4 October 2011 — Stop NATO
- Videos And Text: NATO Bombs Libyan Cities Indiscriminately
- Sirte: Thousands Flee In Panic After NATO Drops Flyers
- NATO’s Guernica: Proxies Take Suffer Casualties Near Sirte
- Video And Text: Fighting Still Rages In Afghanistan 10 Years After US-Led Invasion
- Longer Than World War I And World War II Combined: Europeans Ignore Faraway, Never-Ending Afghan War
- Turkey: Thousands Protest Against Missile Radar, NATO
- U.S. Generals Rotate Command Of NATO Mission In Iraq
- North Pole To Africa: New U.S. Sixth Fleet, NATO Striking and Support Forces Commander
- Cuba Accuses U.S. Of Plotting SMS Cyberwarfare
Videos And Text: NATO Bombs Libyan Cities Indiscriminately
http://rt.com/news/civilians-walid-sirte-forces-961/
RT
October 3, 2011
Civilians under NATO bombing – Bani Walid eyewitness to RT
Videos
Civilians fleeing Bani Walid and Sirte say the two Libyan cities fighting off the revolutionary forces are turning into a trap. The eyewitnesses told of no food, no medical aid – and no care for civilians.
Sirte is under random bombardment by the NTC forces, a woman who asked that she be identified as Selma told RT. Just a day ago, Selma fled from Bani Walid, one of the last pro-Gaddafi strongholds fighting off the attacks of the revolutionary forces. She says a mere declaration of loyalty to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi could cost your life there.
‘Two guys from the rebels attacked the home of a colonel,’ Selma told RT by phone from the capital Tripoli. ‘A man – he is a colonel – he worked with the Libyan forces. They attacked his house and they killed the man in front of his sons’ eyes, just because he supported Colonel Gaddafi. Any house that has [Gaddafi’s] green flag – they just bomb it.’
‘There’s tragedy in Bani Walid: the people are suffering, there is no food, there is no water,’ she added. ‘In Sirte, there is another tragedy as well. They actually attack the city randomly. They say, ‘We cannot enter Sirte, because there are civilians and we don’t want to attack civilians.’ It is not true, they are attacking, bombing civilians randomly. They don’t care, all they care about is that Sirte is ‘liberated.’’
Another eyewitness from Bani Walid, who asked to be identified only as Ransi, escaped to Tripoli three days ago. The man says NATO has been bombing the city indiscriminately.
‘It is very dangerous,’ Ransi said by phone. ‘NATO won’t stop bombing the area. At the beginning, they were bombing only the military [targets], but now they are not choosing between the military and civilians. People are suffering from food and water [shortages]… When I was leaving, water started to come back, but the food was still missing. There are too many people who have been killed. They don’t care about civilians.’
Thousands of civilians trapped in Sirte Meanwhile, another Gaddafi stronghold, the deposed ruler’s hometown of Sirte, has come under resumed fire by the National Transitional Council’s forces. The two-day lull in fighting agreed by the belligerents was meant to give civilians time to leave the besieged city.
Hundreds of civilians have managed to leave the place, dubbed as being a humanitarian disaster zone, but reports suggest that thousands remain inside, too scared to leave their homes.
‘There is no food, no water, no power. Some are trapped because there is no fuel, others are trapped because of the militias,’ an eyewitness told Reuters. ‘The people who are trapped inside are in danger. There is random shelling everywhere.’
The Red Cross mission was forced to leave Gaddafi’s hometown together with the fleeing refugees after less than 48 hours inside. A new Red Cross convoy that tried to deliver aid supplies to Sirte on Monday had to turn back due to the NTC forces resuming fire.
Anti-Gaddafi forces have pulled in more artillery in an attempt to break the stubborn resistance of their opponents occupying the city, where, the rebels believe, Gaddafi’s son Mutassim is hiding.
