Messages In This Digest (18 Messages)

1.: Poland: U.S. To Move Patriot Missiles, Troops Closer To Russian Bord

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:39 am (PST)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100120/157628621.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
January 20, 2010

Poland to move U.S. Patriots closer to Russian border

-Patriot (MIM-104) is a theater air-defense system designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
As well as the U.S., the Patriot is in service in Egypt, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. Patriot missile systems were successfully deployed by U.S. forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Warsaw: U.S. Patriot missiles will be stationed in northern Poland about 60 miles (100 km) from the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad rather than near Warsaw, the Polish defense minister said on Wednesday.

Polish Radio cited Bogdan Klich as saying the decision to set up a Patriot site in the outskirts of the town of Morag, which is much closer to the Russian border than Warsaw, does not bear any considerations of a strategic nature.

"In Morag we could offer the best conditions for American soldiers and the best technical base for the equipment," Klich said.

Poland and the United States signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) last December laying out the conditions for the deployment of U.S. troops on Polish soil.

According to the SOFA, U.S. troops will service Patriot missiles that are to be integrated into Poland's national security system.

The Patriot unit will be manned by some 100 U.S. soldiers, and will comprise up to eight missile launchers.

The first U.S. troop rotation is expected to arrive in Poland by the end of March.

Russia has strongly opposed the previous U.S. administration's plans to place 10 long-range ground-based interceptor missiles in Poland and a fixed-site radar station in the Czech Republic. When agreeing to host the missile site, Warsaw demanded the Patriots' deployment to improve its defensive capabilities.

Moscow's opposition to the missile defense system went as far as a threat to deploy Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave, but last September U.S. President Barack Obama shelved the proposed Central European missile shield and Russia said it would not place its missiles near the Polish border.

However, Warsaw has insisted that the Patriot systems be placed in Poland under a bilateral security pact regardless of whether plans for a U.S. interceptor missile base in the country go ahead or not.

Russia has not yet commented on the Polish decision to move the location of the Patriot site closer to its borders.

Patriot (MIM-104) is a theater air-defense system designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

As well as the U.S., the Patriot is in service in Egypt, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. Patriot missile systems were successfully deployed by U.S. forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
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2.: NATO Recruits Ukraine As First Non-Member In Rapid Deployment Force

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:41 am (PST)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100120/157628721.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti
January 20, 2010

Ukraine may join NATO Response Force in 2015-16

Bruessels: Ukraine has been invited to join the NATO Response Force as a partner country in 2015-16, a spokesman for the NATO military committee said Wednesday.

Colonel Massimo Panizzi said Ukraine would become "the first non-NATO country to join the Response Force."

The Response Force consists of rapid deployment forces with land, air and sea components, capable of swiftly reacting to crisis situations.

Panizzi added that the matter would be discussed at a meeting of Ukrainian and NATO chiefs of staff on January 26 in Brussels.

He described the move as "a significant step forward in the implementation of military reform" that NATO is expecting from Kiev "on its way" toward NATO candidate status.

Asked whether other NATO partners could join the Response Force, Panizzi said: "All partners are invited to cooperate within the framework of the process."

Ukraine was one of the first NATO partner countries to offer to play a role in the NATO Response Force.

The country's pro-Western leadership has been pursuing NATO membership since 2004, when President Viktor Yushchenko came to power.

Ukraine failed to secure membership in the NATO Membership Action Plan, a key step toward joining the alliance, at a NATO summit in April 2008.

Russia vehemently opposes the post-Soviet country's NATO ambitions, and in February 2008 the Kremlin threatened to retarget missiles at Ukraine if it joined NATO.

The NATO Response Force is capable of performing missions worldwide across the whole spectrum of operations, including evacuations, disaster management, counterterrorism, and acting as 'an initial entry force' for larger, follow-on forces.

