Messages In This Digest (16 Messages)
- 1.
- Missile, Cyber Defense: NATO To Confront "Full Spectrum" Of Issues From: Rick Rozoff
- 2.
- Polish Military Contingent In Afghanistan To Receive Israeli Drones From: Rick Rozoff
- 3.
- NATO Assessment Team To Visit Georgia Ahead Of Summit From: Rick Rozoff
- 4a.
- NATO Loses Soldier In Southern Afghanistan From: Rick Rozoff
- 5.
- "Family Mission": One Clinton Bombs Balkans, Another Pushes NATO From: Rick Rozoff
- 6.
- NATO's Top Military Chief: Climate Change Can Cause Arctic Conflict From: Rick Rozoff
- 7.
- Robert Simmons: Ukraine To Join NATO From: Rick Rozoff
- 8.
- U.S. Carrier Strike Group Docks In Malaysian Port From: Rick Rozoff
- 9.
- Fresh Attack Against German Troops In Northern Afghanistan From: Rick Rozoff
- 10.
- Fw: The Admiral Speaks Truth to Power From: Rick Rozoff
- 11.
- NATO Strike Kill 20 Civilians In Afghanistan's Helmand Province From: Rick Rozoff
- 12.
- Sweden: Armed Forces To Be Purged Over Foreign Deployments From: Rick Rozoff
- 13.
- NATO's "Hell On Earth": Swedish Troops In 30 Afghan Firefights From: Rick Rozoff
- 14.
- Sweden To Spend $546M On Blackhawk Helicopters For Afghan War From: Rick Rozoff
- 15.
- Bomb Attack Targets Multinational NATO Base In Afghanistan From: Rick Rozoff
- 16.
- Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands: Pentagon Ready To Back Japan Against China From: Rick Rozoff
Messages
- 1.
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Missile, Cyber Defense: NATO To Confront "Full Spectrum" Of Issues
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:40 am (PDT)
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-5F29ADDD-783CCEDE/natolive/news_66768.htm?
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
October 11, 2010
New Strategic Concept, missile defence and reform on NATO ministerials' agenda
At his monthly press briefing on 11 October, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen presented the agenda of the upcoming Foreign and Defense Ministers' informal meetings in Brussels on 14 October. It will mainly focus on NATO's new Strategic Concept, missile defence and reform.
On the new Strategic Concept, ministers will discuss the Secretary General's first draft. "My firm intent is that the Lisbon Summit [in November] will put in place an Alliance that is more modern, more efficient and better able to work with our partners around the globe," he said.
"The new Strategic Concept must reconfirm NATO's core task – territorial defence – but modernize how we do it, including cyber defence and missile defence. It must define clearly NATO's mission to manage the full spectrum of crises, and mandate and equip the Alliance to engage fully with our civilian partners."
Missile defence
Moving on to the ministerial discussions on missile defence, the Secretary General said he believed that "NATO should develop the capability to defend Europe from the threat of missile attack" and that the time was ripe to take this decision.
"More than 30 countries in the world have, or are acquiring ballistic missiles, some of which can already reach Europe," he said. "[C]onsidering the immeasurable cost of a missile strike on any of our cities, I believe we cannot afford not to have missile defence." He hopes that, by the Lisbon Summit, Allies are ready to take on this task.
Reform
The Secretary General's third point related to NATO reform. "The Alliance is already good value for money. By standing together, we get more security than we ever could by going it alone. But we must do better."
He said that NATO's command structure and agencies were in need of reform and that Allies should buy and operate more equipment together that they could not afford individually. "NATO must become more effective, and more cost-effective, at the same time," he said.
===========================
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- 2.
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Polish Military Contingent In Afghanistan To Receive Israeli Drones
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:41 am (PDT)
http://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul141258_four-uavs-for-poles-in-afghanistan.html
Polish Radio
Octobr 11, 2010
Four UAVs for Poles in Afghanistan
The Polish contingent currently serving in Afghanistan is to receive four unmanned aircraft over the coming weeks.
In February, Israel's Aeronautics won a tender from the Polish Ministry of Defence for the aircraft, of which there are to be eight: four delivered in the coming weeks, with the remainder arriving in Poland in 2011.
