1.: Video And Text: Was The CIA Behind Libyan Uprising?

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:40 am (PDT)

http://rt.com/usa/news/cia-gaddafi-rice-libya-936-087/

RT
August 25, 2011

Was the CIA behind the Gaddafi oust?

Video at URL above

Congressman Dennis Kucinch has suggested that the CIA has had a role in the start-up of the Arab Spring this year. Jack Rice, a journalist and former officer at the CIA himself, says it is not that unlikely at all.

"Let's be honest," Rice said to RT. "The CIA is involved in every place that they try to get involved in. They try to be on the ground in every major country in the region."

"To deny is," thinks Rice, "would be naive."

Rice adds, however, that he thinks the relationship the United States has with the Middle East in general is one that is "very schizophrenic." While the US insists on spreading democracy, he argues that America often acts hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another. While the US might be pushing for change, how does the country react when it isn't the change they want?

Despite America's encouragement for an uprising against Colonel Gaddafi's rule in Libya, Rice says the consequences could turn out to be against what the US is actually in favor of. Rice posed the question of what will happen when those looting Gaddafi's compound walk out with the weaponry the dictator had in his possession and wants to use it to enforce an Islamic rule that goes against what westerners want? Americans are pushing for stability, said Rice, but are they going to get it with the way they are handling it?

What we can expect, said Rice, is a shadow war typical of America. The US will move into the region and try to control it from the sidelines, hoping that they can install their ideals in a new country with new leadership, without necessarily putting a figurehead in the forefront.
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2a.: Three NATO Soldiers Killed In Southern Afghanistan

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:40 am (PDT)

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/08/25/roadside-bombs-kill-3-nato-soldiers-in-afghanistan/

Voice of America News
August 26, 2011

Roadside Bombs Kill 3 NATO Soldiers in Afghanistan

NATO says roadside bombs have killed three of its service members in Afghanistan.

The soldiers were killed Thursday in two separate attacks in the south. The coalition did not give details.

...

Taliban insurgents are increasingly using improvised explosive devices to target both security forces and Afghan civilians.

...
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3.: NATO Conducts Integrated Interceptor Missile Test In Europe

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:01 pm (PDT)

http://www.mmdnewswire.com/nato-missile-defences-63696.html

Mass Media Distribution
August 25, 2011

NATO missile defences pass first field test

-"This is a very significant event for NATO. It has, for the first time, demonstrated that NATO ballistic missile defence capabilities from a number of Alliance members, including the US, can operate in a seamless manner under a unified command structure to accomplish this new NATO mission."
-In line with the Lisbon Summit decision of November 2010, the ALTBMD capability will also be expanded to protect NATO European territory and populations as well as deployed NATO forces.

NATO has taken a significant step forward in providing its commanders the capability to defend deployed forces against attacks from ballistic missiles. The NATO Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) Interim Capability, which was made available to the NATO operational community at the end of last year, has been successfully tested in a realistic operational environment.

The test was the first of two field tests scheduled by NATO's commanders prior to the missile defence capability being declared as having reached military initial operating capability.

Challenging scenario

The test took place between 22 and 24 August and was conducted in conjunction with a previously-planned test of the command and control network of the United States Ballistic Missile Defence System's European Components. The test involved operational units from Germany, the Netherlands, United States systems and the NATO command and control headquarters in Uedem and Ramstein, Germany. The units involved include Patriot missile battalions from Germany and the Netherlands, US Aegis systems, as well as the command and control headquarters for the US and NATO forces.

The units involved in the test responded to a simulated attack. They received information from space- and land-based sensors about a simulated ballistic missile attack, and executed simulated interception missions against that attack, based on tactical information shared between all of the participating units under the direction of the NATO commander.

"This is a very significant event for NATO. It has, for the first time, demonstrated that NATO ballistic missile defence capabilities from a number of Alliance members, including the US, can operate in a seamless manner under a unified command structure to accomplish this new NATO mission," said General Alessandro Pera, Programme Manager of NATO ALTBMD. "It is an excellent beginning for NATO's growing capability in this new mission area."

Under the ALTBMD Programme, NATO provides a command and control system that links sensors and interceptors from nations into a capability that can protect deployed forces from ballistic missile attacks.

The ALTBMD Programme Office will continue to upgrade the NATO Command and Control System for Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence in incremental steps from 2013 to 2018, to field a more robust operational capability. In line with the Lisbon Summit decision of November 2010, the ALTBMD capability will also be expanded to protect NATO European territory and populations as well as deployed NATO forces.
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4.: Lockheed Opens New Testing Ground For Advanced Interceptor Missile

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:01 pm (PDT)

http://lawrencecounty.waff.com/news/news/59045-lockheed-martin-announces-new-location-missile-testing

WAFF
August 22, 2011

Lockheed Martin announces new location for missile testing
By Kym Graves

Lockheed Martin announced they will be expanding local manufacturing to include testing on a new missile in Lawrence County.