Russia is creating a similar force with its partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
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3.: Montenegro: Clinton Recruits World's Newest Nation To NATO, Afghan W

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:03 pm (PST)

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135465.htm

U.S. Department of State
January 20, 2010

Remarks With Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic After their Meeting

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room

Washington, DC

-I offered the support of the United States as Montenegro makes some of the reforms in the rule of law area that both NATO and the European Union are looking to see. And I thanked the Prime Minister for his country's commitment to sending infantry troops to be part of the international force in Afghanistan.

SECRETARY CLINTON: It's a great pleasure to welcome the prime minister. We consider our partnership with Montenegro to be very strong, and we look forward to it becoming even more important in the future.

Prime Minister Djukanovic and I discussed a range of issues. We particularly focused on the Western Balkans and the role that Montenegro is playing to ensure stability. I congratulated the prime minister on Montenegro achieving MAP status with NATO, and pledged the United States' support for Montenegro becoming an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic community.

I offered the support of the United States as Montenegro makes some of the reforms in the rule of law area that both NATO and the European Union are looking to see. And I thanked the Prime Minister for his country's commitment to sending infantry troops to be part of the international force in Afghanistan.

And finally, I was delighted to receive an invitation to visit Montenegro sometime in the future, which I would very much hope to be able to fulfill.

PRIME MINISTER DJUKANOVIC (via interpreter) Ladies and gentlemen, before I begin, I would like to thank Secretary of State Clinton for the overall support that the U.S. has given Montenegro towards its European and Atlantic integration.

I would like to recall that during a difficult period in the Balkans in the 1990s, that we managed to build a strong mutual trust. That cooperation has helped us understand the values of the American society and has helped us restore Montenegrin independence in a situation and in conditions of full stability and to move today steadily towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

I wish to thank Secretary Clinton in support – for the support to Montenegro in pursuing our goal, which is membership action plan at NATO. And at the same time, I would like to say that we stand ready to work hard to fulfill all the obligations in the next stages of our integration. And I would like to announce with confidence that Montenegro will be the next state to become a new member of NATO. Our two challenges for the future are improving, enhancing the rule of law, and we stand committed to doing this in order to improve the quality of life of our citizens and achieve our European and Euro-Atlantic goals at – as early, as soon as possible.

And I would like to reiterate on this occasion too that Montenegro is and will remain a responsible and reliable partner to the U.S. and EU in dealing with the still outstanding issues in the Balkans. And we will also work closely with our partners in other places beyond our region, starting with Afghanistan.
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4.: Afghanistan: From Bad To Worse

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:09 pm (PST)

http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=012010095632

INDOLink
January 20, 2010

Afghanistan: From Bad to Worse
By Sawraj Singh

-The American experience is not only going to be like the Russian experience, but will be much worse because the Russians were only fighting in Afghanistan, whereas America has to fight in many countries. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen; each day the list continues to be longer with no end in sight.

The situation in Afghanistan is quickly deteriorating. Thousands of civilians, Afghan troops, and NATO troops have lost their lives. The casualty figure in the year 2009 was the highest since the war started 8 years ago. Now, there are 100,000 NATO troops compared to 16,000 troops when the war started, but many Afghans feel that Afghanistan is more insecure and unstable now.

The Karzai government has lost control over most of Afghanistan and its authority is limited to Kabul only.

However, even Kabul is far from secure. Kabul has come under repeated attacks. The population has swelled up to more than three times because of the refugees coming from all over the country. The authorities are unable to provide the most basic necessities. The Karzai government and the warlords who were really ruling the country are probably the most corrupt regime in the world. The 60 billion dollars aid to Afghanistan has been mostly usurped by this clique and very little has trickled down to the people.

President Obama has decided to send 30,000 more troops. However, if raising the troops from 16,000 to 100,000 did not help, then how can 30,000 more troops help to control Afghanistan? Many times more troops will be needed to have a realistic chance to control the situation in that country. Even then there is no guarantee that they will do the job.

The situation in Afghanistan is not isolated, but is related to the overall situation in the world. The Western crisis is not just an economic crisis, but it is a global crisis which affects all aspects of life. The West has lost the spirit to fight. The crisis of Western capitalism has thoroughly demoralized people in the Western countries. Ultimately, it is not weapons nor numbers which win the war, but the human factor, that means the spirit to fight, which decides the outcome of the war. This is the main reason that the West has not been able to win any major war after the Second World War.

