Messages In This Digest (18 Messages)

11.: New Attack On NATO Oil Tankers In Pakistan From: Rick Rozoff

12.: U.S., New Zealand Troops Join Massive Australian War Games From: Rick Rozoff

13.: U.S. Planning Next Year's Multinational Exercise In Ukraine From: Rick Rozoff

14.: Kandahar: Afghan Families Flee NATO Offensive From: Rick Rozoff

15.: Ecuador Coup Attempt Engineered By The CIA From: Rick Rozoff

16.: Australia Pledges Fealty To NATO Over Afghan War From: Rick Rozoff

17.: New Zealand Dispatches New Troop Contingent To Afghanistan From: Rick Rozoff

18a.: 25:1 Civilian Deaths: U.S. Launches 8 Attacks In Pakistan In Week From: Rick Rozoff

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1a.: Fw: Keep Space for Peace Week Events Planned Worldwide

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 4:06 am (PDT)

From: Global Network <globalnet@mindspring.com>
Subject: Keep Space for Peace Week Events Planned Worldwide
To: "Peaceworks" <peaceworks@lists.riseup.net>
Date: Monday, September 27, 2010, 10:57 AM

KEEP SPACE FOR PEACE WEEK

EVENTS PLANNED WORLDWIDE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Bruce Gagnon (207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com

On October 2-9 a week of local protest events to Keep Space for Peace will be held worldwide.

Each fall the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space organizes Keep Space for Peace Week: International Days of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space. These events are intended to help educate the public about the need to prevent the arms race from moving into the heavens.

According to Global Network Coordinator Bruce Gagnon, "The space week protests represent the largest global grassroots expression against moving the arms race into space. This year we are highlighting the planned Obama administration 'missile defense' deployments in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan that will be used to help the U.S. and NATO to militarily surround Russia and China. These deployments, while sold as defensive measures, are in fact key elements in the creation of U.S. first-strike attack systems. Their deployment will ensure a new arms race."

Global Network board member Makiko Sato in Japan says, "The transformation and relocation of U.S. forces in our region has turned out to entail those of Japanese Self Defense Forces, with Patriot Missile Defense (PAC-3) systems being deployed on Japan's soil, and with Aegis warships (outfitted with missile defense) in our waters, both aimed at the neighboring Asian countries. To where is Japan being taken, away from and in distrust of our historical and cultural brother countries in East Asia?"

The October 2-9 actions are being co-sponsored by the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom and the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases. Protests are expected at city centers and key space related factories and military bases. Educational forums will be held and space videos would be shown throughout the week.

To see the list of Space Week protest sites or to view the 2010 Space Week poster:

http://www.space4peace.org/actions/ksfpw10.htm

-END-

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)

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2.: Ecuador's President Reasserts Control After Coup Attempt

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:17 am (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/02/c_13540237.htm

Xinhua News Agency
October 2, 2010

Ecuador's Correa reasserts control after police uprising

QUITO: President Rafael Correa has reasserted control of Ecuador after he was rescued from a hospital during a police revolt that killed at least six people and injured 200 others.

Official statistics put the death toll at six, including a solider, a police officer and four civilians.

The police officer was killed during the operation that rescued the trapped president, who called the uprising a coup attempt.

Correa was trapped for more than 12 hours in the Police Hospital, where he was being treated after nearly being asphyxiated by tear gas when he tried to talk with angry police officers at a capital barracks.

"This was coordinated to create chaos, civil war, killings, to destabilize the government. They have not succeeded," Correa told visiting foreign ministers from across the region during a meeting broadcast on state TV. "Personally, I am devastated and the nation is in mourning."

The modestly paid police were upset by plans to cut bonuses and freeze promotions as part of austerity measures that Correa, a U.S. and European educated economist, is trying to push through in the face of a financial squeeze.

Interior Minister Gustavo Jalkh confirmed on Friday that 41 soldiers and 26 police officers were injured during the rescue operation.

