Messages In This Digest (11 Messages)

1.: Baltic States: Pentagon's Training Grounds For Afghan, Future Wars From: Rick Rozoff

2.: NATO Kills Three Pakistani Soldiers In Fourth Attack Of The Week From: Rick Rozoff

3.: Pakistan Halts NATO Supplies After Deadly Attack From: Rick Rozoff

4.: NATO Chief In Georgia To Open New Office From: Rick Rozoff

5.: U.S. To Launch Multinational Afghan War Training In Baltic States From: Rick Rozoff

6.: Six NATO Soldiers Killed As Afghan War Nears 10th Year From: Rick Rozoff

7.: Bangladesh In Catch-22 Situation Over U.S. Afghan War Request From: Rick Rozoff

8.: Ecuador: Injured President Denounces Coup D'Etat From: Rick Rozoff

9.: Coup D'Etat Continues In Ecuador From: Rick Rozoff

10.: General Strike In Northwest Pakistan Over NATO Attack From: Rick Rozoff

11.: Top Military Chief: U.S. Must Prepare For The Next War From: Rick Rozoff

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1.: Baltic States: Pentagon's Training Grounds For Afghan, Future Wars

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:06 pm (PDT)

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/baltic-states-pentagons-training-grounds-for-afghan-and-future-wars

Stop NATO
September 30, 2010

Baltic States: Pentagon's Training Grounds For Afghan and Future Wars
Rick Rozoff

With the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into Eastern Europe from 1999-2009, the U.S.-led military alliance has grown by 75 percent, from 16 to 28 members.

By 2009 all former non-Soviet Warsaw Pact member states had been incorporated into NATO, the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) being absorbed with its merger into the Federal Republic in 1990. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO in 1999 and Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia in 2004. Albania, which suspended participation in the Warsaw Pact six years after its founding, in 1961, was brought into the Alliance last year.

The 2004 expansion included seven nations in all, the three mentioned above, the first former Yugoslav republic, Slovenia, and the first former Soviet republics: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Immediately upon their accession, the United States began to employ the new members' territory for military bases, troop deployments, air patrols and the initial stages of a continent-wide anti-ballistic missile system beyond already existing NATO plans for the bloc's Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Programme.

The year after Romania was brought into NATO's ranks, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement with its government to acquire the use of four military bases in the country, including the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in southeast Romania near the Black Sea which had been used two years before for the invasion of Iraq. Romanian President Traian Basescu paid his first official visit to Washington to meet with President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld five months before the treaty was signed.

At the time the Pentagon's acquisition of the bases was characterized as part of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's "strategic shift intended to place US forces closer to potential areas of conflict in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia." [1] Washington had led NATO's nearly three-month air war against nearby Yugoslavia five years before, invaded Afghanistan two years after that and launched the attack on Iraq another two years later. Three wars in less than four years and all to the east of NATO's former area of responsibility.

The pact with Romania was the first of its kind in a former Warsaw Pact nation. It was followed the next year by a comparable arrangement with neighboring Bulgaria in which the U.S. secured the indefinite use of four military facilities, including two air bases.

This February the governments of Romania and Bulgaria announced their willingness to host components of the American interceptor missile system designed to cover all of Europe under what the White House and the Pentagon call a new phased adaptive approach.

But the first U.S. and NATO military presence in what had been Warsaw Pact member states occurred the year before the U.S.-Romanian Defense Cooperation Agreement and moreover was in former Soviet space. After Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined NATO in March of 2004 the North Atlantic bloc immediately began what it deems a Baltic air policing mission in the airspace of the three nations as a Quick Reaction Alert operation.

In the interim warplanes from several NATO member states - the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, Turkey, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania to date - have flown what at first were three-month and are now four-month around-the-clock rotations over the three Baltic states, all of which have borders with Russia. Estonia and Latvia adjoin the Russian mainland to their east and Lithuania Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to its west. (Northeast Poland also borders Kaliningrad.)

On September 1 the U.S. took over NATO's Baltic air patrol with the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England to the Siauliai International Airport in Lithuania where the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission is based. Four U.S. F-15 C Eagle jet fighters, capable of being armed with four types of air-to-air weapons including Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles, and 120 personnel are assigned to the mission.

It is the third time American warplanes have been deployed for the Baltic air operation and the second time F-15 C Eagles have been employed for the purpose.

U.S. ambassador to Lithuania Anne Derse, who came to the position from being American envoy to Azerbaijan, said as the U.S. Air Force took over from its Polish counterpart: "The (493rd has) already established a legacy of professionalism in the Baltics, and we look forward to building upon it. As all warriors know, the surest way to maintain peace is to exercise constant vigilance and rigorously prepare to meet all potential threats. The Baltic air policing mission is just one of many facets of NATO's vigilance and preparation." Derse didn't indicate which potential threats the warriors were preparing to confront, but a look at a map of the Baltic Sea does.

