Messages In This Digest (13 Messages)

1.: U.S. Uses Iran As Pretext To Surround Russia With Missiles: Envoy From: Rick Rozoff

2a.: New Russian Military Strategy: NATO Main Threat From: Rick Rozoff
2b.: Re: New Russian Military Strategy: NATO Main Threat From: vineyard saker

3.: US Nuclear Weapons Site in Europe Breached From: linguisticresearch

4.: Robert Simmons Strengthens NATO Ties With Pakistan From: Rick Rozoff

5.: NATO Meeting: U.S. Arms Turkey Against Kurds For Afghan Quid Pro Quo From: Rick Rozoff

6.: Romania: U.S. Expands Missile Shield Into Black Sea From: Rick Rozoff

7.: U.S.A. consolidates Global Military Network From: B.O.C.

8.: NATO Expansion, Wars Threaten European Security System: Russia From: Rick Rozoff

9.: U.S. Missiles In Romania: Fulfillment Of NATO Summit Commitment From: Rick Rozoff

10.: South Ossetians Urge U.S. To End Arming Of Georgia From: Rick Rozoff

11.: James Jones: U.S. To Expand Eastern European Missile Deployments From: Rick Rozoff

12.: Istanbul: Call For NATO Reaction Force Exercises In Baltic Region From: Rick Rozoff

View All Topics | Create New Topic

Messages

1.: U.S. Uses Iran As Pretext To Surround Russia With Missiles: Envoy

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

Fri Feb 5, 2010 12:19 pm (PST)

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-05/u-s-uses-iran-to-globalize-missile-shield-russian-envoy-says.html

Bloomberg News
February 5, 2010

U.S. Uses Iran to Globalize Its Defenses, Russia Says
By Lucian Kim

U.S. plans to base a missile-defense system in eastern Europe are a pretext to encroach on Russia's borders, said Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian envoy to NATO.

"Maybe it's against Iran, but that same system can be targeted against any other country, including Russia's strategic nuclear potential," Rogozin said in an interview on state broadcaster Rossiya 24 today. "The U.S. is using Iran's actions to globalize its system of missile defense."

Rogozin...was reacting to Romania's decision yesterday to join a proposed U.S. missile shield. Romania, a former Soviet ally, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004.

Russia objected to plans by the Bush administration to set up a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, designed to fend off an Iranian attack. President Barack Obama scrapped those plans in September as part of his "reset" to improve U.S.-Russian relations.

Russia's new military doctrine, published on the Kremlin Web site today, names NATO's eastward expansion and foreign missile defense systems among the country's biggest security threats. International terrorism is second to last on the list of 11 threats.

"Our military shouldn't believe some promises or intentions," Rogozin said. "We need to go on the assumption that a foreign military potential is approaching our borders."

'Increasingly Alarmed'

While relations have improved under Obama, Rogozin said a future U.S. administration may retarget its missile defense system at Russia. Attempts by Western countries to establish bases closer to Russia are more worrying than possible Iranian plans to obtain weapons of mass destruction, he said.
....
President Dmitry Medvedev is spearheading a new arms control agreement with Obama and has indicated a willingness to toughen sanctions on Iran. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said the arms agreement must include missile defense and has held off from new threats against Iran.

"We insist that the issue of developing missile defense is tightly linked to cutting strategic offense nuclear weapons, which is currently being negotiated in Geneva," Rogozin said.

He also said Russia would be reserved in helping the NATO mission in Afghanistan until the alliance does more to control the flow of drugs out of the country.
....
--Editors: Chris Kirkham, Andrew Atkinson
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

2a.: New Russian Military Strategy: NATO Main Threat

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

Fri Feb 5, 2010 12:35 pm (PST)

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=341333&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21

Agence France-Presse
February 5, 2010

Russia military sees Nato as chief threat

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has signed a new version of its main military strategy document which named Nato expansion as one of the chief threats to the country's security.

The document listed first among "chief outside military threats" the fact that military alliance is attempting to "globalise its functions in contravention of international law".

It also cited attempts to bring "military infrastructure of Nato members closer to Russian borders, including by expanding the bloc".

Russia has bristled at moves by former Soviet republics such as Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato and relations between Nato and Moscow plunged to a post-Cold War low after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.