"These are the first such units that will be our own," deputy defence minister Marcin Idzik told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, adding that "up until now [Polish forces] used unmanned aircraft on loan from the Americans."
Two sets of four "Aerostar" Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (TUAVs) were purchased from the Israeli defence company for a sum amounting to around 76 million zloty (19 million euro).
According to Aeronautics, the Aerostar is the most advanced tactical UAV system in the world. The UAV is currently under the employment of 15 customers worldwide, among them many NATO members.
The Aerostar UAV weighs 230 kilograms and is capable of reaching altitudes of 6 kilometers while operating at ranges of around 250 kilometres from its ground control station.
===========================
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- 3.
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NATO Assessment Team To Visit Georgia Ahead Of Summit
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:42 am (PDT)
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/foreign/1764485.html
Trend News Agency
October 11, 2010
NATO assessment team will visit Georgia
N. Kirtzkhalia
Tbilisi: The assessment team for the NATO Annual National Program will visit Tbilisi on Oct.12-14. The team members will evaluate the progress of the alliance's annual plan, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said at a traditional news briefing on Monday.
According to her, NATO officials will hold a series of meetings on which they will develop an evaluation document.
"This conclusion will be read at the Lisbon summit of NATO, which is very important for Georgia," Kalandadze said.
===========================
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- 4a.
-
NATO Loses Soldier In Southern Afghanistan
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:17 pm (PDT)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/11/c_13552070.htm
Xinhua News Agency
October 11, 2010
NATO soldier killed in S. Afghanistan
KABUL: A NATO soldier was killed in Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack in Taliban hotbed south of Afghanistan on Monday, a press release of the alliance said.
"An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today," the press release added.
However, it did not identify the nationality of the victim, saying it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.
More than 570 NATO soldiers with majority of them Americans have been killed since January this year in Afghanistan.
===========================
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- 5.
-
"Family Mission": One Clinton Bombs Balkans, Another Pushes NATO
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:17 pm (PDT)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\10\11\story_11-10-2010_pg7_31
Reuters
October 11, 2010
Clinton takes on Balkan puzzle
-Clinton's three-day visit to Sarajevo, Belgrade and Kosovo followed by NATO discussions in Brussels will show sustained US commitment to putting the Balkan nations on track to join both the EU and eventually the NATO alliance itself.
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to the Balkans on Monday, seeking to buttress the fragile peace that was one of her husband's chief foreign policy achievements as president. [sic]
Clinton will urge reconciliation for Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo, which battled through the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and dominated the news when former US President Bill Clinton was in office.
For Hillary Clinton, the Balkan puzzle is a familiar challenge – although it is now she, and not her husband, who speaks for Washington as it attempts to bring the unstable region more closely into Europe's fold.
"She is on a family mission that has not been completed yet," said Janusz Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
"They will not be able to say mission accomplished until all the loose ends are accounted for," he added.
Bill Clinton helped engineer the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the Bosnian conflict and supported NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 that persuaded Belgrade to withdraw from Kosovo, an independence-minded former Serbian province subsequently placed under UN supervision.
US Vice President Joe Biden made the Obama administration's first high-level visit to the region in May 2009 and offered a fresh support for a region, which saw the US intervene twice militarily in the 1990s.
But strains persist, and analysts say Clinton's three-day visit to Sarajevo, Belgrade and Kosovo followed by NATO discussions in Brussels will show sustained US commitment to putting the Balkan nations on track to join both the EU and eventually the NATO alliance itself.
"This one trip would not achieve all of those things, but if it puts the Americans back into play that will be a good thing," said Daniel Serwer, a Balkan expert at the US Institute of Peace.
Bosnia, Clinton's first stop, is widely regarded as the least stable part of the Balkans and just completed presidential and parliamentary elections that underscored the deep ethnic divides which still split the country some 15 years after the end of a conflict which killed 100,000 people.
Clinton will meet leaders including Bakir Izetbegovic, the moderate Muslim elected to as the newest member of the country's trilateral presidency, to urge cooperation to advance political and economic reforms crucial to Bosnia's EU hopes.
