The New Dark Age

10 June 2011 — Stop NATO

• $2 Million A Day: Pentagon’s Billion Dollar Libyan War
• USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group In Mediterranean
• Cairo: Top U.S. Military Commander Supports Egyptian Junta, Libyan War
• NATO Official: Gaddafi “Legitimate Target”
• U.S. Military Chief Applauds Germany’s Role In Global NATO
• NATO Missile System To Neutralize Russia’s Strategic Capability: Defense Minister
• Ukraine: U.S. Breaks In Eurasian, African NATO Partnership Cohorts

$2 Million A Day: Pentagon’s Billion Dollar Libyan War

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2001778/Libya-war-costs-US-taxpayers-2m-day-Gaddafi.html

Daily Mail

June 9, 2011

The billion dollar war? Libyan campaign breaks Pentagon estimates costing U.S. taxpayers $2 million a day

The cost of the U.S. campaign in Libya is set to exceed the $750 million Pentagon estimate set out in March, according to a leaked Department of Defence Memo.

The ‘eyes-only’ DoD dossier said the U.S. had already spent $664 million in Libya by mid-May – a running cost of $60 million a month since the bombing began in March.

At the current rate of spending, the U.S. will have to shell out at least an extra $274 million till the end of the current 90 day no fly zone extension period – brining total expenditure to a minimum of $938 million.

The news came as donors pledged more than $1.3 billion dollars to help support Libya’s main opposition group, after countries backing NATO’s military mission there met to prepare for the post-Moammar Gadhafi era.

The leaked document, obtained by The Financial Times, showed the rate of spending is far higher than DoD estimates issued in late march.

Then, a congressional hearing, heard the U.S. had spent about $550 million on Libya, at a rate of about $40m a month.

The soaring cost will only add to the pressure felt by military commanders already grappling with growing budgetary constraints and procurement over spends.

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NATO airstrikes rattled the Libyan capital this morning, with seven thunderous explosions shaking the city.

Concussions from the strikes, in clusters of a few minutes apart, washed over Tripoli from its outskirts…

The news comes as NATO allies in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to focus on what one U.S. official called the ‘end-game’ for Libya’s Gaddafi as NATO once again stepped up the intensity of its air raids on Tripoli.

Italy and France offered a combined $1.02 billion to Libya’s Transitional National Council while Kuwait and Qatar promised a combined $280 million to a fund set up to provide…assistance to the opposition.

The pledges came as council members appealed for urgent infusions of cash to keep from going broke.

The council is trying to establish an alternative government to take over after Gadhafi.

Preparing for Libya’s next phase will require a decision on what fate – exile, prosecution or some third option – should befall the beleagured Gaddafi.

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Abu Dhabi today, disappointed the rebel-affiliated group by saying that while Washington would boost its humanitarian aid to all Libyans by $26.5 million it is not offering any direct aid to the council.

‘Gadhafi’s days are numbered,’ Clinton said.

‘We are working with our international partners through the U.N. to plan for the inevitable: a post-Gadhafi Libya.’

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The U.S. said on Wednesday that the first shipment of Libyan oil sold by the council had been delivered to an American refinery and Clinton encouraged other nations to make similar purchases to help the Libyan people.

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USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group In Mediterranean

www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=60850

Navy NewsStand

June 7, 2011

Bush Makes Port Visit to Spain

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Walter, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Public Affairs

CARTAGENA, Spain: USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) anchored off the coast of Cartagena, Spain, June 6, marking the first time the nation’s newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier has visited mainland Europe.

Nearly 5,000 Sailors of George H.W. Bush and its embarked airwing will spend several days visiting the Spanish port and nearby towns through tours offered by the ship’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) department. Cartagena is the second overseas port call for George H.W. Bush, which recently completed a four-day visit to Portsmouth, England.

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George H.W. Bush Sailors will be joined in Cartagena by Sailors from the Spanish frigate ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbón (F 102). Borbón has been a coalition member of George H.W. Bush Strike Group since September 2010, and will depart from the strike group shortly after the port call for a national tasking.