Other threats are named as creation and deployment of missile-defence systems.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (2)
2b.: Re: New Russian Military Strategy: NATO Main Threat

Posted by: "vineyard saker" vineyardsaker@gmail.com vineyardsaker

Fri Feb 5, 2010 8:31 pm (PST)

I found the full text in Russian - see attached PDF file

On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Rick Rozoff <rwrozoff@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
>
> http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=341333&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21
>
> Agence France-Presse
> February 5, 2010
>
> Russia military sees Nato as chief threat
>
> Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has signed a new version of its main
> military strategy document which named Nato expansion as one of the chief
> threats to the country's security.
>
> The document listed first among "chief outside military threats" the fact
> that military alliance is attempting to "globalise its functions in
> contravention of international law".
>
> It also cited attempts to bring "military infrastructure of Nato members
> closer to Russian borders, including by expanding the bloc".
>
> Russia has bristled at moves by former Soviet republics such as Georgia and
> Ukraine to join Nato and relations between Nato and Moscow plunged to a
> post-Cold War low after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.
>
> Other threats are named as creation and deployment of missile-defence
> systems.
> ===========================
> Stop NATO
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato
>
> Blog site:
> http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/
>
> To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
> rwrozoff@yahoo.com <rwrozoff%40yahoo.com>
> or
> stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com <stopnato-subscribe%40yahoogroups.com>
>
> Daily digest option available.
> ==============================
>
>
>

--
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/
irc://maddshark.net/The_Vineyard

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (2)

3.: US Nuclear Weapons Site in Europe Breached

Posted by: "linguisticresearch" LinguisticResearch@gmx.de

Fri Feb 5, 2010 8:34 pm (PST)

http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2010/02/kleinebrogel.php

Feb 04

US Nuclear Weapons Site in Europe Breached
<http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2010/02/kleinebrogel.php>

Hans Kristensen <http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/hans_kristensen>,
NATO <http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/nato>, Nuclear Weapons
<http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/nuclear_weapons>, United States
<http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/category/united_states> Add comments
<http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2010/02/kleinebrogel.php#respond>
<http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/images/kleinebrogel.jpg>
Peace activists walked one kilometer onto a US nuclear weapons storage
site in Belgium for more than one hour before security personnel
reacted. Click image for larger version.

.
By Hans M. Kristensen

A group of people last week managed to penetrate deep onto Kleine Brogel
Air Base in Belgium where the U.S. Air Force currently deploys 10-20
nuclear bombs.

Fortunately, the people were not terrorists but peace activists from a
group known as Vredesactie <http://www.vredesactiediy.be/?p=679>, who
managed to climb the outer base fence, walk cross the runway, breach a
double-fenced security perimeter, and walk into the very center of the
air base alongside the aircraft shelters where the nuclear bombs are
thought to be stored in underground vaults.

*
A Nuclear Cake Walk *
The activists climbed the outer base fence (1), breached the inner
double-fence (2), tagged a nuclear aircraft shelter (3), walked across
the tarmac (4), before being arrested (5) after more than one hour
inside the base. The numbers on the images correspond to the location of
the numbers on the map above.

The activists penetrated nearly one kilometer onto the base over more
than an hour before a single armed security guard appeared and asked
what they were doing. Soon more arrived to arrest the activists, who
later described: "The military blindfolded for hours, they forced us to
kneel in the snow, arms outstretched at 90° and threatened us if we
intend to return to the base in the months to come."

The activists videotaped <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfgW_mfxBc0>
their entire walk across the base. The security personnel confiscated
cameras, but the activists removed the memory card first and smuggled it
out of the base. Ahem…

In June 2008, I disclosed
<http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2008/06/usaf-report-%E2%80%9Cmost%E2%80%9D-nuclear-weapon-sites-in-europe-do-not-meet-us-security-requirements.php>
how an internal Air Force investigation had concluded that most nuclear
weapons sites in Europe did not meet US security requirements. The Dutch
government denied <http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2008/07/dutch.php> there
was a problem, and an investigative team later sent by the US congress
concluded that the security was fine.

They might have to go back and check again.

The nuclear bombs at Kleine Brogel are part of a stockpile of about 200
nuclear weapons left in Europe after the Cold War ended. Whereas nuclear
weapons have otherwise been withdrawn to the United States and
consolidated, the bombs in Europe are scattered across 62 aircraft
shelters at six bases in five European countries. The 130-person US
701^st Munitions Support Squadron
<http://www.spangdahlem.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8419>
(MUNSS) is based at Kleine Brogel to protect and service the nuclear
bombs and facilities.