When we look at Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, and Yemen, then it becomes obvious that the anti-Western Islamic fundamentalists are gaining influence. In many Muslim countries, there is a growing trend of anti-Western sentiment among the population. In Afghanistan, more and more of the population is getting disillusioned with the West and the pro-Western elements in Afghanistan.

I feel that the outcome of the war in Afghanistan is going to be just like Vietnam. The West is not going to win the war. The Russians had warned the Americans not to get involved in Afghanistan. The Americans did not listen to them. The American experience is not only going to be like the Russian experience, but will be much worse because the Russians were only fighting in Afghanistan, whereas America has to fight in many countries. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen; each day the list continues to be longer with no end in sight.

Dr. Sawraj Singh is Chairman of Washington State Network For Human Rights, and Chairman of Central Washington Coalition For Social Justice.
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5.: US Missile Deployment In Poland Demonstrative Anti-Russian Move: Gen

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:13 pm (PST)

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/57618

Interfax Ukraine
January 20, 2010

Deployment of U.S. missiles in Poland anti-Russian move - general

-"It's completely unclear why the air defense group of the northern flank of NATO needed strengthening - NATO has manifold superiority over Russian conventional armaments as it is.
"It can't be ruled out that the stationing of the Patriots in Poland may be followed by other actions in building up the American military infrastructure in Eastern Europe...."

A Russian general argued on Wednesday that the U.S. decision to deploy Patriot missiles 100 kilometers from the Russian border in Poland is a demonstrative anti-Russian move.

"Though from the military point of view those systems in Poland don't pose any particular threat to Russia, it's not a good signal, one that won't help carry through confidence-building measures in Eastern Europe," Lt. Gen. Aitech Bizhev, a former commander of the United Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States, told Interfax.

"It's completely unclear why the air defense group of the northern flank of NATO needed strengthening - NATO has manifold superiority over Russian conventional armaments as it is," he said.

"It can't be ruled out that the stationing of the Patriots in Poland may be followed by other actions in building up the American military infrastructure in Eastern Europe and the aim of deploying those systems is to cover those facilities," Bizhev said.

Polish media said the Polish government had decided to have the missiles deployed in the north of the country, 100 kilometers from the border of Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

Initially the Patriots were planned to be stationed near Warsaw but later Polish experts came to the conclusion that the town of Morag in the north of the country would be the best deployment site for the rockets, which are expected to be delivered to Poland in April this year.
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6.: Mass U.S. Military Presence In Haiti Arouses Contention

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:20 pm (PST)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/haitiearthquake/2010-01/20/content_9350681.htm

Xinhua News Agency
January 20, 2010

Mass US military presence in Haiti arouses contention

PORT-AU-PRINCE: The dominant US role in earthquake-hit Haiti has been questioned by some countries. A French minister claimed on Monday that international aid efforts should not "occupy" Haiti, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the US of occupying Haiti in the name of an aid operation.

Questions from home and abroad

Referring to the turning back of a French aid flight by US force last week in the congested airport in Haiti's capital, French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet complained the US military had monopolized the airport.

"This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti," he said on French radio, in Brussels for an EU meeting on Haiti.

Joyandet said he expects the United Nations to investigate the problem of how governments should work together in Haiti and hopes "things will be clarified concerning the role of the United States."

One day earlier, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a similar query about the US role in Haiti.

"I read that 3,000 soldiers are arriving, Marines armed as if they were going to war. This is not a shortage of guns there, my God. Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals, that is what the United States should send," Chavez said on his weekly television address, "They are occupying Haiti in an undercover manner."

"You don't see them in the streets. Are they picking up bodies? ... Are they looking for the injured? You don't see them. I haven't seen them. Where are they?" he added.

Chavez also said he did not mean to depreciate US humanitarian efforts and was only questioning the need for so many troops.