Officials with the company said their Courtland facility will start testing the standard missile-3 Block IIB (SM-3 IIB).

It's a 660-acre development facility that's already up and running, It's located 45 minutes outside of Huntsville.

The facility is now used to assemble, integrate and test ballistic missiles. Officials at Lockheed Martin said keeping more of these projects local is key.

...

Lockheed Martin is a ***global security*** company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide.
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5.: Northrop Produces Viper Strike Missiles For U.S. Marine Corps

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:01 pm (PDT)

http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2011/08/northrop_grumman_to_produce_vi.html

Huntsville Times
August 25, 2011

Northrop Grumman to produce Viper Strike missiles for Marines

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama: Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract to produce additional Viper Strike missiles for the Marines' Harvest Hawk aircraft as well as the KC-130J refueling and cargo aircraft.

Under the terms of the contract, Northrop will deliver the missiles this year to the Joint Attack Munition Systems Project Office within the Program Executive Office Missiles and Space at Redstone Arsenal. The Viper Strikes are produced at Northrop's facility in Huntsville. The company did not release the value of the contract nor the number of missiles it will deliver.

The Viper Strikes on Harvest Hawk have updated software to enhance their effectiveness against moving targets. During flight testing at China Lake, Calif., the missiles scored multiple hits against moving vehicles in a variety of scenarios.

The Viper Strike is a 3-foot long, unpowered glider. It can be launched from long distances using GPS-aided navigation and a laser seeker.

Its size, precision and high agility [make it] suitable for urban warfare.

The laser guidance also enables the missile to hit vehicles - moving or stationary - and small targets, Northrop said.

"In today's irregular warfare environment, Viper Strike provides the right characteristics needed to support our warfighters in the current fight - high precision and agility to hit moving and stationary targets in complex terrain..," said Steve Considine, programs director, Aviation and Weapons for Northrop Grumman's Land and Self Protection Systems Division. "The KC-103J represents the latest military airborne asset to be equipped with Viper Strike's formidable capabilities."
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6.: U.S. Drone Crashes At Pakistani Military Facility

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:01 pm (PDT)

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=8419&Cat=13

News International
August 26, 2011

US drone crashes in Chaman
By Muhammad Ejaz Khan

QUETTA: An unmanned US spy plane crashed on the premises of the Frontier Corps (FC) Fort near the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman, some 120 kilometers from here, on Thursday evening.

Reports reaching here said that the drone crashed while flying over the FC Cantonment in Chaman and was completely destroyed. FC officials said that the cause of the crash might be some technical faults developed in the plane. Sources said the plane entered Pakistani territory near 5:30 pm and crashed around Iftar time. The Frontier Corps had taken away the debris of the plane and an investigation is under way. The sources said that the US or Nato officials have not yet contacted the Pakistani authorities concerning the crash.
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7.: CIA Operating In Tripoli

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:01 pm (PDT)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/26/55186178.html

Voice of Russia
August 25, 2011

CIA joins search for Gaddafi

US intelligence has joined in the search for Muammar Gaddafi, a White House spokesman said in Washington on Thursday.

He said CIA operatives, reconnaissance planes and drones were all being used in the operation. The CIA believes the embattled Libyan leader may be hiding in one of an estimated 40 shelters in the capital Tripoli and elsewhere in the country.

The Americans share the obtained information with the opposition Transitional National Council.

Meanwhile, in a radio address on Thursday Gaddafi urged his supporters to take up arms and crush the rebels.
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8.: Barely Independent: U.S. AFRICOM Commander In South Sudan

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:16 pm (PDT)

http://www.sudantribune.com/U-S-Africom-commander-starts-a,39944

Sudan Tribune
August 25, 2011

U.S. Africom commander starts a visit to South Sudan

JUBA, South Sudan: The Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Carter F. Ham arrived in South Sudan capital of Juba for talks on the government's strategy to boost internal security in the newly established state.

South Sudan officially seceded from the rest of Sudan last month and countries around the world were quick to recognize the new nation.

North and South Sudan fought more than two decades of civil war that ultimately ended through a U.S. brokered peace deal which gave Southerners the right of self determination.

But daunting challenges are facing South Sudan, particularly the outbreak of several rebellions as well as tribal clashes.

Last week around 600 people were killed and hundreds other wounded in fighting that erupted between Murle tribe and the Lou-Nuer tribe.