In their Monday advance, the NTC troops advanced on the Sirte district of Bouhadi. This stronghold of Gaddafi’s tribe, where many residents reject the new government, met the troops with empty houses and all-too-many Gaddafi green flags flying from most of the buildings. Reuters’ correspondent on the scene says a number NTC fighters could not but help themselves to some of the abandoned possessions.
Author and journalist Afshin Rattansi told RT that the current picture in Libya is disturbing, as the talk there is not about the future of the country and its people, but about oil.
‘I think some people already have their eyes on the bigger prize,’ he said. ‘Of course, Libya’s oil – and certainly Jalil and Jibril, these two people on the Transitional Council are already saying that they intend to move on, both of them big advocates for privatization – that really is what it seems to be about. What is important here is the oil, and where the oil contracts go.’
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Sirte: Thousands Flee In Panic After NATO Drops Flyers
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2508499.ece
The Hindu
October 3, 2011
Sirte residents flee in droves
Atul Aneja
Fearing heavy fighting as forces loyal to Libya’s new leadership prepare for a full-scale assault, residents of Sirte are streaming out of the embattled city…
The flood of Sirte residents travelling across the desert road in overloaded cars, pick-up vans and trucks followed a 48-hour notice to leave that was issued by the Transitional National Council (TNC), the anti-Qadhafi alliance that now loosely controls most of Libya. The coastal city of Sirte, is Mr. Qadhafi’s hometown, and has been his political bastion. But a barrage of artillery exchanges, encirclement of the city by TNC loyalists, and sustained aerial bombardment by NATO warplanes is forcing residents to seek safe havens. Many are heading for the nearby city of Misurata, but some have decided to encamp in the desert…
Hundreds of residents who are fleeing are narrating a tale of a full-scale humanitarian crisis that is developing in Mr. Qadhafi’s stronghold, where his loyalists are readying themselves for a possible last stand, against TNC fighters, backed by NATO. For those inside the city, food supplies are running out, while hospitals, short of oxygen and essential medicines are hard-pressed to cope with the steady flow of the wounded.
On Saturday, a team of aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was given a safe-passage by the TNC and the pro-Qadhafi forces to visit hospitals in Sirte. The Red Cross managed to supply medical kits for 200 injured people, body bags and 400 liters of fuel to run generators. However, because of heavy firing that unexpectedly began, it was unable to visit the city’s main, Ibn Sina hospital.
The urgency of residents to rush out of Sirte was partly driven by the panic caused by flyers, dropped by NATO planes, which asked people to leave immediately.
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The oil giant ConocoPhillips has become the first U.S. major to buy Libyan oil after international sanctions, imposed earlier had ended.
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[I]n the Libyan capital, tensions are running high, caused by friction between the armed fighters, many of whom are Islamists, who had descended to force Mr. Qadhafi’s exit but have stayed on, and the local residents who are resenting their gun-toting culture as well as the proliferation of weaponry in their city.
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NATO’s Guernica: Proxies Suffer Heavy Casualties Near Sirte
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/04/c_131173451.htm
Xinhua News Agency
October 4, 2011
Continuous clashes in Sirte kill 8 NTC fighters, wound 39: source
TRIPOLI: A total of eight fighters of Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) were killed and another 39 were wounded in Sirte Monday, as battles went on in the hometown of fallen leader Muammar Gaddafi, a source close to NTC’s front line members said.
On Monday, a NTC infantry squad in Sirte was surrounded by pro-Gaddafi soldiers, who resorted to mortars in the exchange of fire and resulted in the NTC’s casualties, a Xinhua photographer, currently near Sirte with NTC fighters, quoted a source as saying.
Some members of the squad managed to pull out, the source told Xinhua.
Meanwhile, NATO planes continued on Monday their strike mission over Sirte, where battles have been dragging on for weeks…
The NTC has attempted to launch attacks towards downtown Sirte in recent days, but was upset by strong resistance by the remnant Gaddafi forces.