They might have to go back to training.

The activists will likely be charged with trespassing a military base
but they should actually get a medal for having exposed security
problems at Kleine Brogel. And this follows two years of the Air Force
creating new nuclear command structures and beefing up inspections and
training to improve nuclear proficiency following the embarrassing
incident <http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2009/01/schlesingerreport.php> at
Minot Air Force Base in 2007. Despite that, the activists not only made
their way deep into the nuclear base but also discovered that the
double-fence around the nuclear storage area had a hole in it! "We're
not the first," one of the activists said.

NATO needs to get over its obsession with nuclear weapons and move out
of the Cold War and the Obama administration's upcoming Nuclear Posture
Review needs to bring those weapons home before the wrong people try to
do what the peace activists did.

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

4.: Robert Simmons Strengthens NATO Ties With Pakistan

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

Fri Feb 5, 2010 8:36 pm (PST)

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=222723

The News (Pakistan)
February 6, 2010

'Nato keen to broaden dialogue with Pakistan'

ISLAMABAD: Robert Simmons, Nato Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, says that Nato is very keen to broaden its dialogue with the Pakistan government even though they have a good ongoing dialogue with Pakistan's military.

Simons, a familiar face for those on the diplomatic watch in Islamabad....

Talking to the Pakistani media at a dinner in a restaurant overlooking the brightly lit Bhosphourous Sea, on the sidelines of the Nato Defence Minister's meeting, Simmons was at pains to point out, "The message we have for Pakistan is that there should be broader than just the military-to-military relations, which are good. There is a Nato liaison officer in the Turkish Embassy in Islamabad as well for better contacts". He said the active Nato-Pakistan political dialogue has seen with President Asif Ali Zardari visiting the Nato headquarters and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qurieshi is also expected soon. Besides, there have been visits by parliamentarians and journalists.
....
NATO SUPPLIES ROUTE: Eighty per cent of Nato supplies for ISAF go through Pakistan.

"Pakistan's security for the Nato supplies has improved and more go through than not. A couple of shipments do get blown up. There is an increase demand for equipment going through and it is not a competitive process to look for other routes but rather looking for alternative routes. We will continue to send substantive goods through Pakistan," he assured.

IRAN-NATO:

Nato follows carefully the proliferation issue and the missile programme of Iran. "The nuclear programme is a matter of concern and this make dialogue with Iran on Afghanistan more difficult. But we do have a small dialogue with them on Afghanistan", he added.
....
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

5.: NATO Meeting: U.S. Arms Turkey Against Kurds For Afghan Quid Pro Quo

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 5:34 am (PST)

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=112874

Sofia News Agency
February 6, 2010

US, Turkey Agree to Up Military Exchange

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Istanbul for the Informal Meeting of NATO Defense Ministers and non-NATO ISAF Contributing Nations. Photo by BGNES The US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, met Saturday in Ankara with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan.

The two discussed issues related to Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Israel and Iraq.

During the hour-and-a-half talks, the US promised to continue their support for Turkey's fight against terrorist based in the mountain region of Northern Iraq.

Gates also agreed to send ASAP 3 American "Predator" airplanes to be used by the Turkish army to neutralize the Kurd separatists. The US will secure the supply of the military aircraft to compensate for the delayed delivery of the "Heron" airplanes from Israel.

There will be also intensified intelligence exchange between the Pentagon and the Turkish Defense authorities.

All decisions have been agreed with US President, Barrack Obama, during Erdogan's trip to Washington in December.

Gates asked in exchange for Turkey to up their participation in the training of the NATO security forces in Afghanistan. The Turkish PM promised to send more Turkish instructors to Kabul and to accept Afghani soldiers for training in Turkey.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

6.: Romania: U.S. Expands Missile Shield Into Black Sea

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 6:34 am (PST)

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/romania-u-s-expands-missile-shield-into-black-sea

Stop NATO
February 6, 2010

Romania: U.S. Expands Missile Shield Into Black Sea
Rick Rozoff

When Romanian President Traian Basescu disclosed on February 4 that his nation's Supreme Defense Council had "approved a U.S. proposal that Romania takes part in the anti-rocket shield system" and that "Terrestrial interceptors will be located inside the national territory," [1] many readers may have been taken by surprise.