The Health Ministry said 193 civilians, six in serious condition, were taken to local hospitals. Most of the civilians were hit by stray bullets after gunfire broke out during the riot that briefly paralyzed this Andean nation that had eight presidents in 10 years before Correa took office.

The national police chief, Gen. Freddy Martinez, took responsibility for the revolt by renegade officers and resigned in shame on Friday.

"A commander shown such lack of respect by his subordinates cannot stay in charge," Martinez said.

Television station Ecuavisa said three senior police officers were detained.

Gen. Patricio Franco, appointed the new police chief by Correa, said the government will investigate the riot and take legal action to punish the masterminds.

Franco called on Ecuadorians to keep confidence in the national police. He said that he has already prepared to take reforms to the police and hoped the officers will stick to their responsibilities and fight for the benefit of the chronically unstable country.

Justice Minister Jose Serrano said that all of the participants and the organizers of the uprising face investigation and some could be punished according to the law.

Police officers began to return to work on Friday. Most shops and banks in Quito have re-opened, and pedestrians and cars are gradually increasing in the streets.

TROUBLE TIMES AHEAD

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino warned late Friday that though the situation is under control, the roots of the coup threat had not been yet weeded out.

"We can't claim total victory. We have overcome the situation now, but we can't relax," Patino said.

Correa and Patino on Friday met with the foreign ministers of the Union of South American Nations, also known as Unasur, who strongly condemned the uprising and dispatched a delegation to Quito to show support for Correa.

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said the meeting sent a strong signal to the world that Latin American countries will say "no" to any coup attempts.

Correa has also gained support from home. Thousands of Ecuadoreans poured into the streets to back him and, unlike during previous coups in the OPEC smallest member, there was no alternative leader waiting to take over.

The armed forces high command stood by Correa, as did his most powerful political rivals and governments in the region.

Diego Ribadeneiera, the Ecuadorian ambassador to Peru, said Correa has not ruled out the possibility of calling early general elections and is in favor of closing the National Assembly.

One lesson from Thursday's police revolt, he said, was that problems should solved through dialogue and constitutional channels.
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3.: Afghanistan: NATO 2010 Death Toll Surpasses 550

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:17 am (PDT)

http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201010/3027950.htm?desktop

Radio Australia News
October 2, 2010

Two NATO soldiers killed in eastern Afghanistan

Two NATO soldiers have been killed in a bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan.

NATO has not released the nationalities of the soldiers, but the latest deaths increas the number of foreign troops killed in the war so far this year to 551.
....
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4a.: Two More NATO Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:17 am (PDT)

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/two-nato-soldiers-killed-in-afghanistan-20101003-162jp.html

Agence France-Presse
October 3, 2010

Two NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

A bomb explosion and an insurgent attack killed two NATO soldiers in Afghanistan, where over 150,000 international troops are fighting Taliban militants along side Afghan forces, the alliance said on Sunday.

One soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed early on Sunday morning in an insurgent attack in relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan, NATO said in a press statement.

Separately, another ISAF soldier was killed by a road-side bomb in southern Afghanistan, ISAF said.
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5.: Russia Increases Combat Capabilities In The Arctic

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:17 am (PDT)

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101002/160804543.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
October 2, 2010

Russia increases combat capabilities in Arctic

Mowcow" Russia is currently increasing its combat potential in the Arctic with new ships and additional station sites, Navy Commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said on Saturday.

Russian naval ships and submarines have already conducted over ten military patrols of the Arctic in 2010, Vysotsky said.

"In accordance with the Russian Armed Forces' plan of strategic deterrence we take measures aimed to demonstrate military presence in the Arctic," the navy commander said.

The Russian Navy is currently taking measures to integrate the Glonass satellite system with the RSDN-20 radio-technical navigation system, he added.