In his meeting with Africom commander, President Salva Kiir commended the role being played by the US in facilitating peace and security to the people of South Sudan, according to a statement on the government's website.

Kiir called for Washington's help in building the military capacity of South Sudan.

Gen. Ham said in a press statement that the meeting discussed principle topics on military partnership between the two countries.

He added the partnership would provide the armies in both states a framework for close collaboration in addressing security concerns in the future.

...

The Africom chief also presented to Kiir a symbol of military partnership between the in form of a silver jar.
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9a.: Re: Armed Gangs On Rampage In Libyan Capital

Posted by: "endtheliedotcom" madison.ruppert@gmail.com endtheliedotcom

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:26 pm (PDT)

I've been watching Al Jazeera all day... Funny how different the coverage is. They are acting as if there is only one area in which Gaddafi loyalists are still in control. They are still pretending the rebels are peaceful, cohesive and democratic. What a joke!

--- In stopnato@yahoogroups.com, Rick Rozoff <rwrozoff@...> wrote:
>
> http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/24/55124698.html
>
>
> Voice of Russia
> August 24, 2011
>
>
> Chaos in Tripoli
>
>
>
> Russian agencies quote Ukrainian medical workers in the Libyan capital Tripoli as speaking of chaotic shooting, barricading of buildings, carjacking and mass looting around. Residents try to stay indoors.
>
> Eyewitnesses say armed gangs have ransacked the Embassy of Bulgaria and attacked the Embassy of South Korea and the residential compound of the Ambassador of Ukraine.
>
> In central Tripoli, supporters of Muammar Gaddafi are believed to be still holding out. The whereabouts of their leader himself is everyoneâ€™s guess.
>
> Analysts believe it is too early to say that the rebels are in full control in Tripoli.
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10.: U.S.-India Military Partnership Priority For Pentagon, White House

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

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:43 pm (PDT)

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65131

U.S. Department of Defense
American Forces Press Service
August 25, 2011

Routine Interactions Build U.S-India Defense Relations
By Cheryl Pellerin

-All three of the Indian military's current service chiefs went to school in the United States during their careers, Scher noted.
"Air Marshal [Norman Anil Kumar] Browne graduated from the Air Command and Staff College, he said. "General [Vijay Kumar] Singh is a graduate of both the U.S. Army Ranger School and the U.S. Army War College. And Adm. [Nirmal Kumar] Verma is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College."
-India routinely has more exercises with the United States than with any other country, Scher noted. "Over the last six years, we've done nearly 50 major exercises with India...and our exercises are evolving in complexity," he said.
-Defense sales to India increased from virtually no defense trade relationship in the 1990s to nearly $6 billion today in foreign military sales alone, Scher said.

WASHINGTON: The U.S.-India defense relationship is a natural partnership created by shared interests and values and driven by increasingly routine day-to-day interactions, a senior Defense Department official said here today.

Robert Scher, deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia, spoke to an audience at the New America Foundation.

Day-to-day successes that lay the groundwork for the U.S.-India defense relationship are rarely in the spotlight, Scher said, "but they are an important factor in driving our relationship forward and helping us understand each other."

The U.S.-India relationship is a priority for the Obama administration and the Defense Department, Scher said, one that President Barack Obama has called a defining partnership of the 21st century. In recent years, he added, high-level visits have cemented the commitment of both nations to the bilateral relationship.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the United States in 2009, and Obama traveled to India in 2010. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's July attendance at the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue was her second trip there as secretary of state.

"India is a major regional and global power," Scher said. "We view our relationship with India as a partnership...with a commonality of security interests in the Indian Ocean region and beyond."

...

Three key areas in the U.S.-India defense relationship are people-to-people ties, military engagement and defense sales, the deputy assistant secretary of defense said.

Examples of people-to-people ties include attendance by service members from both nations at U.S. and Indian military educational institutions, Scher said.

"In 2010, we had nearly 100 members of the Indian armed services at military schools or courses in the United States," he said...

All three of the Indian military's current service chiefs went to school in the United States during their careers, Scher noted.

"Air Marshal [Norman Anil Kumar] Browne graduated from the Air Command and Staff College, he said. "General [Vijay Kumar] Singh is a graduate of both the U.S. Army Ranger School and the U.S. Army War College. And Adm. [Nirmal Kumar] Verma is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College."

In the United States, Scher added, retired Navy Adm. Walter L. Doran attended the Indian Defense Service Staff College in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, India, in 1979. There, he formed a close relationship with Indian colleagues who included former Indian Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Arun Prakash and Adm. Sureesh Mehta.

...

The U.S. Naval Postgraduate School recently formalized a memorandum of understanding with India's Defense Institute of Advanced Technology, he added.

