13 December 2011 — Stop NATO
- Libya Descending Into Chaos And Civil War: Experts
- Israeli, U.S. Attack On Iran To Have Catastrophic Consequences: Russian Official
- NATO Headquarters: Israel Calls On Bloc To Act On Syria, Iran
- Remembering His-Story – Iran Attack Next?
- Turkey, U.S. Discuss Military Cooperation With Azerbaijan
- NATO, EU Increase Military Integration For Global Missions
- Denmark Sends Surveillance Aircraft To Seychelles For NATO Indian Ocean Operations
- Pakistan: Punjab Assembly Condemns NATO, Calls For Stronger Response
- Balochistan Assembly Unanimously Condemns NATO Attacks
- Asia: Cold War To World War?
Libya Descending Into Chaos And Civil War: Experts
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/12/12/62092662.html
Voice of Russia
December 12, 2011
Libya on the verge of chaos and civil war: experts
Alexander Vatutin
-’[I]f Libya falls apart, the US, France, the UK and other intruders will be
responsible.’
Warnings from many experts are coming true: Libya is being pulled into a civil war. Now anti-Gaddafists are carving up power and Libya’s capital of Tripoli is already seeing clashes as the rebels are fighting for the local airport.
Libya…is now on the verge of chaos. Late Saturday, so-called Libyan national guards attempted to seize control over the Tripoli airport and attacked their former allies from the city of Zintan. Their attempt failed but left some people killed and injured. The national guards pledged to try again and were only calmed down by tribal elders.
At the same time, militants attempted to murder Libya’s Chief Commander Khalifa Haftar.
Right after Libya’s National Transitional Council announced the country’s liberation on October 23, Gaddafi’s supporters carried out several attacks.
But the opposition hasn’t clashed with one another till recently. Experts say that they’re fighting for the helm. The rebels’ common enemy, Gaddafi, is dead and thus they have a new pretext to start showing who is stronger and who’ll get access to the country’s oil riches.
The current situation is the moment of truth for those who pledged to get rid of the legacy of Gaddafi’s 40-yeard old reign. However, he somehow managed to hold the multi-tribal country together and even simulate some kind of statehood.
The rebels brought no new ideology, they’re simply carving up the power pie, says expert in Oriental Studies Andrei Volodin:
‘They’re divided into various factions that have no idea what unity and territorial integrity are. No foreign country would interfere into the conflict at this stage as the West is too weak. Moreover, this conflict was triggered by the West. Thus, if Libya falls apart, the US, France, the UK and other intruders will be responsible.’
Experts are also skeptical about the NTC powers as it’s quite heterogeneous, comprising both liberals and radical Islamists who pursue their own aims, says Oriental researcher Sergei Demidenko:
‘Libya is loose as a state and it will continue to get deeper into economic and political chaos. No democratic elections or Constitution would help as Libya’s society is split and hardly unifiable. As for the tribes, they are entering a new level of hostility and sometimes break all their laws and codes.’
Now experts are mostly negative about Libya’s future and believe that it could break up into parts.
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Israeli, U.S. Attack On Iran To Have Catastrophic Consequences: Russian Official
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/295559.html
Itar-Tass
December 12, 2011
Israeli or US attack in Iran to have catastrophic consequences
BRUSSELS: An Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran will have catastrophic consequences, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov warned.
‘This would have catastrophic consequences not only for the region but globally,’ he said on Monday, December 12.
‘We have seen many attempts to solve political problems by force in recent years, but now the time has come to learn these lessons,’ Chizhov said.
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NATO Headquarters: Israel Calls On Bloc To Act On Syria, Iran
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=249205
Jerusalem Post
December 13, 2011
Knesset Delegation warns NATO of Arab Spring
By Lahav Harkov
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee warned of the dangers of a nuclear Iran and Islamist governments rising following the ‘Arab Spring,’ during a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels on Sunday and Monday.
MKs Avi Dichter (Kadima), Yohanan Plesner (Kadima), Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Arye Eldad (National Union), Moshe Matalon (Israel Beiteinu) and Orit Zuaretz (Kadima) met with NATO officials, as well as US, Italian, Portuguese and Canadian ambassadors to the defense organization.