Major General Mark Zamzow, vice commander of the 3rd Air Force based at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, added, "Our relationship with the Baltic nations has grown remarkably since the inception of the Air policing mission."

He was also cited claiming "a 2008 endeavor designed to provide complex air policing training has since evolved with a broader scope emphasizing a wide spectrum of air operations over Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia." [2]

Two weeks after the U.S. warplanes and airmen arrived in Lithuania, the president of neighboring Estonia officiated over the opening of the newly expanded and modernized Amari Air Base in his nation, which the local press reported can accommodate 16 NATO jet fighters, 20 military transport planes and 2,000 troops. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said "The construction of the Amari Air Base, which was jointly financed by the Estonian state and NATO, is a perfect expression of the solidarity between allies" [3] and that "the completion of the air base would make it much easier to bring allied troops and their equipment to Estonia in the event of a crisis situation."

He also "underscored the fact that from 2012, when the complex as a whole
is due for completion, NATO will have one of the most modern air force bases in the region at its disposal." [4]

Estonian Air Force chief Brigadier General Valeri Saar confirmed that Baltic air policing warplanes could use the base in the future and that NATO pilots will begin to employ it for training purposes beginning in October.

Not only have NATO and the U.S. moved military personnel and aircraft into nations bordering northwestern Russia, but they have done so in flagrant violation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiated in 1989 between the 16 members of NATO and six of the Warsaw Pact at the time, which mandated comprehensive limits on several categories of conventional military equipment in Europe.

The treaty was signed in 1990 and ratified the next year after the dissolution of both the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, which created gray areas that the Pentagon could exploit - as it has through NATO's eastward expansion in the interim - to station military hardware and personnel in Russia's fellow Black Sea states Bulgaria and Romania and in its Baltic Sea neighbors Estonia, Lithuania and Poland.

The CFE pact was signed by 22 nations and ratified by 30: The 16 members of NATO, six non-Soviet former members of the Warsaw Pact and eight ex-Soviet republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are not signatories to the treaty. Neither is former Yugoslav republic Slovenia, inducted into NATO along with the three Baltic states in 2004.

In 1999 an Adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE-II) was signed during the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe summit in Istanbul by the same 30 countries that had endorsed the original.

To date only four former Soviet republics - Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine - have ratified it. NATO nations have sabotaged the treaty's implementation by linking it, without legitimate legal or other grounds, with the withdrawal of what until recently were small Russian peacekeeping contingents in Transdniester, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. What NATO refers to as the Istanbul Commitments. 1,500 Russia troops in Transdniester have no impact on European security, but by preventing the CFE-II treaty from entering into force the U.S. and NATO retain the right to violate the treaty's (and its predecessor's) limits on troops and armaments - including combat aircraft and attack helicopters - in non-signatory nations like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Russia suspended its commitments under the CFE-II treaty three years ago because of concerns over the U.S. and NATO deploying troops and equipment to Eastern Europe and the threat of missile shield
deployments to follow.

This past May the first deployment of U.S. anti-ballistic missiles in Europe was achieved when a Patriot Advanced Capacity-3 missile battery and over 100 troops were moved into the Polish city of Morag near the Baltic Sea.

When on September 17 of last year U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the decision to shift from previous interceptor missile plans for Eastern Europe to the "smarter, stronger, and swifter" phased adaptive approach, discussions began on stationing Standard Missile-3 interceptors, both the traditional ship-based and new land-based versions, in the Baltic as well as the Black and Mediterranean Seas.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania not having signed the original CFE treaty or its successor and no NATO state having ratified the adapted agreement permit Washington to deploy longer-range interceptor missiles as well as warplanes to and off the coasts of the three Baltic states.

The U.S. and NATO have claimed that moving military forces and equipment into Eastern Europe, several thousand U.S. troops to Bulgaria and Romania at any given times along with jet fighters to the Baltic Sea region and missiles to Poland, is not in violation of the CFE treaty as they are not permanent deployments. But they are. NATO's Baltic air policing mission, for example, has been conducted for almost six and a half years and, as seen above, is expanding in scope into the indefinite future.

Moreover, NATO's four new members on the Baltic Sea - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland - have been transformed into training grounds for the Pentagon's and NATO's wars abroad, especially that in Afghanistan, and to prepare for potential confrontation and conflict with fellow Baltic littoral state Russia.

U.S. troops, warships and warplanes are present in the region on a regular basis, conducting military exercises several times a year.

The trade-off between the U.S. and other founding members of NATO on the one hand and the bloc's new members in Eastern Europe on the other is for the latter to provide bases for use by Washington and Brussels and to supply troops for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as others to come in exchange for NATO and its main member the U.S. - the world's sole military superpower - placing them under the Alliance's Article 5, the bulk of which states:

"The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area."

