20 May 2011 — Stop NATO
Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
- U.S. Missile System In Europe Real Threat To Russia: Generals
- Russian Chief Of Staff: Nuclear Parity With U.S. Could Be Disrupted
- Missile Shield: Security Sphere Can Be Rolled Back To Reagan Era – Russian President
- U.S. Interceptor Missiles Pose Threat To Russian Nuclear Deterrent
- Ukraine To Hold Talks With U.S. Romania On NATO Missile Shield
- Russian General Staff: No Iranian, North Korean Missile Threats To US, NATO Nations
- NATO To Move Central Asian Office To Kyrgyzstan
- U.S. Kills At Least 225 Pakistanis In 31 Drone Strikes This Year
- Pakistani Opposition Party To Block NATO Supplies Over Drone Killings
- Anti-NATO Protest Staged In Another Afghan Province
- France Backs Further NATO Integration Of United Arab Emirates
U.S. Missile System In Europe Real Threat To Russia: Generals
en.rian.ru/russia/20110520/164133194.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
May 20, 2011
U.S. missile defense in Europe ‘real threat’ to Russia – General Staff
Topic: U.S. missile shield in Europe
-”Four hundred interceptor missiles on 40 warships and a missile site in Poland. This is a real threat to our strategic nuclear forces.”
Moscow: U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe will pose a genuine threat to Russia’s nuclear deterrence capability if they are carried out in full, a General Staff official said on Friday.
“The situation completely changes with the realization of the third and fourth stages of the missile defense,” said Lt. Gen. Andrei Tretyak, head of the General Staff Main Operations Directorate. “Four hundred interceptor missiles on 40 warships and a missile site in Poland. This is a real threat to our strategic nuclear forces.”
Russia has never had any plans to deploy missile defense elements outside its borders, he said.
President Dmitry Medvedev warned on Wednesday that Russia would have to build up its nuclear capability if NATO and the United States failed to reach an agreement with Moscow on European missile defense cooperation.
Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama are expected address the missile defense issue in late May at the G8 summit in Deauville, France.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Moscow was concerned by the United States’ refusal to provide legally binding guarantees that its European missile defense system would not be directed against Russia.
Moscow has warned it might pull out of the new START Treaty.
Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile shield during the NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon in November 2010. NATO insists there should be two independent systems that exchange information, while Russia favors a joint system.
Russia is opposed to the planned deployment of U.S. missile defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be a security threat. NATO and the United States insist that the shield would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran and would not be directed at Russia.
====
Russian Chief Of Staff: Nuclear Parity With U.S. Could Be Disrupted
www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=2&id=245353
Interfax-Military
May 20, 2011
Russian General Staff chief fears disruption of nuclear parity with U.S. by 2020
MOSCOW: The strategic balance between Russia and the United States could be disrupted by 2020, Russian General Staff Chief Nikolai Makarov said on Friday.
“By 2020, one of the sides could start to think that the existing parity can be ignored. I mean nuclear parity,” Makarov said, commenting on possible consequences of further steps by the U.S. to develop its global missile defense shield.
Washington’s global missile defense project involves efforts to develop laser weapons and electronic resistance means, to modernize the missile defense system and the U.S. group of satellites put into orbit, as well as to place interceptor missiles on board naval ships as part of the Aegis program, Makarov said.
Such steps cause the international military-political situation to escalate, he said.
“Russia’s position is that tensions in Europe and the world in general need to be avoided,” he said.
—————————————————————————
www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=5&id=245267
Interfax-Military
May 20, 2011
Russia insists on legal security guarantees over U.S. missile shield
MOSCOW: The guarantee that the U.S. missile defense system does not target Russia must be backed up by a legal document, the Russian Army General Staff has said.
“We can only talk about cooperation in the event of the security guarantees being provided by the U.S. A simple statement is not enough for us. We need an official legal agreement,” Lt. Gen. Andrei Tretyak, head of the Army General Staff Main Operations Directorate, told a conference in Moscow on Friday.
There have to be clear criteria allowing the assessment of the impact of both sides’ missile defense programs on strategic stability, he said.
“It is desirable to have these parameters secured by an acknowledgement that the missile defense program is limited and consistent with the stated objectives,” Tretyak said.