"EU and NATO membership (are) Bosnia's future, but to realise that future, leaders and parties and different ethnic groups are going to have to work together more than they have in the past," Philip Gordon, the assistant US secretary of state for Europe, told reporters.
Izetbegovic wants fast progress on a constitutional reform that would speed EU membership. Clinton may also meet Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik to drive home the point that Serb secession hopes are ill advised, US officials said.
Clinton will then travel to Serbia's capital Belgrade, where she will meet President Boris Tadic and urge progress on the region's other ethnic riddle, Kosovo.
While Kosovo is now recognised by the US and most members of the EU, Belgrade has not given up its claim to the region, which many Serbs see as the cradle of their faith.
Serbia recently bowed to EU pressure and agreed to hold talks with Kosovo on issues such as transport, aviation and the missing from the 1998-99 war in the region, whose population is 90 percent Albanian and 10 percent Serb.
But the way forward is unclear, in part because Kosovo's president resigned in September, complicating the leadership question, and in part because of Belgrade's lingering reluctance to open substantive dialogue.
....
Gordon said Clinton would underscore in both Belgrade and Pristina the benefits of cooperation, although he emphasised that any effort to redefine Kosovo's borders should be off the table. "Our view is that going down that path would be a disaster for the region," he said.
===========================
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- 6.
-
NATO's Top Military Chief: Climate Change Can Cause Arctic Conflict
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:48 pm (PDT)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/11/nato-conflict-arctic-resources
The Guardian
October 11, 2010
Climate change could lead to Arctic conflict, warns senior Nato commander
Global warming and a race for resources could spark a new 'cold war' in the Arctic, US naval admiral warns ahead of key talks on environmental security
Terry Macalister
One of Nato's most senior commanders has warned that global warming and a race for resources could lead to conflict in the Arctic.
The comments, by Admiral James G Stavridis, supreme allied commander for Europe, come as Nato countries convene on Wednesday for groundbreaking talks on environmental security in the Arctic Ocean.
The discussions, in the format of a "workshop", with joint Russian leadership, are an attempt to create dialogue with Moscow aimed at averting a second cold war.
"For now, the disputes in the north have been dealt with peacefully, but climate change could alter the equilibrium over the coming years in the race of temptation for exploitation of more readily accessible natural resources," said Stavridis.
....
Stavridis made his views known in a foreword to a Whitehall paper, entitled Environmental security in the Arctic Ocean: promoting co-operation and preventing conflict, written by Prof Paul Berkman, head of the Arctic Ocean geopolitics programme at the University of Cambridge.
The discussions, which take place at the Scott Polar Institute where Berkman is based, have been given impetus by the speed of change around the north pole where the ice cap is melting and oil and other minerals are becoming available for extraction.
In recent weeks, Cairn Energy has announced the first oil and gas discoveries off Greenland and a wave of new mining licences are about to be awarded there. There are similar moves to produce gas in the far north of Russia and Norway, all in the shadow of BP's Gulf of Mexico's oil spill.
....
Berkman, a key figure in organising the workshop, with funding from the Nato science for peace and security programme, said the challenge is to balance national and common interests in the Arctic Ocean in the interests of all humankind.
"Strategic long-range ballistic missiles or other such military assets for national security purposes in the Arctic Ocean are no less dangerous today than they were during the cold war. In effect, the cold war never ended in the Arctic Ocean."
....
As Stavridis noted: "Melting of the polar ice cap is a global concern because it has the potential to alter the geopolitical balance in the Arctic heretofore frozen in time."
===========================
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- 7.
-
Robert Simmons: Ukraine To Join NATO
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:48 pm (PDT)
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/85918/
Kyiv Post
October 11, 2010
NATO's Robert Simmons: 'We believe at some stage Ukraine will be a member of NATO'
During the 2002 NATO summit in Prague, the seats for the 28 member states and other partner countries were arranged not according to the English alphabet, but according to the French one. That was to ensure that the unpopular Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma did not sit next to U.S. President George W. Bush and United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In 2003, then Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych pushed through parliament a law which, for the first time, stated that NATO membership is among Ukraine's foreign policy goals.