As examples of the obligations imposed on new member states, Poland ran the Multinational Division Central-South in Iraq from 2003-2008 with NATO assistance and deployed 2,500 troops for the command. It currently has 2,600 troops in Afghanistan, where it has lost 21 soldiers, and another 400 held in reserve for the mission. The Iraq and Afghanistan deployments are the largest overseas military commitments undertaken in Poland's history.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all had troops in Iraq - Latvia's and Lithuania's under Polish-NATO command - and all three countries currently have forces serving under NATO in Afghanistan.

NATO maintains a Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Poland, responsible to its Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia, and in 2008 NATO inaugurated the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia, also connected with the U.S.-based Allied Command Transformation. The second was established a year after cyber attacks in Estonia which domestic - and U.S. - officials blamed on Russia, although Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo was compelled to admit he had no evidence that Russian government agencies played any role in the attacks. Notwithstanding which, the Western press at the time was rife with speculation over NATO invoking its Article 5, first used as a justification for NATO entering the war in Afghanistan, for the occasion.

This June the Times of London wrote that "NATO is considering the use of military force against enemies who launch cyber attacks on its member states." A report issued by the Group of Experts - led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright - that NATO appointed to promote the new Strategic Concept that will be adopted at the bloc's summit in Lisbon in November stated, "a cyber attack on the critical infrastructure of a Nato country could equate to an armed attack, justifying retaliation." [5]

Estonia is a likely test case for the policy.

The U.S. and NATO are ensuring they have the military forces in place to make good on their threat by conducting almost constant war games in the Baltic Sea.

On September 13 over 4,000 troops and 60 ships along with planes and helicopters from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden participated in this year's Northern Coasts exercises in the Baltic Sea, the largest maneuvers ever staged in Finnish territorial waters.

On September 20 U.S. Special Operations Command Europe launched the Jackal Stone 10 multinational military exercise with 1,300 special forces from the U.S., Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Romania and Ukraine. The exercises began at a Polish air base and continued at two bases in Lithuania. The U.S. dispatched USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet (whose area of responsibility is the Mediterranean Sea) to participate in the drills.

According to a U.S. Naval Special Warfare official: "During the 10-day special operation exercise, Mount Whitney's presence was a huge asset. The ship provided excellent surveillance of targets at sea and helped the SOF [special operations forces] planners maintain an excellent perspective of the big picture by strategically placing itself off the coast, ready to perform any task the SOF required." [6]

The United States European Command website said of the war games: "The experiences and lessons learned from the current war in Afghanistan underscore the critical importance of deliberate planning for coalition special operations forces (SOF) missions.

"Training opportunities such as the Jackal Stone 10 exercise, co-hosted this year by Poland and Lithuania and coordinated by the U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, provide a unique venue for the U.S. to develop commonalities with its international SOF partners whether by land, air or sea....The Jackal Stone 10 exercise allows SOCEUR [Special Operations Command Europe] an opportunity to enhance the capabilities of its partner nations so they can become an integral part of the NATO footprint, specifically in developing the staff planning and operational ability of special operations forces." [7]

A Polish newspaper revealed intentions beyond the war in Afghanistan in reporting that "Exercise Jackal Stone 2010 was designed to enhance international military cooperation and increase military preparedness in CEE [Central and Eastern Europe]." It also quoted the previously mentioned Naval Special Warfare official asserting that "[the exercise] was a unique opportunity for SOF units from these countries to promote better communication and improve our readiness to build a greater fighting force worldwide." [8]

The U.S. 352nd Special Operations Group conducted "midnight training maneuvers" in the skies above Poland: "The mission began with two Combat Shadows flying in formation. As the training progressed, the crews conducted evasive maneuvers while flying at low levels in reaction to simulated area threats." [9]

U.S. and Polish forces also held a mass casualty exercise to prepare for "potential 'real world' emergencies" at the 21st Tactical Airbase in Swidwin where the opening ceremony for Jackal Stone 10 was held.

In the words of Polish Warrant Officer Anna Matulska, "I've been deployed to Iraq before and it's the same way. We have to work quickly, we have to triage and as in the case of our burn patients, we have to make sure they are kept warm." [10]

Jackal Stone 10 had among other purposes that of preparing Poland to become a "framework nation," which will "enable it to assume command of multinational special forces within NATO by 2014." [11]

The launching of the war games at the Swidwin air base included an address by Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich, who said "Special operations in the world today are becoming increasingly important in the conduct of combat operations. And exercises like this check the ability of allied and international cooperation, which is essential for the success of the Allies." [12]

On the closing day of Jackal Stone 10 Klich left for Washington, D.C. to meet with Pentagon Chief Robert Gates and "hold talks...on Afghanistan and the future of NATO" as well as U.S. missile shield plans. He also participated in the swearing-in ceremony of Polish General Mieczyslaw Bieniek as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. "This is the highest post that a Polish officer has ever taken in NATO," Klich said. He was reported as "adding that his presence at the ceremony is necessary to show how important NATO is for Poland and how important it is for the country to have its representative in high NATO structures." [13]

On the same day the Polish defense minister arrived in Washington, Polish Radio announced that former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski wrote to 738 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and "dozens of ambassadors worldwide, urging them to help block an expansion of Russia's influence abroad."

