7 New
Messages
Digest #4421
|
1
U.S. Marines: New Deployments From Black Sea To Africa And Beyond
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
2
NATO Naval Group Docks In Turkey
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
3
Rasmussen: Global NATO Eyes Africa, Asia, Elsewhere
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
4
U.S. Moves To Shift Uzbekistan From CSTO To NATO Column
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
5
Second Turkish Attempt To Involve NATO In Syrian Conflict
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
6
Philippines: U.S. Plans More Military Exercises In Mindanao
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
7
NATO Chief Seeks "Active Dialogue" With China
by "Rick Rozoff"
rwrozoff
|
Wed Jul 4, 2012 2:25 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
Stop NATO
July 4, 2012
U.S. Marines: New Deployments From Black Sea To Africa And Beyond
Rick Rozoff
Last December U.S. Marine Forces Europe conducted a two-day conference in Stuttgart, Germany (where U.S. Africa Command headquarters is based) to plan this year's Black Sea Rotational Force (BSRF) deployment. Military officials from European NATO nations were also involved in the planning process.
Black Sea Rotational Force 12 will be the longest and largest deployment of the force, a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) first activated in 2010. In that year the rotation was for three months; last year five months; this year six months.
In its first year of existence the BSRF engaged in bilateral and multinational training exercises with counterparts from thirteen nations in the Balkans, the Black Sea region and the Caucasus, the BSRF's area of operations.
Last year it conducted and participated in exercises in Romania, Georgia and Ukraine with fourteen NATO allies and partners: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
During its increasingly lengthier deployments, the BSRF is based at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Airfield in Romania, where the complementary, U.S. Army Europe’s, Task Force East has also been deployed in addition to the latter also operating at the Babadag Training Area in the same country and the Novo Selo Training Area in neighboring Bulgaria.
This year's BSRF deployment includes 71 (by one count 91) training events with 19 other nations. The five new nations (assuming the fourteen mentioned above will still be involved) have not been divulged, except that Marine Forces Europe reported earlier this year that BSRF-12 will participate in the Noble Shirley 12 exercise "in the Levant." Noble Shirley is a regular live-fire exercise held in the Negev Desert with the Israeli Defense Forces and U.S. Marines.
The BSRF also participated in this year's Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) war games with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden - rather far from its defined geographical confines - including in an amphibious assault exercise in Lithuania.
It inaugurated this year's deployment with the two-week Agile Spirit 12 exercise at the Vaziani Training Area in Georgia in part to train native troops for the war in Afghanistan. Seventeen of the nineteen nations being trained by the BSRF this year have troops serving under NATO command in that war zone.
This year's rotation involves 360 Marines, which represents a doubling of Marine Forces Europe personnel since last year. According to the Pentagon news agency American Forces Press Service, in may Brigadier General Charles Chiarotti, Marine Forces Europe’s deputy commander, stated that he hopes "the rotational force grows to a 600- to 700-member unit with limited crisis response capabilities, fixed- and rotary-win."
The U.S. announced in 2009 that it would spend $110 million to upgrade two bases in Romania and Bulgaria (of eight it acquired after the two nations joined NATO in 2004), which could accommodate a larger Marine presence, perhaps year-round.
The BSRF is currently running an exercise at the Novo Selo Training Range in Bulgaria with 1,000 troops from the U.S., the host country, Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine. The Bulgarian commander is a graduate of a military academy in Washington. This year the BSRF will conduct training exercises at six Bulgarian bases and airfields.
Earlier this month Marines with the BSRF conducted a training exercise in Timisoara, Romania with local troops.
According to the U.S. Marine Corps website: "Some of the Romanian soldiers already know what it’s like to serve alongside Marines in combat from previous tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. They welcome the training as added knowledge they can use for the future as some of them may be going to Afghanistan within the year."
An American corporal present at the drills said, "This training is important to them because they see American Marines as the most elite fighting force in the world.”
The BSRF will also participate this month in the annual U.S.-led NATO and Partnership for Peace exercise in Ukraine, Sea Breeze. The two-week exercise will include fourteen nations including NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partners Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which provided warplanes for NATO's six-month air war against Libya last year.
The BSRF is, as mentioned above, a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF), which have previously been used in Afghanistan, Liberia, Panama, the Persian Gulf and the Philippines.