The RSDN-20 is a navaid used to determine positions of aircraft, vessels and submarines; however its effectiveness is low. Integration with Glonass will allow the system to determine positions of objects with the accuracy of 1-5 kilometers.

Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.

Russia and other countries with an Arctic coastline all lay claims to the region's seabed, said to contain one quarter of the world's mineral resources. The untapped riches are becoming more accessible due to melting ice.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a recent international conference in Moscow that the Arctic would not become a battleground as potential territory disputes could be resolved through negotiation.
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6.: NATO: Regional Organization Or World Policeman?

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:17 am (PDT)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/10/02/23663041.html

Voice of Russia
October 2, 2010

NATO: regional organization or world policeman?
Maria Chupina

Russia hopes that NATO's new strategy to be passed in Lisbon in November will provide for collective defenses which stay within the bounds of international law.

According to Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, Russia expects NATO to abstain from taking decisions bypassing the UN Security Council, as it has happened before.

Moscow hopes NATO's new strategy will shift emphasis from Article Five of the NATO Charter, which allows for independent decisions beyond the bounds of international law and within the jurisdiction of the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council, the minister says, should have the last say on security matters. Russia and NATO should cooperate within the bounds provided by the Founding Act and the Rome Declaration, which means that peace-keeping operations can be held only by the decision of the UN Security Council.

Nevertheless, some in NATO insist that Article Five, which allows the alliance to carry out operations abroad at will, should underlie the new strategy. This, in fact, would throw Russian-NATO cooperation back into the Cold War days and turn their current partnership into rivalry. It's still unclear whether NATO chooses to stay a world policeman acting beyond its area of responsibility, or a regional organization which guarantees security.

In the opinion of the Director of the Social and Political Research Center Vladimir Yevseev, NATO's new strategy will undergo no substantial changes:

"Since NATO positions itself as an organization whose areas of responsibility stretches far beyond the European continent, it is likely to continue to think so in the future and will reserve the right to interfere in the affairs of other states. It will thereby undermine the functions of the UN Security Council. In the future, it might grow weaker and become a regional organization. But for this to happen, the United States should lose its position of global dominance."

NATO's leaders have suggested discussing the new strategy at a NATO-Russia summit in Lisbon. Should the summit go ahead, the participants are bound to insist on signing a bilateral agreement on military restraint. Despite numerous assurances from NATO that the major threats come from the South, NATO's military infrastructure continues to be deployed in close proximity to Russia's borders. Naturally, Moscow cannot but voice concern over the moves.
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7.: Afghanistan: Australian PM Honors First Post-Vietnam War Dead

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:17 am (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/03/c_13540668.htm

Xinhua News Agency
October 3, 2010

Australian PM visits Afghanistan to honor fallen troops

CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has flown to Afghanistan to personally pay tribute to Australian troops fighting in Afghanistan, while honoring the 21 soldiers killed in the conflict since 2001, Australia's media reported on Sunday.

Gillard arrived in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Saturday afternoon to see the Australian troops, and to discuss the country 's military presence in Afghanistan with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

According to ABC News, the number of Australian troops in Afghanistan has become a major issue in recent weeks following the publication of an email from a front-line soldier, who argues Australian forces are under-resourced.

Gillard visited troops based at Tarin Kowt during the brief stop-off, where she shared a meal with some soldiers, and was asked about the possibility of sending more troops and equipment.

"We review continuously and as soon as we get any recommendations we certainly deal with them urgently and don't let them delay," Gillard told ABC News on Sunday.

"So if we got a recommendation from the CDF (Chief of the Defense Force) into our national security committee that you need something we would deal with that immediately."
....
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8.: UN Charter Violation: Pakistani Party Slams U.S. Drone, NATO Strikes

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:18 am (PDT)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C10%5C03%5Cstory_3-10-2010_pg7_17

Daily Times
October 3, 2010

ANP condemns drone attacks, NATO incursions

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) has condemned the attack inside Pakistan by NATO forces besides growing drone attacks in the country, declaring it a sheer violation of the UN charter.

