14 July 2011 — Stop NATO
- U.S., NATO Triple Size Of Afghan Air Base Near Iranian Border
- Afghanistan: Dozens Of Western Troops Injured By Huge Blast
- Afghanistan: Six NATO Soldiers Killed, French Death Toll At 69
- U.S. Building New Detention Centers Across Afghanistan
- Moldovan Defense Minister To Visit NATO Headquarters
- Kosovo: NATO’s 12-Year-Old Archetypal ‘Success Case’
- U.S. Marines Train Honduran Counterparts
- NATO-Russia Council: In The Depths Of Uncertainty
U.S., NATO Triple Size Of Afghan Air Base Near Iranian Border
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123263595
American Forces Press Service
838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group
July 12, 2011
Shindand Air Base triples in size
by Lt. Col. Joe DelCampo
SHINDAND, Afghanistan: By expanding to nearly three times its original size, Shindand Air Base recently became the second largest airfield throughout Afghanistan.
Colonel Larry Bowers, the 838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group commander, opened the new expansion area upon completion of construction of approximately eight miles of perimeter fence line.
Having been in the works since fall of 2010, completion of the ‘Far East Expansion’ makes the base second only to Bastion Field in Lashkar Gah in size.
The project is part of a $500 million military construction effort to support Regional Command West and turn Shindand AB into the premier flight-training base in Afghanistan, officials said.
The new expansion is slated to become the new living and working area for more than 3,000 coalition forces and government contractors, officials said. The relocation of these members will make room for a new a 1.3-mile NATO training runway, with construction scheduled to begin in early 2012.
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Leading the coordination for the project was Lt. Col. Lance McCuiston, an 838th AEAG civil engineer.
He said he faced many challenges during the project, including delays and design changes, and he is certain teamwork by multiple units and organizations contributed to overall project success.
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Despite a period when contractors left the work site due to threats by individuals claiming to be local land owners and detection of seven improvised explosive devices, the project remained on track, he said.
‘The arrival of new security forces members greatly increased the ability to defend Shindand,’ McCuiston said. ‘It will be the mission of the security forces to patrol and defend this new battle space until completion of the project.’
On hand to celebrate the opening of the expansion were members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who established the $13 million contract necessary for construction of the perimeter fence in October 2010.
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Members of the 877th Expeditionary Prime BEEF Squadron were also on hand, with eight of their engineers having worked throughout the last four months during construction of the Far East Expansion. Prime Base Engineer Emergency Forces are civil engineer forces organized for direct combat support or emergency recovery from natural disasters.
Their oversight of more than 80 construction projects was crucial in the opening of the new area and ensured the NATO training-runway project remained on track, officials said.
‘The Far East Expansion has been an extremely fast-paced project with some significant obstacles along the way,’ said Chief Master Sgt. Chris Hodge, the 877th EPBS superintendent. ‘Knowing that 10 years from now, the projects we designed and broke ground on will endure…’
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Afghanistan: Dozens Of Western Troops Injured By Huge Blast
http://www.stripes.com/huge-blast-in-afghanistan-hurts-dozens-of-coalition-troops-1.149123
Stars and Stripes
July 13, 2011
Huge blast in Afghanistan hurts dozens of coalition troops
By Neil Shea
MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan: A massive truck bomb exploded outside a small American base in southern Wardak province Wednesday morning, wounding dozens of coalition soldiers and four Afghan civilians, military officials said.
The explosion at Combat Outpost Dash-e-Towp near the town of Sayed Abad tore a hole nearly 30 feet wide in the earth-filled barriers surrounding the base, flattening several prefabricated buildings and heavily damaging the command center.
A total of 22 troops were wounded, of which six required medical attention, said Maj. Lee Ann Tumblson, spokeswoman for Regional Command-East. None of the wounds were life-threatening.
…
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Afghanistan: Six NATO Soldiers Killed, French Death Toll At 69
http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=151474
Azeri Press Agency
July 14, 2011
6 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan
Baku: NATO says six of its service members died in two separate attacks in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.