The BSRF in turn has now become the prototype for a similar unit assigned to to U.S. Africa Command, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12.2 (12.2 since this April), formed last October and based at the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, which has been deployed to Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti to train troops for deployment to Somalia and to Liberia to instruct its military in "riot control and peace keeping techniques." In May of 2010 NATO airlifted 2,500 Ugandan troops into and out of Mogadishu for the war there and the European Union is training Somali government troops in Uganda for the same purpose.
The U.S. Marine Corps website reported that the SPMAGTF African deployment — which “could become more commonplace as troop levels in Afghanistan drop in line with an approaching 2014 combat mission end date” - is to be followed by an SPMAGTF mission in the Asia-Pacific region with troops stationed in Darwin, Australia.
The Marine Corps is the Pentagon's preeminent expeditionary combat branch and one which increasingly is being used to integrate the militaries of former socialist Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region into the U.S.'s worldwide military network.
============
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Stop NATO website and articles:
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============
July 4, 2012
U.S. Marines: New Deployments From Black Sea To Africa And Beyond
Rick Rozoff
Last December U.S. Marine Forces Europe conducted a two-day conference in Stuttgart, Germany (where U.S. Africa Command headquarters is based) to plan this year's Black Sea Rotational Force (BSRF) deployment. Military officials from European NATO nations were also involved in the planning process.
Black Sea Rotational Force 12 will be the longest and largest deployment of the force, a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) first activated in 2010. In that year the rotation was for three months; last year five months; this year six months.
In its first year of existence the BSRF engaged in bilateral and multinational training exercises with counterparts from thirteen nations in the Balkans, the Black Sea region and the Caucasus, the BSRF's area of operations.
Last year it conducted and participated in exercises in Romania, Georgia and Ukraine with fourteen NATO allies and partners: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
During its increasingly lengthier deployments, the BSRF is based at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Airfield in Romania, where the complementary, U.S. Army Europe’s, Task Force East has also been deployed in addition to the latter also operating at the Babadag Training Area in the same country and the Novo Selo Training Area in neighboring Bulgaria.
This year's BSRF deployment includes 71 (by one count 91) training events with 19 other nations. The five new nations (assuming the fourteen mentioned above will still be involved) have not been divulged, except that Marine Forces Europe reported earlier this year that BSRF-12 will participate in the Noble Shirley 12 exercise "in the Levant." Noble Shirley is a regular live-fire exercise held in the Negev Desert with the Israeli Defense Forces and U.S. Marines.
The BSRF also participated in this year's Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) war games with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden - rather far from its defined geographical confines - including in an amphibious assault exercise in Lithuania.
It inaugurated this year's deployment with the two-week Agile Spirit 12 exercise at the Vaziani Training Area in Georgia in part to train native troops for the war in Afghanistan. Seventeen of the nineteen nations being trained by the BSRF this year have troops serving under NATO command in that war zone.
This year's rotation involves 360 Marines, which represents a doubling of Marine Forces Europe personnel since last year. According to the Pentagon news agency American Forces Press Service, in may Brigadier General Charles Chiarotti, Marine Forces Europe’s deputy commander, stated that he hopes "the rotational force grows to a 600- to 700-member unit with limited crisis response capabilities, fixed- and rotary-win."
The U.S. announced in 2009 that it would spend $110 million to upgrade two bases in Romania and Bulgaria (of eight it acquired after the two nations joined NATO in 2004), which could accommodate a larger Marine presence, perhaps year-round.
The BSRF is currently running an exercise at the Novo Selo Training Range in Bulgaria with 1,000 troops from the U.S., the host country, Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine. The Bulgarian commander is a graduate of a military academy in Washington. This year the BSRF will conduct training exercises at six Bulgarian bases and airfields.
Earlier this month Marines with the BSRF conducted a training exercise in Timisoara, Romania with local troops.
According to the U.S. Marine Corps website: "Some of the Romanian soldiers already know what it’s like to serve alongside Marines in combat from previous tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. They welcome the training as added knowledge they can use for the future as some of them may be going to Afghanistan within the year."
An American corporal present at the drills said, "This training is important to them because they see American Marines as the most elite fighting force in the world.”