They need not have been, though, as the expansion of the U.S. global, layered, integrated interceptor missile system into the Black Sea was as foreseeable as it is inevitable.

Previous articles in this series forecast just such an eventuality. Just that certainty. [2]

Later on the 4th when a better translation of Basescu's comments was available, the New York Times confirmed that the Romanian head of state pledged that his nation "was prepared to negotiate with the United States to accept ground-based interceptors as part of an antiballistic missile defense system. He said it could be working by 2015."

Basescu added that "the proposal accepted by the Supreme Defense Council came from President Obama, whose under secretary of state for arms control and international security, Ellen O. Tauscher, was in Romania." [3]

That he stipulated the year 2015 and mentioned the State Department's Tauscher are both significant facts. Tauscher signed the agreement with Polish Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski last December to deploy American mid-range interceptor missiles and troops to the Eastern European nation. Two weeks ago Komorowski's ministry announced that U.S. Patriot missiles and troops would be stationed at a Baltic Sea site only 35 miles from Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.

Russia was no more pleased with that news than about U.S. ground-based missiles being stationed in Romania, as will be seen later.

Keeping in mind Tauscher's longstanding role in promoting American interceptor missile plans in Europe, which will be examined in detail further on, the State Department nonetheless formally describes her role as Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State for Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament.

Last year, two days after President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on the same day, September 17, that the U.S. was abandoning plans to station ten ground-based interceptor missiles in Poland and transfer a modified X-band missile radar from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to the Czech Republic, Gates described in the New York Times the alternative project, what Obama characterized as a "stronger, swifter, and smarter" missile shield program far broader in scope and intent than his predecessor's.

Gates wrote of a three-phase plan that would begin with "proven, sea-based SM-3 [Standard Missile-3] interceptor missiles – weapons that are growing in capability," then be followed by a "second phase, which will become operational around 2015" and "involve putting upgraded SM-3s on the ground in Southern and Central Europe. All told, every phase of this plan will include scores of SM-3 missiles, as opposed to the old plan of just 10 ground-based interceptors...." [4]

While deploying scores - 40, 60, 80, 100? - of SM-3 interceptor missiles adapted for ground deployment in both the south and east of Europe (by Central Europe read Eastern Europe), "our military will continue research and development on a two-stage ground-based interceptor, the kind that was planned to be put in Poland, as a back-up," Gates added. [5]

The White House and the Pentagon had not retreated an inch on plans to establish an impenetrable missile shield along Russia's western borders, one that could potentially threaten the nation's strategic forces and disable its ability to retaliate and so credibly maintain a deterrence capability. In fact, as Gates explicitly stated, plans for ten ground-based midcourse missiles in Poland are to be superseded by several times more SM-3 and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 [PAC-3] anti-ballistic missiles as well as a proposed 50,000-pound mobile missile launcher [6] and ground-based missiles in the final analysis anyway.

Shortly after the official shift in U.S. interceptor plans in Europe - and beyond into the Caucasus, the Middle East and even further - Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs Ellen Tauscher put to rest hopes that even the Polish and Czech locations would be left out of wider-ranging plans. At a symposium hosted by the pro-NATO Atlantic Council, one also addressed by the head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly, Tauscher delivered a speech which the Washington Post commented on as follows:

"The undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Ellen Tauscher...said discussions are already underway with Poland to base missiles there, and talks have begun with the Czech Republic about making it the headquarters for command and control elements associated with the system.

"Tauscher said European allies, who were initially troubled by the hasty
announcement canceling the George W. Bush-era system, have come to support the Obama administration's plan, which would permit earlier deployment and provide wider coverage than the earlier one."

She was quoted saying "Remember, this is a NATO-wide European missile defense system as opposed to a bilateral missile defense system" and paraphrased vowing "there would be additional opportunities for allied countries to participate in missile defense.

"Another land-based radar system, which was also part of the Bush plan, for
example, will need to be located in southeastern Europe." [7]

Not only missile radar but missiles themselves will be based in Southeastern Europe, substantially south of Poland and east of the Czech Republic.

As the last head of the Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Henry Obering, told a Pentagon gathering two years ago, "A powerful, 'forward based' X-band radar station could go in southeastern Europe, possibly in Turkey, the Caucasus or the Caspian Sea region." [8]

There is nothing new and nothing unsurprising about the announcement that American interceptor missiles are headed to Romania.

As for Tauscher, there is no discontinuity with her work, either.

