Daily Archives: May 2, 2014

Towards WW3 Update Middle East Powder Keg (Nato,Russia,China,Syria,Iran,Israel,) Feb. 2201
A political analyst says the Islamic Republic of Iran has had a much stronger position in support of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar compared to that of near. WW3 Israel v Palestine What is...

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Towards WW3 Update Middle East Powder Keg (Nato,Russia,China,Syria,Iran,Israel,) Feb. 2201 - Video

Europe Responds to Russian Aggression: NATO opens second Baltic hub at Estonia #39;s Amari air base
NATO has officially turned Estonia #39;s Amari air base into its second hub in the Baltic States in a move designed to boost the alliance #39;s presence in the region.

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Europe Responds to Russian Aggression: NATO opens second Baltic hub at Estonia's Amari air base - Video

Nato -- finally finding its feet?
With Nato-Russian relations under strain, pressure is on the military alliance to act decisively. Has it been given a new lease of life? The FT #39;s Frederick Studemann asks Michael Clarke, director...

By: Financial Times

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Nato -- finally finding its feet? - Video

15 years on: NATO #39;s Murino Massacre of innocent children remembered In the NOW.
A young boy and two girls were among those killed when NATO bombed a small village in Montenegro during their 1999 campaign against Yugoslavia. In the Now we look back at the ghost of NATO #39;s...

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15 years on: NATO's Murino Massacre of innocent children remembered In the NOW. - Video

Summary: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance of countries from Europe and North America promising collective defence. Currently numbering 26 nations, NATO was formed initially to counter the communist East and has searched for a new identity in the post-Cold War world. Background:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, with ideologically opposed Soviet armies occupying much of Eastern Europe and fears still high over German aggression, the nations of Western Europe searched for a new form of military alliance to protect themselves. In March 1948 the Brussels Pact was signed between France, Britain, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, creating a defence alliance called the Western European Union, but there was a feeling that any effective alliance would have to include the US and Canada.

In the US there was widespread concern about both the spread of Communism in Europe strong Communist parties had formed in France and Italy - and potential aggression from Soviet armies, leading the US to seek talks about an Atlantic alliance with the west of Europe. The perceived need for a new defensive unit to rival the Eastern bloc was exacerbated by the Berlin Blockade of 1949, leading to an agreement that same year with many nations from Europe. Some nations opposed membership and still do, e.g. Sweden, Ireland.

NATO was created by the North Atlantic Treaty, also called the Washington Treaty, which was signed on April 5th 1949. There were twelve signatories, including the United States, Canada and Britain (full list below). The head of NATO's military operations is the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a position always held by an American so their troops dont come under foreign command, answering to the North Atlantic Council of ambassadors from member nations, which is led by the Secretary General of NATO, who is always European. The centrepiece of the NATO treaty is Article 5, promising collective security:

"an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all; and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area."

NATO had, in many ways, been formed to secure West Europe against the threat of Soviet Russia, and the Cold War of 1945 to 1991 saw an often tense military standoff between NATO on one side and the Warsaw Pact nations on the other. However, there was never a direct military engagement, thanks in part to the threat of nuclear war; as part of NATO agreements nuclear weapons were stationed in Europe. There were tensions within NATO itself, and in 1966 France withdrew from the military command established in 1949.

The end of the Cold War in 1991 led to three major developments: the expansion of NATO to include new nations from the former Eastern bloc (full list below), the re-imagining of NATO as a co-operative security alliance able to deal with European conflicts not involving member nations and the first use of NATO forces in combat. This first occurred during the Wars of the Former Yugoslavia, when NATO used air-strikes first against Bosnian-Serb positions in 1995, and again in 1999 against Serbia, plus the creation of a 60,000 peace keeping force in the region.

NATO also created the Partnership for Peace initiative in 1994, aimed at engaging and building trust with ex-Warsaw Pact nations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and later the nations from the Former Yugoslavia. Other 30 countries have so far joined, and ten have become full members of NATO.

