14 November 2011 — Stop NATO
- U.S. Speeds Up Militarization Of Iran’s Neighbors
- U.S. To Provide Advanced Interceptor Missiles To United Arab Emirates
- Video And Text: Foreign Minister Blasts NATO In Libya, Warning Vis-A-Vis Syria
- Obama To Meet With All Major Asia-Pacific Military Allies
- Albania, Georgia: NATO Values Troops More Than Democracy
U.S. Speeds Up Militarization Of Iran’s Neighbors
http://rt.com/usa/news/american-nuclear-iran-uae-141/
RT
November 12, 2011
US speeds up militarization of Iran’s neighbors
With American and Iranian relations on the brink of war due to news or a nuclear program being developed out of Tehran, Obama administration insiders say the US is about to cut an arms deal with a powerful American ally in the region.
According to a report published today in the Wall Street Journal, American officials are finalizing a deal that would send advanced ‘bunker-buster’ bombs to the United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf. Separated by just a small strait, the UAE has strong ties with American authorities and could help launch an attack on nearby Iran in a moment’s notice should a strike be ordered by Obama.
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‘An Iran armed with nuclear weapons is an intolerable threat to regional and international security, and we remain determined to prevent that outcome,’ White House press secretary Jay Carney responded to reporters upon the release of the finding.
Sources close to the rumored deal between Washington and Abu Dhabi report that the deal would put 500 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles into the UAE, in addition to 4,900 so-called smart bombs. Those ‘bunker-busters,’ once deployed, could quickly disintegrate underground warhead factories where Iranians are rumored to be working on nuclear weaponry.
Additionally, a report today in Politico suggests that the United States has also sold similar equipment to Israel as word circulates that the Jewish state is at risk of warring with Iran.
On Thursday, the White House’s Carney added that the Obama administration was ‘looking at additional ways to apply pressure on Iran.’
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U.S. To Provide Advanced Interceptor Missiles To United Arab Emirates
http://www.ainonline.com/?q=aviation-news/dubai-air-show/2011-11-13/thaad-target-uae
Aviation Week
November 13, 2011
THAAD on Target for UAE
By David Donald
Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system successfully undertook a sophisticated ‘two versus two’ trial-firing last month, and the air defense system has just completed a final review regarding the possible sale to the United Arab Emirates, which could be announced imminently.
THAAD has been on the table for the UAE since discussions began in 2007 between the UAE Air Force and Air Defense (AFAD), U.S. Central Command, U.S. Missile Defense Agency, and contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. These talks focused on providing an integrated air defense system for the Emirates in the light of increased threats in the region.
The first tangible product was an order for the Raytheon-led Patriot PAC-3 system. Lockheed Martin supplies the PAC-3 interceptors, but PAC-3 can also fire the Raytheon PAC-2 GEM-T missile, and the first test rounds were delivered this year. The UAE has nine fire units (batteries) on order.
Lockheed Martin leads the THAAD effort, and the UAE was the first export customer to be cleared to receive the system. THAAD has completed 12 successful flight tests, nine of which involved target engagements. The latest test, FTT-12, was undertaken on October 5 at the Pacific Missile Test Range at Barking Sands, Hawaii. Two interceptors were launched successfully against two targets in a near-simultaneous engagement.
The FTT-12 firings were conducted by U.S. Army soldiers from the service’s first THAAD battery rather than by contractor personnel. One of the missile targets was launched after being air-dropped from the rear ramp of an airborne Boeing C-17 transport, while the other target was fired from a seaborne platform. Further tests are planned for late next year, and could involve a large interoperable scenario. The UAE has been a participant in the THAAD flight tests.
Currently the U.S. Army has fielded two THAAD batteries, with a third to stand up next year. Lockheed Martin is contracted for four, although the outlined requirement is for nine. The UAE’s opening request covered three fire units, but the initial requirement has been reduced to two, along with a corresponding reduction in interceptors and radars.
[T]here is significant interest in upgraded Patriot and THAAD systems [in the region]. Kuwait and Qatar have both reported interest in the latter.
As well as anticipating finalization of the THAAD contract, Lockheed Martin is awaiting the outcome of another UAE decision concerning an air defense battle management system, for which the company is competing against ThalesRaytheonSystems. Both competitors are demonstrating their systems to the UAE this week. The air operations center will integrate the operations of all air defense assets, to include PAC-3 and THAAD, and could grow to form the basis of a much wider C4I (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence) infrastructure.