Dichter said it would be a mistake to call the upheaval in the Middle East the ‘Arab Spring,’ because it has led to radical elements being strengthened, and Hotovely said that it is more like an ‘Arab Winter.’ ‘The Arab world and democracy are two things that have trouble connecting,’ Dichter said.
Matalon agreed with Dichter, saying that democracy is a cultural matter that goes beyond the voting booth. He pointed out that Hitler was elected democratically.
Dichter added that he ‘has trouble understanding’ why NATO has not intervened in the situation in Syria, after it battled Gaddafi’s forces in Libya.
Plesner, however, said that Iran is the real challenge, and that NATO cannot avoid action.
‘We must not wait until the last minute, when it’ll already be too late,’ he explained.
…
Dichter emphasized the importance of a pre-emptive attack on Iran, saying that NATO should learn from Israel’s experience in the Yom Kippur war, in which the IDF was surprised by Egyptian and Syrian forces.
‘Iran is a global problem for the entire free world and not just Israel,’ Hotovely said. ‘The world can’t expect Israel to solve its problem.’
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Remembering His-Story – Iran Attack Next?
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Remembering-His-Story–Ir-by-Bruce-K-Gagnon-111212-86.html
OpEd News
December 12, 2011
Remembering His-Story – Iran Attack Next?
By Bruce K. Gagnon
Stephen Hadley is pumping up the war talk with Iran – do you remember who this guy is? His name, and his-story, should not be forgotten.
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This map tells the whole story. Each star represents a U.S. military base.
In the middle, in blue, is Iran. Iran has no military bases outside its borders. Just north of Iran is Georgia that has essentially become a U.S./NATO base. Turkey belongs to NATO. Iran has been checkmated. North of Georgia is Russia. Can there be any wonder why Russia is so alarmed about an attack on Iran?
Imagine if we saw a map of the U.S. with Russian or Chinese military bases throughout Canada and Mexico along with their warships just off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The American people would be going ballistic. But when we do it to others, no one even blinks an eye.
Following the recent spy drone fiasco over Iran the U.S. has been working hard to justify these flights. In an Associated Press story yesterday it was reported that the covert operations in play are ‘much bigger than people appreciate,’ said Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under George W. Bush. ‘But the U.S. needs to be using everything it can.’ Hadley said that if Iran continues to defy U.N. resolutions and doesn’t curb its nuclear ambitions, the quiet conflict ‘will only get nastier.’
Hadley’s statement ‘But the U.S. needs to be using everything it can’ has the sound of immanent danger, of desperation. But after looking at this map where does the danger really lie? Iran is actually no danger to anyone. The real danger is that the U.S./NATO/Israel have their itchy fingers on the war trigger and could attack at any time.
One last thing is Mr. Hadley himself. Unknown to the public at large, Stephen Hadley carried on a quiet career in the shadow of Brent Scowcroft and Condoleeza Rice. A business lawyer convicted of fraud, he became the counselor for the largest arms manufacturer in the world, Lockheed Martin. He advised the candidate George W. Bush, helped write the U.S.’s new aggressive nuclear doctrine, helped create the Department of Homeland Security, supervised new entries into NATO, and helped sell the invasion of Iraq. Ever faithful, he protected Bush the father from the Irangate scandal and Bush the son from the lies of the Iraq war. He found himself rewarded by becoming George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Mr. Steven Hadley ran an insurance fraud of close to $1.1 million. He was discovered, found guilty by a court in Iowa, and forced to reimburse the money. To erase any trace to his crime, he changed his name to Stephen John Hadley.
When Ronald Reagan took the White House, Mr. Hadley stayed in the private sector. However, in 1986, the Irangate scandal broke. President Reagan appointed a commission of three wise men to ‘investigate’. It was composed of the Texan Senator John Tower, Edmund Muskie, and Brent Scowcroft who called Stephen J. Hadley to his side. In spite of the evidence, the commission concluded that President Reagan and Vice-President Bush were innocent. They found that the financing of the Contras in Nicaragua through the trafficking of drugs and illegal weapons sales to Iran was a secret initiative of over-zealous members of the National Security Council, put into place without the knowledge of their superiors. No big heads rolled.
