10 April, 2011 — Stop NATO
Updates on Libyan war: April 10
- United Arab Emirates: NATO’s Outpost In Persian Gulf
- Pakistan: Mass Protest Against NATO Threat To Libya, World Peace
- Ivory Coast: French Helicopters Attack Presidential Residence
- Peru: Humala Wins First Round Of Presidential Elections
- Afghanistan: NATO’s Yearly Death Toll Rises To 121
- Pacific Command Chief: U.S. Military To Rotate Through Australia
- Post-Cold War NATO Expansion: No Neutrals Left In Europe
- “NATO’s Plans For Future”: U.S. Keeps Three Combat Brigades In Europe
- Visegrad Four Group Plus Ukraine Plan Military Integration
- Abkhazia Says Slain Georgians Tbibili-Backed Saboteurs
- Uruguay Opposes Foreign Military Intervention In Bahrain, Libya
United Arab Emirates: NATO’s Outpost In Persian Gulf
www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/nato-drops-anchor-in-emirates
The National (United Arab Emirates)
April 11, 2011
Nato drops anchor in Emirates
Carol Huang
-”Minesweeping is absolutely important because [of threats] to close Hormuz in any confrontation … as happened in the Iran-Iraq war.”
The Nato force in UAE waters comprises of about 400 crew on five ships – a flagship frigate with a helicopter and four smaller minehunting vessels, all belonging to the Standing Nato Mine Counter-Measures Group 2.
-The visit comes after the UAE deepened its security ties with Nato last month by sending 12 warplanes to help police the Libyan no-fly zone headed by the western military alliance.
For several years the UAE has deployed special forces to Afghanistan to assist the Nato-led effort.
-The Emirati military has in turn acquired Nato expertise and experience, as well as substantial weapons sales, largely from the US and France. The UAE had the world’s fourth-highest arms purchases from 2005 to 2009…
DUBAI: Nato mine-hunting ships arrived at Jebel Ali port yesterday for a week-long visit to bolster ties with the UAE.
The visit builds on a co-operation agreement that Nato signed with four Gulf states in 2005, called the Istanbul Convention Initiative (ICI). The partnerships were driven by increasingly shared concerns such as Afghanistan, Iran and the safe transport of oil and gas through the Gulf.
“Minesweeping is absolutely important because [of threats] to close Hormuz in any confrontation … as happened in the Iran-Iraq war,” said Mustafa Alani, director of defence and security studies at the Gulf Research Centre.
“One of the things you need is anti-mining capability,” he said, adding that it is vital for a navy to “send a message” that if posed with the menace of mines, it “can deal with it”.
The Nato force in UAE waters comprises of about 400 crew on five ships – a flagship frigate with a helicopter and four smaller minehunting vessels, all belonging to the Standing Nato Mine Counter-Measures Group 2.
The group’s tour of the four ICI nations began in late January with stops at Bahrain and Kuwait, and will finish in early May with Qatar, said spokesman Lt Giampiero Sanna.
While here it will conduct one day of basic exercises with small UAE boats in communication – practising giving directions in code – and maritime manoeuvres.
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“We are here to interact with the countries of the ICI in order to promote them and foster military co-operation,” said Lt Sanna.
The UAE has two minesweepers, which deploy high-frequency sonars to identify suspicious objects under water. Once one is located, either a diver or a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) will swim near it to determine if it is dangerous.
If so, the minesweeper will “neutralise” the mine, often by setting off an explosion nearby.
…
The visit comes after the UAE deepened its security ties with Nato last month by sending 12 warplanes to help police the Libyan no-fly zone headed by the western military alliance.
For several years the UAE has deployed special forces to Afghanistan to assist the Nato-led effort.
It provides a base or facilities for French, British, American and other nations conducting anti-Taliban operations in Afghanistan and counter-piracy operations in the Arabian Sea.
Emirati forces also participated in the Balkans conflict in the 1990s, and in de-mining work in Lebanon more recently.
During a visit to Abu Dhabi in October 2009 to discuss the ICI, the Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised the UAE’s assistance abroad.
“For many years the United Arab Emirates has shown a strong determination to be a provider of security well beyond the Gulf region … and we look forward to building upon that common effort,” he said in a speech.
The Emirati military has in turn acquired Nato expertise and experience, as well as substantial weapons sales, largely from the US and France. The UAE had the world’s fourth-highest arms purchases from 2005 to 2009, with US$6.5 billion (Dh22bn), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks the industry.
“The current relationship is a good one that works well on both sides,” said Justin Crump, a UK-based security analyst. “Both would probably like slightly deeper ties.”