MEADS Over-the-Shoulder Test This Week
This week Lockheed Martin will conduct a launcher characterization firing of a PAC-3 MSE interceptor at the White Sands range in New Mexico. Although it will not go up against a target, it will be the first ‘over-the-shoulder’ firing to test the missile’s envelope. PAC-3 MSE is the interceptor vehicle for the MEADS (medium-altitude extended air defense system). Last week the MEADS system underwent a successful simulated engagement against real-world air and simulated missile threats.
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Video And Text: Foreign Minister Blasts NATO In Libya, Warning Vis-A-Vis Syria
http://rt.com/news/syria-religious-extremists-finance-007/
RT
November 13, 2011
‘Gaddafi couldn’t kill more people than NATO did’ – Syrian deputy FM
Video
Even if Gaddafi had lived for another 100 years, he could not have killed even a fraction of the number obliterated by NATO during its intervention in Libya, claims Syria’s deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal al-Mikdad, in an exclusive interview with RT.
The top Syrian diplomat recalled that NATO’s aggression against Libya was carried out under the guise of restoring human rights and protecting civilians.
‘They send money to kill Syrians’
Syria’s deputy FM has demanded that the countries financially and militarily supporting armed religious extremists on his country’s soil assume responsibility for financing terrorism.
Faisal al-Mikdad acknowledges that terrorist groups within Syria are being financed in an unofficial way by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan, and he has appealed to the people of these countries not to support such activities.
‘Our appeal to our brothers and sisters in all those countries is not to allow that, because under the UN this is called ‘financing of terrorism’. They send money to kill Syrians. And I believe this should be stopped,’ explains al-Mikdad.
Soldiers’ deaths disregarded
The senior diplomat’s comments come as the UN human rights chief warned that Syria is very close to a Libya-style situation, where an uprising against a long-standing leader morphed into a civil war.
Syrian human rights organizations and the UN say that 3,500 people have died in the anti-government protests since their start eight months ago.
However, Syria’s deputy FM Faisal al-Mikdad has cast doubt on the wisdom of the West’s approach to the crisis in his country.
‘The credibility of some international non-governmental organizations has been lost because they do not take into consideration what is really happening [in Syria]. Not one of these organizations has mentioned that Syria has lost more than 1,150 martyrs from the army and security forces,’ the deputy FM says.
Extremists shoot civilians to keep show on road
He confirms that many civilians have been assassinated in the unrest, but ‘people have to ask the questions, who killed them and why were they killed?’
Faisal al-Mikdad says that criminals detained by police confessed to shooting at peaceful demonstrators and killing them, ‘to keep the pace of demonstrations going on.’
The deputy FM denies that Syria is in a state of civil war but stresses that those provoking the unrest aim to push the country into civil conflict. Syrian society is very complex, and as Faisal al-Mikdad put it, ‘we have something from everything.’
Syria historically has three monotheistic religions, with lots of denominations in each one of them. Those well-organized and equipped foreign religious extremists who instigate violence need the people of Syria to fight each other, admits Faisal al-Mikdad.
The Deputy FM stresses that billions of dollars and tens of thousands of small arms have been smuggled into Syria from Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and other neighboring countries to encourage people to incite disturbances in the country.
Faisal al-Mikdad assures that among the armed protestors there are no civilians fighting for a better life but only radical Islamists, and that the peaceful opposition has been officially recognized by the Syrian government and its views taken into account in order to work together to build a new Syria.
‘We did not expect such violence’
The deputy Syrian FM recognizes that mistakes have been made and time lost in reforming the political landscape within the country.
‘These are realities, we have to accept them,’ Faisal al-Mikdad says. ‘What we did not expect was that things would develop in such a violent way that contradicts the spirit of the Syrian people,’ he confesses, stressing that social media has not been banned in the country despite the apparently negative role it played in the unrest.
Faisal al-Mikdad insists that all talk of a conflict of the ruling Alawite minority and the Sunni majority is misleading and aimed at disintegration of the country, as every Syrian citizen, despite his religion or nationality, has the right to occupy any official position.
‘In Syria we have a political system that defends the sovereignty of the country,’ he says.
‘In Syria we are under such an attack because we say no to the policies of the US in the region, supporting the subjugation of the region to their interests and serving the major interests of Israel,’ proclaims the Syrian deputy FM.
He believes that NATO has not intervened in Syria because the whole region opposes it, after seeing Gaddafi’s Libya bombed out.
The majority of the UN Security Council is against aggression in Syria, with Russia and China even using their veto right to block a Western resolution designed to slap tougher sanctions on Damascus.
‘If they [the West] manipulate the situation in the Middle East – they will do it everywhere in the world.’