With the 2004 Orange Revolution, which...led to the victory of the Western-friendly Viktor Yushchenko as Ukraine's president, NATO membership became one of the administration's major ambitions.
The high point of hopes for success might been the start of 2008, when Yushchenko joined Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Verkhovna Rada speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk in officially asking for acceptance into NATO's Membership Action Plan. Such a MAP would have been a major step towards membership.
Despite current Ukraine's non-bloc status, Robert Simmons expressed a belief that ultimately Ukraine will join the alliance.
....Ukraine didn't get its Membership Action Plan and had to settle for a declaration that the nation would eventually join the military alliance. Later on, NATO granted Ukraine another acronym as a consolation prize – the ANP, or Annual National Program – which is supposed to bring the country closer to NATO standards in a number of areas.
But, for the foreseeable future, Ukraine's chances of joining NATO are close to zero.
After Viktor Yanukovych's victory in the Feb. 7 presidential election, the pro-presidential ruling coalition in parliament removed NATO membership from the list of foreign policy goals. The government also downgraded efforts to coordinate cooperation with NATO.
Earlier this month, a special NATO envoy visited Ukraine to assess the nation's progress in gaining eventual membership.
In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Post, Robert Simmons, NATO's deputy assistant secretary general for cooperation and partnership, talked about the Annual National Program and why it still matters despite the Ukrainian government's repudiation of NATO membership.
Also, despite current Ukraine's non-bloc status, Simmons expressed a belief that ultimately Ukraine will join the alliance.
Kyiv Post: When you visited Ukraine last year in October you said that "Ukraine is on a confident and consistent path towards NATO. And whoever comes [to power in Ukraine], NATO-Ukraine relations will remain as consistent." Can you say the same now?
Robert Simmons: Well, yes. Obviously, in adopting status as a non-bloc state, joining the alliance is for Ukraine now less of a priority. Their cooperation with NATO – and in our review we've seen that – largely continues to be very active and very comprehensive. As I said to the president when I came here in February for the inauguration, much of the cooperation dates to the time when he was prime minister. So, it wasn't surprising to us that he would want to continue the practical cooperation. We welcome that and are very satisfied with that.
KP: You've mentioned Ukraine adopting the law which says that the country is no longer seeking NATO membership. Given that, is there any point in doing the Annual National Programs that are supposed to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance?
R.S.: Very much so. First of all, it is not that they do not seek NATO membership. They said that they want non-bloc status. They do not seek to join any bloc, presumably including the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization. That's their decision. We have many very active partners who are called neutral or non-aligned. What's important and, whether the goal is membership or not, the Annual National Program sets out a very active program of cooperation....And this government [will have an] Annual National Program for 2011 because they want to continue cooperation with NATO. The Annual National Program is a bit more focused and a bit more goal oriented. But it does focus on cooperation and it's quite clear that this cooperation is going forward actively.
KP: By now you've already met with quite a number of Ukrainian officials. What do you think about Ukraine's performance on the Annual National Program this year?
R.S.: It has met many of the goals -- about 70 percent of them. There have been a couple of factors one has to take account of. First is the financial crisis and the need for the government to reduce the overall budget including for the armed services. As we said last year, defense reform costs money. It's nobody's fault, it's just that the money isn't there.
KP: Are the finances the only obstacle in this case?
R.S.: I would say so. I don't think that they have lacked any commitment to the basic goals of defense reform. When the current president was a prime minister that understood they need a modern army. That's true for many of the partner countries, whether they join the alliance or not. The old [Soviet] military structures are not appropriate to the modern challenges.
KP: Earlier this year, Ukraine's six specialized structures coordinating NATO-Ukraine integration were dissolved by decree without any consultation with NATO. Given that fact, do you still think that Ukraine is committed to cooperation with NATO?
R.S.: Frankly, under the other government – and that was part of the differences – there were probably too many of those [structures] because of the results of the conflicts of the Foreign Ministry, people who worked for the presidency and people who worked for the prime minister. If you want to stabilize the structures that deal with NATO, that's for Ukraine to make that decision.
