Messages In This Digest (16 Messages)

9.: Afghan War: Britain Loses 250th Soldier From: Rick Rozoff

10.: France Pushes Radar For NATO Missile Shield From: Rick Rozoff

11.: Bahrainis: U.S., NATO Deploy More Mideast Troops For Afghan War From: Rick Rozoff

12.: NATO Headquarters: Albright To Address 63 Nations' Military Chiefs From: Rick Rozoff

13.: Germany: U.S., NATO Allies Train Georgian Combat Troops From: Rick Rozoff

14.: Latin Americans Leaders Accuse U.S. Of Military Takeover Of Haiti From: Rick Rozoff

15.: Pentagon Prioritiy: Penetrating Air Defenses, Striking Anywhere On E From: Rick Rozoff

16.: NATO Tanker Attacked In Northwest Pakistan From: Rick Rozoff

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1.: Arms Pacts Stalled, U.S. Moves Missiles And Troops To Russian Border

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:56 pm (PST)

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/with-nuclear-conventional-arms-pacts-stalled-u-s-moves-missiles-and-troops-to-russian-border

Stop NATO
January 22, 2010

With Nuclear, Conventional Arms Pacts Stalled, U.S. Moves Missiles And Troops To Russian Border
Rick Rozoff

2010 is proceeding in a manner more befitting the third month of the year, named after the Roman god of war, than the first whose name is derived from a pacific deity.

On January 13 the Associated Press reported that the White House will submit its Quadrennial Defense Review to Congress on February 1 and request a record-high $708 billion for the Pentagon. That figure is the highest in absolute and in inflation-adjusted, constant (for any year) dollars since 1946, the year after the Second World War ended. Adding non-Pentagon defense-related spending, the total may exceed $1 trillion.

The $708 billion includes for the first time monies for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which in prior years were in part funded by periodic supplemental requests, but excludes what the above-mentioned report adds is the first in the new administration's emergency requests for the same purpose: A purported $33 billion.

Already this month several NATO nations have pledged more troops, even before the January 28 London conference on Afghanistan when several thousand additional forces may be assigned for the war there, in addition to over 150,000 already serving or soon to serve under U.S. and NATO command.

Washington has increased lethal drone missile attacks in Pakistan, and calls for that model to be replicated in Yemen have been made recently, most notably by Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who on January 13 also advocated air strikes and special forces operations in the country. [1]

The Pentagon will begin the deployment of 1,400 personnel to Colombia to man seven new bases under a 10-year military agreement signed last October 30. [2]

This year the U.S. will also complete the $110 million dollar construction of new military bases in Bulgaria and Romania to house at least 4,000 American troops. [3]

The Pentagon's newest regional command, Africa Command, will expand its activities on and off the coasts of that continent beyond current counterinsurgency operations in Somalia, Mali and Uganda and drone flights from a newly acquired site in Seychelles. [4]

But this month has brought even more dramatic and dangerous news. The Pentagon has authorized the completion of a $6.5 billion arms deal with Taiwan with an agreement to deliver 200 Patriot Advanced Capability anti-ballistic missiles. The People's Republic of China is infuriated, as Washington would be if the situation were reversed and Beijing provided a comparable arsenal of weapons to, for example, an independent Puerto Rico. [5]

As though that action was not provocative enough however, on January 20 the Polish Defense Ministry announced that a U.S. Patriot missile battery, and the 100 American soldiers who will operate it, would not be based on the outskirts of the capital of Warsaw as previously announced but in the Baltic Sea city of Morag, 35 miles [6] from Poland's border with Russia.

The missile battery and troops are scheduled to arrive in March or April. As part of the Obama administration's new missile shield project, one which will be integrated with NATO to take in all of Europe and extend into the Middle East and the Caucasus, the Patriots will be followed by Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor deployments on warships in the Baltic Sea and, for the first time ever, a land-based version of the same. "The Pentagon will deploy command posts of SM-3 missiles, which can intercept both short- and mid-range missiles...." [7] An SM-3 was used by the Pentagon to shoot a satellite out of orbit in February of 2008 to give an indication of its range.

Further deployments will follow.