In what was described as "an unprecedented move for a leader of an opposition party," the twin brother of recently deceased President Lech Kaczynski demanded that "Washington and Brussels should...give greater assistance to countries that want to free themselves from the Russian sphere of influence." [14]

The ambassadors Kaczynski sent his letter to were those of the other 26 European Union member states, plus the U.S., Canada, Israel, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

The last six nations are targeted by the Eastern Partnership initiative of the EU, first promoted by Poland in 2008, which is designed to recruit the former Soviet republics away from the Commonwealth of Independent States and thus complete the isolation, the effective quarantine, of Russia in Europe. [15]

The U.S. and NATO are expanding the use of the Alliance's Baltic Sea member states to train for wars outside the region and for moving American and NATO military forces into it.

On September 27 the PRT-12 Challenge training exercise started at a military base in Lithuania. PRT is short for Provincial Reconstruction Team, a joint military-civilian counterinsurgency pacification project. 27 PRTs operate in Afghanistan under the command of several NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troop contributing countries.

Lithuania's Kæstutis Battalion, the majority of whose troops "have been deployed to multinational missions in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan previously," is being prepared for a new rotation to Afghanistan. "Representatives of Denmark, Georgia, Japan, the USA, Poland, Finland and Ukraine serve together with Lithuanian military and civilian personnel in the Ghor PRT camp in Chaghcharan." Japan is not officially acknowledged as an ISAF contributor.

The training involves 200 troops, including Ukrainian forces. "A camp was installed for the purpose of the exercise in the Kazlu Ruda Military Area; it parallels the camp of the Lithuanian-led PRT in Ghor....Soldiers will demonstrate their ability to respond to fictitious situations, such as demonstrations of the local population, insurgent attacks with IEDs on provincial roads, firing at the camp, etc. The exercise is organised by the leadership of the Lithuanian Land Force." [16]

On September 28 it was reported that 50 advance troops from other NATO nations had arrived in Latvia for the Sabre Strike 2011 military exercise to be conducted at the Adazi Training Area from October 18 to 31. "The aim of Sabre Strike 2011 is to tune [up] interoperability procedures and improve the integration of the land and air operational ability of three Baltic States and the U.S with prospects of participation in the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) operation in Afghanistan and other multinational operations in the future." [17]

One of the purposes of the exercises is the implementation of Latvia's role as part of the NATO Host Nation Support system - whose "requirements include the deployment of NATO HQs, multinational HQs and forces for exercises or for operations during peace, crisis, or conflict" [18] - which "is one of the main tasks to ensure Latvia's successful integration in NATO." [19]

NATO's new members on the Baltic Sea are delivering on the demands imposed upon them by accession to the Alliance.

They host NATO - particularly U.S. - troops, bases, warplanes, warships and missiles. They provide troops for wars far abroad. They supply training opportunities on the ground and in the air for the war in Afghanistan and for future conflicts with none of the restrictions that exist in North America and Western Europe. And they render those multiple services near Russia's western border.

1) BBC News, December 6, 2005
2) Headquarters Allied Command Ramstein, September 1, 2010
3) Estonian Public Broadcasting, September 15, 2010
4) Office of the President, September 15, 2010
5) The Times, June 6, 2010
6) Warsaw Business Journal, September 28, 2010
7) United States European Command, September 28, 2010
8) Warsaw Business Journal, September 28, 2010
9) United States European Command, September 24, 2010
10) United States Air Forces in Europe, September 29, 2010
11) Warsaw Business Journal, September 28, 2010
12) U.S. Consolidates New Military Outposts In Eastern Europe
Stop NATO, September 23, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/u-s-consolidates-new-military-outposts-in-eastern-europe
13) Polish Radio, September 28, 2010
14) Polish Radio, September 29, 2010
15) Eastern Partnership: The West's Final Assault On the Former Soviet Union
Stop NATO, February 13, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/eastern-partnership-the-wests-final-assault-on-the-former-soviet-union
16) Baltic Course, September 28, 2010
17) Defence Professionals, September 28, 2010
18) North Atlantic Treaty Organization
http://www.nato.int/docu/logi-en/1997/lo-1207.htm
19) Defence Professionals, September 28, 2010
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2.: NATO Kills Three Pakistani Soldiers In Fourth Attack Of The Week

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:53 pm (PDT)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\10\01\story_1-10-2010_pg1_1

Daily Times
October 1, 2010

NATO strike kills three FC troops in Kurram

* Three others injured as two NATO helicopters enter Pak airspace near Parachinar and bomb FC checkpost

* NATO says they acted in self-defence after being shot at

PESHAWAR: Pakistani officials on Thursday accused NATO forces based in Afghanistan of killing three Pakistani soldiers in the fourth cross-border attack this week.

