Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Thursday 16 May 2013


5 New Messages

Digest #4701

Messages

Wed May 15, 2013 11:25 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/303692.html

Press TV
May 15, 2013

‘US denial of Afghan civilian deaths absurd, ludicrous’

Audio at URL above

U.S. accusations that the Taliban killed civilians in air strikes on April 6 are “absurd” and “ludicrous”, says Rick Rozoff, manager of the Stop the NATO organization.

U.S. commander Gen. Joseph Dunford has officially denied that the April 6 air strikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, which killed 17 civilians including 12 children, were the U.S.’s fault.

However, the Afghan government has repeatedly confirmed the deaths were caused by air strikes.

“They [the U.S. and NATO] are launching absolutely absurd and ludicrous accusations that local militia fighters or Taliban fighters somehow managed to bring fighter jet into the area and launch missiles or drop bombs. That’s beyond contempt,” said Rozoff in a phone interview with the U.S. Desk on Wednesday.

“It [the U.S. denial] again accentuates the need for the world community to demand full and immediate withdrawal of U.S., NATO, and other occupation troops from the long-suffering land of Afghanistan,” he added.

Rozoff said that there have been many instances like the Kunar “carnage” over the course of the war, which are “reflective of a total disregard for human life.”
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Wed May 15, 2013 11:25 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2013/05/15/Bonino-confirms-200-NATO-troops-Sicily-Libya-concern_8709921.html

International Mediterranean News Service
May 15, 2013

Bonino confirms 200 NATO troops in Sicily
US forces near in case of escalating violence in Libya

Rome: Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on Wednesday confirmed that only 200 American NATO troops were being moved to Sicily to be ready for rapid deployment if any new attacks occur in Libya.

"It is taking place in accordance with bilateral agreements (with the US)," Bonino told a joint session of the House and Senate foreign commissions. Earlier reports said 500 soliders were being transferred from Spain to the Sigonella NATO Base. Sigonella, which is southwest of Catania, is a major NATO base used by the US navy and air force as well as the Italian air force. On Monday up to 15 people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a hospital in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi.

The country has shown increasing signs of turmoil since strongman Muammar Gaddafi was removed from power and killed by rebels in 2011.

Last week three police stations were bombed in Benghazi, causing no casualties.

A car bomb exploded outside the French embassy last month in the capital Tripoli, wounding several residents and two French guards.

Last September, the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi was attacked by gunmen, leading to the killing of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other consular officials.
====================================================================
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http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com

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Thu May 16, 2013 6:05 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff

http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=120029

U.S. Department of Defense
American Forces Press Service
May 14, 2013

Stratcom Strives to Build Coalitions for Space Operations
By Donna Miles

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“Our intent with combined space operations is to mirror some of the partnerships we have in other mission areas that are long-term and enduring.”

Space is vital to military operations, providing an array of capabilities that give space-faring nations’ forces a military advantage...

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OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. - Recognizing the value of multinational coalitions for operations in the land, maritime and air domains, officials at U.S. Strategic Command here hope to forge a coalition that shares assets and capabilities in space.

The United States and its allies are discussing details for the first agreement of its kind promoting combined space operations, Air Force Brig. Gen. David D. Thompson, Stratcom’s deputy director of global operations, told American Forces Press Service.

The agreement could spell out specific areas in which the participating nations will work together, and what each will contribute to those efforts, Thompson said.

The agreement will formalize an arrangement tested last year during a period [of?] discovery. Based on the findings, the U.S. and its allies agreed in September to continue working toward closer combined space operations.

Thompson said he hopes the agreement will be the first step in forging international military-to-military cooperation in space that is essential to all. The Stratcom staff already is promoting the concept with what is hoped to be the next wave of nations to join the coalition.

“Our intent with combined space operations is to mirror some of the partnerships we have in other mission areas that are long-term and enduring,” Thompson said.

Space is vital to military operations, providing an array of capabilities that give space-faring nations’ forces a military advantage, he said. These include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that enhance warfighters’ situational awareness, space-based communications that provide them instant, global communications, and global positioning systems that deliver highly accurate navigation and targeting positions.

“This gives them an awareness and understanding that enhances their capabilities to conduct operations the way no other armed forces can today,” Thompson said. “That’s why it’s vitally important to our military forces.”

However, as more nations, organizations and commercial companies vie to take advantage of space-based capabilities, the once-pristine space domain is becoming increasingly congested and competitive, Thompson said.

And of particular concern to military leaders, space is an increasingly contested domain, with potential adversaries hoping to level the playing field by denying access to space and space-based capabilities, he said. The response, Thompson said, must be the same unity in numbers that has proven itself out in every other domain. Coalitions provide more capability than any one nation can provide alone...

Unlike recent coalitions, formed for specific periods to accomplish specific objectives, Thompson said he hopes those formed for operations in space endure.

...

“Joining together in a coalition is a statement of assurance that each nation is committed to effective, mutually supportive conduct of operations in space,” he said. “We are united in a coalition sense when it comes to operations in space and providing those capabilities for each nation.”
====================================================================
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Thu May 16, 2013 6:06 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff

http://www.thelocal.se/47930/20130516/#.UZTXxbUQsoA

The Local
May 16, 2013

More Swedes in favour of joining Nato: poll
The number of Swedes who support joining Nato has gone up by 9 percentage points since 2011, a new opinion poll has revealed

The Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper reported on Thursday that support for potential membership of the military alliance has increased.