The new, post-George W. Bush administration, interceptor missile system will employ "existing missile systems based on land and at sea....Deployment of the revised missile defense would extend through 2020. The first step is to put existing sea-based weapons systems on Aegis-class destroyers and cruisers. [8]

"Subsequently, a mobile radar system would be deployed in a European nation....More advanced, mobile systems would be put in place later elsewhere in Europe. Their centerpiece would be...Lockheed's Terminal High Altitude Defense interceptor missiles and improved Standard Missile-3 IB missiles made by...Raytheon." [9]

Last December Washington signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that formalizes plans for "the United States military to station American troops and military equipment on Polish territory" and "opens the way for the promised Patriot missiles and US troops to be stationed in Poland...as part of an upgrading of NATO air defences in Europe." [10]

In October, shortly after U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden visited Warsaw to finalize the plan, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski met with his opposite number from the U.S., Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow, and announced that the American missiles "will be combat-ready, not dummy varieties as Washington earlier suggested." The same report added that "Earlier, Ukrainian and American officials stated that Ukrainian territory may be used in some way in the new antimissile shield." [11] Poland borders Russia's Kaliningrad enclave, but Ukraine has a 1,576 kilometer (979 mile) border with Russia.

The State Department issued a press release on the agreement to deploy American troops to Poland, the first foreign forces to be based there since the end of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, which stated "The agreement will facilitate a range of mutually agreed activities including joint training and exercises, deployments of U.S. military personnel, and prospective Ballistic Missile Defense deployments." [12]

A Pentagon spokesperson said "U.S. Army Europe will help the Polish Armed Forces develop their air and missile defense capabilities. Considering the cooperative training we already do with the Polish Armed Forces, this Patriot training program is just another extension of that effort." [13]

If earlier plans to deploy ground-based midcourse missiles to Poland evoked, however implausibly, an alleged Iranian missile threat, the Patriots can only be meant for Russia.

Russian Lieutenant-General Aitech Bizhev, former commander of the United Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States, told one of his nation's main news agencies:

"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...." [14]

The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms expired on December 5 and has been extended, but no agreement has been reached on a new pact, 48 days later.

At the end of last year Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was asked about the delay and identified the main impediment to resolving it: "What is the problem? The problem is that our American partners are building an anti-missile shield and we are not building one."

He further defined the problem: "If we are not developing an anti-missile shield, then there is a danger that our partners, by creating such 'an umbrella,' will feel completely secure and thus can allow themselves to do what they want, disrupting the balance, and aggressiveness will rise immediately."

In respect to how prospects for the reduction, much less elimination, of nuclear arms in Europe and North America were faring, Putin added, "In order to preserve balance...we need to develop offensive weapons systems," [15] reiterating a statement by his nation's president, Dmitry Medvedev, a week before. The timing of the announcement that the Pentagon will soon station Patriot missiles so close to Russian territory will not help matters. Nor was the State Department's contention that "the START follow-on agreement is not the appropriate vehicle for addressing" the issue of "missile offense and defense." [16]

A month before, Russian news media revealed that "Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF), the land-based component of the nuclear triad, will put on combat duty a second regiment equipped with Topol-M mobile missile systems by the end of 2009.

"The Topol-M missile, with a range of about 7,000 miles (11,000 km), is said to be immune to any current and future U.S. ABM [Anti-Ballistic Missile] defense. It is capable of making evasive maneuvers to avoid a kill using terminal phase interceptors [for example Patriot missiles], and carries targeting countermeasures and decoys." [17]

Just as supplying Taiwan with Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) theater anti-ballistic missiles led China to conduct a ground-based, midcourse missile interception on January 11, so moving U.S. military hardware and troops nearer Russia bodes poorly for a nuclear arms reduction agreement.

On the non-strategic front, the 1990 Treaty On Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) limiting the amount and expansion of major armaments on the continent is also seriously jeopardized by U.S. and NATO missile shield plans. The adapted CFE (Agreement on Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) of 1999 has not been ratified by any member of NATO, which has linked it with so-called frozen conflicts in the former Soviet Union. The August 2008 Georgia-Russia war was a consequence of that obstructionist and belligerent policy. The establishment of permanent U.S. and NATO military bases in Kosovo, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and now Poland is a gross violation of and may prove the death knell for the CFE.