KP: But stabilizing is different from dissolving them all together.
R.S.: There are three key structures that continue to operate. One is the Foreign Ministry and the very strong desk that deals with NATO. The second are officials in the Defense Ministry. And finally, Ukraine has Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko, who at his level manages this process. Those are the essential structures. The fact that they change some names and move things around is probably less important to us as long as we have good contacts in the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and a senior level official in the prime minister's office who is managing the process and can tell the ministers that they have to cooperate on this or that. That's much of the role that then Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria had.
KP: So basically you do not see any problem in removing those structures?
R.S.: No, not really.
KP: Some weeks ago, James Sherr, a key British analyst on Ukraine and Russia in his briefing paper wrote that "Yanukovych's government appears to be stripping the [Ukraine-NATO] relationship of soul and substance." Do you think this is an accurate assessment of the Ukrainian president's policy toward NATO?
R.S.: I don't think it is. Obviously, the soul of it was and is for some of the opposition politicians to join the alliance. That's changed and is not as high priority and we understand that. So, if the soul is joining the alliance, obviously it's changed. If the spirit is good cooperation over a range of activities – that very much has continued.
KP: Now NATO is developing its new doctrine which should be approved by heads of states and governments during the NATO summit in Lisbon at the end of this year. Ukrainian officials also constantly saying that Ukraine should have its place spelled out in this doctrine. What will be the place of Ukraine in this document, if any?
R.S.: There will be three documents on the Lisbon summit – a document on Afghanistan, a strategic concept where Ukraine will be mentioned, because "open door" will be mentioned there to reaffirm the Bucharest decision [welcoming Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO]. We believe that at some stage Ukraine will be a member of the alliance.
KP: Recently Ukrainian peacekeepers in Kosovo where accused of smuggling petrol, causing several million dollars worth of damage to Kosovo. How will that generally affect Ukraine?
R.S.: Right now that's a matter for the [NATO] headquarters in Kosovo and Ukrainian military. There are many individual soldiers who have difficulties in a variety of areas when they are on mission. And that's essentially a chain of command issue. That's why the NATO general secretary said they are waiting for the chain of command do that investigation. It certainly does not call into question the overall cooperation of Ukrainian peacekeeping, of the overall quality of its forces. Soldiers get in trouble – that's the nature of soldiers.
===========================
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- 8.
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U.S. Carrier Strike Group Docks In Malaysian Port
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:12 pm (PDT)
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=56454
Navy NewsStand
October 8, 2010
Carrier Strike Group 9 Units Arrive in Malaysia
By MCC(SCW/FMF) Eric S. Powell, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and USS Shoup (DDG 86) arrived in Port Klang, Malaysia Oct. 8 where more than 5,000 Sailors will visit the city of Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas....
....
The port call is a demonstration of the continuing relationship between the United States and Malaysia....
The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S. 7th Fleet's area of responsibility....
Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group consists of flagship USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, San Diego-based guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71), and the embarked Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9. Ships assigned to DESRON 9 include the Everett-based destroyers Momsen (DDG 92) and Shoup (DDG 86), as well as USS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS Sterett (DDG 104).
===========================
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- 9.
-
Fresh Attack Against German Troops In Northern Afghanistan
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:32 pm (PDT)
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1590512.php/German-troops-attacked-in-Afghanistan
Deustche Presse-Agentur
October 11, 2010
German troops attacked in Afghanistan
Berlin: A roadside bomb exploded alongside a German convoy in Afghanistan, the German military said in Berlin late Sunday.
The attack came three days after a suicide attack killed one German soldier and injured 14 others.
No one was injured in Sunday's attack east of Kunduz and the convoy's vehicles also escaped damage because the bomb exploded just after the troops had passed by on their way back to their base, a military spokesman said.
Forty-four Germans have been killed in Afghanistan.
===========================
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- 10.
