17 May 2011 — Stop NATO
Updates on Libyan war: May 17, 2011
Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
- NATO Helicopter Attack Wounds Two Pakistani Soldiers
- U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 238 Pakistani Civilians So Far This Year
- Two NATO Oil Tankers Destroyed In Pakistan
- Afghanistan: NATO Loses Two More Soldiers
- Interceptor Missiles In Europe: U.S.-Russia “Reset” At Stake
- Morocco: U.S. Marines Strengthen AFRICOM’s Ties With “Important Ally”
- Libyan Model: NATO Upgrades Urban Warfare Capabilities
NATO Helicopter Attack Wounds Two Pakistani Soldiers
Agence France-Presse
May 17, 2011
NATO helicopter strike wounds two Pakistani troops
By Hasbanullah Khan
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan: NATO helicopters from Afghanistan wounded two Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border attack Tuesday, officials said, triggering a “strong protest” from Islamabad as tensions with the US simmered after Osama bin Laden’s death.
The two choppers opened fire on an army checkpoint in a restive tribal region in Pakistan’s northwest after they were shot at, a Western military official in Kabul said, amid conflicting reports of the incident.
The attack occurred just one day after US Senator John Kerry attempted to soothe a row with Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership about the March 2 raid that killed bin Laden north of Islamabad.
Tuesday’s helicopter attack took place in Wacha Bibi, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, officials said.
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“Pakistan’s army has lodged a strong protest and demanded a flag meeting,” with NATO officials in Afghanistan, a statement issued in Islamabad said.
“Two NATO helicopters violated Pakistan air space today at Admi Kot Post, North Waziristan, in the early hours of the morning.
“The troops at the post fired upon the helicopters and, as a result of exchange of fire, two of our soldiers received injuries.”
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Pakistani authorities later informed ISAF (the US-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan) that two soldiers had been wounded, he said.
A spokesman for the international military alliance in Afghanistan said ISAF “had reports of a possible incident.
“We are looking into it,” Lieutenant-Colonel John L. Dorrian said.
The Pakistani military often accuses the NATO force in Afghanistan of violating Pakistan’s air space…
Pakistan temporarily shut the main land route for NATO supplies into Afghanistan last September after officials accused NATO of killing Pakistani troops in another cross-border attack.
The northwest region is being targeted by a record number of US drone strikes…
US drone strikes inflame anti-American feeling in Pakistan, which has worsened since a CIA contractor shot dead two Pakistani men in a busy Lahore street in January.
Two US drone strikes targeting a militant compound and a vehicle in North Waziristan on Monday killed at least nine people.
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U.S. Drone Strikes Kill 238 Pakistani Civilians So Far This Year
www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=179277
Online News
May 18, 2011
Drone missile strikes kills 238, injures 40 in 2011
PESHAWAR: Two hundred thirty-eight innocent civilians were killed while forty were injured in drone attacks in tribal areas in the contemporary year since 1st January to the current date.
According to government sources, important members of Al-Qeada were the target of these drone missile strikes.
According to locals, the killed people were locals. From 1st January 2011 till 17th May 2011, 24 drone missile strikes were carried out in North Waziristan and 15 drone missile strikes were carried out in South Waziristan.
45 people were killed in a drone attack on a jirga soon after the release of Raymond Davis, after which the Chief of Army Staff strongly condemned this drone attack.
In the first month of the current year no drone strikes were carried out in South Waziristan while 10 were carried in North Waziristan.
In the month of February, out of a total of three drone strikes, two were targeted on North Waziristan and one on South Waziristan.
In the month of March, six attacks were carried out in North Waziristan while two carried out in South Waziristan.
From the month of April till the present date 43 people died in two drone missile strikes. These strikes were carried out in North Waziristan while American Senator John Kerry was present in Pakistan.
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Two NATO Oil Tankers Destroyed In Pakistan
www.dailyindia.com/show/440258.php
Asian News International
May 17, 2011
Two NATO oil tankers torched near Attock in Pakistan
Attock: Two NATO oil tankers were charred near the Khaur police post, 90 km from Attock on the Fatehjang-Talagang Road on Monday.
Sources said the drivers and helper fled following the attack that occurred at 2 a.m., The Nation reports.
Local police alleged the driver and helper might have torched the tankers. On May 1 more than 18 NATO oil tankers were torched by miscreants on the same road, killing five policemen and injuring six constables.
NATO trucks and oil tankers are regularly targeted with arson attacks blamed on insurgents attempting to disrupt the two key supply lines, which cross western Pakistan, bound for foreign troops fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan: NATO Loses Two More Soldiers
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/17/c_13879552.htm
Xinhua News Agency
May 17, 2011
2 NATO soldiers die in Afghanistan
KABUL: Two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died in Afghanistan due to non-battle related injuries on Tuesday, bringing the number of alliance casualties to six over the past two days, a press release of the alliance said.
“Two International Security Assistance Force service members died as a result of non-battle related injuries in northern Afghanistan today,” the press release said.
However, it did not reveal the nationalities of the victims or the nature of receiving injury, saying it is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.
Four more NATO soldiers were killed in Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Afghanistan’s restive southern region on Monday, the military alliance confirmed in a statement.
More than 170 NATO-led ISAF soldiers with majority of them Americans have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.
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Interceptor Missiles In Europe: U.S.-Russia “Reset” At Stake
english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/17/50424542.html
Voice of Russia
May 17, 2011
US-Russia relations “reset” at stake
Washington puts at risks the reset of US-Russia relations.