She came to her current position in the State Department from that of chairperson of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee in the U.S. Congress.

During that tenure she was a consistently determined promoter of interceptor missile development and deployment.

A brief chronology from the waning days of the George W. Bush presidency will document the unimpeded continuation of her efforts from the Bush to the Obama administrations.

On missiles in Poland:

"I would feel better if this were a NATO framework we were operating in." [9]

On global missile shield plans and space war:

"Rejecting the recommendations of a sub-committee, Representatives Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) and John Larson (D-CT) restored $150 million to Pentagon 'boost phase' missile defense programs, $48 million for future missile defense systems, including space sensors, $12 million more for sea-based sensors and language to allow $160 million for a highly controversial European missile defense site." [10]

On expanding Bush's missile plans to encompass all of Europe:

"This is a crucial element for the US Congress. US missile defense must protect all NATO territories and be fully interoperable with the NATO system. We want more clarity about how these two systems can work together". [11]

While in the Czech Republic:

"The missile defence system must be fully incorporated in NATO and it must protect Europe and the United States, U.S. Democrat Congresswoman Ellen
Tauscher told a press conference today....Tauscher also said that the radar base could not operate without the missile base in Poland.

"She added that the anti-missile system to be stationed in the Czech Republic and Poland is to be connected with another system defending against other type of missiles. 'We are looking for a system of systems,' she said." [12]

Back in Washington:

"House Armed Services strategic forces chair Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) told reporters Nov. 8 that final congressional defense authorization language for fiscal 2008 should hew to her subcommittee's drive to 'NATO-ize' U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMDS) system efforts based in Europe.

"Speaking to defense writers in Washington, Tauscher said she would like to see U.S. ground-based midcourse defense (GBMD) elements there [Europe] - like a proposed radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptors for facilities in Poland - become the 'long-range' aspect of a NATO system complimented by European short- and medium-range systems.

"Tauscher specifically named NATO's Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (ALT-BMD) program - which could include the PAC-3, THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense], and Aegis BMD [Ballistic Missile Defense] systems...." [13]

In March of 2009, shortly before assuming her State Department post - for promoting arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament, recall - she remained an avid proponent of missile deployments in Europe and stated "We need to move in a NATOized way. Eventually we will develop a short- and medium-range system....We can certainly bolt on a long-range system once it has been tested." [14]

She was back in Prague last November and beforehand said "the command for the managing and control of elements of the new version of anti-missile defence could be stationed in the Czech Republic." [15]

Tauscher's project for a more sophisticated, diversified, mobile interceptor system in Europe and its expansion into the Middle East, integrated with all 28 NATO member states and doubtlessly with several key partners, is well on the way to realization. Neither Poland nor the Czech Republic are excluded from the designs; rather the number of nations pulled into Washington's missile shield network will be increased in number and in geographical range.

The first steps have been taken in the Baltic Sea with U.S. PAC-3 missiles and troops to arrive as early as next month and Aegis class warships with Standard Missile-3 interceptors not far behind. The USS Cole, upgraded to an Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer, made port calls to the capitals of Estonia and Finland in the Baltic Sea region last November.

Also last year the guided-missile destroyer USS Stout visited the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea "in support of Navy Ballistic Missile Defense," [16] visiting Israel, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, and Turkey (the last four Black Sea littoral nations) and engaging in maneuvers with the Georgian navy "seen as a show of American support for the former Soviet nation crushed in last year's war with Russia." [17]

In the latter half of 2009 the Pentagon's Joint Task Force-East conducted almost three months of military exercises in Romania and neighboring Bulgaria which included training for U.S. Stryker and airborne units. In October it was reported that the Pentagon will spend $110 million to upgrade two of the seven bases it has acquired in Romania and Bulgaria since 2005; the revamped bases will house over 4,000 U.S. troops.

In October Vice President Joseph Biden was in the Romanian capital on a tour that also took him to Poland and the Czech Republic and met with President Basescu, telling him, "I really appreciate your government's embrace of the new missile defence architecture we are bringing to Europe. It is a better architecture and has the benefit of protecting you as well as the United States." [18]

He also reiterated that "Under [NATO's] Article 5, an attack on one is an
attack against all," [19] according to the Pentagon's website.