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Borbón is only the second Spanish ship to serve with a U.S. carrier strike group…

George H.W. Bush departed its homeport of Norfolk, Va., May 11, and entered the 6th Fleet area of responsibility May 17.

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Cairo: Top U.S. Military Commander Supports Egyptian Junta, Libyan War

www.jcs.mil/newsarticle.aspx?id=626

Joint Chiefs of Staff

June 8, 2011

Mullen: U.S., Egypt Maintain Strong Military Bond

By Cheryl Pellerin

CAIRO, Egypt: The U.S. military remains committed to a strong bilateral relationship with Egypt’s armed forces, continuing a practice that has endured for 30 years, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said here today.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke with Egyptian and international journalists after a day of meetings with business and academic leaders and military officials.

“In keeping with my government’s desire for a strong relationship with a democratic Egypt, this includes healthy support for a capabilities-based approach to Egyptian military modernization,” Mullen said.

Joint military exercises, routine dialogue, annual conferences and education opportunities, he added, are part of that continuing support.

“Relationships really do matter,” Mullen said, noting how important this connection – and his ongoing communication with Lt. Gen. Sami Hafex Ahmed Enan, chief of staff of the Egyptian armed forces – has been since the Egyptian revolution began in January.

“I want to re-emphasize my appreciation and admiration for General Enan’s leadership and for how professionally the Egyptian military forces have comported themselves,” the chairman said. “The military stayed loyal to the people and to the institutions they knew those people would need moving forward and they stayed out of the political debate.”

But hard work remains ahead, Mullen acknowledged.

“Democracy is difficult,” he said. “Americans know this. It is my view that the Supreme Council also realizes the challenges they are facing, the pressure they are under and the expectations of the people. For our part, the U.S. military and the U.S. government will do what we can to help support an Egyptian-led transition.”

In response to questions about escalating unrest in the region, Mullen said it’s a time of great uncertainty.

“What’s going on in every country has a regional effect, … whether it’s here or in Tunisia or Syria or Libya…”

In Libya, where NATO forces are fighting…Mullen said he’s seen “slow progress…”

Last week, NATO forces made a decision to extend operations there for another 90 days, through Sept. 25, and NATO defense ministers meeting today in Belgium endorsed that decision.

The response by NATO and other countries, the chairman added, “is strong recognition that in the long run, Gadhafi [remaining] in Libya is an outcome that does not bode well for the Libyan people or Libya itself.”

From a military perspective, he said, “everything I see indicates a continued drumbeat of military operations to raise the pressure to force Gadhafi to depart,” adding that everyone involved in the effort “would like to see this end as soon as possible.”

In Syria, the government is responding violently against demonstrators.

“The president of the United States and many others have condemned President Bashir Assad for killing his own people,” the chairman said.

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Mullen has focused on Yemen for several years, he said, “because of the growing amount of ungoverned space that terrorist organizations have been able to work in,” al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula, in particular.

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The downside of a much more chaotic and violent Yemen, the chairman said, “is not just bad for Yemen, it’s bad for the region and for the world, so we’re watching it very closely.”

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NATO Official: Gaddafi “Legitimate Target”

edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/09/libya.gadhafi/

CNN

June 9, 2011

NATO official: Gadhafi a legitimate target

A U.N. resolution justifies the targeting of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a senior NATO military official with operational knowledge of the Libya mission told CNN Thursday.

Asked by CNN National Security contributor Fran Townsend whether Gadhafi was being targeted, the NATO official declined to give a direct answer. The resolution applies to Gadhafi because, as head of the military, he is part of the control and command structure and therefore a legitimate target, the official said.

NATO has been ramping up pressure on the regime, employing helicopters last weekend for the first time against Gadhafi’s forces. Explosions are heard often in Tripoli, evidence of allied air strikes.

NATO began bombing Libya on March 31…

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday it is time to start planning for what to do in Libya after Gadhafi’s departure “because Gadhafi’s reign of terror is coming to an end.”

In statement broadcast on state media, Gadhafi vowed a day before that “we will not surrender,” even as NATO airstrikes bombarded his compound in Tripoli.