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Pakistan: Mass Protest Against NATO Threat To Libya, World Peace
www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=40972&Cat=5&dt=4/11/2011
News International
April 11, 2011
Protest against Nato attacks on Libya
-They said that the Western agenda of war for peace had caused millions of innocent deaths all across the world and this latest violation of life by the Nato forces needed to stop immediately.
-They demanded that if the UNO wanted to get rid of the tag of an American body to legalise all American acts then it should take prompt action against all pre-emptive and presumptive offensives advocated by America and Nato forces and should save all humanity from the terrorism and extremism of this bloc out to destroy world peace.
LAHORE: Workers of eight political parties and numerous civil society bodies held a massive protest demonstration in front of Punjab Assembly against the indiscriminate bombing by Nato forces of unarmed civilians in Libya and to mark 10 years of American terrorism in the name of War On Terror.
The Labour Party of Pakistan, Awami Party, Workers Party of Pakistan, Awami Jamhoori Forum, Inqalabi Socialists Tehrik, National Students Federation, National Trade Union Federation, Pakistan Kissan Rabta Committee and others participated in the demonstration and stressed upon the leftist parties of Pakistan to denounce America’s self-righteous terror campaign to serve its vested interests of global domination and demolition in the name of global peace and democracy.
The protestors were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans such as, No More War for Peace, Mind Your Own Business America, and NATO Leave Libya NOW. The protestors chanted Go America Go slogans and condemned American political expansionism through force.
Leaders from different parties, including Naeem Shakir, Talib Hussain, Irfan Chaudhry and Dr. Afshan Zaheer said that the utter disregard for human life shown by France, the USA and Britain by bombing innocent and unarmed civilians in Libya was the worst human rights disaster ever under the tag of the so-called saving of humanity.
They said that the Western agenda of war for peace had caused millions of innocent deaths all across the world and this latest violation of life by the Nato forces needed to stop immediately.
They demanded that if the UNO wanted to get rid of the tag of an American body to legalise all American acts then it should take prompt action against all pre-emptive and presumptive offensives advocated by America and Nato forces and should save all humanity from the terrorism and extremism of this bloc out to destroy world peace.
The protesters staged a token sit-in at the Faysal Chowk and blocked traffic which created an extendive traffic jam all along The Mall and all its connecting roads as well. The sit-in, although it was ended after 45 minutes, took a good while for the traffic to resume to its normal flow after the protest ended and the protestors dispersed.
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Ivory Coast: French Helicopters Attack Presidential Residence
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/11/c_13822335.htm
Xinhua News Agency
April 11, 2011
UN, French helicopters attack Gbagbo’s residence
-Pro-Gbagbo sources admitted that the air raid partially destroyed the presidential residence, where Gbagbo is still staying. The sources repeated the charges that France sided with rebels in the 2002-2003 civil war and are attempting to assassinate him again in another coup.
ABIDJAN: UN and French helicopters opened fire on Sunday at the presidential residence in Abidjan, the largest city of Cote d’Ivoire, local residents reported.
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Gbagbo, who has been holed up in a bunker since a week ago, seems to step up resistance, with the resumption of the state television broadcast under his control on Friday…
The UN peacekeeping mission in Cote d’Ivoire (ONUCI) on Sunday confirmed the attacks by its helicopters, saying the strike aimed to “neutralize” Gbagbo’s heavy weapons.
Pro-Gbagbo sources admitted that the air raid partially destroyed the presidential residence, where Gbagbo is still staying. The sources repeated the charges that France sided with rebels in the 2002-2003 civil war and are attempting to assassinate him again in another coup.
ONUCI and the French Licorne sent attack helicopters on Monday to boost the offensive by Ouattara’s Republican Forces on Gbagbo’s last bastions, including his residence in Abidjan’s Cocody district.
With the air-borne attack, the Republican Forces breached the defense line and came near the goal of their “final battle,” after faltering for some time because of the stiff resistance from around 1,000 pro-Gbagbo troops, who were reportedly equipped with artillery, armored vehicles and other heavy weaponry.
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Peru: Humala Wins First Round Of Presidential Elections
english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/11/48738709.html
Voice of Russia
April 11, 2011
Nationalist leader frontrunner in presidential elections in Peru
The left-wing Nationalist Ollanta Humala has secured a victory in the first round of presidential elections in Peru.
According to exit polls, he won nearly 32% of the vote. Humala is followed by Keiko Fujimori – the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a prison sentence for crimes against human rights. She received more than 20% of the votes.
Under the circumstances, a second ballot count is highly likely. It will be held on June 5.