At the time of Biden's Romanian visit a U.S. army official in Romania stated that "an American military base near the Black Sea port of Constanta will become a permanent facility in the spring...." [20]

A Romanian publication ran a column in November of last year that foreshadowed this week's news concerning U.S. missile shield deployments in the nation. It included a quote that "A strong and modern surveillance system located in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey could monitor three hot areas at once: the Black Sea, the Caucasus and the Caspian and relevant zones in the Middle East."

By process of elimination it continued, "Turkey is very unlikely to host a land-based SM-3 system, because it would not dare position itself so aggressively against its Iranian neighbour.

"This would make Greece, Bulgaria or Romania contenders - and with Biden making the recent visit to Bucharest as opposed to Sofia or Athens in the context of discussions on security architecture, Romania appears to be a more likely location."

It continued: "By 2011 the Pentagon will roll out its naval anti-ballistic missile system on cruisers and destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean. These ships will be equipped with Lockheed Martin's Aegis system, containing anti-aircraft and anti-missile radar and weaponry. The ships contain mid to long range SM-3 missiles."

An extension of the ship-based interceptor missiles into the Black Sea may follow because "The [Romanian] Constanta port and naval facilities, plus Bulgaria with its Burgas port, could be good platforms for a military naval base...." [21]

As an indication of how the bases can be used, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq in March of 2003 Agence France-Presse reported that "An air of secrecy surrounds the arrival of thousands of US military personnel at the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta in preparation for a war on Iraq.

"Ten giant Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and four H-53 helicopters can be seen parked at a military airbase adjacent to the local civilian airport."

A Romanian source was quoted at the time as saying, "We are NATO's advance post in the east." [22]

The base in question is the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base north of Constanta, the main headquarters of the Pentagon's Joint Task Force-East.

Russian Response

When it first became evident that the U.S. was moving into and taking over four military bases in Romania (and three in Bulgaria) for training and deployment for wars in the east, in 2007 then Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "[A] new base in Bulgaria, another in Romania....What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this." [23]

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov echoed the concern, stating "Russia finds it hard to understand some decisions of NATO like, for example, the deployment of US military facilities in Bulgaria and Romania." [24]

When Romania's President Basescu revealed U.S. missile shield plans for his nation on February 4, Lavrov again spoke out and said "We expect the United States to provide an exhaustive explanation, taking into account the fact that the Black Sea regime is regulated by the Montreux Convention," [25] which prohibits warships of non-Black Sea nations from staying in the Black Sea longer than 21 days and bans the deployment of outside nations' aircraft carriers.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russian envoy to NATO, was more detailed and more direct in his assessment. "Maybe it's against Iran, but that same system can be targeted against any other country, including Russia's strategic nuclear potential. The U.S. is using Iran's actions to globalize its system of missile defense....Our military shouldn't believe some promises or intentions. We need to go on the assumption that a foreign military potential is approaching our borders." [26]

On February 5 the Russian Information Agency Novosti website quoted the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, Retired Colonel Igor Korotchenko, who said "Russia must warn Romania that if the elements of the U.S. missile shield are placed in the country they will become a target of Russia's preventive missile strikes."

He also warned "that with ship-based SM-3s in the North, Black and
Mediterranean seas, and mobile land-based SM-3s in Central Europe the western borders of Russia would be surrounded by U.S. missile interceptors by 2015." [27]

At the same time Pentagon chief Robert Gates arrived in Turkey for two days of meetings with fellow NATO defense chiefs and it was reported that he would "urge European allies...to inject more funding into NATO with a focus on Afghanistan and priorities such as missile defense...." [28]

On February 5 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev approved his nation's new military doctrine, which according to Reuters identifies "NATO expansion as a national threat...."

"The doctrine identifies the expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe and U.S. plans to create an anti-missile shield in Europe as concerns for national security...." [29]

The two are inextricably connected and unless both are halted U.S. military provocations in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and the South Caucasus may lead to a new European conflagration.