Meanwhile, US local media also wondered what kind of role the country wanted to play in Haiti.

The American weekly Time published on Saturday a commentary named The US Military in Haiti: A Compassionate Invasion, saying that "Haiti, for all intents and purposes, became the 51st state at 4:53 pm on Tuesday in the wake of its deadly earthquake. If not a state, then at least a ward of the state - the United States."

Washington's response

Facing these questions home and abroad, officials from Washington stressed that the US forces in Haiti for rescue operation are in cooperation with the Haiti. government and the UN.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week during her visit to Haiti that the US government had no intention of taking power from Haitian officials. "We are working to back them up, not to supplant them," she said.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday the motive of sending troops to Haiti was to protect innocent Haitians or foreigners if lawlessness boils over.
....
Till Monday, the United States has sent to Haiti some 11,000 Marines and soldiers, 33 aid planes and several ships.

The United States recognized the Haitian government in 1864, 60 years after Haiti gained independence from France. From 1915 to 1934, US Marines occupied the country for nearly 20 years to quell political turmoil.

In 1994, then President Bill Clinton sent troops to Haiti to help ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide return to power.
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7.: NATO Completing Takeover Of The Balkans

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:05 pm (PST)

1) Macedonia
2) Montenegro
3) Bosnia
4) Serbia

1)
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2010/01/17/nb-06

Southeast European Times
January 17, 2010

Rasmussen: NATO door still open for Macedonia

BRUSSELS, Belgium: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday (January 15th) that Macedonia should continue with reforms aimed at NATO entry, expressing confidence that these efforts will end in success.

At a meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Rasmussen said Skopje's accession to NATO also depends on the settlement of its name dispute with Greece. He added that the faster this issue is resolved, the faster Macedonia will become part of the Alliance.

Rasmussen called for intensified talks on the issue and welcomed efforts by UN envoy Matthew Nimetz to broker an agreement. In response, Gruevski said his country is "trying to find a solution which would be acceptable to both sides". (Macedonian government website, Xinhua - 15/01/10)
----------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hfJbqZvxYgj_ihyFY36Gn_D4aWbg

Agence France-Presse
January 20, 2010

US backs Montenegro's bid to join NATO

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday threw US support behind Montenegro's bid to join NATO as the Balkan country pursues political reforms.

The chief US diplomat "pledged the United States? support for Montenegro becoming an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic community" as she stood next to visiting Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

"I offered the support of the United States as Montenegro makes some of the reforms in the rule of law area that both NATO and the European Union are looking to see," Clinton told reporters in Washington.

She congratulated Montenegro for its admission last month to NATO's Membership Action Plan, a precursor to full membership, and thanked the premier for his government's commitment to sending infantry troops to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan.

Clinton said she hoped to take the prime minister up on his invitation to visit Montenegro at a future date.

Djukanovic said: "I would like to announce with confidence that Montenegro will be the next state to become a new member of NATO" while voicing his government's intention to enhance the rule of law.

"We stand committed to doing this in order to improve the quality of life of our citizens and achieve our European and Euro-Atlantic goals ... as early, as soon as possible," he said through an interpreter.

"I would like to reiterate on this occasion too that Montenegro is and will remain a responsible and reliable partner to the US and EU in dealing with the still outstanding issues in the Balkans," he said.

"And we will also work closely with our partners in other places beyond our region, starting with Afghanistan," he added.
----------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-198699-102-davutoglu-seeks-bosnian-stability-in-balkan-talks.html

Zaman
January 16, 2010

Davutoglu seeks Bosnian stability in Balkan talks

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with Bosnian and Serbian officials in Belgrade on Friday to discuss ways to preserve political stability and unity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a day after having similar talks in Croatia.
....
Ankara...backs NATO membership for Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying international isolation could exacerbate the instability in the country.
....
Bosnia's membership in NATO will also be supported, he said and added that it was important that Bosnia get assistance in carrying out necessary defense reforms to pave the way for NATO entry.
....
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4)
http://glassrbije.org/E/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9739&Itemid=26

Radio Serbia
January 20, 2010

Basescu: Serbia is especially significant for Romania

Romanian President Traian Basescu said in Bucharest that Serbia's EU integrations represented the national interest of Romania as well.