Member States:

1949 Founder Members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France (withdrew from military structure 1966), Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States 1952: Greece (withdrew from military command 1974 80), Turkey 1955: West Germany (With East Germany as reunified Germany from 1990) 1982: Spain 1999: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia

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About the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Apr. 24, 2014

NATOs Eastern European members are growing increasingly nervous about Russias moves and the alliances ability, or even willingness, to counter them. MORE

United States plans to carry out small ground-force exercises in Poland and Estonia; exercises are an attempt to reassure NATO's Eastern European members worried about Russia's military operations in and near Ukraine. MORE

NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan kills a woman and two children, again raising the issue of civilian casualties at time when both country's presidential election and future of Western troop presence there are unresolved. MORE

NATO releases satellite photographs showing a menacing force of Russian fighter jets and tanks, along with as many as 40,000 troops, near Russia's border with Ukraine; photos offer evidence of a military buildup that the West says Russia could use to invade Ukraine at any moment. MORE

United States and NATO issue stern warnings to Moscow about further intervention in Ukraine's affairs amid continuing fears of eventual Russian incursion; move comes as government in Kiev takes action against pro-Russian protesters. MORE

NATO's top commander Gen Philip M Breedlove says 40,000 troops Russia has within striking distance of Ukraine are poised to attack on 12 hours notice and could accomplish their military objectives within three to five days. MORE

NATOs foreign ministers vow to strengthen alliances military presence on territory of its Eastern European members because of Russias military intervention in Ukraine; move codifies and expands on steps alliance has already taken to protest Russia's annexation of Crimea. MORE

NATO announces that former Norwegian Prime Min Jens Stoltenberg will lead the alliance starting on Oct 1; appointment comes as United States reaffirms its commitment to the Western military alliance as a way of containing an increasingly assertive Russia led by Pres Vladimir V Putin. MORE

Pres Obama and European leaders pledge to bolster NATO alliance and vow that Russia will not be allowed to run roughshod over its neighbors, but military reality on the ground in Europe tells a different story; United States has drastically cut back its European forces from a decade ago, and European countries have struggled and largely failed to come up with additional military spending at a time of economic anemia and budget cuts. MORE

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization - The New York Times

People in helmets (left and right), dressed as Russian factories workers, hold a man wearing Barack Obama's mask with mock NATO's bomb in chains, as they take part in a Communists demonstration in downtown Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May, 1, 2014. Thousands of Communists, members of Russia's main political parties and opposition activists staged competing marches in Moscow and other cities Thursday marking the traditional May Day holiday. Poster at the background reads : Peace, Labour, May. (AP Photo/Denis Tyrin)The Associated Press

WASHINGTON The United States and some of its NATO allies see Russia's intervention in Ukraine as a post-Cold War turning point, possibly ending two decades of hope that Moscow could be made a lasting security partner.

NATO's deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, said Thursday that the alliance is compelled to view Russia as an adversary in light of its annexation of Crimea and its apparent efforts to further destabilize eastern Ukraine.

Vershbow, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO and onetime Pentagon official, said Russia's interventionist stance of late poses "grave challenges" to global security arrangements that have developed since the end of World War II.

"What the Russians have done ... is effectively overturned a lot of the pillars of the international security system that we've come to know and be comfortable with," he said.

With the Ukraine crisis and NATO's deteriorating relations with Moscow as a backdrop, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was to deliver a speech Friday on the future of the Western alliance and how it can maintain its relevance.

Hagel was expected to argue that the crisis in Ukraine represents a "coalescing moment" for the alliance that should be used to improve NATO defense capabilities, according to an official familiar with his speech preparation.

Fear of Russian aggression is most acute among newer NATO members such as Poland and other Eastern European states that once were part of the Soviet sphere of influence but chose to join the Western alliance after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Some older NATO members in Europe are less alarmed and see less urgency in trying to punish Moscow for its moves in Ukraine.

In his speech, Hagel also was expected to draw linkages between military security and economic security, in Europe and more broadly, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the remarks were still being prepared.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that after a recent trip to Ukraine he believes Washington needs to stiffen its support for the Ukrainian government in its confrontation with Moscow.

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NATO official: Russian moves in Ukraine pose 'grave challenge' to global security system

WASHINGTON NATO's second-ranking official says Moscow's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its destabilizing actions in eastern Ukraine have compelled the U.S.-led alliance to start treating Russia as more of an enemy than a partner.

This marks a turning point in decades of effort by NATO to draw Moscow closer, says Alexander Vershbow, the deputy secretary-general of the alliance. He made the remarks to a group of reporters.