The BSRF will also participate this month in the annual U.S.-led NATO and Partnership for Peace exercise in Ukraine, Sea Breeze. The two-week exercise will include fourteen nations including NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partners Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which provided warplanes for NATO's six-month air war against Libya last year.
The BSRF is, as mentioned above, a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF), which have previously been used in Afghanistan, Liberia, Panama, the Persian Gulf and the Philippines.
The BSRF in turn has now become the prototype for a similar unit assigned to to U.S. Africa Command, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12.2 (12.2 since this April), formed last October and based at the Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, which has been deployed to Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti to train troops for deployment to Somalia and to Liberia to instruct its military in "riot control and peace keeping techniques." In May of 2010 NATO airlifted 2,500 Ugandan troops into and out of Mogadishu for the war there and the European Union is training Somali government troops in Uganda for the same purpose.
The U.S. Marine Corps website reported that the SPMAGTF African deployment — which “could become more commonplace as troop levels in Afghanistan drop in line with an approaching 2014 combat mission end date” - is to be followed by an SPMAGTF mission in the Asia-Pacific region with troops stationed in Darwin, Australia.
The Marine Corps is the Pentagon's preeminent expeditionary combat branch and one which increasingly is being used to integrate the militaries of former socialist Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region into the U.S.'s worldwide military network.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
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============
Wed Jul 4, 2012 3:42 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.turkishw
Anadolu Agency
July 4, 2012
NATO Maritime Mission Force Docks in Istanbul
NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2, which currently hosts German, French and Turkish frigates as the immediate reaction force of the alliance, has docked in Istanbul as part of its regular port visits.
"Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 is a high security force of the alliance. We are carrying out a maneuver in Istanbul as part of our mission to defense task against terrorism in the Mediterranean,
Kahler said the fleet's Istanbul visit "had nothing to do" with the continuing violence in Syria and the latest incident between Turkey and its southern neighbor which saw the downing of a Turkish military plane by Syrian forces in international airspace late last month.
Kahler said the fleet would stay in Istanbul for three days before setting sale for the Mediterranean again.
Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States are the routine contributors to the fleet. It is usually deployed in the Mediterranean.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
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============
Anadolu Agency
July 4, 2012
NATO Maritime Mission Force Docks in Istanbul
NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2, which currently hosts German, French and Turkish frigates as the immediate reaction force of the alliance, has docked in Istanbul as part of its regular port visits.
"Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 is a high security force of the alliance. We are carrying out a maneuver in Istanbul as part of our mission to defense task against terrorism in the Mediterranean,
Kahler said the fleet's Istanbul visit "had nothing to do" with the continuing violence in Syria and the latest incident between Turkey and its southern neighbor which saw the downing of a Turkish military plane by Syrian forces in international airspace late last month.
Kahler said the fleet would stay in Istanbul for three days before setting sale for the Mediterranean again.
Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States are the routine contributors to the fleet. It is usually deployed in the Mediterranean.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Wed Jul 4, 2012 3:43 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.nato.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
July 4, 2012
NATO Secretary General sets out strategic vision for a globally connected Alliance
====
“We need an Alliance that is globally aware, globally connected and globally capable. That is my vision for NATO.”
He said NATO had to seize the opportunity to deepen and widen relationships built with the Alliance’s partners in Afghanistan so that they last well after NATO’s combat and training missions there end.
====
Forging closer links with worldwide partners in Asia, Africa and elsewhere will be crucial to guaranteeing future security in the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a major policy speech on Wednesday 4 July 2012.
Setting out his strategic vision for the Alliance in the years ahead, the Secretary General said NATO had to step up its ambitions on its cooperative security plans.
He said NATO was well placed to act as a global security hub thanks to decisions made by NATO leaders at their Chicago Summit in May on improving Alliance capabilities. “NATO will be a key part of the answer,” the Secretary General said in a speech at Chatham House in London. “In this time of uncertainty, a strong NATO is a source of confidence. It is an essential contributor to wider international security and stability. It means we can face today’s challenges from a position of strength.”
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said Allies had to take a global perspective and work more closely with other nations and organisations around the world - like Russia, China and the European Union - to address security challenges such as terrorism, piracy or weapons proliferation. “Security must be a cooperative effort,” the Secretary General said. “We need an Alliance that is globally aware, globally connected and globally capable. That is my vision for NATO.”