Pakistani security officials said two NATO helicopters had entered Pakistani airspace and bombed a paramilitary checkpoint. "It was an unprovoked attack that took place early Thursday morning. NATO helicopters entered our airspace and targeted a paramilitary checkpost, killing three soldiers and wounding three others," a senior security official said.

The slain soldiers, who belonged to the Frontier Corps, had fired warning shots to indicate to the helicopters that they had crossed into Pakistani territory. Instead of heeding the warning, the planes fired two missiles at their checkpost. The helicopters shelled the area for about 25 minutes, a security official said. Officials said that the incident took place in Mandati Kandaw village, northwest of Parachinar in Kurram Agency. "NATO helicopters intruded up to five kilometres into Pakistan's airspace," a security official said. Another official said security forces had taken "suitable measures to respond to such acts of aggression, which will be known to people very soon."

NATO said its aircraft entered Pakistani airspace in self-defence and killed "several armed individuals" after air crews believed they had been fired at from the ground. After striking what was believed to be an insurgent group, "the aircraft received what the crews assessed as effective small arms fire from individuals just across the border in Pakistan," NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. "Operating in self-defense, the ISAF aircraft entered into Pakistani airspace killing several armed individuals," it said. Procedures call for ISAF forces to contact Pakistani officers if coalition troops must cross the border, either before or during an operation.
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3.: Pakistan Halts NATO Supplies After Deadly Attack

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:55 pm (PDT)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C10%5C01%5Cstory_1-10-2010_pg1_2

Daily Times
October 1, 2010

Pakistan halts NATO supplies after attack

PESHAWAR: Pakistan on Thursday stopped NATO supply trucks at the Torkham border after three Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers were killed in an attack by alliance helicopters on a Pakistani checkpost on the border with Afghanistan.

The supplies were stopped for security reasons as authorities expected public backlash to the attacks in Kurram Agency, where similar strikes had been carried out a few days ago. "Yes, NATO supplies were stopped because of security concerns," a spokesman for the Frontier Corps told Daily Times, without giving details about when the trucks would be allowed to resume their journey to Afghanistan.

Eyewitnesses said that the political administration and security forces turned back oil tankers and other long vehicles from Jamrud tehsil.
....
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4.: NATO Chief In Georgia To Open New Office

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 4:57 pm (PDT)

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=22714

Civil Georgia
September 30, 2010

NATO Secretary General Visits Georgia

Tbilisi: NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, arrived in Tbilisi late on September 30; he will hold talks with the Georgian leadership on October 1.

This is Rasmussen's second visit to Georgia and the first one in the capacity of NATO Secretary General. He visited Georgia in November, 2008 when he was the Prime Minister of Denmark.

"I will visit Georgia where I will have the pleasure to open the new NATO Liason Office," Rasmussen wrote on his official Facebook page few hours before arrival in Tbilisi. "I will also thank Georgia for the substantial contribution and commitment to our operation in Afghanistan. NATO will continue our strong support to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Meetings with President Saakashvili, PM Nika Gilauri, Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze, Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia, Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze are scheduled on October 1. Together with Georgian State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Giorgi Baramidze, the NATO Secretary General will open the alliance's liaison office in Tbilisi.
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5.: U.S. To Launch Multinational Afghan War Training In Baltic States

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:06 pm (PDT)

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/18351/

Defence Professionals
September 30, 2010

Military personnel of the Baltic States will train jointly for ISAF mission in multinational exercise "Sabre Strike"

On October 18-31 Latvia will host training event "Sabre Strike 2011" in the Adazi Military Area, the exercise will involve over 1.6 thousand soldiers from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the United States.

The purpose of "Sabre Strike 2011" is to improve military cooperation between the Baltic States and the United States and thus to achieve a relevant level of readiness for deployment to the NATO-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan and other multinational operations.

In the exercise troops will conduct patrols in settlement areas, live firing tasks, a raid, and other types of military operations.

Lithuania will deploy a company-sized unit to the exercise, more than 100 soldiers. The unit is formed on the basis of the NDVF 5th Territorial Unit of Vytis Military District. They will take up duty in Afghanistan, Ghor province, from the beginning of the following year.

It is the first time that "Sabre Strike" is held in the Baltic States. The joint military training event will be organised at the proposal of the leadership of the US Army Europe. The USA is expected to deploy over 150 troops and 16 armoured vehicles.

The exercise is for the first time held in the Baltic States by the proposal of the military leadership of the United States. The exercise is planned to be held in the three Baltic States annually on a rotational basis.
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6.: Six NATO Soldiers Killed As Afghan War Nears 10th Year

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:06 pm (PDT)

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/six-foreign-troops-killed-in-afghanistan-20101001-15zl4.html

Agence France-Presse
October 1, 2010

Six foreign troops killed in Afghanistan

Taliban attacks killed six international soldiers in Afghanistan's south, the alliance and Afghan authorities said on Thursday, as the war drags on towards its 10th year.