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Video And Text: Fighting Still Rages In Afghanistan 10 Years After US-Led Invasion
Voice of America News
October 3, 2011
Fighting Still Rages in Afghanistan 10 Years After US-Led Invasion
Phil Ittner
Video
Kabul: The U.S. and other NATO forces on October 7, 2001 attacked…Afghanistan, less than a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks. That military operation drove the Taliban from power. But the conflict that began so promisingly 10 years ago is still going on – the longest war in U.S. history.
Unexpected resistance
Few expected the Taliban government in Afghanistan to fall as quickly as it did 10 years ago. But equally surprising, NATO forces are still fighting Taliban and al-Qaida [sic] insurgents 10 years later. It was in late 2001 that Afghan forces, aided by a U.S. bombing campaign, drove the Taliban from Kabul. But then Taliban…leaders fled into the mountains of Tora Bora, escaped into Pakistan and the fighting has raged ever since. Critics blame the escape on the lack of sufficient allied troops in the country – a criticism NATO itself recognizes.
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Without enough allied troops to stop them, Taliban fighters began slipping back into Afghanistan and regaining territory. NATO forces could do little but hold on. In 2003, the U.S. also switched its attention to a new war – in Iraq.
That, too, ran into problems, after initial success, until U.S. forces adopted counter-insurgency tactics, sent more troops and began training local security forces, including former insurgents. That seemed to work. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan took notice.
‘Lessons were drawn out of Iraq,’ said General Jacobson. ‘The right lessons were drawn out of Iraq and basically it was becoming very clear by the end of 2008 and through 2009 that something had to be done to defeat the insurgency and in parallel to build up security forces.’
Lessons learned
In addition, U.S. President Barack Obama shifted attention back to Afghanistan. More troops arrived in 2009.
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Longer Than World War I And World War II Combined: Europeans Ignore Faraway, Never-Ending Afghan War
Agence France-Presse
October 3, 2011
Faraway Afghan war is ‘out of sight, out of mind’ in Europe
By Laurent Thomet
-On October 7, when the war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda hits 10 years, longer than the two world wars combined, no major demonstrations are planned in Europe to mark the anniversary.
BRUSSELS: A faraway, never-ending conflict, the war in Afghanistan has few fans in Europe where governments are under pressure to bring home some 30,000 troops 10 years after the US-led invasion.
With a colossal debt crisis directly threatening their daily lives, Europeans have little time for the distant Afghan conflict as they worry about the risk of another recession hitting their pockets.
The NATO air war in Libya – closer to Europe’s shores, spearheaded by Britain and France – also knocked the rugged battlefields of Afghanistan off the front pages.
‘The less the war is in the papers, the less people will support it. It’s as simple as out of sight, out of mind,’ said Bryn Parry, founder of the British military charity Help for Heroes, which raises funds for wounded soldiers.
On October 7, when the war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda hits 10 years, longer than the two world wars combined, no major demonstrations are planned in Europe to mark the anniversary.
‘It never really got a lot of attention, not even in the beginning. Today it’s almost zero,’ Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe think-tank, told AFP. ‘People don’t like it, but they don’t really think about it a lot.’
But when asked to think about it, Europeans suggest they are unhappy with a war that has killed some 750 European soldiers, according to the website icasualties.org, and a majority are pessimistic about the outcome.
A poll by the German Marshall Fund think-tank showed that only 28 percent of Europeans are optimistic about the chances of stabilising Afghanistan, while two in three want their governments to reduce or withdraw their troops.
Only three percent want more troops there.
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Despite the transition, politicians have avoided turning the war into a major political debate because ‘it’s not a vote-getter,’ said Techau, a former German defence ministry official.
‘Politicians try to keep it low and for the population it has always been pretty low on the agenda,’ he said, noting that at the time of the 2009 German elections only three percent of voters cited Afghanistan as an important issue.
The media have also turned their attention to other conflicts, although a Taliban assault on NATO headquarters and the US embassy in Kabul last month and the assassination of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani generated headlines.