On partnerships, the Secretary General called for NATO to expand them through more “frequent, focused and substance-driven” consultations on security concerns. “There is considerable scope for developing clusters of willing and able Allies and partners ready to cooperate in specific areas,” he said. “I see these clusters being flexible enough to accommodate different groups of partners, yet focused enough to deliver concrete results.”
The Secretary General said areas of cooperation could include training and education, Smart Defence and cooperating on cyber security.
He said NATO had to seize the opportunity to deepen and widen relationships built with the Alliance’s partners in Afghanistan so that they last well after NATO’s combat and training missions there end.
"We must build on the lessons that we learned together in action in Afghanistan so we can boost our ability to act together in the future,” the Secretary General said.
“Today, many partner countries take the opportunities NATO offers to participate in our military education, training and exercises. But this is largely on an ad-hoc basis,” he added. “I would like to see a much more structured approach and the broadest possible range of nations being involved in such activities.”
The Secretary General said the NATO-Australia Joint Political Declaration, which was signed last month in Canberra, should be used as an example of how NATO can forge stronger ties with non-NATO nations. The accord commits both NATO and Australia to closer security coordination in a range of areas including crisis and conflict management, post-conflict situations, reconstruction and facilitating humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said his focus on bolstering global partnerships did not signal a shift of NATO toward Asia or demoting the importance of the transatlantic bond between North American and European members of the Alliance.
“Some see the United States’ pivot to Asia-Pacific as the end of this unique partnership, they are wrong,” the Secretary General said. “The security of America and Europe is indivisible.”
But, he added that NATO Allies had to build on that existing bond by cooperating more closely with non-Allies. “NATO’s partnerships play a key part in meeting the security concerns of today and tomorrow, be they local, regional or global.”
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
July 4, 2012
NATO Secretary General sets out strategic vision for a globally connected Alliance
====
“We need an Alliance that is globally aware, globally connected and globally capable. That is my vision for NATO.”
He said NATO had to seize the opportunity to deepen and widen relationships built with the Alliance’s partners in Afghanistan so that they last well after NATO’s combat and training missions there end.
====
Forging closer links with worldwide partners in Asia, Africa and elsewhere will be crucial to guaranteeing future security in the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a major policy speech on Wednesday 4 July 2012.
Setting out his strategic vision for the Alliance in the years ahead, the Secretary General said NATO had to step up its ambitions on its cooperative security plans.
He said NATO was well placed to act as a global security hub thanks to decisions made by NATO leaders at their Chicago Summit in May on improving Alliance capabilities. “NATO will be a key part of the answer,” the Secretary General said in a speech at Chatham House in London. “In this time of uncertainty, a strong NATO is a source of confidence. It is an essential contributor to wider international security and stability. It means we can face today’s challenges from a position of strength.”
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said Allies had to take a global perspective and work more closely with other nations and organisations around the world - like Russia, China and the European Union - to address security challenges such as terrorism, piracy or weapons proliferation. “Security must be a cooperative effort,” the Secretary General said. “We need an Alliance that is globally aware, globally connected and globally capable. That is my vision for NATO.”
On partnerships, the Secretary General called for NATO to expand them through more “frequent, focused and substance-driven” consultations on security concerns. “There is considerable scope for developing clusters of willing and able Allies and partners ready to cooperate in specific areas,” he said. “I see these clusters being flexible enough to accommodate different groups of partners, yet focused enough to deliver concrete results.”
The Secretary General said areas of cooperation could include training and education, Smart Defence and cooperating on cyber security.
He said NATO had to seize the opportunity to deepen and widen relationships built with the Alliance’s partners in Afghanistan so that they last well after NATO’s combat and training missions there end.
"We must build on the lessons that we learned together in action in Afghanistan so we can boost our ability to act together in the future,” the Secretary General said.
“Today, many partner countries take the opportunities NATO offers to participate in our military education, training and exercises. But this is largely on an ad-hoc basis,” he added. “I would like to see a much more structured approach and the broadest possible range of nations being involved in such activities.”