As lawyer for Lockheed Martin, Hadley worked with the directors of the firm, including Lyne Cheney (wife of Dick). He became close with Bruce P. Jackson, the vice-president of the firm in charge of creating new markets. Together they initiated the U.S. Committee to Expand NATO into which they brought Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz. The Committee engineered the entry of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland into NATO in 1999. Then that of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Each time, the leaders of the new member states were solicited to bring their armies up to the scale (interoperability) with NATO, in other words, to purchase new military hardware from Lockheed Martin.
Global Network board member Karl Grossman reported 10 years ago that Hadley was also instrumental in helping Donald Rumsfeld write his report calling for U.S. control and domination of space. ‘Space is going to be important.
It has a great future in the military,’ Hadley told the Air Force Association Convention in a 2001 speech. Introduced as an ‘adviser to Governor George W. Bush,’ Hadley said that Bush’s ‘concern has been that the [Clinton] Administration…doesn’t reflect a real commitment to missile defense.’ In 1998 Rumsfeld’s commission reversed a 1995 finding by the nation’s intelligence agencies that the country was not in imminent danger from ballistic missiles acquired by new powers, declaring that ‘rogue states’ did pose such a threat. The answer? Missile defense.
It is obvious that Hadley has been at this game a very long time. His connections to Lockheed Martin, and even the Bush administration, have been long forgotten. So when he is quoted in a current news story few see the irony of him defending CIA spy drone flights over Iran. It is good that we take a moment though and remember the real ‘his-story’ otherwise we are likely to repeat the terror and carnage of past U.S. snake oil invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Turkey, U.S. Discuss Military Cooperation With Azerbaijan
http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1968196.html
Trend News Agency
December 12, 2011
Azerbaijan discusses military cooperation with Turkey and the U.S.
K. Zarbaliyeva
Baku: Azerbaijan discussed military cooperation with Turkey and the U.S.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev received the head of the Turkish General Staff Plans and Principles Department Mehmet Emin Alpman, the Defense Ministry told Trend on Monday.
The sides exchanged views on the development of Azerbaijani-Turkish military cooperation at the highest level, as well as the military and political situation in the region.
On Monday, Abiyev also met with the head of U.S. Transportation Command, William Fraser.
They discussed the situation in the region and the current situation and prospects of development of military-political relations between Azerbaijan and the U.S.
They exchanged views on anti-terrorism operations and settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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NATO, EU Increase Military Integration For Global Missions
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Transformation
December 12, 2011
NATO/EU collaboration on development of military capabilities
Written by ACT PAO
On Monday 5 December, general Stéphane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) was invited by the European Parliament Security and Defence Subcommittee along with the European Defence Agency (EDA) Chief Executive, Claude-France Arnould.
They both developed the two initiatives: ‘pooling and sharing’ for European Union and Smart Defence for NATO.
They also exchanged views on how Allied Command Transformation and EDA are managing together to do important work, staff to staff, to be sure that, sticking to the agreed framework, the two initiatives are promoting complementary and avoid any duplications. They gave examples like the medical or Counter improvised explosive devices field or the training of helicopters pilots deployed in Afghanistan under the NATO umbrella.
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Denmark Sends Surveillance Aircraft To Seychelles For NATO Indian Ocean Operations
http://www.aco.nato.int/danish-mpa-begins-work-with-operation-ocean-shield.aspx
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
December 12, 2011
DANISH MPA BEGINS WORK WITH OPERATION OCEAN SHIELD
Denmark has agreed to support NATO in the fight against piracy in the Indian ocean and Horn of Africa. For this purpose one of their RDAF Challenger aircraft has been deployed from Air Transport Wing Aalborg to the Seychelles.
The aircraft is equipped with a maritime surveillance radar and infra red/electro optical cameras. The advanced equipment onboard the aircraft can collect pictures and intelligence data, thereby assisting other NATO units in the area.