"Innocent tribespersons are being killed in these attacks. ANP never supported drone attacks in Pakistan," ANP Provincial President Senator Afrasiyab Khattak said at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday.

He said that the NATO mandate to fight terrorism was confined only to Afghanistan and they could not launch any kind of attack in the territorial jurisdiction of Pakistan. "It is the prerogative of Pakistani security agencies and they are effectively doing their job," he said.
....
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9.: Al Jazeera Demands NATO Free Arrested Cameramen

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 11:28 am (PDT)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gBu7JhNCdXgcPa6aqnRI9-KKCtyg

Agence France-Presse
September 23, 2010

Jazeera demands NATO free arrested cameramen

-It accused ISAF, which has almost 150,000 NATO and US troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgency, of targeting Al Jazeera and threatening staff in Afghanistan "to change the editorial line".

KABUL: Al Jazeera television has demanded that NATO immediately release two of its journalists it says were arrested by coalition forces in Afghanistan this week in an effort to censor its war coverage.

The Doha-based television network said in a statment that two cameramen had been arrested as part of "an attempt by the ISAF leadership to suppress its comprehensive coverage of the Afghan war".

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had said in a statement earlier this week that it had "captured a suspected Taliban media and propaganda facilitator, who participated in filming election attacks".

Al Jazeera named the arrested journalists as Mohammad Nader, detained in the southern province of Kandahar on Wednesday, and Rahmatullah Nekzed, who was arrested on Monday in Ghazni province, south of Kabul.
....
Kandahar governor Toryalai Wesa confirmed Nader's arrest, telling AFP: "We are doing our best to win his release as soon as possible."

Al Jazeera said ISAF had written to the network about the arrests, obliquely accusing the two men of working with the insurgency to spread Taliban propaganda and intimidate ordinary Afghans.

"The insurgents use propaganda, often delivered through news organisations as a way to influence and in many cases intimidate the Afghan population," it quoted ISAF as saying.
....
Al Jazeera has "strongly rejected the claims and insisted the two were innocent," the statement said, calling for their immediate release.

It accused ISAF, which has almost 150,000 NATO and US troops in Afghanistan fighting the insurgency, of targeting Al Jazeera and threatening staff in Afghanistan "to change the editorial line".

The network would "continue to maintain its coverage on the basis of fair and impartial journalism in line with its Code of Ethics and will not bias its coverage in favour of any party or coalition despite pressures being imposed on it," it said.
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10.: Pentagon, CIA Shift Predator, Reaper Drones For Pakistan

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 7:43 pm (PDT)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8039888/US-secretly-shifts-armed-drones-to-fight-terrorists-in-Pakistan.html

Sunday Telegraph
October 3, 2010

US secretly shifts armed drones to fight terrorists in Pakistan
The Pentagon and CIA are stepping up America's secret war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan by secretly diverting aerial drones and missiles from Afghanistan.

By Toby Harnden in Washington

Predator and Reaper drones have been lent by the US military to the CIA as part of a shift in strategy that underlines the Obama administration's view that Pakistan is unable or unwilling to target Islamist sanctuaries on its own soil.

Tensions between the US and Pakistan have flared after a key route used to supply American troops in Afghanistan was shut after three Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack by a Nato helicopter gunship.

On Friday, insurgents attacked fuel tankers in Pakistan in another indication of the increasing vulnerability of Western supply routes.

The additional drones enabled the CIA to increase the number of strikes in Pakistan in September, averaging five strikes a week that month, up from an average of two to three per week.
....
American surveillance drones are flown over Pakistan and intelligence gained passed to Islamabad. But Pakistan has formally banned US military operations on its soil, citing the country's sovereignty.

But the CIA has secretly conducted missile strikes launched from drones with Pakistani complicity. This has allowed Pakistan to condemn the strikes, which are strongly opposed by its predominantly anti-American population.