Russia suspended the observance of its treaty obligations under the CFE on July 14, 2007 because of "extraordinary circumstances...which affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures." [18]

The circumstances alluded to were the U.S. project of establishing missile interception facilities in Eastern Europe and the general movement of NATO bases and forces to the Baltic and Black Sea regions.

On November 29 of last year Russia "released a draft of a proposal for a new European security agreement the Kremlin says should replace outdated institutions such as NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)." [19]

Chinese analysts Yu Maofeng and Lu Jingli contend that Moscow was motivated by its concerns over U.S. and NATO missile plans, NATO's eastward expansion to its borders, the 1999 war against Yugoslavia, Western-sponsored "color revolutions" in other former Soviet states and NATO members' non-ratification of the Treaty On Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. [20]

For the past thirty years each successive American president has unveiled an ostensible plan to eliminate nuclear weapons, if none before now has received the Nobel Peace Prize while in office [21]. Each in turn then escalated reckless arms buildups and armed aggression abroad in an effort to achieve global military dominance. The current U.S. commander-in-chief with his foreign policy entourage of Robert Gates, James Jones and Hillary Clinton is no exception. [22]

1) Yemen: Pentagon's War On The Arabian Peninsula
Stop NATO, December 15, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/yemen-pentagons-war-on-the-arabian-peninsula
2) Rumors Of Coups And War: U.S., NATO Target Latin America
Stop NATO, November 18, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/rumors-of-coups-and-war-u-s-nato-target-latin-america
3) Bulgaria, Romania: U.S., NATO Bases For War In The East
Stop NATO, October 24, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/bulgaria-romania-u-s-nato-bases-for-war-in-the-east
4) AFRICOM Year Two: Seizing The Helm Of The Entire World
Stop NATO, October 22, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/africom-year-two-taking-the-helm-of-the-entire-world
5) U.S.-China Military Tensions Grow
Stop NATO, January 19, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/u-s-china-military-tensions-grow
6) New York Times, January 21, 2010
7) Voice of Russia, December 14, 2009
8) U.S. Missile Shield System Deployments: Larger, Sooner, Broader
Stop NATO, September 27, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/u-s-missile-shield-system-deployments-larger-sooner-broader
Black Sea, Caucasus: U.S. Moves Missile Shield South And East
Stop NATO,September 19, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/283
U.S. Expands Global Missile Shield Into Middle East, Balkans
Stop NATO, September 11, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/u-s-expands-global-missile-shield-into-middle-east-balkans
9) Bloomberg News, January 14, 2010
10) Polish Radio, December 11, 2009
11) Russia Today, October 16, 2009
12) Stars and Stripes, December 21, 2009
13) Ibid
14) Interfax Ukraine, January 20, 2010
15) Reuters, December 29, 2009
16) Ibid
17) Russian Information Agency Novosti, November 18, 2009
18) Time, July 14, 2007
19) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 30, 2009
20) Strategic considerations behind Russian proposal for new
European security treaty
Xinhua News Agency, December 1, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/02/content_12571639.htm
21) Obama Doctrine: Eternal War For Imperfect Mankind
Stop NATO, December 10, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/obama-doctrine-eternal-war-for-imperfect-mankind
22) White House And Pentagon: Change, Continuity And Escalation
Stop NATO, March 19, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/white-house-and-pentagon-change-continuity-and-escalation
===========================
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2.: Russia Suspects NATO In Moving Missiles Toward Border

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:11 pm (PST)

http://globalist.org.ua/eng/144792-russia-suspects-nato-in-armament-of-poland-against-russia

Ukrainian Globalist
January 22, 2010

Russia suspects NATO in armament of Poland against Russia
NATO has changed its missile positions in Poland
Maria Velikanova

In brief: NATO has changed the conditions of treaty with Poland concluded on November, 27, 2009, planning to locate its missile system 60 km far from Russia's border.

The Minister of foreign affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov has asked NATO authorities to explain the location of air defence missile system Patriot in Polish town of Morag. The town is situated 60 km far from Russian border. Before it was planned to locate such missiles near Warsaw. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now analyzing this fact.

Sergey Lavrov has shown his perplexity about Poland's intentions to make Russia believe in Poland's consolidation against Russia.

