have both Russian and American aircraft at their disposal.

The Afghan air force now comprises 5000 out of 8000 planned members. They are being trained directly in Afghanistan and pilots also in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the Czech Republic.

The training of another four Afghan helicopter pilots will start at the Pardubice base these days. In December the pilots’ training should be launched directly in Afghanistan, Ray said.

NATO has so far trained 12 out of at least 70 aircraft crews that the Afghan air force should have as from 2014 when the Allied forces are to withdraw from the country, according to Obama’s plans.

…

Future pilots must be in a good state of health and have completed secondary school studies and have a command of English, which is the international communication language in aviation, Ray added.

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