"You have to deal with the sanctuaries," said John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, told the Wall Street Journal. "I've pushed very, very hard with the Pakistanis regarding that." Mr Kerry discussed the issue with Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, in Washington last week.

The secret arrangement between the Pentagon and CIA underlines the consensus in the Obama administration that safe havens on Pakistani territory near the Afghan border is the major obstacle to success in the war in Afghanistan.

"When it comes to drones, there's no mission more important right now than hitting targets in the tribal areas, and that's where additional equipment's gone," an American official told the Wall Street Journal.

"It's not the only answer, but it's critical to both homeland security and force protection in Afghanistan."

The proposal for the CIA to use military resources emerged during last year's Afghanistan-Pakistan policy review. There was resistance from some at the Pentagon who argued that the drones were needed against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Since taking command in Afghanistan in July, Gen. Petraeus has placed greater focus on the tribal areas of Pakistan, according to military and other government officials.
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11.: New Attack On NATO Oil Tankers In Pakistan

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 7:43 pm (PDT)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704380504575530533958489568.html

Wall Street Journal
October 4, 2010

Militants Attack NATO Oil Tankers in Pakistan
By JULIAN E. BARNES

Militants in Pakistan attacked tanker trucks carrying oil for North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan early on Monday, intensifying a series of attacks on supply convoys.

The unconfirmed reports in Pakistan said as many as 20 tankers were set on fire at a depot near Islamabad. Other reports said that at least six people, and perhaps more, were killed.

Pakistani police, appearing on television, said that as many as a dozen men burst into a depot from two directions, firing automatic weapons indiscriminately.

A Pentagon official confirmed the latest attack but was unable to provide any details on the strike. Reports from Pakistan varied as to how many tankers were hit and how many people were killed in the attacks.

The attack on tankers was at least the second such strike in recent days. On Friday, 27 NATO supply trucks were set on fire in Sindh province in southern Pakistan. Taliban militants in Pakistan claimed responsibility.

The attacks have come as tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan have risen. The Central Intelligence Agency has stepped up its undeclared war in the tribal regions. U.S. military officials have said it is increasingly important to disrupt the Pakistani safe havens used by militants to mount attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.

NATO forces have also engaged in a series of cross-border attacks in recent days, responding to what they have said are attacks from Pakistan. Those skirmishes prompted Pakistani officials on Thursday to close down the border crossing at Torkham, a key supply line for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
....
The series of attacks on fuel tankers began on Friday, and appear aimed at disrupting the NATO war effort.
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12.: U.S., New Zealand Troops Join Massive Australian War Games

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 7:43 pm (PDT)

http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201010/3028585.htm?desktop

Radio Australia News
October 4, 2010

US, NZ troops join Australian military exercises
Josh Bavas

Thousands of troops from Australia, New Zealand and the United States are in Australia's northeast this week, for one of the country's biggest training programs.

More than 6,000 Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen have begun training in the north Queensland city of Townsville, Monday.

They're expected to use tonnes of live ammunition as part of 'Exercise Hamel'.

New Zealand and US war ships have docked in Townsville and will accommodate hundreds of allied forces during their stay in north Queensland.

The Defence Force says the latest military technology will be used in areas to the west and north of the city and will give troops the feeling of being in a real war scenario.

Townsville residents have been warned to prepare for heavy and possibly noisy air traffic during this week's war games.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/04/3028507.htm

Australian Broadcasting Company
October 4, 2010

Massive war games begin in north Queensland
By Josh Bavas

More than 6,000 Australian troops will join soldiers, sailors and airmen from New Zealand and the US for Exercise Hamel.

More than 6,000 Australian troops will join soldiers, sailors and airmen from New Zealand and the United States for Exercise Hamel.

Over the past week, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been preparing basic accommodation for those taking part in the massive operation.

Tonnes of live ammunition will be fired in a mock war scenario at a Defence training field to the west of Townsville.