Four Afghan civilians were also killed and three wounded during a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation to flush out the militants, the alliance said.

Three of the NATO-led soldiers were killed in a single improvised explosive bomb blast on Thursday, while the other three died in separate attacks.

The deaths bring to 547 the number of foreign soldiers to die in the Afghan war so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the icasualties.org website. The 2009 toll was 521.

ISAF did not disclose the nationalities of the deceased soldiers but most troops deployed in the south, heartland of the Taliban insurgency, are American, Canadian and British.

ISAF said the civilians were killed and wounded during an operation in Andar district of Ghazni province, in the east, on Wednesday.
....
NATO and the United States have more than 152,000 soldiers in Afghanistan....

The war has gathered pace every year since it was launched by remnants of the Taliban toppled from power in a US-led invasion in 2001.
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7.: Bangladesh In Catch-22 Situation Over U.S. Afghan War Request

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:12 pm (PDT)

http://asiasecurity.macfound.org/blog/entry/111bangladesh_in_catch_22_situation_over_sending_troops_to_afghanistan/

Asia Security Initiative
September 30, 2010

Bangladesh in Catch-22 Situation over Sending Troops to Afghanistan
Animesh Roul

Following Richard Holbrooke's request for combat troops, there has been a serious debate in Bangladesh on the question of whether the country should send a military contingent to Afghanistan or not.

Holbrooke, US special representative for AfPak region spoke to Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni in New York City recently seeking any kind of help ranging from deployment of combat troops, economic and development assistance or helping in the training efforts in Afghanistan.

The US envoy's proposal came at a time when the NATO led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is mulling an exit plan for Western troops fighting in Afghanistan by summer 2011.

Observers in Bangladesh questioned the timing of the request and raised eyebrows on why the international coalition has to look at Bangladesh to join them now, especially when the NATO led ISAF has support of at least 45 countries. The other argument doing the round in Bangladesh is whether a Muslim majority nation should take part in the war effort led by western forces against their Muslim brothers.

Bangladesh will be the second Muslim country, next to Turkey, if it joins the battle alongside the ISAF in Afghanistan and first among South Asian nations. Of course Malaysia (another Muslim majority country) has already offered to deploy 40 personnel, mostly doctors and paramedics to train Afghan health workers in the Bamyan province as part of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has warned the Dhaka administration against sending a military contingent to Afghanistan. The warning message says, "(We) believe that the leader of Bangladesh has enough Islamic knowledge and political wit not to involve people in the fight against Islam and against the Afghan people by sending a few hundred soldiers to Afghanistan."

It should be remembered while taking any decision that Bangladesh has a large number of extremist/radical elements who openly support Al Qaeda and Taliban ideology.

The infamous slogan of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh (HuJI-B) is still applicable here: Amra Sobai Hobo Taliban, Bangla Hobe Afghanistan (We will all become Taliban and we will turn Bangladesh into Afghanistan). Like minded pro-Taliban groups are still operating and going strong in Bangladesh at present.

Rising Voice:

Terming it 'suicidal', Bangladesh National Awami Party (Bangladesh NAP) said the country should not send troops to Afghanistan, as it is a sensitive issue involving the country's national interest.

It stated that Bangladesh has to consider that Afghanistan is a Muslim country and also a country of the South Asian regional grouping SAARC. The Islami Movement Bangladesh (IMB) said it would be a historic mistake if the Bangladesh government allows the USA request of sending troops to Afghanistan.

Most likely, the main opposition party BNP would join the bandwagon soon in a bigger way against any decisions that would facilitate Bangladesh's direct involvement in the Afghan war effort.

Though one BNP member lodged an initial reaction by saying that 'it would not be wise to send troops to Afghanistan without the cover of a UN peacekeeping mission.' The Communist Party of Bangladesh termed the US request for troops as "audacious". (Source: Daily Star , Sept 28; New Nation, Oct 01)

The Bangladesh government has not agreed yet and assured for further talks on the issue. Definitely the request for troops has put the Bangladesh government in an uneasy situation. However, it would be interesting to see how the Sheikh Hasina led Awami league government would handle the US pressure and rising domestic voices against joining the Afghan war effort.
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8.: Ecuador: Injured President Denounces Coup D'Etat

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:25 pm (PDT)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20101001/160785078.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 1, 2010

Ecuador in chaos as police sends president to hospital

Buenos Aires: President of Ecuador Rafael Correa remains in hospital after a tear gas attack during his speech to police, protesting against austerity cuts, regional and international media reported on Friday.

Police in the Latin American state, which has seen three presidents ousted in the past 13 years, took to the streets on Thursday a day after parliament passed a controversial bill to delay automatic promotions and ending bonuses and other benefits. The law is yet to officially enter force as it was not published by the state media.