In response the Polish Ministry of Defense has explained the location of missiles just near Morag by the convenient conditions for the US soldiers living. Poland's authorities try to ensure that there are no strategic aims.
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3.: Boeing Gets $324 Million For NATO AWACS Upgrade

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:14 pm (PST)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2216975720100122

Reuters
January 22, 2010

Boeing wins $324 mln order for French AWACS upgrade

WASHINGTON: Boeing Co has won an order valued at $324 million to provide France with a mid-life upgrade of its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), the Pentagon said on Friday.

The E-3 AWACS Sentry aircraft is based on a Boeing 707 airframe and is used by the United States, Britain, France, NATO and Saudi Arabia.

The Pentagon informed Congress about the possible AWACS sale to France in September 2008 as part of an effort to maintain full interoperability with U.S. and other NATO coalition partners.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa)
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4.: NATO Trains Security Forces In Northern Iraq

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:18 pm (PST)

http://www.jfcnaples.nato.int/JFCN_Missions/NTM-I/Articles/2010/NTMI_A_03_10.html

NATO Training Mission - Iraq
January 17, 2010

Iraq recruiting Kurds for its police, security forces

BAGHDAD - Iraq, in an effort to quell separatist tendencies, has sought to integrate Kurds into the nation's security forces.

Officials said the Interior Ministry has been recruiting Kurds for the Iraqi police and security forces. They said the integration of the Kurds marked a project overseen by NATO to enhance security in northern Iraq.

"It shows us the strength and commitment of the Iraqi security forces for integration and unity," Italian Col. Mauro Isidori, commander of the NATO program, said.
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5.: NATO, EU Recruit More Finnish Troops For Afghanistan, Somalia

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:25 pm (PST)

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/01/more_finnish_troops_to_afghanistan_1388030.html

Finnish Broadcasting Company
January 22, 2010

More Finnish Troops to Afghanistan

President Tarja Halonen and the government's committee on foreign and security policy decided on Friday to send 50 more Finnish troops to Afghanistan. The additional troops will cost Finland about 18 million euros this year and next year.

The committee also discussed Finland's overall participation in helping to stabilise Afghanistan.

Finland now has 121 troops in Northern Afghanistan as a part of a joint Finnish-Swedish ISAF operation based in Mazar-i-Sharif. The number will be expanded to 195.

Sweden has asked Finland to take over responsibility for at least one of four provinces in the north.

Finland is also preparing to participate in an EU operation to train Somali peacekeeping troops.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finnish+peacekeeping+commitment+in+Afghanistan+rising+to+195+troops/1135252327283

Helsingin Sanomat
January 22, 2010

Finnish peacekeeping commitment in Afghanistan rising to 195 troops

Finland has decided to send more forces to Afghanistan. The Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy, along with President Tarja Halonen, decided on Friday that Finland should increase its current deployment of about 120 soldiers by more than 50.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) said at a press conference on Friday that next year, the total troop strength would increase to about 200.

To this, Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) specified that the total strength would be no more than 195.
....
Finnish participation in the European Union's police operation is to be increased, and the focus of these resources is to be on the north of Afghanistan.

Also discussed at the meeting was Finnish participation in the planned EU operation for training security forces in Somalia.

Finland is preparing to participate in the EU operation by sending individual military trainers to the area. The EU training is to take place outside Somalia, in Uganda, where Somali security forces are already undergoing training.

The EU training operation would be part of extensive actions by the international community aimed at the stabilisation of Somalia.

The EU aims at deciding on the establishment of the operation by mid-February. The aim is to train a force of 2,000 Somali soldiers.
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6.: U.S. Tests Airborne Laser Missile Interception System

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:27 pm (PST)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/191973.asp

Seattle Post Intelligencer
January 22, 2010

Airborne Laser engages target missile in flight

The Boeing-led Airborne Laser engaged a target missile in flight Jan. 10, although the test wasn't intended to destroy the missile, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency reported, while also posting a video of the test here.

Engagement of the target missile, called a Missile Alternative Range Target Instrument, "demonstrated the full functionality of the ABL system to successfully acquire, track, and engage a boosting target," the agency said.