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Obama To Meet With All Major Asia-Pacific Military Allies
Voice of America News
November 13, 2011
US Pacific Commander: Budget Problems Will Not Undermine US Military
Dan Robinson
-U.S. officials note that by the end of his Asia-Pacific trip, President Obama will have met with leaders of all of its Asia-Pacific treaty partners, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
Honolulu: The head of the U.S. Pacific Command said Sunday he is confident that American military forces in the Asia-Pacific region will continue to have the support they need to maintain their forward presence.
After the APEC summit, the focus of President Barack Obama’s Asia-Pacific trip shifts from trade and closer economic cooperation to security.
He is set to leave Hawaii on Tuesday for Australia, where the two allies are expected to announce an agreement to expand U.S. military access to Australian bases. Then, it is on to Bali and the East Asia summit, which is emerging as a major forum for discussion of security and reducing tensions over issues such as rival claims in the South China Sea.
In remarks to reporters in Honolulu, Navy Admiral Robert Willard said managing the U.S. relationship with China is among five priorities for the U.S. Pacific Command.
On regional concerns about China’s actions in the South China Sea, Willard noted the importance of sea lanes for trade, $5.3 trillion annually of which $1.2 trillion of trade involves the United States.
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Asked whether the expected U.S.-Australia agreement would serve as a ‘counterweight’ in the region to China, Admiral Willard indicated that new access there would help relieve the pressure of maintaining an effective and sustained forward-deployed U.S. presence.
The admiral was also asked about recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who warned that potential deeper U.S. budget cuts for the Pentagon could hamper American military capabilities and possibly ‘invite aggression.’
Referring to a defense posture review underway as the U.S. military transitions out of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and budgetary challenges, Admiral Willard said he is confident that decisions made in Washington will not undercut the forces he oversees.
‘I have every confidence that in the decisions that our government makes, that our administration makes and that are made in the Pentagon, given the importance of this region to the world and the importance of this region to the United States, that the Pacific Command will continue to be well served and able to carry out its mission of assurance and deterrence where required into the foreseeable future,’ he said.
Admiral Willard listed other U.S. priorities in the Asia-Pacific region as managing the threat posed by North Korea, ‘transnational’ threats such as countering weapons proliferation, containing violent extremist groups in places such as the Philippines, and containing threats in South Asia by the group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In South Asia, Willard said, the United States has a ‘special focus’ on strengthening military-to-military ties with India, in areas such as maritime security, including anti-piracy activities.
U.S. officials note that by the end of his Asia-Pacific trip, President Obama will have met with leaders of all of its Asia-Pacific treaty partners, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes says that in coming days, Mr. Obama will be speaking more about the range of security issues in the region and the U.S. presence there…
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Albania, Georgia: NATO Values Troops More Than Democracy
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/nato-values-soldiers-more-than-democracy/447705.html
Moscow Times
November 13, 2011
NATO Values Soldiers More Than Democracy
By Paul Rimple
On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Batumi and delivered his anticipated message. He thanked Georgia for its contribution to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and commended its efforts to battle corruption and the progress in democratic and economic reforms. But Rasmussen stressed again that more work was needed ‘to show determination to undertake further reforms.’
Saakashvili’s response may not have been calculated, but the point was clear. ‘I was hoping you would at least have brought me a NATO jacket,’ he said.
Since the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, when France and Germany shot down Georgia’s opportunity to join the Membership Action Plan, NATO has been dangling the issue of ‘more democratic reform’ like a carrot on a string. It’s not about ‘if’ Georgia is a member, they still say, it’s about ‘when.’
When Albania was invited into NATO in 2008, it was ranked 85 on Transparency International’s corruption index, with 180 being the worst. Georgia was 80. The next year, Albania’s parliamentary elections were wrought with fraud, while its democratic reform progress had not advanced in five years. The European Union called for rigorous implementation of anti-corruption measures in its 2008 progress report.
This might explain why Georgia hasn’t been concerned with improving the rule of law, deepening judiciary and electoral reform and fostering media freedom. Georgia knows EU-Russian relations are a greater priority than Georgian membership. All the authorities have to do is not backslide. Today, Georgia is ranked 68 on the corruption index, while Albania is 87.
It’s not easy to strengthen principles like equality before the law, so Saakashvili has pledged to contribute additional troops to the 950 already serving in Afghanistan. This will make Georgia the largest non-NATO contributor to the International Security Assistance Force. Most Georgians serve in the Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold, where so far 10 Georgian soldiers have been killed.
If NATO is sincere about Georgia’s democratic reform process, it should set concrete marks for the government to meet. Saying, ‘We are looking forward to seeing the necessary reforms introduced,’ is not the same as, ‘You have to ensure there is a free electoral system before we can sign anything.’
But with Albania as a benchmark for democratic reform, NATO might as well just say, ‘You guys are fine. You’re just going to be on hold for an indefinite time.’
The New Dark Age 
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