One person was killed and dozens injured during the riots, Interior Minister Miguel Carvajal told on the CRE TV channel. Unconfirmed reports put the number of injured at about 50.

The turmoil in the politically turbulent state comes amid financial problems the country. The government defaulted more than $3.2 billion in international debt since 2008.

"This is a coup d'etat attempt by opposition forces. They resorted to [violence] because they will not win the elections. I call on the citizens to stay calm," the president told the national radio in a phone interview.

Correa, the first Ecuadorean president to win two terms in a row, said he had been taken to hospital after "a tear gas grenade blew up right next to my face" during his speech at a police barracks. Correa is unable to leave the building, which is surrounded by an angry crowd, chanting "Long live civil war!"

"It seems that the hospital is under siege," Correa said, adding that the uprising was "a conspiracy planned long ago."

The president said he was set to leave the ward "as soon as possible" and will not negotiate with protestors unless the violence comes to a halt.

"I will leave it [the hospital] as president, or they will have to carry my corpse out of here," he added.

The government subsequently declared a weeklong state of siege. Flights from the Mariscal Sucre International Airport serving the capital Quito were suspended as it was seized by protestors, but resumed earlier on Friday. There are also reports of violence and looting in the capital and other cities.

According to local media reports, the government is how discussing the possibility of dismissing the National Assembly and announcing early presidential and parliamentary elections. The decision, if made, is to be approved by the country's constitutional court.

The country's foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, called on the citizens to "walk peacefully to the hospital, where the president is blocked by police officers." The crowd of Correa's supporters, who marched towards the hospital, was teargased by protestors.

"This is not Honduras. Correa is president," the supporters chanted, walking through the smoke, Reuters reported.

Protestors also broke into the building of the local ECTV TV channel in an attempt to cut signal.

The CRE TV channel reported that servicemen of the Ecuadorean air force have seized hangars where the presidential plane and helicopter are being kept, seeking to prevent the president from leaving the country.
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9.: Coup D'Etat Continues In Ecuador

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:41 pm (PDT)

http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-10-01/coup-continues-ecuador.html

[Video at URL above.]

Voice of Russia
October 1, 2010

Coup d'état continues in Ecuador

Chaos broke out in Ecuador when members of the nation's military and national police forces turned to violence to protest a new law that reduces their pay and benefits.

The coup d'état has not ended and it has not failed, argued author and lawyer Eva Golinger, who is in Caracas, Venezuela. The coup d'état is ongoing, she said.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said he was attacked by police with tear gas. He has been hospitalized due to injuries.

"President Correa in Ecuador has been sequestered by police and military forces. He is in a military hospital where he was taken after he was attacked by the police forces, but he's now being detained. He is not there anymore n his own will," said Golinger.

She explained that members of Correa's government and his supports have attempted to gain access to the President, but the military is denying them access. Meanwhile, opposition groups have spoken out in favor of the Coup d'état and are calling for Correa's resignation.

"The law that apparently the police were protesting seems to be just be an excuse for some plans that were already underway to execute a coup against Correa," Golinger said.

In a telephone interview earlier in the day, Correa said there were forces working to assassinate him, but he insisted that even if he is killed his policies will continue in his absence.

Correa's government and policies have been in conflict with the United States for years, including his rejection of a US based that had been located in the country. Today the US still maintains a presence through the US Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for Democracy.

"Some of the groups coming out calling for the president's resignation are known as groups receiving funding from these US agencies. So, again there is an indications already in just the beginning moments of this coup that's underway of backing from different US agencies," said Golinger.

Coup attempts in Latin America in recent years took place in nations that are or were members of the Bolivarian Alliance, which works to oppose US hegemony in the region.

"It seems to be that this is an attempt to deter Latin American integration and independence," said Golinger.
....
It has been reported that Correa said there was an attempt on his life.

"That's not exactly what he said," said Upéry. "He went to talk to the policemen in one of their camps and there he said, 'well if you want to kill me, kill me'. The fact is they didn't kill him."

But, when the president left some policemen used a noxious gas which did impact him.

"If they wanted to kill him, they could have killed him very easily," said Upéry.

He explained that he is still not sure what the policemen want, their only demands have been that the law be changed to return the benefits they feel they have lost.

The national army has however issued a declaration in support of Correa and issued a state of emergency, placing them in charge.
....
The people of Ecuador have come out in strong support for the president. The people want the police to stop and the president to be released, even though some do understand the concerns of the police force, said Upéry.

As this goes on, crime has suddenly risen and armed gangs have taken to the streets since there are no ongoing police patrols.
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10.: General Strike In Northwest Pakistan Over NATO Attack

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:42 pm (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/01/c_13537930.htm

Xinhua News Agency
October 1, 2010

Irate tribesmen protest as Pakistan cautiously roars back against NATO violations
by Syed Moazzam Hashmi

ISLAMABAD: Irate tribesmen pulled the shutter down Thursday, observing a complete strike in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, protesting civilian casualties in the rising drone strikes.