In the first attack in the Tagab district of Kapisa province, a suicide bomber killed five French soldiers.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said the bomber blew himself up near French troops who were protecting a local council meeting in the Joybar area. At least one Afghan civilian was also killed and four other French soldiers were wounded.
The deaths occurred a day after President Sarkozy visited Afghanistan and announced his country would pull out 1,000 troops by the end of 2012, roughly a quarter of France’s current force in Afghanistan.
Hours later, another NATO soldier was killed in an insurgent attack. The nationality of that soldier was not released.
Following the attack in Kapisa, Mr. Sarkozy’s office said that France is determined to remain part of the NATO-led coalition to bring stability to Afghanistan.
Wednesday’s suicide bombing brings the number of French troops killed in the country to 69 since 2001.
The attack on French forces was the worst since 2008, when 10 soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in a Taliban ambush in the Uzbin Valley, south of the Afghan capital.
Violence is at its worst point in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion almost a decade ago.
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U.S. Building New Detention Centers Across Afghanistan
Stars and Stripes
July 13, 2011
U.S. building new jails across Afghanistan despite drawdown
Dianna Cahn
The U.S. is supposed to hand over control of its massive new detention center outside Bagram Air Field to the Afghans this year, but new contracts reveal plans to build more jails in the war zone, Danger Room reports.
Afghanistan will take over the Parwan detention facility later this year, although negotiations have been difficult because of worries regarding the country’s corruption-prone judicial system. Hoping to create a new justice model, the U.S. military set up a judicial complex near the prison, but complaints from troops and Afghans persist throughout the country.
Despite the transfer at Parwan, high-risk detainees from Parwan will likely remain in U.S. custody and be transferred to new U.S.-run facilities, according to Danger Room.
The Army recently awarded a no-bid contract to an Afghan contractor to build a new U.S. government-controlled detention facility and plans to build another larger facility equipped with maximum-security holding cells, the military and technology blog noted.
Read more from Danger Room on U.S. plans to build more prisons in Afghanistan:
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Moldovan Defense Minister To Visit NATO Headquarters
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_76366.htm?mode=pressrelease
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
July 13, 2011
Visit to NATO of the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Vitalie Marinuta
The Minister of Defence of Moldova, Mr. Vitalie Marinuta will visit NATO Headquarters on Wednesday 13 July 2011 to address the North Atlantic Council. He will also meet the Secretary General, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
There will be no media opportunity. Video images and still photographs of the event will be available on the NATO website after the event.
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Kosovo: NATO’s 12-Year-Old Archetypal ‘Success Case’
http://praguemonitor.com/2011/07/13/hn-two-czech-state-attorneys-help-wipe-out-mafia-kosovo
Czech News Agency
July 13, 2011
HN: Two Czech state attorneys help wipe out mafia in Kosovo
Prague: Two Czech lawyers, Adam Basny, 35, and Petr Klement, 36, who help wipe out the mafia in Kosovo within the EULEX mission, told yesterday’s issue of daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) that they have got used to the danger they face in performing their duties.
State attorney Basny, an expert in fighting corruption, told the paper that the first thing he got when he arrived in Peje was a bulletproof vest, a gas mask and a kevlar helmet.
He has been on a year-long mission together with colleagues from other EU countries in western Kosovo since the beginning of the month, the paper writes.
‘It was a challenge to fight crime in Kosovo,’ Basny told HN.
Klement has been working in Kosovska Mitrovica since last October. Until then he was an international expert of the Czech Supreme State Attorney’s Office (NSZ) in Brno.
‘Back at home I go to work by tram, here, in Kosovo, I use a service car and I always have to report it to the centre via a walkie-talkie. The state attorney’s office in Brno is not covered with barbed wire, runaway dogs are not running there adn electricity is always available,’ Klement told HN.
‘I must think of how to transport Albanian witnesses to court in the north because it is dangerous for them to walk around streets alone,’ he added.
HN writes that Klement and Basny’s work is adventurous because the EU mission aims to push through law in Kosovo, a country divided by disputes between Albanians and Serbs and from which drugs are smuggled to the whole of Europe, HN writes.
Klement has already successfully solved several cases.