On Sunday, Peruvians were voting for president, two vice-presidents, and deputies to the unicameral National Congress.
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Afghanistan: NATO’s Yearly Death Toll Rises To 121
channel6newsonline.com/2011/04/insurgent-attack-kills-nato-soldier-in-northern-afghanistan/
BNO News
April 10, 2011
Insurgent attack kills NATO soldier in northern Afghanistan
KABUL: A coalition service member was killed in an attack in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said, raising the year’s coalition death toll to 121.
ISAF said the service member was killed as a result of an insurgent attack in northern Afghanistan, without giving other details about the attack.
The nationality of the service member was also not immediately disclosed. “It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities,” a statement said.
Coalition casualties in Afghanistan have been rising sharply in recent years, with a total coalition death toll of 709 in 2010, making it the deadliest year for international troops since the war began…
The council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) eventually declared that the attacks of 9/11, which killed nearly 3,000 people from scores of countries, was considered an attack on all NATO nations…
So far this year, more than 120 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan. Most troops are killed in the country’s south, which is plagued by IED attacks on troops and civilians.
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Pacific Command Chief: U.S. Military To Rotate Through Australia
Associated Press
April 6, 2011
US commander says forces may rotate through Australia to boost presence in Asia-Pacific
By Matthew Pennington
WASHINGTON: The chief of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific said Wednesday that American allies want a greater U.S. military presence in the region and his troops could in future rotate through Australia, improving their access to the South China Sea.
That sea is viewed as a potential flashpoint for conflict in the Asia-Pacific, where the U.S. has been the dominant military force since World War II…
Adm. Robert Willard, chief of U.S. Pacific Command, told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee that in the past year, the U.S. had made a concerted effort to show its commitment to the Asia-Pacific.
He said $5 trillion worth of sea-borne commerce passes through the region each year.
“Our allies in the region, Australia to point to one, have been vocal regarding their desire to help enhance the U.S. presence throughout the region, especially in Southeast Asia and the South China Sea,” Willard said.
He said he has toured areas in northern Australia, and discussions between the two governments “will likely lead to fruitful opportunities for us to provide for rotational forces in and out of Australia in the future.”
The Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, has 330,000 personnel, including long-standing military bases in Japan and South Korea that support 80,000 troops.
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Post-Cold War NATO Expansion: No Neutrals Left In Europe
Associated Press
April 9, 2011
Cold War neutrals now taking sides, timidly
-Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, all five have moved closer to what used to be one of the rivaling blocs during the Cold War: NATO.
-After the Soviet collapse, Finland and Sweden quietly abandoned their policy of neutrality, essentially by not using the word anymore. Instead they talked about “nonalignment” — remaining outside military alliances but not ruling out taking sides in a conflict.
Lately, they’ve stopped using that label, too.
“We don’t call ourselves nonaligned, we never call ourselves neutral either,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told The Associated Press during a visit to Helsinki on Tuesday.
-[A]ll except Switzerland are so closely linked to the alliance, through joint military exercises and international missions, that analysts say very little separates them from being actual NATO members.
-”Basically we are taking on all duties of member countries except we’re not paying membership fees.”
STOCKHOLM: Swedish fighter jets are roaring into action over Libya under NATO command. Ireland is offering itself as a transit hub for U.S. military deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Even famously independent Switzerland has peacekeepers in Kosovo.
For Europe’s once-staunchly neutral countries, much has changed in the two decades since the Cold War ended. With no East-West conflict as a reference point, the concept of neutrality has been redefined to the point that some would say it’s lost its meaning.
“There’s total confusion. People have forgotten the concept of neutrality, which means don’t take sides in a military conflict,” said Swiss peace researcher Daniele Ganser.
Switzerland is considered the only truly neutral nation left in Europe. But it, too, has compromised its goal of staying out of other nations’ troubles.
Switzerland finally joined the United Nations in 2002 and since 1999 has about 200 peacekeepers in Kosovo. It recently allowed allied forces to drive through and fly over Switzerland on their way to missions in Libya. The government said Swiss neutrality was intact because the Libya operation was authorized by the U.N. Security Council.
“To my mind that is not compatible with complete neutrality,” Ganser said.
Sweden and Switzerland became neutral at the end of the Napoleonic wars. Ireland stayed out of World War II and shut its ports to Allied convoys. Austria and Finland turned to neutrality after taking the German side in that war.
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, all five have moved closer to what used to be one of the rivaling blocs during the Cold War: NATO. All have joined its Partnership for Peace program for nonmembers and have sent troops to serve in NATO-led missions in the Balkans or Afghanistan.