Local residents have been told to expect heavy air traffic throughout the week.

The ADF says the exercise will provide troops with the necessary skills for modern combat.
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13.: U.S. Planning Next Year's Multinational Exercise In Ukraine

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:28 pm (PDT)

http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/49143/

Interfax-Ukraine
September 23, 2010

Ukrainian navy servicemen to participate in Sea Breeze 2011 scheduling conference

A conference for scheduling the Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze 2011 military exercise, with the participation of a delegation of representatives of the command of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, started in Naples (Italy) on September 23.

The conference is aimed at drawing up a draft of the exercise plans for training in cooperation during multinational operations....

During the conference it is also planned to agree on the sites of military maneuvers and determine the participating states, the possible composition of the forces, and general logistical requirements.

The Ukrainian delegation will finish its participation in the conference on September 24, 2010.
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14.: Kandahar: Afghan Families Flee NATO Offensive

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:28 pm (PDT)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/10/03/23796979.html

Voice of Russia
October 3, 2010

Afghan families flee from Kandahar

About 1,000 Afghan families have arrived from troubled districts in southern Kandahar province to the capital of Kandahar as the joint military operation against Taliban rages on in the region, RIA-Novosti reports.

The operation involves 8,000 servicemen of the Afghan national army and NATO ISAF troops.

The recent air bombings have left many families homeless and the people hope to find shelter and protection in the regional center.
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15.: Ecuador Coup Attempt Engineered By The CIA

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:28 pm (PDT)

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2010/10/03/ecuador-coup-attempt-engineered-by-the-cia.html

Strategic Culture Foundation
October 3, 2010

Ecuador Coup Attempt Engineered by the CIA
Nil Nikandrov

-The subversive activity targeting president Correa is coordinated by Heather Hodges who was appointed as US ambassador to Ecuador in August, 2008. She did a job in Guatemala during the reign of its bloody dictator Rios Montt and served as deputy director of the US State Department's Cuban division which is known to be tightly interwoven with the CIA. Mrs. Hodges also worked with USAID in several countries and served as the US ambassador to Moldova where her mission was to alienate the country's leadership from Russia and to organize a color revolution with the help of pro-western NGOs and energetic youths from the US Peace Corps. At the moment her trainees are employed by CIA stations in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

Ecuador's police forces played the key role in the coup attempt which shattered the country on September 30. The passing of a law affecting the police officers' bonuses and job benefits became a pretext for the rebellion which erupted in the capital city of Quito and the Guayquil seaport town. Actually, the law was not supposed to entail pay reductions, but those who masterminded the coup managed to convince the police that it would and thus provoked the uprising.

The subsequent developments followed the traditional Latin American pattern: rebels created bases, set up roadblocks, and had all flights to and from Ecuador suspended.

The country's air force, counting scores of US-trained officers, partially sided with the police, while pilots from Venezuela who served in Ecuador in the framework of the military cooperation program were isolated.

President Rafael Correa barely escaped death when he approached the police barracks to explain the reforms personally: shooting was audible around, he was sprayed with tear gas, and, moreover, several combat grenades exploded nearby. The president and his bodyguards took refuge in a military hospital which was promptly besieged by the rebel police forces and armed civilians evidently furnished by the opposition. The siege continued for several hours until special forces arrived and escorted Correa to the presidential palace.

Over the past several years the police of Ecuador were courted by the US embassy which no doubt had its own interests in mind. Money from funds run by the FBI, the CIA, the DEA, and other US agencies was routinely poured into bonuses for the police top brass and operatives, equipment for various police divisions, etc.

The cooperation became so cordial that occasionally the US intelligence community used Ecuador's police and army intelligence service to keep under surveillance the country's politicians, journalists, and others regarded as potential opponents of the US. Ecuador's intelligence services rushed information to their US partners during the crisis that hit the country's relations with Colombia after the latter bombed FARC camps in the territory of the former, leaving their own government blind to details of the situation.