Vershbow said the alliance is considering new measures aimed at deterring Russia from any aggression against NATO member countries along its border, such as the Baltic states that were once part of the Soviet Union.

Vershbow said that among possible moves by NATO are deployment of more substantial numbers of allied combat forces to Eastern Europe, either permanently or on a rotational basis.

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NATO official says Russia now an adversary

WASHINGTON After two decades of trying to build a partnership with Russia, NATO now feels compelled to start treating Moscow as an adversary, the alliance's second-ranking official said Thursday.

"Clearly the Russians have declared NATO as an adversary, so we have to begin to view Russia no longer as a partner but as more of an adversary than a partner," said Alexander Vershbow, the deputy secretary-general of NATO.

In a question-and-answer session with a small group of reporters, Vershbow said Russia's annexation of Crimea and its apparent manipulation of unrest in eastern Ukraine have fundamentally changed the NATO-Russia relationship.

"In central Europe, clearly we have two different visions of what European security should be like," Vershbow, a former U.S. diplomat and onetime Pentagon official, said. "We still would defend the sovereignty and freedom of choice of Russia's neighbors, and Russia clearly is trying to re-impose hegemony and limit their sovereignty under the guise of a defense of the Russian world."

In April, NATO suspended all "practical civilian and military cooperation" with Russia, although Russia has maintained its diplomatic mission to NATO, which was established in 1998.

The crisis over Ukraine and its implications for U.S. and NATO relations with Russia has become a major point of concern for top Obama administration officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who spoke by phone Monday to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about Russia's intentions in Ukraine. Aides said Hagel was assured that Russia has no intention of invading.

Hagel is scheduled to speak Friday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on European security in the context of the Ukraine crisis and the deepening chill in relations with Moscow.

Vershbow said NATO, created 65 years ago as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union, is considering new defensive measures aimed at deterring Russia from any aggression against NATO members along its border, such as the Baltic states that were once part of the Soviet Union, Vershbow said.

"We want to be sure that we can come to the aid of these countries if there were any, even indirect, threat very quickly before any facts on the ground can be established," he said.

To do that, NATO members will have to shorten the response time of its forces, he said.

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NATO official says Russia must now be viewed as more of an enemy than a partner

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Lendy Renegar, commander of the 48th Air Expeditionary Group out of RAF Lakenheath, England, hands over the ceremonial key to the Polish and British commanders as they take over responsibility for patrolling the Baltic airspace at Siauliai air base in Lithuania on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

RAF MILDENHALL, England Three NATO nations assumed control on Thursday of a strengthened Baltic air policing mission from the U.S. Air Force amid the worsening crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

Separately, Canada is sending six interceptors to Romania as a sign of allied solidarity with its east European members bordering Ukraine and Russia.

Poland, Britain and Denmark are providing a total of 12 fighters to replace 10 F-15C Eagles from RAF Lakenheath, England, according to a NATO statement. The three nations are scheduled to operate the mission for four months.

Additionally, the French deployed four jets to Poland to replace the MiG-29s Poland sent to the Baltics, a NATO official said.

The Baltic mission normally consists of four fighters provided by a single NATO nation to serve as a rapid-reaction force to intercept unidentified or suspicious planes in or near Baltic airspace. The three Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania dont possess fighter jets capable of patrolling their own airspace.

Weve tripled the air presence, roughly, in the region and the purpose is to show an air presence, to demonstrate commitment to NATO solidarity and to be able to respond appropriately to any inappropriate activity by other parties, Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, NATOs deputy supreme commander, said in a press release.

Poland and the United Kingdom will fly out of Siauliai air base, Lithuania, the traditional base of the mission since its inception in 2004. Danish planes will fly out of Amari air base, Estonia, which Lakenheaths airmen recently helped certify for NATO use. The French jets will operate from the Malbork airbase in Poland, the NATO statement said.

Lakenheath initially deployed four F-15Cs and about 150 airmen for the mission in early January, but the Baltics requested additional security as Russia was moving to annex Crimea from Ukraine at the time.

The change of responsibility comes just days after NATO planes scrambled to intercept a Russian aircraft, a NATO official said in a telephone interview. The aircraft was flying over international waters on Monday, but had not filed a flight plan or used a transponder detectable by civilian air traffic control.

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NATO allies take over Baltic mission from Air Force