The Secretary General said the NATO-Australia Joint Political Declaration, which was signed last month in Canberra, should be used as an example of how NATO can forge stronger ties with non-NATO nations. The accord commits both NATO and Australia to closer security coordination in a range of areas including crisis and conflict management, post-conflict situations, reconstruction and facilitating humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said his focus on bolstering global partnerships did not signal a shift of NATO toward Asia or demoting the importance of the transatlantic bond between North American and European members of the Alliance.
“Some see the United States’ pivot to Asia-Pacific as the end of this unique partnership, they are wrong,” the Secretary General said. “The security of America and Europe is indivisible.”
But, he added that NATO Allies had to build on that existing bond by cooperating more closely with non-Allies. “NATO’s partnerships play a key part in meeting the security concerns of today and tomorrow, be they local, regional or global.”
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Wed Jul 4, 2012 7:15 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://english.
Voice of Russia
July 5, 2012
Uzbekistan, USA to draw up plans
Uzbekistan is ready to welcome a large delegation of the U.S. military top brass and diplomats. Once Uzbekistan has suspended its CSTO membership, it may happen that it will allow the USA to set up a military base on its territory, to be used for the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Experts have something to say about the development of relations between official Tashkent and Washington.
In view of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Washington is paying paramount importance to Central Asia today. Now Tashkent is waiting for a delegation of the United States Congress and the U.S. State Department to visit Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan could offer great help in the U.S. and NATO countries’ troop pullout. The point is that a developed infrastructure, including both roads and railways, has remained in Uzbekistan since the Soviet-era times.
Tashkent has a good chance to receive the U.S. military hardware because large amounts of military equipment have accumulated in Afghanistan over more than 10 years of the Afghanistan campaign.
The USA wants to have a military base in Uzbekistan. However, as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) it was unable to sanction this. Uzbekistan suspended its CSTO membership last week. Despite that, the USA’s attempts to achieve a desired effect remain unsuccessful so far, an expert with the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Vassily Kashin, says.
"Uzbekistan and the USA are drawing closer to each other. We are well aware of the fact that there were similar periods in the history of Uzbekistan earlier. However, a very close partnership between Uzbekistan and the USA has remained an unachievable goal. Uzbekistan is balancing on the verge of an inner explosion. Its leadership has to take various measures, including very tough measures, in order to be able to control the situation. Uzbek authorities do not want the USA to interfere in their domestic policies. Especially, amid the developments in the Arab world. Thus, although they want to receive guarantees from the USA they will keep themselves at an arm’s length."
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has two ways to enter Afghanistan. One of them, termed the Northern route, involves Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and the other one that is termed the Southern route runs across Pakistan. This route accounted for 85 per cent of transit. After the NATO air raid on a region bordering on Afghanistan last year, Pakistan blocked the Southern route. At the beginning of this month Pakistan re-opened this route for NATO’s logistics operations and now it promises to let the cargoes go free of charge. It is rather doubtful that the Central Asian republics will approve that.
Hillary Clinton visited Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan last year. The visits of other top-ranking American diplomats preceded her trip to these countries. By the way, after 2014 parts of NATO’s military hardware could stay not only in Uzbekistan but also in neighbouring Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Official Tashkent will never approve a strain in bilateral relations, a Uzbek political analyst, Rafik Saifulin, says. Tashkent has signed a transit agreement, not a request for permission to deploy a military base in Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan serves as an example for Uzbekistan in its cooperation with NATO. As you know, there is a transshipment point in the Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan. By the way, at a briefing in Moscow the day before NATO’s Assistant Secretary General Dirk Brengelmann stressed that NATO had no plans to set up a military base in Uzbekistan.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Voice of Russia
July 5, 2012
Uzbekistan, USA to draw up plans
Uzbekistan is ready to welcome a large delegation of the U.S. military top brass and diplomats. Once Uzbekistan has suspended its CSTO membership, it may happen that it will allow the USA to set up a military base on its territory, to be used for the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Experts have something to say about the development of relations between official Tashkent and Washington.
In view of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Washington is paying paramount importance to Central Asia today. Now Tashkent is waiting for a delegation of the United States Congress and the U.S. State Department to visit Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan could offer great help in the U.S. and NATO countries’ troop pullout. The point is that a developed infrastructure, including both roads and railways, has remained in Uzbekistan since the Soviet-era times.