Serbia is our neigbhour and is particularly significant for us, so its rapprochement to the EU and NATO is in the national interest of Romania as well, he said, presenting the priorities of Romania's foreign policy at an annual meetings with ambassadors. The meeting was attended by the Serbian Ambassador in Bucharest Zoran Popovic as well.
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8.: U.S. "War On Terror": A Losing Proposition

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:21 pm (PST)

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ar&nid=954

The Frontier Post (Pakistan)
January 20, 2010

The US 'war on terror', a losing proposition
Naqib Ullah Wardak

-Sadly, Obama did not prove to be any different from his predecessor. He is the continuation of the Bush legacy but in a different skin color. Has he realized that the "war on terror" has really become a war that has terrorized millions of people around the world regardless of their religion and ethnicity?
There is no difference between a suicide bomber that kills scores of innocents in a market or a bomb dropped by NATO fighters or missiles fired by US drones that kill hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
-Conditions in Afghanistan, specifically, are at a deadlock....People are bitter about the civilians who have been killed by NATO and US forces.
For sure 2010 will be the bloodiest year of the conflict in Afghanistan. There will be much more public anger directed at Karzai and foreign forces' declared "war on terror."

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attack, former US president George W. Bush said the motivation of the hijackers was that they hated freedom.

Similar to his conclusion, most US media commentators and politicians, especifically conservatives, emphasized that these people envied the way Americans lived.

Hating freedom, as Bush said, or not liking the way someone lives seemed then and now to be a pretty weak reason to give up one's own life to inflict death and destruction on others.

As a matter of fact, this was a cheap way to distract the American people's attention from the real reasons that Osama bin Laden was able to garnish such huge support for his causes.

Since the early to mid 1990s bin Laden has intensified his call for "jihad" against the US. His main reasons included the US support for Israel and the existence of US forces on Saudi soil, which is home to Islam's holy places.

Bin Laden has never mentioned in any of his speeches that he hated the American way of life. His message has been too complicated for ordinary Americans to analyze or understand. In other words, as he mentioned on many occasions, his main enemy was US Middle East policies.

At the beginning many Americans bought into Bush's theory. However, as time wore on and as Bush forced his own way of terror by occupying Iraq and killing thousands of innocents without any compelling reasons, most Americans realized that the problem was in their own government.

That was why Americans' support of Bush dropped from 80 percent in late 2001 to only 20 percent in 2008. His fortune reversed and his real leadership capacity was exposed.

What is so unfortunate about American politics is that the leaders who get elected never follow through on what they promised during their campaigns.

A good example of this sort of flip flop is President Barak Obama. Obama roared to power by the huge support he got from people who were disappointed with Bush's policies. Additionally, people saw Obama as a product of Martin Luther King's dream, who fought for equal rights for every American regardless of their color and gender, who sought an America that was a place of hope, opportunities, and freedom, and who believed that some day his struggle would succeed.

Additionally, Obama talked about "change" and tried to be an optimist in the gloom of the destruction that is going on in every corner of our planet.

Sadly, Obama did not prove to be any different from his predecessor. He is the continuation of the Bush legacy but in a different skin color. Has he realized that the "war on terror" has really become a war that has terrorized millions of people around the world regardless of their religion and ethnicity?

There is no difference between a suicide bomber that kills scores of innocents in a market or a bomb dropped by NATO fighters or missiles fired by US drones that kill hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Leaders in the West have to look deep in their hearts and think if it is morally correct to destroy the life of a five-year-old child or a pregnant woman who could become a mother to her first baby and seek a new life.

It is unfortunate to believe that someday after destroying thousands or millions of lives there will be peace. Obviously it will never happen with this approach.
....
Undoubtedly, it is becoming clearer that the West gradually lost its propaganda edge against its enemy in its "war on terror."