"This September," Scher told the group, "they will jointly conduct a defeating-terrorism workshop that will bring together senior leaders from both sides, including the director general of India's Defense Research Development Organization and the [U.S.] chief of naval research to discuss ways to leverage research capabilities to contribute to the defeat of terrorism."

A similar workshop on cybersecurity is planned for the near future, he said.

...

Military-to-military engagements are another element of the U.S.-India defense partnership, Scher said.

...

India routinely has more exercises with the United States than with any other country, Scher noted. "Over the last six years, we've done nearly 50 major exercises with India...and our exercises are evolving in complexity," he said.

Over a decade, Malabar, a regularly scheduled bilateral naval field training exercise with India, has advanced from little more than a passing exercise to a full engagement that exercises all functional warfare areas, Scher said.

"Malabar allows our navies to work cooperatively in integrated air and missile defense, antisubmarine and naval special warfare scenarios, for example," he said.

...

The major U.S. exercise with the Indian army, Yudh Abyhas, started in 2004 as the first conventional army-to-army training with India since 1962, Scher said.

"The exercise, in addition to sharing training and capabilities, promotes cooperation between our armies on partner readiness," he said. "The first deployment of Stryker vehicles outside the United States other than to a war zone was to India [to support their participation] in Yudh Abyhas."

...

Together, the United States and India have an important role in fostering multilateral cooperation in Asia and supporting the emerging regional security architectures, Scher said.

...

Defense sales to India increased from virtually no defense trade relationship in the 1990s to nearly $6 billion today in foreign military sales alone, Scher said.

"It is clear that the Indian military in the future will routinely use U.S. equipment and all services across a full range of mission areas," he added.

...
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11.: NATO Proxy War In Libya Far From Over: Expert

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:08 am (PDT)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/26/55214837.html

Voice of Russia
August 26, 2011

Libyan conflict far from being over
Polina Chernitsa

Libya's National Transitional Council has moved from Benghazi to Tripoli. Opposition members say that from now on, all political guidance will be provided from the official capital, which the rebel army would never be able to occupy without NATO assistance. This sensational statement may expose the alliance's reputation to risk and is fraught with major political complications within the coalition, experts claim.

Colonel Fadlallah Harun, the official spokesman for the NTC's armed force, said, in particular, that NATO's role was generally limited to forming battle groups to be secretly redeployed to Tripoli. Another evidence of the alliance's ground presence in Libya was established by British and French journalists. Such a scenario was rather predictable, according to deputy director of the Institute for African Studies Leonid Fituni.

"Three weeks ago, NATO claimed to be acting in compliance with the UN Security Council's resolution banning it from direct interference in the conflict. Today we see that all conventions were discarded and NATO got involved in Libya's confrontation as a third party, the rebel's ally. This was obvious even before the assault of Tripoli when NATO instructors began to appear in the opposition ranks. Thus, Tripoli was attacked not so much by Libyan rebels as members of NATO security services disguised as Arabs. It was them who cleared the way for the opposition to enter a direct fight against Gaddafi troops. If the US now joins the search for the Colonel, this will mean an open phase of the ground operation," Leonid Fituni said.

Despite the National Transitional Council's official statements, video and photo evidence, NATO leaders keep insisting that its activity does not run counter to the UNSC's mandate. On August 23rd, its spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said NATO had no troops on the ground and was not going to ever fall back on their help.

Such a course of events may have a negative impact on the Alliance itself. Experts say a number of UN Security Council's member states are likely to express their condemnation over the situation soon. If it fails to prevent a split within its own ranks, NATO will be suspended from the power transfer process in Libya, which will inevitably demoralize the opposition, Leonid Fituni goes on to say.

"The opposition proclaimed that it had seized power. However, the absence of a common enemy during any revolution leads to the sides' getting into an argument as to who was right and who was wrong. Eventually, a moment will come when one of the groups proves to be stronger than the others and starts sorting things out in its own way," Leonid Fituni concluded.

According to some experts, both NATO and Libyan rebels drove themselves into a trap when occupying Tripoli. First of all, Gaddafi's whereabouts and capacity are still unknown, with his followers still controlling a number of the capital's districts. Analysts say Tripoli's surrender could have only been a tactical move. Secondly, the NTC acknowledged the day before that it cannot put an end to marauding within its army, which may provoke a feedback from local residents who are still considered loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. In other words, the conflict in Libya is far from being over and may even linger for a long time in view of the new circumstances.
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12.: NATO's International Killing Machine At Work In Afghanistan

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:08 am (PDT)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/26/55211935.html

Voice of Russia
August 26, 2011

NATO planes kill five Afghan civilians

NATO aircraft killed five Afghan civilians, including three women, when attacking the assumed positions of Taliban militants in the east of Afghanistan. This comes in a report by the Xinhua news agency with reference to the local authorities.