The Danish detachment, comprised of 18 people, arrived in the Seychelles on the 29th of November, and started operations on the 1st of December.
Operations will be continuing till the end of January. Operational control of the aircraft is carried out via NATO’s HQ in Northwood.
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Pakistan: Punjab Assembly Condemns NATO, Calls For Stronger Response
The Nation
December 13, 2011
Nato airstrikes grilled in joint House resolution
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution expressing anger over the NATO attacks of November 26 on Pakistani check posts, and termed it an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
The resolution was jointly moved by PPP, PML-N, PML-Q, PML-F and MMA, while Punjab Minister for Law Rana Sana Ullah moved it in the House. It was passed unanimously after some discussion by Assembly members.
Through the resolution, the Assembly lodged its strong protest over naked aggression by NATO forces, expressing solidarity with the Pakistan Army for the loss of the precious lives of its soldiers and officers. The provincial Assembly also supported the federal government for its decision to suspend NATO supplies, the boycott of the Bonn Conference and the evacuation of Shamsi Airbase from the US.
Earlier, taking part in the discussion, the leader of the opposition, Raja Riaz, lauded the federal government’s actions following the NATO strike, as he termed these in accordance with the people’s aspirations. He said the PPP government would do all that which was necessary to safeguard country’s sovereignty.
PML-Q’s parliamentary Leader, Ch Zaheeruddin, opined that all supplies from Pakistan should remain suspended till the time its [NATO’s] forces started respecting Pakistan’s sovereignty. He demanded that the Shahbaz Airbase should also be got cleared of the Americans. Zaheer said that it was a big achievement of the civilian government to suspend all sorts of cooperation with the NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Ali Haider Noor Niazi of the MMA called for the permanent blocking of NATO supplies and welcomed the Pakistan Army’s decision to shoot down American drones entering country’s air space in future. Representing the PML-N, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah endorsed the views expressed by representatives of other parties and moved the resolution for its passage at the end of the discussion.
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Balochistan Assembly Unanimously Condemns NATO Attacks
The Nation
December 13, 2011
Balochistan PA condemns Nato raid
By Bari Baloch
-[Ministers] strongly condemned the Nato helicopter attack and said all airports in the country should be vacated from US troops.
They said Nato and US forces were consolidating their control in Afghanistan and their eyes were focused on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and they were hatching conspiracies how to capture them.
QUETTA: The Balochistan Assembly Monday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the Nato bombing in Mohmand agency that killed 24 soldiers, and stated it appreciated government steps to get the Shamsi airbase vacated from the US and stopping Nato supplies.
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JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Wasay moved the resolution. Speaking on the admissibility of the resolution, he said halting Nato supplies and vacating the Shamsi airbase were positive steps taken by the government; however, these steps should not be temporary. ‘We had already declared that the war we are fighting is not our war; rather it is a war of foreigners, but our point of view was not given any importance and the so-called war against terror was called a war of Pakistan,’ he remarked.
He said thousands of innocent Pakistani people and army soldiers were killed in this war, but the rulers did not take any notice and kept a military drive against its own people. He said the attack on a Pakistani check post and the killing of 24 soldiers were regrettable but this incident at least united the nation, government and security institutions.
The JUI-F leader said the world must acknowledge the sacrifices of Pakistan in the war on terror and respect the sanctity of its borders and sovereignty. He said the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound was a violation of the country’s sovereignty and the rulers should have taken serious notice of it.
Debating on the resolution, ANP provincial minister Engineer Zamarak Khan said his party had been opposing foreign interference in the country since independence and always raised its voice against attacks on the autonomy of the country.
Condemning the Nato bombings, he said it was not the first incident, rather Nato had been violating our borders at many places. ‘This act should not only be condemned; rather it should be resisted,’ he remarked.
Other ministers including Jay Parkash, Jan Ali Changezai, Maulvi Abdul Samad, Zahoor Buledi, Abdul Rehman Mengal Mengal, Habib-ur-Rehman Muhammad Hasani, Dr. Ruqia Hashmi and Abdul Khaliq Bashar Dost strongly condemned the Nato helicopter attack and said all airports in the country should be vacated from US troops.