1) Reuters, February 4, 2010
2) 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

Balkans Revisited: U.S., NATO Expand Military Role In Southeastern Europe
Stop NATO, September 14, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/266

U.S. Missile Shield Plans: Retreat Or Advance?
Stop NATO, September 17, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/u-s-missile-shield-plans-retreat-or-advance

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. 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

Dangerous Missile Battle In Space Over Europe: Fifth Act In U.S. Missile
Shield Drama
Stop NATO, September 29, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/dangerous-missile-battle-in-space-over-europe-fifth-act-in-u-s-missile-shield-drama

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
3) New York Times, February 4, 2010
4) New York Times, September 19, 2009
5) Ibid
6) Pentagon Intensifies Plans For Global Military Supremacy: U.S., NATO Could
Deploy Mobile Missiles Launchers To Europe
Stop NATO, August 22, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/pentagon-intensifies-plans-for-global-military-supremacy-u-s-nato-could-deploy-mobile-missiles-launchers-to-europe/
7) Washington Post, October 8, 2009
8) Turkish Daily News, March 12, 2008
9) Defense News, March 28, 2007
10) Bruce Gagnon, U.S. Space First-Strike Program Is Well Underway
Baltimore Chronicle, May 13, 2007
11) PanArmenian.net, May 28, 2007
12) Czech News Agency, September 14, 2007
13) Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, November 9, 2007
14) Agence France-Presse, March 22, 2009
15) Czech News Agency, November 4, 2009
16) United States Navy, September 25, 2009
17) Associated Press, July 14, 2009
18) Romanian Times, October 22, 2009
19) U.S. Department of Defense, October 22, 2009
20) Associated Press, October 23, 2009
21) The Diplomat, November, 2009
22) Agence France-Presse, March 9, 2003
23) New Europe, Week of June 2, 2007
24) Standart News, December 7, 2007
25) Russian Information Agency Novosti, February 5, 2010
26) Bloomberg News, February 5, 2010
27) Russian Information Agency Novosti, February 5, 2010
28) Bloomberg News, February 4, 2010
29) Reuters, February 5, 2010
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

7.: U.S.A. consolidates Global Military Network

Posted by: "B.O.C." bleed_four_me@yahoo.com bleed_four_me

Sat Feb 6, 2010 6:36 am (PST)

Bases, Missiles, Wars: U.S. Consolidates Global Military http://afghanistan.hmg.gov.uk/en/conference

http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/article/news/u.s.-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-tours-bases-outposts.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17221

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

8.: NATO Expansion, Wars Threaten European Security System: Russia

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 6:44 am (PST)

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14794534&PageNum=0

Itar-Tass
February 6, 2010

OSCE principles did not work to prevent mil actions - RF FM

MUNICH: The OSCE had a real chance to become a full value organization, but the choice was made in favour of the policy of NATO enlargement, and it meant that not only the lines dividing Europe in zones with various levels of security remained, but also that the lines were moved east, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday when speaking at the Munich Conference on Security.

Lavrov drew attention particularly to the fact that two latest history episodes confirmed the conclusion that the OSCE security indivisibility principle did not work. He said about the bombardment of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the tragedy in the Caucasus in August 2008.

The OSCE's looseness and the lack of clear rules resulted in the fact that the information of OSCE observers about the Georgian leaders' preparations for a military attack was not reported to the OSCE Permanent Council and it could not take appropriate measures, Lavrov noted.

The Russia-NATO Council also failed - some members of the council blocked Russia's request to convene an urgent meeting when the military actions were at the height, the minister said.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

9.: U.S. Missiles In Romania: Fulfillment Of NATO Summit Commitment

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 6:48 am (PST)

http://www.financiarul.ro/2010/02/06/formin-says-romanias-participation-in-anti-missile-shield-a-success-in-its-relation-with-u-s/

Financiarul
February 6, 2010

ForMin says Romania's participation in anti-missile shield a success in

-"The decision to take part in the U.S. system is in full agreement with what the NATO summits in Bucharest in 2008 and in Strasbourg-Kehl in 2009 decided in this respect."

Romania's participation in the development of the U.S. anti-missile defence system is also the result of diplomatic moves made over the last period and it is a success of Romania both in its bilateral relations with the United States and from the viewpoint of Bucharest's assertion as a reliable partner for the NATO member states, the Foreign Affairs Ministry told on Friday.

'Romania was and continues to be a consistent promoter in NATO of the project regarding the gradual-adaptive development of the anti-missile defence system in Europe, and Romania took firm action in order to see it achieved. The decision to take part in the U.S. system is in full agreement with what the NATO summits in Bucharest in 2008 and in Strasbourg-Kehl in 2009 decided in this respect', the ministry said.

Bilateral talks will start in the period immediately ahead in order to close the required agreements with the U.S. side and thus fulfil the decision made by the Romanian Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) on Thursday to take part in the missile interceptor system. The negotiating team will include officials of several institutions that have responsibilities in this field, the ministry stressed.