The January, 2007 advent of Correa's patriotic administration largely put an end to the abnormal arrangement as the Ecuadorian government started to regain control over the country's agencies. Among other things, Correa forbade them to maintain unofficial ties with the US embassy or get on its payroll. The efforts predictably angered Washington which, in one instance, demonstratively demanded that the Ecuadorian drug enforcement agency return the computers formerly supplied to it by DEA. Relations between Ecuador and the US saw another chill when Correa closed the US airbase in Manta. In response, Washington slammed Quito over its friendship with Venezuela and Nicaragua, diapproval of Plan Colombia, and the implementation of an original model of socialism.

The success of the operation which led to the ouster of president Manuel Zelaya in Honduras inspired the US hawks to put similar schemes to work elsewhere in Latin America, Washington's eventual goal being to isolate Hugo Chavez and remove his allies from power across the region. The US Administration reckoned that Ecuador was the easiest target on its political hit list. Correa's reforms meet with staunch resistance mounted by the local oligarchy, pro-US elites, and the army officers corps zombified in the notorious School of the Americas to fight communism which under present-day conditions circulates as a bracket term for whatever political movements Washington frowns upon.

The subversive activity targeting president Correa is coordinated by Heather Hodges who was appointed as US ambassador to Ecuador in August, 2008. She did a job in Guatemala during the reign of its bloody dictator Rios Montt and served as deputy director of the US State Department's Cuban division which is known to be tightly interwoven with the CIA. Mrs. Hodges also worked with USAID in several countries and served as the US ambassador to Moldova where her mission was to alienate the country's leadership from Russia and to organize a color revolution with the help of pro-western NGOs and the energetic youths from the US Peace Corps. At the moment her trainees are employed by CIA stations in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Quito last June to assess the situation from within and to probe into the possibility of reorienting president Correa from Chavez to the US, but failed to exact any concessions from the Ecuadorian leader.

As a result, Hodges was instructed to launch the operation aimed at weakening Correa's positions and – in the longer run – toppling him. USAID alone made a $40 mln financial infusion into the cause, former president Lucio Gutierrez being the key figure in the plot. Gutierrez's disastrous presidency ended with his escape from the country. Following an amnesty, he challenged Correa in the 2009 presidential race which he explainably lost.

According to the coup blueprint drafted by the CIA, Gutierrez was to announce the removal of the "dictator" Correa and the transfer of authority to a provisional government in a televised address. The plan additionally included the disbandment of the Ecuadorian parliament and the organization of snap elections. The conspirators, however, were dispersed by the defenders of the legitimate president and failed to clear Gutierrez's access to TV. Besides, the Indian organizations from the PACHAKUTIK group chose not to partake. The coup therefore collapsed.

Currently Ecuador is under emergency rule. Correa plans to purge the country's law enforcement agencies and to find out who – including army officers – was involved. Charges are already being pressed against Gutierrez and his Sociedad Patriotica.

The causes of the unrest in Ecuador and the steps necessary to prevent the recurrence of coups in Latin America were analyzed during the UNASUR emergency meeting which convened in Buenos Aires on October 1. Attention should be paid to the fact that Washington chose not to condemn the perpetrators of the coup in Ecuador.
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16.: Australia Pledges Fealty To NATO Over Afghan War

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:38 pm (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/04/c_13541768.htm

Xinhua News Agency
October 4, 2010

U.S. to boost air support in Afghanistan: Australian PM

CANBERRA: The United States will provide extra helicopters to help support Australian and other coalition forces in Afghanistan, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced on Monday.

Australian federal government has been under pressure from the opposition to provide more resources, including helicopters and tanks, and increase troop numbers from the 1,550 Australians stationed in the strife-torn nation.

While the Dutch were withdrawing from Oruzgan Province of Afghanistan, Gillard said, the U.S. would take the lead in providing air support to the coalition force.