Sweden reinforced its bonds to the alliance by sending eight fighter jets to the NATO-led air campaign in Libya, the only country in the former neutral group to do so…
Not that neutrality was always absolute.
Sweden allowed German troops to pass through its territory during World War II. Ireland permitted British and American servicemen who strayed on to Irish soil to be repatriated to the British territory of Northern Ireland. German crews from crashed Luftwaffe aircraft and sunken U-boats faced internment in Ireland without trial.
After the Soviet collapse, Finland and Sweden quietly abandoned their policy of neutrality, essentially by not using the word anymore. Instead they talked about “nonalignment” — remaining outside military alliances but not ruling out taking sides in a conflict.
Lately, they’ve stopped using that label, too.
“We don’t call ourselves nonaligned, we never call ourselves neutral either,” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told The Associated Press during a visit to Helsinki on Tuesday.
According to Bildt, those labels don’t make sense after Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 — together with Finland and Austria.
The EU has deepened cooperation on security and defense matters since then. The EU treaty calls for all member states to help out if one of them comes under attack, while recognizing the “specific character” of members with a tradition of neutrality.
How, then, should countries previously known as nonaligned be defined?
Bildt’s Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb, offered a suggestion.
“We are not a neutral country, have not been so for the past 20 years. And we are not a militarily nonaligned country but we are a country which does not belong to a military alliance,” Stubb told AP. “I think there is a misunderstanding in some countries we’ve been trying to rectify for a long time.”
Austria has stuck to the neutrality label even though it also is an EU member and cooperates closely with NATO. Unlike Sweden and Finland, Austria’s neutrality is established by law.
Ireland also describes itself as neutral, even though it has allowed the United States to use Shannon airport for deployments back and forth to Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 100,000 U.S. troops annually have passed through Shannon since 2001. The Irish Army had to deploy troops around the airport’s perimeter in 2003 after pro-neutrality protesters attacked a U.S. Navy plane with a meat cleaver.
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Public opinion remains firmly against joining NATO in all five countries…
But all except Switzerland are so closely linked to the alliance, through joint military exercises and international missions, that analysts say very little separates them from being actual NATO members.
“Nothing in substance,” said Austrian security analyst Gerhard Karner. “Basically we are taking on all duties of member countries except we’re not paying membership fees.”
Associated Press writers Matti Huuhtanen in Helsinki, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin, John Heilprin in Geneva and George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.
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“NATO’s Plans For Future”: U.S. Keeps Three Combat Brigades In Europe
Stars and Stripes
April 9, 2011
Army to transfer just one brigade from Germany to States
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
-The three remaining brigades will complement other post-Cold War military capabilities in Europe, according to the Pentagon. These will include the forward-deployment of Aegis ships, land-based missile defense systems in Poland and Romania, “forward-stationing of special operations aircraft” and a permanent aviation detachment in Poland.
-”Europe is a strategic location from which we can support operations throughout this hemisphere, while we work with our allies and partners.”
-Forces stationed in Europe reassure allies, deter regional threats, build partnerships and make operations from Afghanistan to Libya easier, said Stavridis, who is also NATO’s commander.
The Army will return one Europe-based combat brigade to the United States in the coming years, not two as previously announced, the Pentagon said Friday.
Since 2004, the Defense Department has been planning to transfer two of its four combat brigades in Europe to the States as part of a larger post-Cold War drawdown. But based on a White House review, NATO’s plans for the future and the “broad range of 21st century challenges,” officials decided that three brigades would stay put, according to a DOD release.
The fourth brigade will leave Europe in 2015, when the Pentagon expects “a reduced demand on our ground forces,” the announcement states.
It has not been decided which brigade will go, according to U.S. Army Europe.
The command oversees the 170th Infantry Brigade in Baumholder, the 172nd Infantry Brigade in Schweinfurt, and the 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment in Vilseck, all in Germany, plus the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which has troops both at Bamberg and Schweinfurt in Germany, and Vicenza, Italy.
The Pentagon release announcing the decision states that USAREUR will retain an airborne, Stryker and “heavy” brigade. That appears to mean the 2nd SCR and 173rd will stay put, while either the 170th or 172nd will head home.
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Today, roughly 80,000 U.S. troops remain in Europe, U.S. European Command head Adm. James Stavridis told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year. About half are assigned to the Army, according to USAREUR’s website.
Moving a brigade back to the States will cut U.S. forces in Europe by about 5,000 personnel.
The three remaining brigades will complement other post-Cold War military capabilities in Europe, according to the Pentagon. These will include the forward-deployment of Aegis ships, land-based missile defense systems in Poland and Romania, “forward-stationing of special operations aircraft” and a permanent aviation detachment in Poland.