Parry, of Hope for Heroes, said he was concerned by the loss of coverage because casualties are still occurring. Britain has lost 382 soldiers, second to the United States which has suffered around 1,800 fallen troops in 10 years.
‘People have to remember that when we finally have peace, for those people who were wounded they will never have peace, they will still be fighting with their injuries,’ Parry said.
‘The long-term effects of a war are not over when the shooting stops.’
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Turkey: Thousands Protest Against Missile Radar And NATO
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-258699-demonstrators-in-kurecik-protest-nato-radar.html
Zaman
October 3, 2011
Demonstrators in Kürecik protest NATO radar
?STANBUL: Protests were held yesterday against a NATO radar system to be deployed in Malatya’s Kürecik district, where roughly 5,000 locals participated in a three-hour demonstration.
The demonstration, promised for weeks by locals and organized in large part by the regional branch of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), marched roughly three kilometers to the proposed site of the warning radar system, shouting slogans against NATO and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
…Among the protesters were 15 deputies from the CHP and representatives of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) and the Labor Party (EMEP).
CHP Malatya branch head Veli A?baba addressed the crowd, promising that protests would continue and that the radar would not be built. A?baba has been one of the NATO deal’s most vocal critics, denouncing the agreement and demanding that the radar plan be put to a referendum. On Sept. 21, a week after Turkey agreed to host the site, A?baba raised further alarm bells by stating that the site would make the community a target for missiles and would even expose residents to a heightened risk of cancer.
The CHP’s opposition to the plan has also been led by the stiff words of CHP leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu, who accused the prime minister of kowtowing to NATO and signing a deal that would share the radar’s strategic data with Israel. ‘The government, which appears to be in a row with Israel in front of the curtain, has turned Turkey into a shield for Israel behind the curtain,’ the opposition leader stated in press release on Sept. 21.
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Turkish and American officials previously engaged in feasibility studies for the deployment of the radar system in the eastern region of the country and agreed in mid-September that Kürecik in Malatya would be the ideal location. The area had previously been the site of a NATO base which was opened in the ’60s and closed in the ’90s.
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U.S. Generals Rotate Command Of NATO Mission In Iraq
http://www.aco.nato.int/lt-gen-caslen-assumes-command-of-ntmi.aspx
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
October 3, 2011
Lt. Gen. Caslen assumes command of NTM-I
BAGHDAD: U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. assumed command of the NATO Training Mission–Iraq from U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter in a change of command ceremony at Forward Operating Base Union III Oct. 1. The ceremony also marked a transfer of authority for the Deputy Commanding General – Advising and Training and the official activation of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I).
The OSC-I will continue the security assistance and cooperation responsibilities with Iraq to assist the Government of Iraq with advising, training, assisting and equipping their security forces.
‘We welcome a significant milestone in our Iraq campaign by activating the OSC-I,’ said U.S. Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander, United States Forces – Iraq and reviewing officer of the ceremony.
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‘Today’s establishment of the Office of Security Cooperation –Iraq and the transfer of the NATO Training Mission marks a significant transition and the progress of our mission in Iraq as well as the commitment of the United States and the NATO partner countries for a strategic and enduring relationship with the government of Iraq…,’ said Caslen.
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Caslen, takes command with multiple responsibilities as the commander of the NTM-I, USF-I deputy commanding general (advising and training) and the chief of OSC-I, to continue the training and advising mission as U.S. Forces – Iraq withdraws from Iraq by the end of this year in accordance with the security framework agreement signed in 2008 between the U.S. and Iraq governments.
‘I am honoured to serve as commander of the NATO Mission as we orchestrate training and professional military education for Iraq’s leaders and its security forces,’ said Caslen.
As the ceremony drew to a close, Caslen highlighted the role of NTM-I and OSC-I and their importance to the development of Iraq and the Middle East.
‘Iraq’s partnership with NATO is significant, this relationship not only provides Iraq with superb trainers and educators, but it also provides legitimacy among the 28 NATO nations in a unique status within the Middle East region as a partner in the international community of nations,’ said Caslen.