The planes attacked an area in the Logar province, about 60 kilometres south of Kabul...

Later on, three bodies of civilians were found on the site of the airstrike.
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13.: Afghan Drugs Destabilize Political Situation In Balkans: Russia

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:08 am (PDT)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/26/55208108.html

Voice of Russia
August 26, 2011

Afghan drug production destabilizes political situation in Balkans

Afghan drug production is destabilizing the political situation in the Balkans, which serves as a transshipment point for some 70% of heroin, says the Chief of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Victor Ivanov in an interview with the ITAR-TASS news agency.

According to the official, major cartels not only take care of shipping drugs, but draw extensively on their huge funds to set political objectives.

According to the United Nations, some 150 tons of heroin are shipped from Afghanistan via the Balkans.

Victor Ivanov says that the Balkan route got a second breath since NATO launched its military operation in Afghanistan, with subsequent drug production growing 40-fold.
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14.: 160-Day Air War: 20,395 NATO Sorties, 7,681 Air Strikes

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:09 am (PDT)

http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_08/20110826_110826-oup-update.pdf

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
August 26, 2011

NATO and Libya
Allied Joint Force Command NAPLES, SHAPE, NATO HQ

...

Over the past 24 hours, NATO has conducted the following activities associated with Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR:

Air Operations

Since the beginning of the NATO operation (31 March 2011, 06.00GMT) a total of 20,395 sorties, including 7,681 strike sorties, have been conducted.

Sorties conducted 25 AUGUST: 133

Strike sorties conducted 25 AUGUST: 46

...
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15.: ALBA Condemns NATO For Assault On Venezuelan Embassy In Libya

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:37 am (PDT)

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6446

Venezuelanalysis
August 25, 2011

ALBA and Others Condemn Armed Assault on Venezuela's Diplomatic Residence in Libya
By Juan Reardon

-"They have torn apart a country, and it wasn't Gadafi who did it. They have set the country ablaze, and it wasn't Gadafi who did it – no, it was precisely imperial madness and capitalism's global crisis who did it," said Chavez.
Reports estimate that recent NATO bombings of the Libyan capital have resulted in over 2,000 deaths in Tripoli alone, with the total number of dead expected to rise.
Chavez said he was concerned that the "tragedy in Libya has just begun" as rumors spread about a possible ground invasion by NATO special forces.

San Francisco: On Wednesday Venezuela's ambassador in Libya denounced the looting of his official residence by armed men, calling the assault "a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty" by "NATO itself." The governments of Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, among other ALBA nations, denounced the violent attack as a "breach of international law," as did Venezuela's ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV).

Speaking to TeleSUR on Wednesday, Venezuelan Ambassador to Libya Afif Tajeldine explained that "a group of armed men" had shot their way in to the official residence, "began searching the house and asking for me," before "looting all things, including the vehicles, the entire house, leaving nothing in the residence and shooting in the air as they left."

"This is an act that violates international law, since this site is part of our territory, Venezuelan territory, which they must respect as such," said the ambassador.

This breach of international law, affirmed Tajeldine, "was carried out by armed groups supported by NATO, leading us to consider it a violation, by NATO itself, of our sovereignty."

Venezuela's Tajeldine pointed out that it was the official residence, and not the embassy, that had suffered yesterday's attacks, clarifying conflicting reports including comments made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that the country's embassy had been ransacked.

"At the embassy itself nothing has yet occurred," he said.

Condemnation of the Armed Assault

In response to the attack on the diplomatic residence, the countries that make up the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) released a statement "deploring" what they called another "violation of international law," caused by the "the illegal military aggression by NATO governments and their allies."

"The countries of the Bolivarian Alliance congregate votes so that this important African country (Libya) recovers the road to peace and harmony and so that the internal conflict in Libya find a political solution that preserves its sovereignty and territorial integrity," read the statement.

The governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines all signed the condemnation.

In Argentina on Thursday, the countries meeting at the Forum for Cooperation between Latin American and East Asia (FOCALAE) added their collective "condemnation" of the armed assault, calling it "a clear violation of the principles of international law."

Venezuelan Vice Minister of Foreign Relations Temir Porras, present at this week's FOCALAE summit, thanked his colleagues for the "show of solidarity" and said that the importance of the collective statement was that it "denounced the chaos sowed in Tripoli by these armed groups."

Venezuela's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the largest party in the country with some seven million members, also denounced the attack.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, International Affairs Secretary of the PSUV Rodrigo Cabezas denounced the attack on Venezuela's representatives in Libya within the context of NATO's war on Libya.