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Fw: The Admiral Speaks Truth to Power
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:32 pm (PDT)
From: Global Network <globalnet@mindspring.com>
Subject: The Admiral Speaks Truth to Power
To: "GN List Serve" <globenet@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, October 11, 2010, 4:43 AM
THE ADMIRAL SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER
I am writing from Nagpur, India on Oct 10 but not certain when I will be able to post thison my blog, as I have no Internet connection at this time. I am staying in a guesthouse that the state ministers use when they come to Nagpur each year for the state assembly that meets for a couple of weeks. It is a humble room with bed, two chairs, a desk, and an Indian-style bathroom. Lucky for me it is air conditioned, as Nagpur seems to have a reputation as one of the hottest places in India. Nagpur is located about mid-center in the country.
I arrived here early yesterday morning after a 5:50 am flight from New Delhi. The plane stopped in Raipur first to drop off, and pick up, more passengers as it made its three-legged route between the cities.
Our Global Network board member J. Narayana Rao was waiting for me in Nagpur when I arrived. Rao is our key contact in the country, a retired railroad union man, who discovered the space issue some years ago while on our mailing list. He was organizing the GN's international space conference that was to be held this weekend but was not allowed by the Indian government, which had to give permission under their archaic definition of democracy.
So instead, Rao quickly changed course and turned the event into a national conference, which successfully began late yesterday afternoon with more than 200 people attending.
I had lunch yesterday with the man who was invited to be the keynote speaker for the conference. His name is Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, the former Chief of the Indian Navy. This tall and slender man, with shining dark eyes, is a breath of fresh air. I learned that he had been "sacked" from his post a dozen years ago for speaking out against government policies. He was to become the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but the U.S. opposed his appointment and made sure he was forced out of power.
Two local newspapers this morning carried stories from a news conference Bhagwat held after his talk yesterday to the conference. One headline read: "Military is most corrupt sector" and the other "U.S. still funding terrorist outfits." From the latter article: "Bureaucrats play stooges to arms manufacturers, deals are signed with greased palms, defence continues to be the most corrupt sector and government is feigning innocence. Nothing has changed. On the international front, U.S. continues to fund terrorist outfits including those in Pakistan," Bhagwat said.
A truly independent man, Bhagwat confirmed my long held belief that the corporate international oligarchy is now taking over virtually all the governments of the world. The goal? Corporate domination of resources and markets with expanding militarism to be the tool of control.
Here are a few bits from his excellent speech last night:
"It is the policies of this [global corporate] oligarchy which determine priorities of national budgetary allocations on weapons systems and their expansion into space to target the planet earth, and for use in the oceans, and the seabed.
"As we see the world order today, the material conditions of the people from one continent to the other, the direct consequences of colonialism, breeding predatory wars for resources and markets, and conflicts within nations ….to further consolidate an extremely exploitative, parasitical and colonial regime to crush the 'untermenshens' or sub-humans which is the expression for the ordinary people of this planet, as never before at any time in world history. In our own country, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had described these conditions as the 'terror of hunger and unemployment', thinking they were inherent characteristics of those times in colonial India and would be eradicated when freedom was won!
"We are seeing a greater disdain for the basic principles of international law. We are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts. I am convinced that we have reached the decisive moment when we must seriously think about the architecture of global security.
"A 'Permanent War' system nurtured by a permanent 'War Economy', fed by the predatory practices of Big banks and the multi-national corporations has led to the establishment of the National Security State which in turn advances the private interest of the financial oligarchy. The three golden rules, therefore, are US/NATO global military presence, global projection of military power and the use of that force in one conflict or the other to threaten the 'lesser people' of the world with 'Full Spectrum Dominance' – including in space. The ruling classes are actually an alliance of the 'Transnational Capitalist Class', which delivers to itself profit, power and privilege through policy control and weaponisation.
"Either the Transnational Capitalist Class alliance self-destructs, compelled by the conscious mobilization of the working people in solidarity across the continents, those who oppose war and stand solidly together in a counterforce on the side of humanity, or we go further downhill the slope of lower depths, into an abyss. For every person there are always two choices in life: to accept things as they are or to accept the responsibility to bring about change – from a war economy to a political economy of peace to share, to preserve our environment and to belong to the commons in which every being has an equal stake for our minimum needs."