"If the chief of the defense force says more equipment is necessary then of course we will deal with that urgently," Gillard told ABC Radio in Brussels of Belgium on Monday, insisting Australian troops have adequate equipment and support, referring to a recent 1.1 billion dollars (1.07 billion U.S. dollars) investment by the government.

Gillard, who visited the troops in Tarin Kowt base on the weekend before flying out to Belgium, also reiterated her government's commitment to the conflict, saying Australian troops would likely stay in Afghanistan for up to four years.

The prime minister will confirm that commitment personally to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a two-day summit in the Belgian capital.
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17.: New Zealand Dispatches New Troop Contingent To Afghanistan

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 8:38 pm (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/04/c_13541718.htm

Xinhua News Agency
October 4, 2010

New Zealand soldiers leave for Afghanistan

WELLINGTON: A contingent of about 100 New Zealand soldiers left for Afghanistan on Monday.

Another 20 or so will leave in a few days, and most will join the Provincial Reconstruction Team based in Bamyan province.

Others will work in roles within the international force's headquarters in Kabul and at another control center at Bagram.

The deployment is the 17th to Afghanistan, and the first since Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell was killed by a roadside bomb in Bamyan province in August.

New Zealand Joint Forces Commander Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell said the risk assessment in Afghanistan hasn't changed, despite O'Donnell's death.

Stockwell said most of Bamyan province is reasonably secure but there is a heightened security situation in the north-east of the province, where O'Donnell was killed.
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18a.: 25:1 Civilian Deaths: U.S. Launches 8 Attacks In Pakistan In Week

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

Sun Oct 3, 2010 11:18 pm (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-09/27/c_13530850.htm

Xinhua News Agency
September 27, 2010

Repeated U.S. drone strikes could spark another round of terrorist attacks in Pakistan

-The so-called precision strikes of the U.S. drones against militants have also mistakenly killed many other innocent people. There are reports saying that the death ratio of militants killed against civilians in such strikes stands at about 1 against 25, leading to a strong anti-American sentiment in the country.

ISLAMABAD: At least nine people were killed and another two injured in three U.S. drone strikes launched on Sunday evening in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan, reported local media.

According to the reports, the U.S. drones launched three strikes at different targets in Miranshah, North Waziristan, a place bordering Afghanistan, which is believed to be one of the strongholds of militants in Pakistan.

During the first strike, the U.S. drones fired three missiles at a house located at the Datta Khel Road in Miranshah, killing at least four people and injuring two others.

In the second strike, six to seven U.S. drones seen hovering over Miranshah fired five missiles at a target at the Tarmano Road in the area, killing at least three people.

In the third strike, the U.S. drones fired one missile at another target in the Miranshah, killing at least two people.

The third strike launched by U.S. drones on Sunday evening counts for the eighth of its kind over the past week. Starting from last Sunday, the U.S. drones have apparently stepped up its strike against the militants hiding in Pakistan's northwest tribal areas of North Waziristan and South Waziristan. So far over 40 people including some important militant leaders have reportedly been killed in the strikes since last Sunday.

The so-called precision strikes of the U.S. drones against militants have also mistakenly killed many other innocent people. There are reports saying that the death ratio of militants killed against civilians in such strikes stands at about 1 against 25, leading to a strong anti-American sentiment in the country.

Local watchers believe that the repeated U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, plus the recent sentencing of a Pakistani female scientist named Aafia Siddiqui to 86-year imprisonment by a US court over terrorism charges, could lead to another round of fierce terrorist attacks in the country.

On Saturday night three NATO oil tankers were attacked by Taliban in Pakistan and Pakistan Talibans have threatened to continue attacks on NATO convoys supplying goods to the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan through the land route of Pakistan unless Aafia Siddiqui, a female Pakistani scientist recently sentenced to 86-year imprisonment by a US court, is released and returned to Pakistan.
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