"That country (Libya), and our country (Venezuela), are members of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) and we know that we will always face the transnational threat, the imperial outlook, because we are oil nations."

Cabezas went on to affirm that the PSUV "demands compliance with international law as it relates to the Venezuelan embassy in Libya, and that our representatives in that country be given immunity."

Cabezas explained that since NATO first began bombing Libya in March 2011, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez "had formulated proposals to the world with respect to finding peaceful alternatives, based on dialogue, a negotiated settlement of the conflicts that exist among the Libyan people."

On Wednesday, Venezuela's Chavez said NATO and its allies "are demolishing the country [Libya] for the entire world to see, cutting it into pieces" and affirmed that Venezuela had "fulfilled its moral commitment by denouncing [the NATO war] from the very first day."

"Independent of the internal situation in Libya," said Chavez, "nothing justifies this outrageous act, a disregard for the world, a threat towards the entire world."

"They have torn apart a country, and it wasn't Gadafi who did it. They have set the country ablaze, and it wasn't Gadafi who did it – no, it was precisely imperial madness and capitalism's global crisis who did it," said Chavez.

Reports estimate that recent NATO bombings of the Libyan capital have resulted in over 2,000 deaths in Tripoli alone, with the total number of dead expected to rise.

Chavez said he was concerned that the "tragedy in Libya has just begun" as rumors spread about a possible ground invasion by NATO special forces.
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16.: NATO Destroys Yet Another Country

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:37 am (PDT)

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=111013

Pakistan Observer
August 26, 2011

NATO destroys yet another country
Geopolitical notes from India
M D Nalapat*

-[I]n the 21st century the UN seems to have regressed into the period between 1919 and 1939, when the League of Nations awarded "mandates" to dominant countries that permitted them to rule weaker ones. In the past decade, similar mandates have been proferred in the case of Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan. In the case of Libya, President Sarkozy's takeover of the Libyan state via the creation of the NTC has been similarly legitimized by the UN in an astonishing abdication of principle.
-Over the past decade, tens of thousands of civilian deaths have resulted from NATO operations, without even a mild protest from the International Court or the Human Rights Council. Such inaction is leading to the same loss of respect for the UN system as took place in the past with the League of Nations, which became seen as being controlled by a small group for their own purposes.
-The use of military power for commercial advantage ought to have vanished when the 19th century did. Its reappearance in Iraq and Libya is a worrisome sign that NATO has not learnt the lessons of history.

Some years ago, on the Indian site www.bharat-rakshak.com, this columnist had written of the NATO militaries as resembling an army of simians. Such a force - if let loose within a confined space – can create immense damage, but are unable to clean up the resultant mess.

This is precisely what the world has witnessed in Iraq. Despite more than a decade of sanctions that directly resulted in nearly a million extra deaths during that period (because of shortages created by the UN-approved measures), the regime of Saddam Hussein was able to provide food, energy and housing to the people of Iraq, whereas eight years after "liberation" by key NATO members, the country and its population are worse off than before the 2003 invasion that led to the execution of Saddam Hussein.

As for Afghanistan, after a decade of the world's most modern military force fighting against a ragtag band of insurgents, more than a third of the country is back in the hands of the Taliban, while a fifth of the rest is on the brink of a similar fate. As a consequence of its failure to subdue this force, NATO is desperately clutching at plans for engaging the "moderate Taliban", an oxymoron if ever one was created.

Serbia has yet to recover from its brief burst of battle with NATO, and now Libya has joined the lengthening list of countries devastated by the attentions of NATO.

Clearly, the top brass in a military alliance designed to do battle in Europe against the USSR were reluctant to close shop. They have therefore redesigned NATO as a military instrument with multiple uses, especially against "asymmetric threats", a term which refers to countries that have ramshackle militaries.

Both Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gaddafy followed the dictates of the NATO powers in surrendering whatever WMDs were in their possession, unlike Syria and North Korea, two countries that have been left undisturbed by NATO as a consequence. Clearly, military planners within the alliance are ready for action only against those rivals that have had their conventional capabilities degraded to the point at which they do not represent any significant risk against the alliance. Had George W. Bush and Tony Blair truly believed their own rhetoric about Saddam Hussein having WMD, they would never have sent their armies into Iraq the way they did.

As mentioned in these columns, Gaddafy's fate got sealed when he accepted the advice of his Europe-dazzled sons to disarm and place the survival of his regime in the hands of NATO. Since 2003, Muammar Gaddafy dismantled his WMD program, synchronised his intelligence services with that of NATO and generally accepted each of the prescriptions handed over to him.