They said Nato and US forces were consolidating their control in Afghanistan and their eyes were focused on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and they were hatching conspiracies how to capture them.
They stressed the need for unity amongst all political and religious parties to frustrate nefarious designs against Pakistan and steering the country out from all challenges. When the chair put the resolution for vote, the house adopted it unanimously.
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Asia: Cold War To World War?
http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/opinion/viewsopinions/7542-cold-war-to-world-war-.html
Zamboanga Today
December 13, 2011
Cold War to World War?
‘If China’s core interests, such as its sovereignty, national security, and unity are intruded on, a military conflict will be unavoidable.’ This was the statement by Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, the Deputy Secretary General of the China Society of Military Science, after Pres. Obama’s announcement of the new military basing operations in Australia. (People’s Daily, Nov. 17)
This statement came about after the so-called summit that was supposed to create an atmosphere of cooperation and finding peaceful solutions to some issues especially the disputed area in the South China Sea. Just like what I wrote in my last article http://www.ericksanjuan.blogspot.com) the event was more confrontational rather than what it has projected to the world.
The planned permanent military basing by US in Australia was another irritant to US-China relations, to note:
A remark by Defense Ministry spokesman, Geng Yansheng, was China’s strongest reaction yet to the announcement by President Barack Obama in November of the US plan to strengthen military ties with Australia and to eventually station 2,500 Marines on Australia’s remote northern coast. To Quote- ‘We believe this is all a manifestation of a Cold War mentality,’ Mr. Geng said at a monthly press briefing, according to text of his remarks posted on the Defense Ministry’s website. ‘We hope relevant parties do more things that are beneficial for the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, rather than the opposite.’ (Source: The Wall Street Journal-Asia online 12/1/11)
The Cold War was the most important political and diplomatic issue of the later half of the 20th Century. The main Cold War enemies were the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War got it’s name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other directly.
In such a ‘hot war,’ nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead, they fought each other indirectly. They played havoc with conflicts in different parts of the world. They also used words as weapons. They threatened and denounced each other. Or, they tried to make each other look foolish. (Source: globalsecurity.org)
If this ‘cold war mentality’ will continue, could it be that the real ‘shooting war’ is not far behind?
The blame game worsened when last October, US lawmaker Michael Turner, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee focusing on strategic weapons and other security programs voiced concern about an extensive tunnel complex designed to house China’s nuclear missiles.(www.breitbart.com)
‘The tunnels would allow China to launch a nuclear counter-attack if it was hit by a nuclear strike’, said Mark Schneider, senior analyst at the National Institute for Public Policy.
It was corroborated by Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center. He said that the tunnel complex could allow the Chinese army to conceal its weapons.
The plot thickens when CNN TV last December 1, featured some Georgetown University students in Washington DC who have blown the lid off one of China’s best kept military secrets that it’s nuclear arsenal could be up to 40 times bigger than thought.
According to London Telegraph, Philip Karber and Nick Yarosh of Georgetown University said that China could have as many as 3,000 nuclear warheads,far more than the current estimates of between 80 to 400.
ATS quoted China’s army general, Chi Haotian, the vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission when he said, ‘We have made a tremendous effort to construct ‘The Great Wall Project’, to build up, along our coastal and land frontiers as well as around large and medium-sized cities, a solid underground ‘great wall’ that can withstand a nuclear war.’
With the events unfolding gearing towards a global war, the rest of the world especially nations in Asia Pacific, should find a way to avert another world war. Unfortunately, our country’s leadership did not see this coming and lacked the expertise in the field of geopolitics when it gave its support to Uncle Sam at the East Asia Summit.
Actually, such action virtually dragged us into supporting a possible regional conflict that might trigger another world war. Again, we will be part of a war that we never wanted. We hope that this week’s US-Sino annual defense talks will produce positive results and adhere to peaceful resolutions on major defense and military issues.
Anyway, the Filipinos will never postpone Christmas festivities come what may. Happy Holidays to all!
The New Dark Age 