As people witnessed the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq and Afghanistan during the last eight years as a result of war on terror, Al Qaeda and other like-minded groups capitalized on these tragedies.

They enlisted thousands of people for their causes all over the world. At the same time not only western governmental policies but also their long held values are under question.

What is interesting is that the war on terror that President George Bush called it "crusade" and President Barak Obama called "a good war" has now become a war of cultures, a war of values, and a war of religions.

Thanks to the ruthlessness of suicide bombers that killed scores of innocent people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, which kept the West's war on terror alive. Conditions in Afghanistan, specifically, are at a deadlock.

People are bitter about the civilians who have been killed by NATO and US forces.

President Hamid Karzai is deadlocked with the Afghan House of Representatives who rejected his cabinet nominees twice. This time people see Karzai as a person who stole last year's election and who is soft on corruption and civilians deaths by foreign forces.

For sure 2010 will be the bloodiest year of the conflict in Afghanistan. There will be much more public anger directed at Karzai and foreign forces' declared "war on terror."
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9.: Missiles, Troops Near Border: Nail In Coffin Of U.S.-Russia Relation

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:27 pm (PST)

http://www.thenews.pl/international/artykul124092_polands-us-patriot-missiles-close-to-russian-border.html

Radio Poland
January 21, 2010

Poland's US Patriot missiles close to Russian border

US Patriot missiles, due to arrive in Poland in April, will be located in Morag, northern Poland, instead of in the suburbs of Warsaw, as was originally supposed.

The Ministry of Defence assured Wednesday that Morag, a town situated 100 km away from the Kaliningrad Russian border, was chosen to host Patriot missiles and American military base because it had good conditions to house the barracks and technology.

"Logistic and technical reasons were crucial," Janusz Sejmej from the Defence Ministry told private radio station RMF FM. "There were no considerations here of a strategic nature," confirmed Defence Minister Bogdan Klich in an interview for the daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

However, Pavel Felgengauer, a Russian military analyst said that placing the Patriots near the Russian border is could be construed as an unfriendly gesture and will certainly come under sharp criticism from the Kremlin. "The appearance of American soldiers in Russia's vicinity will be a nail in a coffin in US-Russia relations," said Felgengauer.

The Patriot missile battery will contain four to eight missiles and will be operated by 100 American soldiers redeployed from a base in Germany.
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10.: Kosovo: CoE Rapporteur Investigates KLA Murder For Organs Case

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:40 pm (PST)

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=01&dd=20&nav_id=64610

B92
January 20, 2010

Marty in Kosovo over organ harvesting

BELGRADE - CoE special rapporteur Dick Marty is in Kosovo to continue his investigation into a suspected case of human organ trafficking in 1999, says Oliver Ivanovic.

Serbia's War Crimes Prosecution is also investigating allegations that the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), consisting of ethnic Albanians, kidnapped hundreds of Kosovo Serbs and transported them to northern Albania where their vital organs were removed.

The case is also known as the Yellow House, after a location in northern Albania where the removal of the prisoners' organs is believed to have taken place.

Now Ivanovic, who is a state secretary with the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, told B92 TV that Marty will be meeting with EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, representatives, and those from other organizations.

"He is continuing where he was forced to stop six months ago, when he was prevented from visiting and investigating the yellow house and from gaining insight into the documents that the Albanian justice organs could have," he said.

"Marty can count on full cooperation only from us [Belgrade], I doubt that Albanians, especially Albanians in Albania, will be ready to put what they have at his disposal," stated Ivanovic.
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11.: NATO To Train "Afghan" Army, Police

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:46 pm (PST)

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.4220947984

ADN Kronos International (Italy)
January 20, 2010

Afghanistan: NATO to train more local security forces

Brussels: NATO will train 171,000 Afghan soldiers by October 2011 to ease the planned transfer of responsibility for security to Afghan forces, spokesman James Appathurai said on Wednesday. This compares with a previous target of 134,000, he said.

NATO has also decided to increase the number of Afghan policemen trained by October this year to 109,000 from 80,000 and to 134,000 by October, 2011, Appathurai said.