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, if the US and NATO continue to develop the European ABM system regardless of Russia’s interests it [Russia] has the right to withdraw from the strategic arms reduction treaty. Ryabkov made this statement speaking at a meeting of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, on the prospects of the European ABM system. The Russian diplomat stressed that legal, not political, guarantees are needed to remove Russia’s concerns over the US-NATO plans.
Recently, Washington has reached an agreement with Bucharest on the deployment of its interceptor missiles in Romania. Moscow is facing the policy of “accomplished facts” on behalf of the West, which leaves less room for taking Moscow’s interest into consideration on the establishment of the European ABM system. Russia is not happy with empty promises and wants legal guarantees, Ryabkov says.
“The establishment of the ABM system in Europe threatens Russia’s security and may be recognized as an exceptional circumstance for Russia’s withdrawal from the strategic arms reduction treaty. We think it is necessary to sign a juridically-binding agreement between Russia and the US which sets the principles and the limits of interaction on the European ABM system and makes it possible to organize efficient monitoring of missile threats.”
Meanwhile, the US continues to implement the program on the creation of a third zone of ABM within NATO in Europe. Officially, this is being done to protect NATO member states from possible threats from the Middle East but such a system also poses a potential threat to Russia.
Last November, speaking at the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev proposed NATO and the US to create a European ABM in cooperation with Russia. This joint system would imply that Russia and NATO will protect exclusively their own territories, while a special center would coordinate the operation of both systems. But NATO and the US oppose this idea. Unfortunately, the statements of many Western politicians and experts show that that the Cold War mentality still exists despite all the talks about a “reset”.
However, Russia’s envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin is confident that Moscow has good grounds to insist that the European ABM system should take into consideration Russia’s interests.
“The creation of the ABM system in Europe is impossible without Russia. At least for one reason: imagine that we have detected the launch of missiles on the territory of European countries. We have no time to hold press conferences, to call NATO or Washington finding out why the missiles have been launched. Our early warning systems will react on this as on a missile offense with all the consequences. Only this single argument dictates the need of the correlation between Russia and NATO’s ABM systems.”
As for legal guarantees to address Russian concerns over the plans of the US and NATO, it is unlikely that Moscow will receive them.
The Pentagon’s chief Robert Gates said that Congress won’t approve such guarantees. Instead of it he proposed some “political guarantees” to Russia.
But as we know from previous experience, such guarantees do not mean anything. For example, when the Warsaw Pact organization was disbanded, NATO promised no expansion to the East but forgot about this promise quite soon.
That is why Moscow won’t be satisfied with political guarantees.
Nevertheless, the talks between Russia and NATO on the creation of a single ABM in Europe are still under way. This issue will become the key topic during the meeting of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barrack Obama at G8 summit, which will be held in late May in the French city of Deauville.
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Morocco: U.S. Marines Strengthen AFRICOM’s Ties With “Important Ally”
www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=6632&lang=0
U.S. Africa Command
May 17, 2011
14th Marines Arrive in Morocco to Lead American Participation during Phase II of Exercise African Lion 2011
By Captain Nathan Braden
14th Marine Regiment
AGADIR, Morocco: Marines of Headquarters Battery, 14th Marine Regiment, a reserve unit from Fort Worth, Texas, assumed command of American forces participating in Phase II of Exercise African Lion during a ceremony here May 15, 2011.
African Lion is an annual joint and bi-lateral exercise between Morocco and the United States that involves more than 2,000 U.S. service members and approximately 900 members of the Royal Moroccan armed forces.
Phase II began when U.S. Naval Forces Africa, designated as Joint Task Force-Morocco, transferred command to the 14th Marine Regiment, designated as Task Force-African Lion. Task Force-African Lion has the task of directing and overseeing bilateral command and control functions of a regimental level task force during Phase II.
“We’re here to support the AFRICOM (U.S. Africa Command) commander’s goals of bilateral engagement with one of our most important allies in the region,” said Colonel John Caldwell, commander, Task Force-African Lion. “We have a diverse group of U.S. military and our Moroccan counterparts working together to improve our interoperability.”
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The Marines of Task Force-African Lion will not only increase their knowledge of working with an ally nation, but they will also gain the experience of working with other services of the U.S. military. Inside the exercise’s combat operations center, personnel from the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force can be seen hunched over their computers working to ensure the more than 2,000 personnel exercise runs smoothly.
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African Lion is designed to strengthen the U.S.-Moroccan partnership and increase understanding of each other’s capabilities and proficiencies while enhancing their ability to operate together.
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Libyan Model: NATO Upgrades Urban Warfare Capabilities
www.sacbee.com/2011/05/17/3632268/standardised-urban-warfare-training.html
Sacramento Bee
May 17, 2011
Standardised Urban Warfare Training is Essential for Future Conflict
By IQPC
LONDON: Joint urban SERE training capabilities will have a huge impact on the way that forces operate in future conflicts especially with regards to coalition missions like the one currently being played out in Libya.
Talking to Defence IQ, ahead of the Joint Personnel Recovery event in June, Major Bart Holewijn, Commander at the Royal Netherlands SERE School says that standard joint capabilities as outlined in the latest NATO doctrine, released in January, will ensure standardised training methods that would not have been considered six months ago.
“Training is now standardised which will very much help in PR missions and future NATO operations as people now know that these are the methods that we need to adhere to. It makes procedure easier to follow.”
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With defence budgets being cut, Major Holewijn states it makes sense for countries to set up joint training ventures such as the one between the Netherlands and Belgian training schools that he heads up.
Major Holewijn will be leading a session at the Joint Personnel Recovery conference on 28th June 2011, looking at SERE training and PR policy development:
Joint Personnel Recovery will take place at Le Meridien Piccadilly in London on 28th – 29th June 2011…
The New Dark Age 