Following his talk we showed the new documentary Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space. At the end I was besieged by many people that wanted a copy of the film.
Rao was particularly thrilled that about 60 students from colleges and universities across the country had come for the conference. He has been traveling across India for the past five years promoting the space issues work of the Global Network and it appears that his efforts are bearing fruit. I was very impressed by the sharpness and serious character of the students present and after the film was over I met professors from these same schools across the nation who also had come to Nagpur. They were teachers/students from many disciplines such as: political science, business, pharmacy, commerce, metallurgy and engineering. And these are just the few that I met.
Today the conference resumed and I spoke about the new "Strategic Partnership" between the U.S. and India. Increasingly the Pentagon is drawing the Indian military into the space weaponization game as a way to help create a military alliance against China.
In one session two women students spoke about the dangers of nuclear weapons and the links between nuclear power and building nuclear weapons. One of the young women, a fiery speaker, was so impressive that I invited her to accompany Rao to the U.S. next year for the GN's 2011 international space conference. She said that she would be happy to come along.
At the end of today's conference I was approached by a group of students and their professor from a social work college in Nagpur to tell me they were excited about my planned visit to their school tomorrow. In addition, a group of four people from Bhopal, where I will visit next, told me they wanted to welcome me in advance of my visit.
Rao and I will take the night train from Nagpur to Bhopal on October 11. I have long known of the Union Carbide accident there years ago that killed thousands of local citizens. I'm sure I will learn more about the famous disaster and look forward to that visit.
I will post more when I can but wireless connection is a rare find here. So far I have been luck to get online by a metallurgy professor at a Nagpur college.
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
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)
- 11.
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NATO Strike Kill 20 Civilians In Afghanistan's Helmand Province
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:46 pm (PDT)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/146308.html
Press TV
October 12, 2010
NATO strike kills 20 civilians in Helmand
At least 20 civilians have been killed during an operation by US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, officials and residents say.
An errant rocket strike on Monday hit a crowd of Afghan civilians in the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, killing at least 20 people, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The deaths came a week after at least 18 people were killed during a NATO airstrike on a residence in the Kajaki district of Helmand province.
The rise in civilian casualties in NATO attacks has strained relations between President Hamid Karzai and his Western allies, who are under increasing pressure at home over the unpopular war.
The number of civilians killed in clashes between Taliban militants and Afghan and US-led foreign troops during the first half of 2010 saw an "unprecedented" increase of 31 percent compared with the figure for the first six months of 2009, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Civilian fatalities in the first six months of the year stood at 3,268.
===========================
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- 12.
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Sweden: Armed Forces To Be Purged Over Foreign Deployments
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:46 pm (PDT)
http://www.thelocal.se/29230/20100924/
The Local
September 24, 2010
Swedish military issues foreign duty ultimatum
Sweden's Armed Forces personnel have been presented an ultimatum - accept the requirement of foreign duty or face redundancy.
All Swedish regiments will on Friday report to the Armed Forces Headquarters how many of their personnel have accepted the new employment contract which includes mandatory foreign duty. The contract overs all 25,000 employees.
The staff have until Monday at the latest to decide whether to accept the terms.
Armed Forces' employers have been clear that the consequences of not signing the contract could include redundancy.
At the Armed Forces in Blekinge in southern Sweden, some 137 people risk redundancy after rejecting the contract, due to the foreign service requirement.
Lars Fresker is highly critical of how the issue has been managed by the military authorities and considers the most serious part to be that members don't know what it is they are signing up to.
"The details over how often the postings would occur, and possible exceptions regarding having small children, or sickness, are not clear. There is a significant level of concern among members," he said.
Fresker also questioned why there are large numbers of administrative staff also covered by the new requirements.
"There are groups such as economists, pay administrators that we do not understand why they should be covered by this. Are they going to sit in Afghanistan and pay out salaries," said Lars Fresker.
According to Per-Olof Stålesjö, director of human relations at the Armed Forces, the uniform contracts are for reasons of solidarity and that all should be prepared to travel, officers as well as lawyers and economists.
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- 13.