The agency launched the MARTI from San Nicolas Island, in the Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range, off the central California coast. The agency is scheduled to attempt the first lethal laser shoot down of a boosting ballistic missile later this year.
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7.: Pentagon Expands Sea-Based, Land-Based Interceptor Missiles In Gulf

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:31 pm (PST)

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/petraeus-missile-shooting-ships-on-station-in-the-gulf

Wired
January 22, 2010

Petraeus: Missile-Shooting Ships on Station in the Gulf
By Nathan Hodge

-In addition to the Navy ships, Petraeus said the U.S. military now had eight Patriot missile batteries in the region. "[There are] two in each of four countries, U.S. Patriot batteries that weren't there two years ago," he said.

The U.S. military is keeping at least two Navy ships on station in the Persian Gulf, ready to track and possibly intercept missiles, according to the top U.S. general in the region.

Speaking today at the Institute for the Study of War, Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, said two cruisers equipped with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System "are in the Gulf at all times now."

That statement — along with the stationing of other U.S. air defense assets in the region — sends a strong signal to Iran....

It's not the first time the U.S. military has deployed Aegis BMD ships to response to missile threats. Last year, the Navy sent two Aegis destroyers in anticipation of a North Korean missile launch. In addition to the Navy ships, Petraeus said the U.S. military now had eight Patriot missile batteries in the region. "[There are] two in each of four countries, U.S. Patriot batteries that weren't there two years ago," he said.

In response to a question about creating a formal security alliance in the Gulf region, Petraeus...dismissed the possibility of a NATO-style alliance in the region, at least for now. "I don't think the concept of a NATO-like organization is all that realistic in the near term," he said.
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8.: Russian FM On NATO Plans For Serbia, Kosovo, Croatian Military Threa

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:41 pm (PST)

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=01&dd=22&nav_id=64688

Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency
January 22, 2010

Russian FM on NATO, Kosovo, Mesic

MOSCOW: Attempts at a mechanical NATO expansion do not offer security to anyone, even its members, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

Such attempts are not adequate for the contemporary world but only cause mistrust, Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.

Asked about the "increasingly frequent invitations to Serbia to join NATO", Lavrov said the situation is not simple, given Serbia's "experience with NATO in 1999".

Serbia will have to make its own decision, he said.

But he also noted that the Serbian parliament adopted a resolution on the country's military neutrality, and added that he deduced from his discussion with Serb friends that most of Serbia's citizens share the same attitude.

"Russia has proposed a new security system for all world countries, in which they would not have to choose between the East and the West," Lavrov added.

Asked to comment on Montenegro's decision to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo without waiting for the opinion of International Court of Justice opinion, Lavrov said that the decision was contrary to the UNSCR 1244.

"All countries rushing to recognize a self-proclaimed state are doing so in order to gain some political benefit," Lavrov noted.

He also expressed concern over the current situation in Kosovo and that Prišsina, i.e. Kosovo's Albanians, is trying to obstruct the work of the UN.

"We call upon those who have influence on Pristina not to allow for such attempts to take place," said he, and added that many problems found in Kosovo will be "considered in detail" at the Security Council session.

"Serb rights are neglected in Kosovo and the EU mission, which is in Kosovo with Serbia's approval, is trying to ignore the UN mission which is the only one with UN Security Council mandate. This is a contradiction," Lavrov said.

He added that "when there's good will, negotiations can be renewed".

"The UN secretary-general must be guided by the Security Council decisions, and the basic solution for Kosovo is Resolution 1244. It's important that Pristina's sponsors do not forbid, but entice it to normal negotiations," Russia's foreign minister stated.

Lavrov also criticized the statement of outgoing Croatian President Stjepan Mesic that if the Republic of Srpska were to hold a referendum on "secession", Croatia would resort to military intervention.

Russia supports the Dayton Accord which put an end to war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lavrov said.

All parties should consistently and firmly adhere to the provisions of the Dayton Accord, which rules out the use of force, he said.
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9.: Afghan War: Britain Loses 250th Soldier

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:43 pm (PST)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8476235.stm

BBC News
January 22, 2010

UK soldier killed in Afghanistan

The soldier is the 250th military personnel to have died in the campaign
A soldier from A Company 4 Rifles has died following an explosion while on foot patrol near Sangin in central Helmand province in Afghanistan.