NATO recently announced its decision to extend its mission in Libya by 90 days.

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U.S. Military Chief Applauds Germany’s Role In Global NATO

www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=64261

U.S. Department of Defense

June 9, 2011

Mullen Praises Germany’s Performance in Afghanistan

By Cheryl Pellerin

-The chairman said he’s…encouraged by NATO’s operation in Libya, although much work remains. “I was impressed with how rapidly NATO made a decision on Libya and how rapidly they stood up the mission and started to execute,” he said. “When you consider that we did in a few days what it took many, many, many months to do in the Balkans in the 1990s, I think that comparison is reflective of where NATO is right now.”

BERLIN: Germany’s “truly exceptional performance” in Afghanistan’s Regional Command North has come at a cost to a country that is a key ally of the United States, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said today.

“I’m very grateful for the continuing contribution of Germany in Afghanistan,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a briefing here with German and international journalists.

Since 2001, Mullen said, its support in Afghanistan has cost Germany the lives of 52 soldiers, with 190 more wounded.

Mullen met with members of the country team at the U.S. Embassy, which overlooks the site of the former Berlin Wall. A short distance away, on the parade field at the German defense ministry, the chairman participated in a military honors ceremony and then a wreath laying at the memorial of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces. The memorial commemorates the deaths since 1955 of more than 3,100 German soldiers killed during combat and in attacks, military accidents and exercises. Afterward, the chairman met with Gen. Volker Wieker, chief of the German armed forces, and other military officials.

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Mullen said he believes strongly in the NATO alliance, which he said is “more relevant than ever,” adding that U.S. and German participation in the alliance is critical.

A big reason for his visit, Mullen said, is to discuss ways to strengthen a relationship that’s already exceptionally strong, and “to listen to how the German military leadership sees that future unfolding in these increasingly challenging times where partners are so critical.”

The Afghanistan campaign is headed in the right direction, the chairman said.

…

The chairman said he’s also encouraged by NATO’s operation in Libya, although much work remains. “I was impressed with how rapidly NATO made a decision on Libya and how rapidly they stood up the mission and started to execute,” he said. “When you consider that we did in a few days what it took many, many, many months to do in the Balkans in the 1990s, I think that comparison is reflective of where NATO is right now.”

The operation in Libya, Mullen said, “is going pretty well.”

“We will continue to raise the pressure on [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi to leave Libya,” he added. In the long run, he said, “that’s an outcome that serves the region, it serves the world…the best.”

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NATO Missile System To Neutralize Russia’s Strategic Capability: Defense Minister

www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/161032.html

Itar-Tass

June 8, 2011

Europe’s future missile defence to erase Russia’s strategic capability

BRUSSELS: A missile defence system that may be created in Europe by 2020 will “neutralise Russia’s strategic capabilities”, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.

Serdyukov is attending a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the level of defence ministers.

He said NATO is not listening to Russia’s missile defence proposals.

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Ukraine: U.S. Breaks In Eurasian, African NATO Partnership Cohorts

www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=60891

Navy NewsStand

June, 8, 2011

Denmark, Ukraine, and U.S. Dive into Sea Breeze 2011

By Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stephen Oleksiak, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

ODESSA, Ukraine: Danish, Ukrainian, and U.S. Navy divers conducted one of many joint dive evolutions during the multinational exercise Sea Breeze 2011 at the Ukrainian Western Naval Base, June 8.

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Members from the Danish Navy Dive Academy, Copenhagen; Ukrainian dive team from the Search and Rescue Center of the Ukrainian navy, Sevastopol; and UCT 1, from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va.; will be training together daily in controlled environments both in port and at sea.

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Air, land and naval forces from Azerbaijan, Algeria, Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Macedonia, Moldova, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States will participate in Sea Breeze, the largest multinational maritime exercise this year in the Black Sea, June 6-18, and is co-hosted by the Ukrainian and U.S. Navies.

Exercise Sea Breeze 2011 aims to improve maritime safety, security and stability actions in the Black Sea by enhancing the capabilities of Partnership for Peace and Black Sea regional maritime security forces.