A clear schedule must be worked out to ensure that the deployment of missile defense systems in Europe planned by the U.S. and NATO is unable to affect Russia’s deterrent forces, he said.
—————————————————————————
english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/20/50568535.html
Voice of Russia
May 20, 2011
Russia wants US guarantees on missile defense
Russia requires the US to provide legally signed guarantees that the American missile defense system is not directed against Russia.
The deployment of a missile defense shield in Europe poses a serious threat to Russia’s nuclear deterrent, a senior official from Russia’s General Staff said in Moscow.
Lt. Gen. Andrei Tretyak, Chief of Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, warned that Russia would have to respond by taking appropriate measures if NATO persists with its missile defense plans without consulting Russia or more so, without the participation of Russia.
Not long ago the US and Romania clinched a deal to deploy an American missile base on the territory of Romania.
====
Missile Shield: Security Sphere Can Be Rolled Back To Reagan Era – Russian President
www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=3&id=245342
Interfax
May 20, 2011
If no agreement reached on missile defense, security will roll back to 1980s – Medvedev
ST. PETERSBURG: If no agreement is reached on missile defense now, the situation in the security sphere will roll back to the 1980s, President Dmitry Medvedev has said.
“Ahead of us is the year 2020, when a new missile defense system will emerge in Europe. Let us come to terms now on what it will be like, and then in 2020 we will get an absolutely modern European home well-adjusted for living,” Medvedev told an international lawyers’ forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.
“But if we fail to reach an agreement, we will get a Europe of the early 1980s style. I don’t want to live in a Europe of this kind, and I hope you don’t, either,” Medvedev said.
“One must have courage to make difficult decisions. Our world will be better off then,” he said.
—————————————————————————
english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/20/50576080.html
Voice of Russia
May 20, 2011
Not agreeing on ABMs will take back to 1980s – Medvedev
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says that not agreeing on ABMs now will take the security situation back to the 1980s.
Addressing an international forum of lawyers in St. Petersburg, he noted that a new ABM system must appear in Europe in 2020.
Russia is currently negotiating with the US and its NATO allies on the establishment of a joint European ABM system. Medvedev highlighted the need to “courageously make difficult decisions”, which is the only way to make the world a better place.
====
U.S. Interceptor Missiles Pose Threat To Russian Nuclear Deterrent
en.rian.ru/analysis/20110520/164143767.html
Russian Information Agency Novosti
May 20, 2011
Russia on U.S. missile plan: No Poland deployment
Dmitry Babich
On Friday, May 20, Gen. Andrei Tretyak, head of the Armed Forces General Staff Main Operations Directorate (GOU), confirmed Russia’s position that the deployment of U.S. missile defense system poses a real threat to Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
The general said the threat to Russia’s nuclear deterrent will emerge after 2015, when the United States modifies its SM-3 anti-missiles and brings its seaborne missile defense group to 40 ships with 400 interceptor missiles.
Tretyak put special emphasis on the threat posed by missile defense elements on Polish territory.
While U.S. President Barack Obama’s refusal to deploy interceptors in Poland surely stung, Warsaw would be glad to reopen this topic. There can be no doubt about this. For example, Gen. Stanislaw Koziej, head of the Polish National Security Bureau, urged the United States and NATO to return from Asia to Europe. In his opinion, the deeper NATO gets mired in Afghanistan, the greater the degradation of its main function – to protect its member countries against direct threats under Article 5 of the NATO Charter (mutual assistance in case of an attack on one allied member). Poland has made it clear at all levels that it still considers Russia the main threat.
…
Poland never tires of reminding the United States that 2% of the Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army) units are fighting in Afghanistan and that Poland spends up to 20% of its defense budget to support the mission…
The Russian Foreign Ministry has already expressed regret over the plans to deploy U.S. missile defense hardware in Romania, claiming that the United States is acting as if the Russian-American reset never happened and that the Russian and U.S. presidents did not recognize the interdependence between offensive and defensive missiles at their meeting in Prague.
Moscow is bound to react to Poland’s participation in missile defense as well. At a news conference in Skolkovo, President Dmitry Medvedev said the further development of American missile defense will compel Russia to develop its own offensive missile potential. Let’s recall that it was Poland, Romania and the Baltic countries that refused Medvedev’s proposal at the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon to establish sectoral European missile defense. They declared that NATO will not outsource security, i.e. Russia should not be in charge of the security of Poland, Latvia and Estonia.