‘I now have some 20 to 30 cases on the table, I have won everything to date. I only had to appeal in one case,’ Klement told HN.
He has dealt with murders, robberies, customs frauds as well as massive environmental pollution, HN writes.
Klement said his worst case ended only last month. ‘A brother shot dead his sister who went out with her boy friend in the evening without the family’s permission. The brother was responsible for her safety under common law. The daughter put the family to shame, therefore he together with other relatives attacked her in the night in a car on her way back home,’ Klement said.
‘The proceedings ended with an agreement on guilt and punishment, approved by court. I will never forget the father who was another victim of this absurd act. With tears in his eyes he deplored the judge for the mildest possible punishment for his son who killed his daughter,’ Klement said.
Kosovo that declared independence after wars with Serbia only three years ago is haunted mainly by corruption and gangs, HN writes.
That is why, it says, the prosecutors who are dealing with these cases are often in danger.
‘One gets used to it. I paradoxically felt the biggest fear in a case that was not that serious. It was a drug case in which the relatives of one of the perpetrators did not like me asking him such questions that resulted in his proving himself guilty,’ Klement told HN.
He will return to the NSZ in Brno in the autumn.
Basny also has some cases on his table, but he said they cannot be talked about. ‘They are the heaviest crimes, organised crime in its heaviest forms,’ he said.
Basny told HN he does not fear for his life, also because he received thorough EULEX training.
‘If you were afraid of physical liquidation, you would go nowhere. If they decide to get me, they will do it,’ he told HN, adding that he always has a walkie-talkie on him.
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U.S. Marines Train Honduran Counterparts
U.S. Marine Corps
July 13, 2011
Marines provide guidance and mentorship to Republic of Honduras Marines
By Gunnery Sgt. Alexis R. Mulero, Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group
LA CEIBA, Honduras: Seven Marines from Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group supported Marine Corps Forces, South by conducting a tactical assessment of the Republic of Honduras’ First Marine Infantry Battalion (Batallon de Infanteria Marina – (BIM) capabilities from June 6 – 10 and a three-day leadership seminar for their (BIM) noncommissioned officers from June 13-15.
During the assessment, the team focused their efforts on the six warfighting functions of command and control, intelligence, maneuver, fires, logistics and force protection.
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This was the first tactical assessment conducted by a MCTAG Coordination Liaison and Assessment Team (CLAT) in support of a regional MARFOR since the CLAT stood up a little less than a year ago.
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‘We appreciate the assistance the U.S. Marines provided us during the last week,’ said Capt. Nelson Varela, commanding officer of the BIM. ‘We look up to you (U.S. Marine Corps) as the world’s foremost fighting force. We are very grateful for the time you spent with us.’
U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South (MARFORSOUTH) is the U. S. Marine Corps Service Component Command for United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).
MARFORSOUTH commands all Marine forces assigned to Commander SOUTHCOM; advises the Commander SOUTHCOM on the proper employment and support of Marine forces; conducts deployment/redeployment planning and execution of assigned/attached Marine forces; and accomplishes other operational missions as assigned.
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NATO-Russia Council: In The Depths Of Uncertainty
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=304429&Itemid=1
Prensa Latina
July 13, 2011
Russia-Nato Council: in the depth of uncertainty
Antonio Rondón
-Russia and the United States were about to sign a joint statement within the framework of the summit of the seven most industrialized countries and Russia in France.
The document was prepared by Russian foreign deputy minister Sergei Ryabkov and US vice secretary of State Ellen Tauscher; but at the last moment, US President Barack Obama, apparently under pressure from the CIA and the Pentagon, refused to sign it.
Moscow: Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) confirmed their differences regarding the European anti-missile defence system and the use of force against Libya at a recent meeting in Sochi.
Although there were some moves toward reconciliation, such as the statements by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who regarded the talks as promising, the specific outcome was negative.
Talks on the creation of a joint anti-missile defense system (AMD) in Europe bogged down, said Russian representative at NATO Dmitry Rogozin, after the meeting with his counterparts in the military bloc.