“Taken together, these measures will enhance and rebalance the U.S. force posture in Europe to make it more capable, more effective, and better aligned with current and future security challenges,” according to the Pentagon announcement.
“Europe is a strategic location from which we can support operations throughout this hemisphere, while we work with our allies and partners,” Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, USAREUR’s commander, said in a statement Friday. “Our goal is to be postured to respond to the wide range of challenges emerging in the 21st century.”
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Forces stationed in Europe reassure allies, deter regional threats, build partnerships and make operations from Afghanistan to Libya easier, said Stavridis, who is also NATO’s commander.
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Visegrad Four Group Plus Ukraine Plan Military Integration
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/10/c_13821739.htm
Xinhua News Agency
April 10, 2011
East European bloc agrees to deepen military cooperation
BRATISLAVA: Military leaders of the Visegrad Group, which comprises four East European countries, on Saturday vowed to deepen military cooperation among member states.
Chiefs of the general staff from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia agreed to deepen cooperation among their countries, said a joint communique issued after their meeting in Liptovsky in Central Slovakia.
According to Slovak Chief of the General Staff Lubomir Bulik, the four countries will promote cooperation especially on sharing information and the experience of army building, personnel training, and participating in international actions,
The Visegrad members must act together and simplify complex issues, said Polish Chief of the General Staff Mieczyslaw Cieniuch.
The meeting also discussed establishing a joint combat group after 2015.
A Ukrainian delegation attended the meeting. The Ukrainian military and its Visegrad counterparts have kept close contact and cooperation in the past five years
The Visegrad group was founded on Feb. 15, 1991 in the northern Hungarian town of Visegrad with the aim of enhancing regional cooperation.
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Abkhazia Says Slain Georgians Tbibili-Backed Saboteurs
www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?id=235280
Interfax
April 9, 2011
Georgian saboteurs killed in Abkhazia were part of large terrorist group – Abkhaz special services
SUKHUMI: Two Georgian saboteurs killed in Abkhazia on Friday were preparing terrorist attacks in that republic, the Abkhaz Special Missions Center told Interfax on Saturday.
“We have reliable information indicating that they were acting purposefully to commit terrorist attacks as part of a group of up to 25 people, mainly in the upper part of the Gali district,” the center said.
The Gali division of the Abkhaz Security Service told journalists the incident occurred in the village of Chuburkhindzh at about 2:00 p.m. Moscow time on April 8, when Russian border guards were on a planned patrolling mission. When they were inspecting abandoned houses, fire was opened from one of them, and Lt. Col. Vasily Kvitko was killed and another border guard, Vasily Donov, sustained minor wounds.
The border guards returned fire and killed two men. One of these men was identified immediately after Gali district police officers arrived at the scene. “It turned out that this was Lasha Sichinava, born in Zugdidi (Georgia) in 1975, who had been wanted for kidnapping Abkhaz citizen Aslandziya in 2008, involvement in a terrorist attack in Chuburkhindzh on January 29, 2010, and killing two Abkhaz citizens, Ashuba and Kekelia. The other man’s identity has yet to be determined,” the Security Service division said.
Four grenades and two assault rifles with ammunition were found in the house from which the gunmen were shooting, the Special Missions Center told Interfax. The attackers were wearing ammunition vests under civilian clothing and military-style footwear.
Abkhaz law enforcement agencies possess information indicating that these men collaborated with Georgian special services with the aim of keeping the situation in the Gali district tense and discrediting Abkhaz security services, it said.
This armed group has committed about eight attacks and kidnappings in the past three months, the center said.
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Uruguay Opposes Foreign Military Intervention In Bahrain, Libya
english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9001202299
Fars News Agency
April 9, 2011
Uruguay Opposes Military Interference in Bahrain, Libya
TEHRAN: Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro, who is in Tehran on an official visit, voiced his country’s strong opposition to any foreign military intervention in Bahrain and Libya.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi here in Tehran on Saturday, Almagro announced that he and his Iranian counterpart had discussed the latest developments in the region, specially uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, during their talks today.
“We are against any military and foreign intervention in these countries, especially Bahrain and Libya,” Almagro stated.
He further stressed that Tehran and Montevideo share common views over different issues.
The Uruguayan minister hailed the age-old ties between Iran and his country and said, “We have very strong trade relations.”
“We are pleased to see Iran’s expanding ties with Uruguay and other Latin American states, including Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, and we hope to witness further development of relations between Tehran and Montevideo,” Almagro underscored.
Since taking office in 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expanded Iran’s cooperation with many Latin American states, including Venezuela and Cuba.
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