…
====
Ukraine To Hold Talks With U.S. Romania On NATO Missile Shield
ACTmedia
May 19, 2011
Ukraine seeking consultations on missile shield with Romanian, U.S. partners
Ukraine wants to hold rounds of consultations both with Romania and the U.S. on the subject of the missile shield components to be deployed in Romania, with Kiev’s stance being that the security of the entire European continent needs to be strengthened and that the ‘political aspects’ of the matter also need to be taken in consideration, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko declared on Wednesday after the meeting with his Romanian counterpart Teodor Baconschi.
‘In the context of the steps taken towards security strengthening, we believe that this policy should be aimed at strengthening security for the entire European continent and the political aspects of this matter also need to be taken in consideration. We express our interest in holding rounds of consultations with our partners in both Romania and the United States,’ said the Ukrainian chief diplomat who paid on Wednesday an official visit to Bucharest.
The U.S. anti-missile system will be located at the Deveselu air base, in Olt County (south-west of Bucharest), President Traian Basescu announced on May 3.
…
Several Russian Federation officials, including Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin, in recent weeks expressed criticism at Romania’s decision to install elements of the missile shield on its territory, Agerpres reports.
…
====
Russian General Staff: No Iranian, North Korean Missile Threats To US, NATO Nations
rt.com/politics/general-staff-iran-korea/
RT
May 20, 2011
Russian General Staff convinced Iran and N. Korea have no intercontinental missiles
-Russia is “seriously concerned with US plans to place its AMD elements near the Russian border,” namely in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech republic and some other NATO countries.
Iran and North Korea do not have ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US and other NATO countries, according to Russia’s General Staff.
?”The threat of missile attack on the leading world powers including the US and NATO member states is extremely insignificant,” deputy head of the General Staff Lieutenant General Vyacheslav Kondrashov said at an international conference in Moscow on Friday.
He noted that there are “no signs of nuclear arms” on Iranian missiles. Vyacheslav Kondrashov added that Teheran and Pyongyang only possess tactical missiles and that neither has the means of creating intercontinental ballistic missiles at this point.
Both Iran and North Korea have “insufficient level of nuclear technology” he said.
“Contrary to the US viewpoint on Iran and North Korea, we believe that these countries are far from the creation of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the official stressed.
He said that Teheran possesses “Shahab 3″ missile, but for it to reach the US it is necessary to equip it with a third step and a nuclear warhead. Something which is “technically impossible for Iran” at the moment.
Last week the United Nations released a panel report indicating that prohibited missile technology was shared by North Korea and Iran through a “neighboring third country,” presumably China. The Chinese Foreign Minister later denied such claims.
Another top military official, deputy head of the General Staff Colonel General Valery Gerasimov, also stated that Russia is “seriously concerned with US plans to place its AMD elements near the Russian border,” namely in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech republic and some other NATO countries.
“According to our estimates, the planned AMD could create risks for Russian strategic nuclear forces in the future, and this is a threat to Russia’s national security,” he said, adding that Moscow needs legal guarantees from the United States that the AMD elements are not targeted against Russian nuclear forces.
In this regard, it is necessary to step up efforts for the settlement of the issue and also start working on the concept of the European AMD system. Otherwise, Russia will have to deploy new offensive weapons Gerasimov pointed out.
“But it won’t be our choice. We are ready for a constructive dialogue with our partners,” he outlined.
====
NATO To Move Central Asian Office To Kyrgyzstan
centralasiaonline.com/cocoon/caii/xhtml/en_GB/features/caii/newsbriefs/2011/05/19/newsbrief-04
Central Asia Online
May 19, 2011
Kyrgyzstan to host NATO Central Asian office
BISHKEK: NATO will move its Central Asian office from Astana to Bishkek, Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported May 19.
The change is linked to the Kyrgyz parliament’s May 18 ratification of an agreement between Kyrgyzstan and NATO for further co-operation as part of its Partnership for Peace.
As part of Kyrgyz-NATO co-operation, the alliance is considering training Kyrgyz troops to its standards, creating Kyrgyz peace-keeping units, helping fortify border outposts and assist in renovation of artillery and missile storage depots, Nezavisimaya reported.