For Rogozin, Western partners refuse to listen to Russia’s opinion and act in accordance with a preconceived plan. The European anti-missile defense system is aimed at Russia’s strategic potential, said the official openly.
The meeting at the representative level in Sochi was attended by Medvedev and the Atlantic alliance’s secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who hardly acknowledged that both Moscow and Brussels are facing the same challenges and threats.
Russia’s proposal of signing a legal document to ensure that none of the parties will do anything against the other was rejected by Rasmussen, who said that the Foundational Act for Russian and NATO Cooperation of 1997 is enough.
According to the Kommersant daily, Russia and the United States were about to sign a joint statement within the framework of the summit of the seven most industrialized countries and Russia in France.
The document was prepared by Russian foreign deputy minister Sergei Ryabkov and US vice secretary of State Ellen Tauscher; but at the last moment, US President Barack Obama, apparently under pressure from the CIA and the Pentagon, refused to sign it.
The meeting in Sochi widened even more the gap of understanding between both parties, especially with regard to the idea launched last November by Medvedev at the Russia-NATO Council summit in Lisbon for creating a sectorial AMD.
The scheme consisted of dividing the European region into collective responsibility zones for protecting one another, but Rasmussen insisted on the need, and even said it would benefit NATO, for Russia to create its own anti-missile shield.
Both systems (separately) could collaborate in the future, exchange information and avoid attacks from the outside, affirmed NATO’s secretary general.
‘We could not agree on the sectoral AMD for Europe’, admitted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The Russian diplomat stressed that the fifth clause of the Washington Agreement prevents the 28 members of the Atlantic alliance from delegating their defence to non-member countries of the military block.
The local press commented before the beginning of the meeting in Sochi that Poland had insisted on the need of bring up the issue of the Washington Agreement, in the midst of its plans to keep not only Patriot missiles in its territory, but also to deploy F-16 fighter-bombers.
According to the Nezavisimaya Gazeta (NZ) daily, Warsaw agreed with the Pentagon to transfer two US F-16 squadrons located at the Italian airbase at Aviano to a new installation in Polish territory.
We know that bi-lateral agreements are being established for deploying part of the US AMD in Europe and increasing the activity of warships that will be part of that system’s naval component, stated Lavrov.
The Russian foreign minister referred to the participation of the US ship Monterrey, provided with anti-missile systems, in joint maneuvers with Ukraine in the Black Sea, and its recent call on Georgian ports, something rejected by Moscow on all occasions.
The White House in no way takes into account the Kremlin’s concerns, said Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov last June after a meeting with his coleagues of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussel.
The United States is willing to deploy the SM-3s [Standard Missile-3s], which in their modified version has a greater reach, to all of the Russian European region and they can be installed on land, while the original version was for ships, NG affirmed.
The Atlantic Alliance’s secretary general seeks to postpone the solution to mutual differences until next year, at the summit of the Russian-NATO council in Chicago.
On the other hand, there were not many coincidences concerning the interpretation by both sides of the UN Security Council’s resolution 1973 on Libya.
Prior to the beginning of the council’s meeting, Medvedev talked to his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma, who had recently undertaken a mission as a mediator for reconciling stands, and he had stressed the need of a peaceful way out of the conflict in Libya.
Rasmussen repeated the arguments used by NATO for explaining its bombings against Libya, started last March 19, based on the supposed mission of protecting civilians, among whom they have caused hundreds of deaths and wounded.
Lavrov warned that the Atlantic alliance interprets the so-called resolution as permission to do whatever they feel like with the announced objective of protecting civilians.
In fact, although that is forbidden on account of the UN Security Council’s resolution 1970, Rasmussen thinks that providing military supplies to the Libyan armed opposition is aimed at ‘protecting the population’.
Any kind of weapon supply to Libya is in violation of the Security Council’s resolutions 1970 and 1973, as is sending military instructors to that country, denounced Lavrov.
The friendly environment of Sochi, which for the first time is the venue for a meeting of the aforementioned council, was not reflected at all in the tone of the talks, which rather confirmed differences and created greater uncertainty in Russia-NATO relations.
The New Dark Age 
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