Tashkent has a good chance to receive the U.S. military hardware because large amounts of military equipment have accumulated in Afghanistan over more than 10 years of the Afghanistan campaign.
The USA wants to have a military base in Uzbekistan. However, as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) it was unable to sanction this. Uzbekistan suspended its CSTO membership last week. Despite that, the USA’s attempts to achieve a desired effect remain unsuccessful so far, an expert with the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Vassily Kashin, says.
"Uzbekistan and the USA are drawing closer to each other. We are well aware of the fact that there were similar periods in the history of Uzbekistan earlier. However, a very close partnership between Uzbekistan and the USA has remained an unachievable goal. Uzbekistan is balancing on the verge of an inner explosion. Its leadership has to take various measures, including very tough measures, in order to be able to control the situation. Uzbek authorities do not want the USA to interfere in their domestic policies. Especially, amid the developments in the Arab world. Thus, although they want to receive guarantees from the USA they will keep themselves at an arm’s length."
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has two ways to enter Afghanistan. One of them, termed the Northern route, involves Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and the other one that is termed the Southern route runs across Pakistan. This route accounted for 85 per cent of transit. After the NATO air raid on a region bordering on Afghanistan last year, Pakistan blocked the Southern route. At the beginning of this month Pakistan re-opened this route for NATO’s logistics operations and now it promises to let the cargoes go free of charge. It is rather doubtful that the Central Asian republics will approve that.
Hillary Clinton visited Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan last year. The visits of other top-ranking American diplomats preceded her trip to these countries. By the way, after 2014 parts of NATO’s military hardware could stay not only in Uzbekistan but also in neighbouring Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Official Tashkent will never approve a strain in bilateral relations, a Uzbek political analyst, Rafik Saifulin, says. Tashkent has signed a transit agreement, not a request for permission to deploy a military base in Uzbekistan.
Kyrgyzstan serves as an example for Uzbekistan in its cooperation with NATO. As you know, there is a transshipment point in the Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan. By the way, at a briefing in Moscow the day before NATO’s Assistant Secretary General Dirk Brengelmann stressed that NATO had no plans to set up a military base in Uzbekistan.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Wed Jul 4, 2012 7:30 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.armradio
Public Radio of Armenia
July 4, 2012
A second attempt by Turkey to draw NATO into conflict with Syrian
Lilit Muradyan
Turkey seems to be trying to apply the Northern Iraqi precedent by violating the borders of the neighbor country to hunt for militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party and launching military actions on the territory of a foreign country, expert of Turkish studies Artak Shakaryan told reporters today.
“Taking into consideration yesterday’s statement of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in which he apologizes to Turkey, one can say Syria has taken a step back and serious military actions are unlikely,” the expert said. “However, the ball is still in the Turkish court,” he added.
Note that a Turkish F-4 jet, which violated Syrian air space, was shot down by Syria last month. In yesterday’s interview with the Turkish Cumhurriyet newspaper the Syrian president expressed regret over the downing of the Turkish jet.
“The plane used an air corridor usually used by Israel,” Assad said, adding that they didn't know it was a Turkish jet.
According to Artak Shakaryan, NATO is worried about the issue, as in line with Article 5 of the NATO Charter if Turkey starts a war the Alliance will also have to get engaged in it.
It’s worth mentioning that this was a second attempt by Turkish authorizes to draw NATO into the Syrian conflict.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
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============
Public Radio of Armenia
July 4, 2012
A second attempt by Turkey to draw NATO into conflict with Syrian
Lilit Muradyan
Turkey seems to be trying to apply the Northern Iraqi precedent by violating the borders of the neighbor country to hunt for militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party and launching military actions on the territory of a foreign country, expert of Turkish studies Artak Shakaryan told reporters today.
“Taking into consideration yesterday’s statement of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in which he apologizes to Turkey, one can say Syria has taken a step back and serious military actions are unlikely,” the expert said. “However, the ball is still in the Turkish court,” he added.
Note that a Turkish F-4 jet, which violated Syrian air space, was shot down by Syria last month. In yesterday’s interview with the Turkish Cumhurriyet newspaper the Syrian president expressed regret over the downing of the Turkish jet.