Had NATO been an alliance that respects reciprocity, all this ought to have made NATO turn a blind an eye to his battle with sections of the population as we have seen in the case of Bahrain, where the ruling family has been given a free hand to sort out the situation.

Instead, the situation changed when Nicolas Sarkozy was informed by French banks that Colonel Gaddafy may withdraw the immense bank deposits of Libya from them to institutions in China, and when he learnt that several contracts that French enterprises were expecting to come to them would vanish because Gaddafy wanted to spend less on French military and other toys and more on social services. Libya had to be made an example of, lest other Arab governments think of shifting their money elsewhere than within the NATO bloc as a consequence of the loss of $1.3 trillion by the GCC and its people alone because of the financial fraud perpetrated in 2008 by banks and other financial entities headquartered within the NATO bloc.

These days, companies based within NATO are finding it difficult to retain the monopoly position they have enjoyed, sometimes for generations. In particular, Chinese companies are challenging them in numerous markets, as are companies based elsewhere in Asia, including within South Korea and India. As a consequence, they now rely on military force to retain their privileges. This has been illustrated with commendable transparency in the case of Iraq and Libya. In the latter case, even though the fumes of battle have not ceased (and are unlikely to), oil companies such as ENI and Total are hard at work figuring out the assets they can seize because of the local victories of the Sarkozy-appointed "National Transitional Council".

Interestingly, even though the NTC is a creation of Paris, the UN has accepted it as the legitimate government of Libya. Indeed, in the 21st century the UN seems to have regressed into the period between 1919 and 1939, when the League of Nations awarded "mandates" to dominant countries that permitted them to rule weaker ones. In the past decade, similar mandates have been proferred in the case of Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan. In the case of Libya, President Sarkozy's takeover of the Libyan state via the creation of the NTC has been similarly legitimized by the UN in an astonishing abdication of principle.

However, just as in other locations, facts on the ground may not follow the script favoured by NATO. In the case of Libya, this columnist has warned for five months that the NATO intervention would only result in civil war and in the steady destruction of the infrastructure that made Libya one of the more prosperous countries in the region.

All this is at risk today, as chaos descends in the form of armed gangs set loose by NATO across the country. Not that there is ever any chance of those responsible for such a catastrophe being held accountable by so-called "international" bodies, most of which are now firmly in the control of the NATO powers in a way that their own economies are not. Over the past decade, tens of thousands of civilian deaths have resulted from NATO operations, without even a mild protest from the International Court or the Human Rights Council. Such inaction is leading to the same loss of respect for the UN system as took place in the past with the League of Nations, which became seen as being controlled by a small group for their own purposes.

Whether it is Libya or any other country, each has the right to develop its societal dynamic in its own way. Unless a country poses a threat to others, the way the Talban-controlled Afghanistan did, it is not a legitimate target for international action.

In the case of Libya, since 2003 Colonel Gaddafy disarmed his military of WMDs and fully cooperated with the US-led War on Terror. His fate has become a lesson to others who may have been tempted to follow in his path of conciliation with NATO.

Small wonder that the other regimes in the sights of NATO - Syria and Iran in particular - are in no hurry to follow the Libyan example. Rather than seek to finish off a leader who buried the hatchet publicly and fully the way Gaddafy did, NATO would have been better advised to show its magnanimity and its willingness to keep agreements in good faith.

That would have acted as an incentive for Syria, Iran and even North Korea to follow suit, thereby making the globe a safer place. Today, all three states - understandably – have zero faith in the bona fides of the NATO powers, and as a consequence are each going their own way. Combine this with the economic desolation seen within NATO (much of which has been caused by the huge spike in military spending caused by foreign adventures), and overall even the medium-term prognosis for NATO is dim, despite the smiles of congratulation at the advance of NATO proxies into Tripoli.

Unlike during the Vietnam war, when the Pentagon extensively sourced its procurement from Asia, the Bush-Cheney team sought to give US entities a monopoly over the supply of the items needed, even items as militarily inconsequential as toothpaste. The result of such an autarchic policy has been a big increase in spending, with the US alone spending more than a trillion dollars in its wars with Iraq and Afghanistan.

Indeed, we have seen this use of the state machinery to block competition across several sectors. The EU, for example, has banned Indian pharmaceuticals from its market, despite the low cost and high quality of medicines produced in India.

Just now, the EU has banned Samsung hi-tech products. A time will come when Asia bans German cars and French defense equipment in retaliation for the frequent bans on Asian products on specious grounds. The US and the EU cannot protect their way out of economic trouble. They need to give their citizens access to the benefits of a global market, rather than break every canon that they have been preaching for decades.