An early Thursday morning killing of three troops, in a NATO offensive in violation of Pakistani airspace, raises the anti-Americanism mercury as the CIA chief met leadership in the capital city.

"It's an open violation," northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Governor Owais Ghani roared as he commented on the violation of Pakistani airspace by NATO gunship helicopters that attacked a Pakistani security checkpoint killing three paramilitary troops and injuring an equal number at 5.25 a.m. (local time) while a second violation of airspace occurred in the afternoon in the Kurram area as Pakistani authorities were tossing heads for a reaction.

Curfew had also been imposed as a preventive measure to a possible reaction of tribesmen in Yakaghand bazaar in the Dattakhel sub-district in the north Waziristan tribal area, the prime target of current consistent drone attacks.

Meanwhile, the entry of the NATO supply trucks had also been banned in Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan in view of possible attacks. The containers were also returned to the provincial capital Peshawar for safety, as over 100 NATO trucks had been destroyed in various...attacks during this year.

Strongly condemning the highhandedness of NATO forces, the governor of the insurgency-plagued northwest province which is the front-line of the U.S.-led war against terror reacted, "We'll have to reconsider the policy on war on terror."

"It's an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty," Ghani said while assuring tribesmen that their lives and property would be protected, as the rugged tribal areas were inflicted with 22 drone strikes in September killing almost 140 people, mostly civilians.

Some high value targets also perished in the attacks such as Al-Fateh Al Masri who led Al-Qaeda's network in Pakistan. However, an over 25:1 ratio of civilians casualties to one suspected militants had attracted worldwide condemnation including from the United Nations and prominent human rights watchdogs.
....
[There is a] widening gulf of unfavorable public opinion [between] the country's deepening involvement in the saga of the war on terror and the plight of damage to civilian lives and properties. It seems to have intensified the tug-of-war on opinions in this regard amid sharply rising anti-Americanism and rising controversies in elected government's capacity in wisely handling the worsening situation, local analysts believed.

Denying comment over the NATO airspace violation early on Thursday, Pakistani foreign office passed the buck on to the shoulders of Pakistani military spokesman that had confirmed the incident. However, later in the afternoon foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit broke the silence saying that NATO and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) must respect its mandate.

"Pakistan will not allow violation of its airspace," Basit told local media adding that investigations into NATO cross border violation is underway.

Pakistani Interior Miniter Rehman Malik said, "We are peaceful. "But, he added, "It would go beyond just protests."

"Now, we need to differentiate between friends and the foes," Malik responded to local reporters, which local watchers believe would be a mere political face-saving statement, as the controversial NATO focusing on Pakistani tribal areas in Al-Qaeda trophies hunt is expected to intensify rather than subdue.
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11.: Top Military Chief: U.S. Must Prepare For The Next War

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Sep 30, 2010 6:51 pm (PDT)

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61092

U.S. Department of Defense
American Forces Press Service
September 30, 2010

Forces Must Ready for Future Conflict, Mullen Says
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden

WASHINGTON: America's military forces must be ready for future conflicts, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today, underscoring what he calls the armed forces' greatest challenge.

"There is no tougher challenge than to prepare for the next war," Mullen said. "If we fail to adapt the American way of war appropriately, we will most certainly undercut our nation's defense and the global security we underpin."

Mullen spoke to students and faculty at Texas A&M University's Rudder Auditorium tonight. He discussed ideas for what he feels are the proper ways to use modern military forces. His conclusions, he said, could have "significant implications" for the future.

Three conclusions come to mind, the admiral said, as he thinks about America's future national security needs and military.
....
"War is perhaps the most serious and certainly the most dangerous of endeavors that a people may enter into," Mullen said. "We ought not tread such ground blindly, nor absent a clear-eyed appraisal of both the rewards and the risks.

"No one craves combat, certainly not those of us in the military. But we must be ready to go, last resort or first," he said.

Mullen highlighted some of the missions in which U.S. military members are currently engaged, explaining that military force is only one aspect of military power.

He noted the counterinsurgency mission in Afghanistan, security assistance in Iraq, security for oil transits through the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East, deterring conflict on the Korean peninsula, foreign internal defense in Colombia, peacekeeping in Kosovo, combating piracy near Somalia and other global counter-terrorism operations. He also noted President Barack Obama's immediate decision this year to send troops to Haiti and Pakistan to support natural disaster relief efforts.

"For all these missions and more, your troops are trained, equipped and deployed," he said. "And for all these missions, it may rightly be said that they are,and ought to be, the best, first tool of choice.
....
Securing American interests, Mullen said, must be coordinated with partner nations' militaries and civilian experts. America's security commitments cut across the lines of diplomacy, intelligence, economics and social progress, he said, noting that 47 nations fight alongside American troops in Afghanistan.
....
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