“The plane used an air corridor usually used by Israel,” Assad said, adding that they didn't know it was a Turkish jet.
According to Artak Shakaryan, NATO is worried about the issue, as in line with Article 5 of the NATO Charter if Turkey starts a war the Alliance will also have to get engaged in it.
It’s worth mentioning that this was a second attempt by Turkish authorizes to draw NATO into the Syrian conflict.
============
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Wed Jul 4, 2012 7:30 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.zambotim
Philippines News Agency
July 4, 2012
US eyes more military exercises in Mindanao
by Romer S. Sarmiento
GENERAL SANTOS CITY: The United States is hoping to hold more maritime military training exercises in Mindanao as part of its continuing defense cooperation with the Philippines.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas, Jr. expressed hopes on Monday for a repeat of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012, noting that the exercise is a “living proof that US and Philippine alliance is relevant and strong.”
“For the first time in memory, CARAT takes place in Mindanao, and I hope that this is the first of many,” he said during the opening ceremony of CARAT 2012 here.
This is the 18th CARAT, an annual bilateral naval exercise series between the United States and Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Thailand.
Thomas said at least 800 US Navy and Coast Guard personnel are taking part in the nine-day joint exercises in Manila and Mindanao, around 400 of them in Mindanao.
The US Navy (USN) deployed two vessels for the exercises, the missile-guiding frigate USS Vandergrift and the rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard, while the US Coast Guard sent USCG Waesche.
USS Vandergrift and USCG Waesche arrived here Sunday afternoon for onshore training exercises that include live firing.
USNS Safeguard, on the other hand, would be doing the rescue and salvage exercise at the Manila bay.
The naval exercises in Mindanao would be on the seas off Maitum and Maasim in Sarangani and in Balut Island, Sarangani town in Davao del Sur and would not be visible from the shores, Capt. Robert Empedrad, CARAT 2012 exercise director.
Lt. Gen Jorge B. Segovia, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command, said the AFP is looking forward to a stronger military partnership and friendship with the US military, noting the holding of CARAT 2012 “will benefit both navies as well as the communities.”
“With its goals to strengthen the bond between the Philippine Navy and the US Navy in addressing maritime defense, port security and resource protection, this exercise will not just benefit the participants but also the communities in the Mindanao sea,” Segovia said in his speech.
In a brief interview with reporters, Segovia said Mindanao was chosen as venue of the CARAT 2012 because of the presence of the Coast Watch Stations (CWS), a modern intelligence gathering or monitoring system project supported by the US government.
...
The Coast Watch Stations are spread in the towns of Kiamba, Maitum and Glan in Sarangani; Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat; Balut Island in Davao del Sur; and Cape San Agustin in Gov. Generoso, Davao Oriental.
The Coast Watch Station is part of the Coast Watch South, a defense project that is also supported by the Australian government.
Thomas said the joint naval exercises “will lead to greater cooperation” between the two countries.
“Military skills are perishable. We need to continue training and hone our skills and broaden our horizons. CARAT allows us to build on previous missions and observe lessons and increase our shared responsibility to strengthen our relationship,” he said.
This is the fifth time that CARAT is held in the country. Last year, it was held in Palawan, in 2010 it was in Subic Bay, in 2009 in Cebu City and in Palawan in 2008.
...
============
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Stop NATO website and articles:
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Philippines News Agency
July 4, 2012
US eyes more military exercises in Mindanao
by Romer S. Sarmiento
GENERAL SANTOS CITY: The United States is hoping to hold more maritime military training exercises in Mindanao as part of its continuing defense cooperation with the Philippines.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas, Jr. expressed hopes on Monday for a repeat of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012, noting that the exercise is a “living proof that US and Philippine alliance is relevant and strong.”
“For the first time in memory, CARAT takes place in Mindanao, and I hope that this is the first of many,” he said during the opening ceremony of CARAT 2012 here.
This is the 18th CARAT, an annual bilateral naval exercise series between the United States and Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Thailand.
Thomas said at least 800 US Navy and Coast Guard personnel are taking part in the nine-day joint exercises in Manila and Mindanao, around 400 of them in Mindanao.
The US Navy (USN) deployed two vessels for the exercises, the missile-guiding frigate USS Vandergrift and the rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard, while the US Coast Guard sent USCG Waesche.