The soldier, who has not been named, was serving as part of 3 Rifles Battle Group. His next of kin have been told.
....
The soldier's death brings the number of UK service personnel killed in Afghanistan to 250 since 2001.
....
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10.: France Pushes Radar For NATO Missile Shield

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 3:55 pm (PST)

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4466355&c=EUR&s=AIR

Defense News
January 22, 2010

French Industry Pushes Radar for Missile Defense
By Pierre Tran

PARIS - French industry has rallied to support the new GS1000 radar and related command-and-control systems, seen as potential building blocks for a European contribution to a NATO ballistic missile defense system, said Gilbert Le Bris, a member of parliament.

"There is a sort of consensus," he told journalists Jan. 19 at a presentation of a private report on missile defense. The priority for government funding on research should go to advanced radar detection and C2 systems, both made by Thales, he said.

Industry has been split between EADS Astrium's request for funding of Exoguard, a missile to intercept outside Earth's atmosphere, and the Aster road map group comprising MBDA, Thales and Safran. Executives said the government should invest 50 million euros ($70.5 million) annually in technology studies on extended missile defense, Le Bris said.

A missile defense could complement and add "credibility" to France's nuclear deterrent, he said.

In the longer term, a budget of 2.5 billion euros should be adopted in the 2015-25 period, spending about 250 million euros a year, to develop a European capability based on the Aster missile and GS1000 and GS1500 radars, the report said.

The ballistic missile defense report was prepared by members of parliament Le Bris, Christophe Guilloteau and Francis Hillmeyer, members of a private bipartisan group, Cercle Interparlementaire d'Etude Air-Espace de Defense. The report was intended to stimulate debate ahead of the 2011 NATO summit in the spring.

MBDA Chief Executive Antoine Bouvier has also called for decisions to be made on French and European industrial contributions to the NATO and U.S. missile defense systems.

Thales and MBDA executives privately estimate up to 5 billion euros would be needed to field a European defense in 2020 against ballistic missiles with a range of 3,000 kilometers.

France should lead Europe's approach to ensure its contribution to the NATO missile shield could be made in kind rather than through funding, Le Bris said.
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11.: Bahrainis: U.S., NATO Deploy More Mideast Troops For Afghan War

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:00 pm (PST)

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67424

Stars and Stripes
Mideast Edition
January 23, 2010

Bahrain military bringing security to Afghan bases
By John Vandiver

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan...125 guards from Bahrain are helping secure the headquarters for U.S. military operations in volatile Helmand province, where more than 10,000 Marines are stationed and more are on the way.

Bahrain deployed members from its special security force to Afghanistan in December. It joins several predominantly Muslim countries that have contributed troops to the war, including the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Jordan.

"The Bahrainis are the first line of defense to get into Camp Bastion and Camp Leatherneck. They are on the front line, making that happen," said Marine Lt. Col. Chris Naler, commander of brigade headquarters at Camp Leatherneck.

Under Bahrain's deployment agreement, reached last year following a visit to the country by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the special security troops are in Afghanistan for two six-month deployments. The nation has the option to do two more six-month deployments after that.
....
Up to 20 members of the Bahrain force speak between five and seven languages, including Farsi, Dari and Pashtu. Bahrain's official language is Arabic but English, Farsi and Urdu are also commonly spoken.
....
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12.: NATO Headquarters: Albright To Address 63 Nations' Military Chiefs

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:26 pm (PST)

http://www.act.nato.int/news.asp?storyid=472

NATO
Allied Command Transformation
January 22, 2010

NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence session Brussels

NATO's Military Committee will meet in Chiefs of Defence Staff (CHODs) session on January 26 and 27 at NATO Headquarters. The various meetings will focus on the progress made in ongoing operations and the New Strategic Concept for NATO.

Together with the Chiefs of Defence of all 28 NATO member states, 35 Chiefs of Defence of Partner countries and Troop Contributing Nations will also be present.

NATO's Strategic Commanders, French Air Force General Stephane Abrial, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, and U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander Operations, the commanders of the Joint Force Commands Lisbon, Brunssum and Naples as well as U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, Commander International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Lt. General Caldwell, Commander NATO Training Mission Afghanistan and the Pakistan Chief or Army Staff, Gen. Kiyani, will participate in discussions on NATO's operations.