Thirty-two percent of survey respondents stated that they were in favour of Sweden joining Nato. Two years ago, that number was 23 percent.

The proportion of Swedes who firmly want to stay out of Nato has gone down in the same period. The new poll showed that two in five Swedes say no to joining, down from 2011 when half of Swedes had the same attitude.

"It looks like Nato proponents have advanced their positions," political scientist Ulf Bjereld told SvD.

He said that debate in recent months about Sweden's military capacity had likely stirred Swedes' thoughts about Nato. The Armed Forces' ability to defend Sweden if it came under attack has been under scrutiny since Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson in January said Sweden could hold out for maximum one week.

The poll also looked at feelings towards Nato within Sweden's different political parties. It found that one in four Social Democrats supported membership, while as many as one in two Moderate Party supporters wanted to join.

While the Moderates are officially in favour of joining, it's the party's coalition ally the Liberals (Folkpartiet) that has at times lobbied for membership and made it a talking point on the political agenda.

Bjereld noted that the principle of non-alliance and neutrality had long been a cornerstone of Swedish national identity.

"To join a military alliance would be a big psychological step for many Swedes, and I also think there is significant concern that Swedes would risk being pulled into warfare against its will," Bjereld said.
====================================================================
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com

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Thu May 16, 2013 6:27 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff

http://www.eucom.mil/article/25030/115th-fw-airmen-train-with-polish-air-force

United States European Command
May 16, 2013

115th FW Airmen train with Polish air force
Tech. Sgt. Kenya Shiloh 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

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Polish air force Col. Krystian Zięƈ, 32nd Tactical Air Base commander, said this is a unique opportunity for the United States and Poland to strengthen interoperability as NATO allies..."If we need a huge coalition going somewhere to make peace. we're going to have some good quality aircraft," he said.

Training opportunities like these were made possible after former Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich signed a memorandum of understanding allowing the establishment of a U.S. Air Force aviation detachment in Poland.

The next fighter rotation is scheduled to take place in July were an F-16 flying from Aviano Air Base, Italy, will travel to Poland to conduct air-to-ground training with their Polish counterparts.

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Nearly 100 Airmen assigned to the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard, arrived at Lask Air Base, Poland, to train in a joint theater security cooperation event with the Polish air force.

This event, hosted by the U.S. Aviation Detachment 1, is geared toward enhancing the skills of U.S. and Polish F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft pilots as they conduct simulated air combat scenarios with other aircraft to include MiG-29s and Su-22s.

"We brought six F-16s here to work on a partnership-building opportunity with the Polish air force," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Brian Parker, 176th Fighter Squadron commander assigned to the 115th FW.

"We're doing things like air combat maneuvers, basic fighter maneuvers and tactical intercepts," Parker said. "It's a building block approach so we'll start out with the basics and increase the tactics as we go through the two weeks; and then we'll go to doing individual ranges sets where we can see each other - kind of 'dog fighting.'"

Operations, maintenance and support Airmen were able to start flying training sorties shortly after arriving thanks to the enduring presence of the 10 members of the 52nd Operations Group's Aviation Detachment 1 already in place before 115th FW's arrival.

"We have everything we need," Parker said. "The support structure is completely in place. Having an aviation detachment here that helps with the long term [coordination] of rotating fighter units like ours through here is set up to have a seamless operation...we were able to start flying operations from day one flawlessly."

...

Polish air force Col. Krystian Zięƈ, 32nd Tactical Air Base commander, said this is a unique opportunity for the United States and Poland to strengthen interoperability as NATO allies.

"Frankly speaking, the U.S. Air Force, as far as I'm concerned, is the best air force in the world," said Zięƈ. "If we have the opportunity to fly and train, we want to do that with the best."

Zięƈ said building a partnership capacity with countries like Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia will make forces stronger.

"If we need a huge coalition going somewhere to make peace. we're going to have some good quality aircraft," he said. "Therefore, what we do here is important, because we are bringing the quality to a higher level."

This joint training event sets a milestone for the aviation detachment given that it's the first fighter rotation for the unit and the second rotation so far this year. The first unit to train here under the Av-Det was a C-130J Super Hercules cargo aircraft unit based out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Training opportunities like these were made possible after former Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich signed a memorandum of understanding allowing the establishment of a U.S. Air Force aviation detachment in Poland.

"This is different from our first rotation from the standpoint that instead of an airlift asset, we have brought in a fighter asset to train with the Polish air force," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Matthew Spears, Av-Det commander. "What we want to do is lay the foundation with one of our staunchest allies. We've trained together and we're now prepared to fight together. It's this type of training that takes place, having Airmen on the ground interacting day-in-and-day-out that really strengthens that partnership."

The next fighter rotation is scheduled to take place in July were an F-16 flying from Aviano Air Base, Italy, will travel to Poland to conduct air-to-ground training with their Polish counterparts.