USS Vandergrift and USCG Waesche arrived here Sunday afternoon for onshore training exercises that include live firing.
USNS Safeguard, on the other hand, would be doing the rescue and salvage exercise at the Manila bay.
The naval exercises in Mindanao would be on the seas off Maitum and Maasim in Sarangani and in Balut Island, Sarangani town in Davao del Sur and would not be visible from the shores, Capt. Robert Empedrad, CARAT 2012 exercise director.
Lt. Gen Jorge B. Segovia, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Eastern Mindanao Command, said the AFP is looking forward to a stronger military partnership and friendship with the US military, noting the holding of CARAT 2012 “will benefit both navies as well as the communities.”
“With its goals to strengthen the bond between the Philippine Navy and the US Navy in addressing maritime defense, port security and resource protection, this exercise will not just benefit the participants but also the communities in the Mindanao sea,” Segovia said in his speech.
In a brief interview with reporters, Segovia said Mindanao was chosen as venue of the CARAT 2012 because of the presence of the Coast Watch Stations (CWS), a modern intelligence gathering or monitoring system project supported by the US government.
...
The Coast Watch Stations are spread in the towns of Kiamba, Maitum and Glan in Sarangani; Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat; Balut Island in Davao del Sur; and Cape San Agustin in Gov. Generoso, Davao Oriental.
The Coast Watch Station is part of the Coast Watch South, a defense project that is also supported by the Australian government.
Thomas said the joint naval exercises “will lead to greater cooperation” between the two countries.
“Military skills are perishable. We need to continue training and hone our skills and broaden our horizons. CARAT allows us to build on previous missions and observe lessons and increase our shared responsibility to strengthen our relationship,” he said.
This is the fifth time that CARAT is held in the country. Last year, it was held in Palawan, in 2010 it was in Subic Bay, in 2009 in Cebu City and in Palawan in 2008.
...
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
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============
Wed Jul 4, 2012 7:33 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.chinadai
Xinhua News Agency
July 5, 2012
NATO chief calls for more active dialogue with China
LONDON: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expressed his hope on Wednesday that NATO would seek a more active dialogue with China.
"We must expand the range of nations with whom we engage; NATO needs to better understand China and define areas where we can work together to guarantee peace and stability. That is why I believe we need to hold a more active dialogue with China," he said.
While laying out a strategic vision for NATO, Rasmussen told an audience at the headquarters of think-tank Chatham House that he wanted "an alliance that is globally aware, globally connected, and globally capable."
Rasmussen said NATO's focus should be raised from European or Atlantic perspectives and take note of global issues in his speech entitled "Delivering Security in the 21st century."
The top NATO diplomat said that the economies and security of NATO nations were globalized, and the approach to security had to be globalized too.
Cooperative security was fundamental to NATO's way of doing business, and NATO "must be able, and willing, to engage politically and militarily with other nations, wherever they may be."
At a time of global risks and threats, delivering security should be a cooperative effort, said Rasmussen, adding, "this means NATO must continue to strengthen its connection with other countries and organizations around the globe."
Xinhua News Agency
July 5, 2012
NATO chief calls for more active dialogue with China
LONDON: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expressed his hope on Wednesday that NATO would seek a more active dialogue with China.
"We must expand the range of nations with whom we engage; NATO needs to better understand China and define areas where we can work together to guarantee peace and stability. That is why I believe we need to hold a more active dialogue with China," he said.
While laying out a strategic vision for NATO, Rasmussen told an audience at the headquarters of think-tank Chatham House that he wanted "an alliance that is globally aware, globally connected, and globally capable."
Rasmussen said NATO's focus should be raised from European or Atlantic perspectives and take note of global issues in his speech entitled "Delivering Security in the 21st century."
The top NATO diplomat said that the economies and security of NATO nations were globalized, and the approach to security had to be globalized too.
Cooperative security was fundamental to NATO's way of doing business, and NATO "must be able, and willing, to engage politically and militarily with other nations, wherever they may be."
At a time of global risks and threats, delivering security should be a cooperative effort, said Rasmussen, adding, "this means NATO must continue to strengthen its connection with other countries and organizations around the globe."