With regard to the military aspects of the New Strategic Concept, the Military Committee has invited former US Secretary of State Dr. Madeleine Albright, the Chairperson of the group of Strategic Experts who are contributing to the development of NATO's new Strategic Concept.

The Military Committee will also gather in NATO-Russia format to discuss the further development and implementation of the NATO-Russia Work Plan 2010.
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13.: Germany: U.S., NATO Allies Train Georgian Combat Troops

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:34 pm (PST)

http://www.eucom.mil/english/fullstory.asp?art={E07F4C19-5E84-4177-93D6-4FBCFA04AF22}

United States European Command
January 21, 2010

Georgian's 31st Battalion arrives in Hohenfels for Afghan pre-deployment exercise
Marine Sgt. Rocco DeFilippis
Marine Forces Europe Public Affairs

HOHENFELS, Germany: The Republic of Georgia Army's 31st Light Infantry Battalion arrived at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) here to begin a two-week training evolution that will serve as a final mission evaluation for their upcoming deployment in support of International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

The final mission rehearsal exercise (MRE) comes as a sort of final examination for the Georgian battalion, the first of four battalions to undergo training through the Georgia Deployment Program (GDP), a Marine Corps-led initiative to prepare the Georgians for their Afghanistan deployment.

According to Marine Lt. Col. Dan Thoele, Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group (MCTAG) deputy director and Chicago native, the MRE will provide the final evaluation that the Marine Expeditionary Brigade Afghanistan (MEB-A) commander will use to determine the mission set for the Georgians when they arrive in theater.

"All of the training that [the 31st Battalion] has received over the past four months during the GDP will be evaluated throughout the MRE," Thoele said. "As they are presented various scenarios and events, they will be evaluated by Marine and Army observer controllers whose findings will be incorporated into the final assessment."

During the first half of the MRE, the Georgians will conduct a wide variety of operations that reflect the mission sets common to ISAF forces in Afghanistan such as area security, cordon and search operations, deliberate live-fire attacks with mortar and sniper integration, command post exercises, and cultural awareness engagements, according to Thoele.

Given the unique facilities of the JMRC, Thoele said the MRE will create a realistic training environment for the Georgians that incorporates the concept of conducting operations based from forward operating bases (FOBs) and combat outposts (COPs).

The addition of role-playing civilians on the battlefield (COBs) and a dedicated opposition force (OpFor) will also serve to maximize the training's impact.

"We have tried to make this training as realistic as possible,"Thoele said. "The facilities and data collection capabilities here at the JMRC allow for a very thorough evaluation."
....
Following the initial week of battle drills, live fire, situational and specialty training, the 31st Battalion will begin the final exercise (FINEX) which will test all the skills they have honed during the previous four months of the GDP, according to Thoele.
....
In addition to U.S Marine and Army observer/controllers, representatives from numerous coalition countries are slated to participate in the training at the JMRC in various roles including Spain, Latvia, Poland, France, Slovenia, Slovakia and Greece.
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14.: Latin Americans Leaders Accuse U.S. Of Military Takeover Of Haiti

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

Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:37 pm (PST)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116809&sectionid=351020706

Press TV
January 22, 2010

Latin American leaders say US occupying Haiti

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua say the US is using the international relief operation in Haiti as a cover-up for a military takeover.

Bolivian President Evo Morales said that he will request an emergency UN meeting to reject what he calls the US military occupation of Haiti.

"It's not right that the United States should use this natural disaster to invade and militarily occupy Haiti," Morales told a press conference on Wednesday.

"If you have all these problems with the injured and the dead from the earthquake, you have to go there to save lives, and you don't do that from a military standpoint," he added.

An outspoken critic of US policies, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez also had accused Washington of occupying Haiti "under the guise of the natural disaster."

Nicaragua also has taken a similar stance toward US with respect to the situation in Haiti.

The United States is deploying up to 20,000 troops to Haiti. US servicemen have taken control of the country's international airport.

The Pentagon has sent one of its biggest aircraft carriers to Haiti, along with other navy and coast guard vessels.
....
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