As for NATO, it will soon become clear that while it may be possible to defeat a ramshackle force with the massive use of airpower, that may not translate into monopoly privileges over Libyan oil reserves. Should China or India come up with better terms than Italian or French companies, the people of Libya will ensure that their government act in a way that protects their interests, rather than only those of NATO. The use of military power for commercial advantage ought to have vanished when the 19th century did. Its reappearance in Iraq and Libya is a worrisome sign that NATO has not learnt the lessons of history.

*The writer is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University, Haryana State, India.
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17.: NATO: Canada Third Largest Contributor To Bombing Of Libya

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:56 am (PDT)

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/08/25/canada-contributed-a-disproportionate-amount-to-libya-air-strikes-sources/

National Post
August 25, 2011

Canada contributed a disproportionate amount to Libya air strikes: sources
Tom Blackwell

Canadian fighter jets were in the air again this week, striking at the Gaddafi regime's tanks and artillery, part of this country's surprisingly substantial contribution to the five-month-long NATO bombing campaign in Libya.

As one of three nations carrying out the bulk of the sometimes-controversial air war, Canada with its aging CF-18 fighters has made a contribution clearly disproportionate to the compact size of its air force, say alliance and academic sources.

While Britain and France have about three times as many fighter-bombers in the operation as this country and are usually credited with most of the fighting, Canada has been close behind in its role, said a NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It has also provided three planes for air-to-air refuelling and two reconnaissance aircraft, all of the crews based in the Italian island of Sicily. Canada is among a handful of NATO members that took on the bulk of the mission after the U.S. withdrew its 50 or so fighter jets early in the campaign.

"The burden of the strike sorties fell on the shoulders of predominately the Canadians, the British and the French," said the NATO official. "I must say that, Canada in particular, being the smaller of the three air forces, once again punched well above its weight."

NATO was keeping up its campaign on Thursday — bombing Sirte, Col. Gaddafi's birthplace. Meanwhile, fighting continued to rage over pockets of Tripoli...

Support for the operation among Canadians has been mixed, amid accusations of mission creep and controversy about civilian casualties; it seems clear, however, that for better or worse this country has well exceeded the peripheral role that many observers expected it to play.

The six CF-18s — backed up by one spare — have logged 733 bombing sorties above the North African nation, while the Canadian refuelling and reconnaissance aircraft have added hundreds more flights.

"The folks that are flying are flying hard and they're flying a high tempo of operations," said Brigadier-General Derek Joyce, commander of Task Force Libeccio, as the Italy-based Canadian team is called...

It is difficult to get a precise picture of who is contributing what to the campaign, said Prof. Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, a British defence think-tank.

However, "the Canadians are reported to be doing a lot of [sorties]," he said in an emailed response to questions. "Only Canada, France and the U.K., among the allies, have kept up a constant high tempo of ground attacks. The other five who have done some attacking have been more variable. Also, Canada has the right aircraft for the role and has more appropriate weapons systems to deploy than some other allies."

...

Critics complain that the campaign has morphed into an attempt to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, as targets have grown to include the ruler's family compounds in Tripoli, and several of his family members were reportedly killed by NATO bombs.

The Canadian CF-18s conduct two types of missions — planned "air interdiction" attacks on static military infrastructure, including buildings used for command and control, plus "surveillance, co-ordination and reconnaissance" sorties where pilots hunt for government tanks and other mobile weaponry to bomb, said Brig.-Gen. Joyce from his Naples headquarters. There was an initial sense of "euphoria" among the Canadians this week when rebels started streaming into Tripoli, but the pilots have continued their strikes, as it became clear the regime was still alive, firing artillery and rockets into Tripoli and other cities, the commander said.

...

Civilian casualties have repeatedly sparked concern, with Italy at one point calling for a pause in bombing...

...
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18.: International Expert Says NATO Fights Proxy War In Libya

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

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:56 am (PDT)

http://gbcghana.com/index.php?id=1.358617.1.534850

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
August 25, 2011

International expert on NATO and Libyan crisis

A Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, Dr. Yao Gebe, says the end of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has not come yet.

He thinks as long as Col. Gaddafi evades capture, the situation remains murky.

In an interview with GBC's Radio Ghana, Dr. Gebe said the rebel forces could not have achieved the upper hand in the fighting without support from NATO and other Western powers.

He accused NATO of going beyond the UN mandate over Libya.

...
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About Me

Afghan leftist , international revolutionary. Trained many revolutionaries from 1978 to 1992 in the art of armed insurrection. Hizb e Parcham All we know is that Marx was right. A graduate of USSR Intelligence school at Tashkent and Kiev. Originally a Baloch from Farah province in Afghanistan and now settled in Quetta Pakistan.