The resulting bilateral understandings will be submitted to the Romanian Parliament for ratification. The Foreign Ministry reiterates the support for the development of a NATO system of anti-missile defence that should rely on the main elements decided on at the Bucharest summit and reiterated at the Strasbourg-Kehl summit, namely the indivisibility of the alliance security, the allied solidarity and the full coverage of the allied territory.

The calendar agreed with the U.S. side aims to commission the Romanian-based facilities starting in 2015, as part of the second phase (2015-2018) of the U.S. system, the Foreign Affairs Ministry told. 'The bilateral project with the United States, that makes a substantial contribution to strengthening Romania's security and to consolidating the bilateral Strategic Partnership will make a significant contribution to the future NATO anti-missile defence programme', it added.

Romania was invited by U.S. President Barack Obama to take part in the development of the U.S. anti-missile system and the Romanian Supreme Defence Council approved the proposal on Thursday.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

10.: South Ossetians Urge U.S. To End Arming Of Georgia

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 6:50 am (PST)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/02/06/4200892.html

Voice of Russia
February 6, 2010

South Ossetians urge US to stop military supplies to Georgia

Residents of South Ossetia have urged the United States to stop military supplies to Georgia.

A letter to Senator Richard Lugar signed by 340 South Ossetians says Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili may use weapons received from the United States against South Ossetia again, like in August 2008, when hundreds were killed or wounded and thousands were left without homes.

Senator Lugar prepared a report that casts doubts on Washington's decision to stop weapons supplies to Georgia following its invasion of South Ossetia.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

11.: James Jones: U.S. To Expand Eastern European Missile Deployments

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 6:54 am (PST)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/02/06/4196575.html

Voice of Russia
February 6, 2010

US deploys missile defence elements in Eastern Europe

The US Administration has launched a new phase of deploying its missile defence systems in Eastern Europe.

This came in a statement by President Barack Obama's National Security Adviser James Jones. He was speaking in an address to the 46th Munich conference on security earlier today.

He said plans to deploy missile defences had been prompted by growing medium- and short-range missile threat.

According to Jones, the United States will interact on deploying antimissile missiles in Europe with all of its partners, namely Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, and will also continue talks with Russia.

Yesterday the Romanian President Traian Basescu said he was prepared to start talks with the United States on deploying elements of the US missile defence system in Romania in 2015. Moscow has, for its part, voiced concern about Washington's plans.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)

12.: Istanbul: Call For NATO Reaction Force Exercises In Baltic Region

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

Sat Feb 6, 2010 7:01 am (PST)

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/13001/

Defense Professionals
February 6, 2010

Lithuanian Defence Minister stresses importance of NATO military exercises in the Baltic region

On February 4-5, Minister of National Defence Rasa Jukneviciene took part in an informal meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Istanbul (Turkey). In the meeting the ministers addressed the main topics: resources of the Alliance, transformation, NATO-led multinational operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

In the meeting the Lithuanian Minister suggested arranging NATO Response Force training in Lithuania in the nearest future.

Rasa Jukneviciene stressed that Lithuania will continue active participation in the process of NRF development. According to her, such training events enhance common security and the interoperability of NATO forces. The Lithuanian Minister upheld that NRF exercises, including in the Baltic region, should become a frequent event.

At the Istanbul meeting NATO Defence Ministers initiated a reform of NATO structures providing for revision of surplus infrastructure and resources and increase of joint financing of operations. Supreme Allied Commander Europe Adm. James Stavridis briefed NATO Defence Ministers about ongoing operations in Kosovo (KFOR) and Afghanistan (ISAF).

In a joint session of NATO Defence Ministers and non-NATO countries contributing to ISAF operation joint efforts of reconstruction of Afghanistan will be touched upon. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed that NATO forces will remain in Afghanistan for as long as it takes....

In bilateral meetings in Istanbul with Defence Ministers of Germany, Poland, Denmark, Finland and Azerbaijan RRasa Jukneviciene discussed current issues and perspectives of cooperation.

On February 5 Rasa Jukneviciene will depart from Istanbul for Munich (Germany) to take part in the annual Security Policy Conference through the weekend.
===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

To subscribe, send an e-mail to:
rwrozoff@yahoo.com
or
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Daily digest option available.
==============================

Back to top
Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post
Messages in this topic (1)