The timetable for the office move was not given.
====
U.S. Kills At Least 225 Pakistanis In 31 Drone Strikes This Year
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/20/c_13886094.htm
Xinhua News Agency
May 20, 2011
4 killed in U.S. drone strike in NW Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: At least four people were killed as U.S. drones fired two missiles at a vehicle in the Miranshah area of North Waziristan in northwest Pakistan Friday evening, reported local Urdu TV channel Duniya.
Earlier reports by Duniya said the target was a house…The missiles fired by U.S. drones also completely destroyed a nearby house, said the report.
Friday’s U.S. drone strike is the 31st of its kind in Pakistan since 2011.
Since this year, at least 225 people have reportedly been killed in such strikes, most of which were launched in North Waziristan…
====
Pakistani Opposition Party To Block NATO Supplies Over Drone Killings
www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=15815
Agence France-Presse
May 20, 2011
PTI to block NATO supplies against drone attacks
KARACHI: Pakistani opposition leader and former cricketer Imran Khan said Friday his party workers would block the port in Karachi to protest against US drone strikes in the country’s tribal [ares].
…
“We’ll sit outside the port’s gate from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening continuously to block the trucks carrying NATO supplies,” said…Khan, who leads Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).
“It will be our symbolic protest against the US atrocities towards our innocent citizens.”
…
Khan’s party staged a two-day sit-in outside the northwestern city of Peshawar last month, which was called to urge the US to end a covert missile campaign against Islamist militants in Pakistan’s tribal belt.
Khan said the government had given full liberty to its “American masters to kill Pakistanis at will.”
“We’ll be protesting against the drone strikes till our people are truly liberated from the clutches of monsters,” he said.
NATO supply trucks and oil tankers are the targets of frequent attacks blamed on insurgents attempting to disrupt supplies for the more than 130,000 international troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Most supplies and equipment required by coalition troops in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through Central Asia.
====
Anti-NATO Protest Staged In Another Afghan Province
www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/05/20/hundreds-rally-against-nato-forces-logar
Pajhwok Afghan News
May 20, 2011
Hundreds rally against NATO forces in Logar
by Abdul Maqsud Azizi
PUL-I-ALAM: Hundreds of residents of the Charkh district in central Logar province on Friday protested against NATO-led forces for arresting two sons of a prayer leader.
Foreign troops on Thursday night detained the two sons of Maulvi Sahibzada, prayer leader of the district’s main mosque, in the Bazar area during an operation.
The district development council head, Mohammad Naeem, told Pajhwok Afghan News that hundreds of people took part in the demonstration to condemn nighttime operations by foreign troops. He insisted the two detainees were locals and had been arrested without any charges.
Protestors vowed to continue their protest until the two were released. They said their next demonstration would be held in the capital city.
They demanded of the government to stop unilateral operations by foreign troops, otherwise, the situation could lead to public uprising.
Police chief, Col. Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Liwanai, urged protestors to avoid causing damage to public and private properties during their protest. He said he had talked to local officials about the protest and their demands.
====
====
France Backs Further NATO Integration Of United Arab Emirates
www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2167840&Language=en
Kuwait News Agency
May 19, 2011
France “fully supports” UAE request for NATO accreditation
PARIS: The French government said on Thursday that it is completely in favour of a demand by the UAE to be accredited to the NATO organization through the appointment of an Emirati ambassador to the western alliance.
“The United Arab Emirates has just asked for the accreditation of an ambassador to NATO,” a French Foreign Ministry statement said here.
“We fully support this request,” the statement added.
“This is a new step in our relations, which have witnessed an intensity and quality in cooperation between the UAE and the Alliance, notably in the framework of operation Unified Protector in Libya,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
The UAE is one of four Arab nations that have agreed to take part in the NATO-led, international operation against Libyan government forces in Libya.
That operation was given the green light by the UN Security Council last March and the UAE and Qatar were among the first Arab countries to commit air forces to enforce the “no fly” zone in Libya and assist in operations against Libyan military forces attacking the opposition rebels in that country.
Jordan and Morocco also committed to logistical, mainly humanitarian help in the Libya campaign.
The New Dark Age 
Leave a comment