-
NATO's "Hell On Earth": Swedish Troops In 30 Afghan Firefights
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:46 pm (PDT)
http://www.thelocal.se/29470/20101007/
The Local
October 7, 2010
More attacks on Swedish troops in Afghanistan
Swedish troops in Afghanistan have been involved in over 30 firefights and 15 bomb attacks since May, according to a media report.
As the Swedish troops have increasingly come under fire in the face of Afghan resistance, the issue of their presence in the country has become a tense political issue in Sweden.
"There have been a very large number of firefights, around 30," said Colonel Gustaf Fahl of the Swedish Armed Forces to the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) daily.
The Swedish military has made an effort to restrict the flow of information about the battles to the public.
"Every bullet fired against us is political dynamite," sources at Swedish headquarters told the newspaper.
On around ten occasions the situation has become so precarious, that the Swedes have called in air support from the Nato-led Isaf force. On several occasions the fighters have opened fire in order to come to the Swedish soldiers' aid.
Since mid-summer alone the Swedish troops have become embroiled in fighting on more than 20 occasions, which is a dramatic increase from previous months. Between July 18th and 26th, battles occurred day and night for eight days.
"It was hell on earth," said an officer to SvD.
The primary reason that Swedish troops more often find themselves in the line of fire is a new set of tactics based on rooting out enemy units in Taliban strongholds, often with the help of the Afghan army and police.
In less than a month the Alliance government is set to present a motion, with which the parliament is set to be asked to extend the Afghanistan mandate and send a further two ambulance helicopters to support Swedish troops stationed in the country.
The Red-Green opposition made an election campaign promise that a withdrawal of the troops should begin in 2011 if they won the election. The Sweden Democrats have said that they could consider supporting the Red-Green motion.
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- 14.
-
Sweden To Spend $546M On Blackhawk Helicopters For Afghan War
Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff
Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:46 pm (PDT)
http://www.defenseworld.net/go/defensenews.jsp?id=5057&h=Sweden%20to%20buy%2015%20UH-60M%20Blackhawk%20helicopters%20for%20Afghanistan%20CSAR
Defense World
October 2, 2010
Sweden to buy 15 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters for Afghanistan CSAR
-Sweden's acquisition of these helicopters is consistent with recently adopted defense and modernization priorities focused on both international threats to Swedish security as well as regional threats to Swedish sovereignty. This proposed sale will contribute to Sweden's need to expand its existing army architecture to rapidly deploy forces to counter territorial threats, or in support of coalition efforts in Afghanistan.
The purchase of UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters will contribute to Sweden's goal to update its capability while enhancing interoperability between Sweden, the U.S., and other allies.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Sept. 29 of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Sweden of 15 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters and associated parts, equipment and logistical support for a complete package worth approximately $546 million.
The Government of Sweden has requested a possible sale of 15 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters, 34 T700-GE-701D General Electric Engines (30 installed and 4 spares), 15 AN/AAR-57(V)3 Common Missile Warning Systems, AN/APR-39 Radar Signal Detecting Sets, AN/AVR-2B Laser Warning Sets, Aviation Mission Planning Station, transportable operations simulator, communications equipment, spare and repair parts, tools and support equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, logistics, and technical support services, and other related elements of logistics support.
The estimated cost is $546M.
This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country, which has been, and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in Europe. Swedish forces are currently deployed in support of coalition efforts in Afghanistan.
This sale will enable the Swedish Forces to address an urgent shortfall in Combat Search and Rescue and Medical Evacuation transport capability while in the area of operations.
Sweden's acquisition of these helicopters is consistent with recently adopted defense and modernization priorities focused on both international threats to Swedish security as well as regional threats to Swedish sovereignty. This proposed sale will contribute to Sweden's need to expand its existing army architecture to rapidly deploy forces to counter territorial threats, or in support of coalition efforts in Afghanistan.
The purchase of UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters will contribute to Sweden's goal to update its capability while enhancing interoperability between Sweden, the U.S., and other allies.
The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The prime contractors will be Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Connecticut; and General Electric Aircraft Company in Lynn, Massachusetts. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of at least two contractor representatives to Sweden for a period of two years.
There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.
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