The decision to step up the number of Afghan security personnel trained by October next year was taken at a meeting in the Afghan capital, Kabul, attended by Afghan and international representatives, he said.

United States president Barack Obama in December ordered an additional 30,000 US troops into Afghanistan in the first half of this year. But he has warned that the US will begin to withdraw its military forces stationed in the war-torn country by 2011.
....
NATO has also announced it will send an extra 7,000 troops to Afghanistan in the coming months.

A conference in London on 28 January will focus on the 'transitional' period in Afghanistan over the next 18 months....
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12.: NATO "Makes Things Happen" In Somali Puntland, Horn Of Africa

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:50 pm (PST)

http://www.aco.nato.int/page272205428.aspx

NATO
Allied Command Operations
January 17, 2010

NATO Commander Meets Puntland Coastguard

-This is just a start. With 60 years of experience and coalition building, NATO is well placed to make things happen.

Admiral Pereira da Cunha, Commander, Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, hosted a meeting focused on piracy on board the Portuguese flagship Alvares Cabral with two Puntland Coastguard officers near Bosaso harbour, Somalia. The meeting was focused on human intelligence gathering, capacity building and counter piracy cooperation between NATO and Puntland authorities.

NATO, together with other international actors, has established a close working relationship with the Puntland Coastguard. The idea of this joint cooperation is to enhance the knowledge of the international counter-piracy community, while providing assistance to the Coastguard....
....
NATO, along with the other maritime coalitions, is prepared to act, working under the counter-piracy mission, Operation Ocean Shield....
....
NATO continues to seek other channels through Ocean Shield where it can make a real difference....This is just a start. With 60 years of experience and coalition building, NATO is well placed to make things happen.
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13.: Afghans Protest NATO's Slaying Of More Children

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:14 am (PST)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60G0TW20100121

Reuters
January 21, 2010

Afghans protest deaths of 4 in NATO-government raid

GHAZNI, Afghanistan: Scores of Afghans protested on Thursday over the deaths of four men in a night-time raid by Afghan and NATO-led forces. Locals said the victims were civilians, but the force said the dead were Taliban insurgents.

Over 100 people took to the streets of a small bazaar in Qarabagh district in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, to demonstrate, locals told Reuters by telephone.

Villagers who brought the bodies of four people to the hospital in the provincial capital of Ghazni city said three of the victims belonged to one family. Two were boys 11 and 15, villagers said.
.....
The Afghan government has yet to comment about the incident.

Civilian casualties caused by foreign troops are one of the most emotive issues in Afghanistan's 8-year-old conflict.

They have sapped support for the presence of the troops and led to protests in various parts of the country in the past.

(Writing by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Jerry Norton)
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14.: Russia To Strengthen Baltic Fleet Over U.S. Missile Plans

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:16 am (PST)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-01/21/c_13145772.htm

Xinhua News Agency
January 21, 2001

Russia to strengthen Baltic fleet over U.S. missile plans: report

MOSCOW: The Russian navy will reinforce its Baltic Fleet over U.S. plans to place Patriot missiles in Poland, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Thursday, citing a senior navy official.

"Primarily, surface, underwater and air components of the Baltic Fleet will be enhanced," the unidentified source was quoted as saying.

The official said new corvette class warships with long-range, high-precision cruise missiles aboard would join the fleet.

The remarks came a day after Poland announced that a U.S. Patriot missile battery would be deployed in Morag, a small town in northeastern Poland about 100 km from the Russian border.

Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said on Wednesday the decision was neither political nor strategic, explaining that good infrastructure was the only reason to use a base near Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad instead of one outside Warsaw.
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15.: Czech Republic: NATO Expands AWACS System Eastward

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:21 am (PST)

http://praguemonitor.com/2010/01/21/czechs-send-three-reps-natos-awacs

Czech News Agency
January 20, 2010

Czechs to send three reps to NATO's AWACS

-The joining of the programme will raise the quality of and reinforce the overall defence-ability of the Czech Republic and strengthen its position in NA