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During his ten-month tenure as the commander of NTM-I and DCG (A&T), Ferriter witnessed the Iraqi Security Forces make significant improvements to their military capabilities through training and more than $8B in Foreign Military Sales.
The most recent success is the Government of Iraq’s purchase of F-16 multi-role fighter aircrafts, along with the associated training, maintenance and sustainment packages, which represents a significant advancement for the Iraqi Air Force and the enduring relationship between the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
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Since the NATO Training Mission began in 2004…23 NATO member countries and one partner country have contributed to the training effort of the Iraqi Security Forces, either inside or outside of Iraq, and through financial contributions or donations of equipment.
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North Pole To Africa: New U.S. Sixth Fleet, NATO Striking and Support Forces Commander
http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/mediterranean/pandolfe-takes-command-of-6th-fleet-1.156777
Stars and Stripes
October 3, 2011
Pandolfe takes command of 6th Fleet
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
NAPLES, Italy: The Navy’s 6th Fleet welcomed a new commander at a ceremony here Monday.
In addition to the fleet duties, Vice Adm. Frank C. Pandolfe assumed command of NATO’s Naples-based Striking and Support Forces.
He takes over the job from Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., who held the command since November 2009.
Pandolfe also became deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa as well as head of Joint Force Maritime Component Europe, assuming his new hats in a hangar at the Navy’s Capodichino base that abuts the civilian Naples airport.
Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa and head of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples, said he had hoped some Navy jets would take part in the ceremony, but that it wasn’t possible.
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The forward-deployed fleet covers a lot of ground, from the North Pole through Europe and down to Africa, he said.
Sixth Fleet, which was stood up in 1950, has the largest area of operations in the Navy, covering 14 million square miles of landmass and 20 million square miles of water, according to the Navy.
In his two years in command, Harris helped improve NATO partnership efforts, Locklear said, something most evident this spring as 6th Fleet spearheaded the initial air missions over Libya and off the coast that led to NATO’s Operation Unified Protector.
‘Your leadership in combat defined your success,’ Locklear said to Harris.
In his final remarks as commander, Harris thanked the sailors and NATO troops who served under him and reiterated the indispensible role of NATO and 6th Fleet.
‘I am uniquely honored to serve alongside you,’ he said, adding that Pandolfe ‘will take 6th Fleet and Strike Force NATO to the next level.’
Pandolfe praised the efforts of 6th Fleet sailors, but also noted ‘there are many more challenges over the horizon.’
Harris, a 1978 U.S. Naval Academy graduate and naval flight officer, is heading to Washington, D.C., where he will serve as assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Pandolfe, who commanded two carrier strike groups in the past decade among other duties, comes to Italy after a stint as director of the Surface Warfare Division for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.
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Cuba Accuses U.S. Of Plotting SMS Cyberwarfare
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/04/c_131173850.htm
Xinhua News Agency
October 4, 2011
Cuban official media accuses U.S. of preparing SMS-based ‘cyberwar’
HAVANA: Cuba accused on Monday the United States of ‘preparing a spam SMS cyberwar’ with the Caribbean island nation to disrupt SMS service to over 1 million Cuban mobile phone users, said the country’s official website Cubadebate in an article.
‘The U.S. government hired a telecommunication company from Maryland to design a computer system capable of sending 24,000 text messages weekly to the mobile phone users in Cuba,’ said Cubadebate.
It said Washington Software Company, Inc. plans to design a text messaging system that can’t be blocked by the Cuban telecommunication company even if it contains ‘messages against the country.’
Cubadebate also said the operation is ‘in clear violation of Cuban laws and international agreements.’
Shortly after officially taking over power in 2008, Cuban leader Raul Castro allowed ordinary Cubans to use mobile phones, a service which used to be open only to some government agencies and foreigners in Cuba.
Presently, more than 1.2 million Cubans own mobile phones, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the population.
The New Dark Age 
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