http://www.interfax.com/3/424029/news.aspx


Interfax
September 1, 2008


NATO ships should leave Black Sea to defuse situation
- diplomat


MOSCOW - The departure of NATO ships from the Black
Sea would help defuse the situation in the region,
said Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Andrei
Nesterenko.

"We cannot see the warships fitted with quite serious
weapons, which were sent by several foreign countries
to the Black Sea shores, as a stabilization measure,"
Nesterenko told a press conference in Moscow on
Monday.

"Probably, if these ships leave, we will take it as a
real intention to defuse the situation," he said.

The departure of the NATO ships "could make the life
of the people and nationalities living there calmer,"
he said. "Because everyone is noticing it, of course,"
he said.




===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://top.rbc.ru/english/index.shtml?/news/english/2008/09/01/01131209_bod.shtm\
l


RosBusinessConsulting
September 1, 2008


Russian minister urges arms embargo on Georgia


The international community should impose an embargo
on arms supplies to Georgia, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov told the students and professors of
Moscow State Institute of International Relations
(MGIMO).

“In order to avoid the relapse into violence in the
region, it would be correct to impose an embargo on
arms supplies to the region until new authorities make
Georgia a normal country,” Lavrov said, noting that
Russia would continue to take measures preventing
“Mikhail Saakashvili’s regime from evil-doing in the
future.”

Commenting on the EU’s emergency summit in Brussels on
Monday, the Russian Foreign Minister expressed hope
that it would be able to pass a resolution on the
situation in the Caucasus “in line with Europe’s vital
interests.”

If Russia’s partners prove to be unprepared for joint
actions, Russia will have to go it alone, but within
the framework of international law, according to
Lavrov. It is high time for Europe to return to
“simple values free of geopolitical bias,” he is
convinced.

Lavrov also spoke of attempts to intimidate Russia
with Germany, which “if let out of the NATO cage”
would launch another world conquering campaign.

“For us, the German issue has been settled once and
for all,” he underlined, adding that Russia would not
allow other nations to drive a wedge in its relations
with Germany.
------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080901/116432247.html


Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 1, 2008


Russia wants arms embargo on Georgia


MOSCOW - Russia would like to see the imposition of an
embargo on arms supplies to Georgia until a change of
leadership takes place in the Caucasus state, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

Lavrov's remarks came as European Union leaders were
due to gather later on Monday for an emergency summit
to focus on the Georgia crisis and review relations
with Moscow.

"To guarantee the region is protected against new
outbreaks of violence, Russia will continue to take
measures to make sure that the [Mikheil Saakashvili]
regime is unable to commit evil deeds ever again,"
Lavrov said.

"It would be appropriate to impose an embargo on arms
supplies on that regime until different leaders have
turned Georgia into a normal country," he said.

Moscow said hundreds of civilians and peacekeepers
were killed in the Georgia's attack on South Ossetia
on August 8, and thousands were forced to flee the
devastated region. Russia concluded its operation to
"force Georgia to peace" on August 12.

Lavrov said Moscow hopes the EU will make the right
choice at its summit.

"The European Union summit today will clarify a lot.
We hope the choice will be made based on Europe's
fundamental interests," Lavrov said.

A number of EU states, including Britain and Poland,
have called for sanctions against Moscow and the
postponement of talks on a new partnership pact with
Russia over what they called its disproportionate
response to the Georgian attack.

Russia also later recognized South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, another Georgian separatist region where
many hold Russian passports, as independent states.
The move was condemned internationally as
"irresponsible."

But Lavrov made it clear that Russia would not yield
to pressure. "Russia has returned to the world scene
as a responsible state which is capable of defending
its citizens," he said.

Lavrov also said Russia would maintain dialogue with
the United States as long as there is even the
slightest chance of reaching an understanding of each
other's positions.

Ties between Moscow and Washington, already tense over
U.S. plans for a missile shield in Europe and a host
of other issues, strained further over the Georgia
crisis.

"We will talk to Washington as long as there is even
the slightest chance of understanding each other and
coming to terms," Lavrov said.

However the minister laid part of the blame for the
recent fighting on the U.S., whose military and other
support for President Saakashvili, he said, only
encouraged the "irresponsible and unpredictable
regime's" reckless moves.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier accused
the White House of provoking the conflict in Georgia
in order to give an advantage to "one of" the U.S.
presidential candidates. Washington has denied the
allegation.







===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20080901131435.shtml


RosBusinessConsulting
September 1, 2008


Western media campaign on S. Ossetia planned, Russian
Minister says


Moscow - The western companies' media campaign, which
involved reporting on the events on South Ossetia, was
seriously planned, Russian Communications Minister
Igor Shchegolev told the Moscow State University
journalistic department students.

He pointed out that western media used
double-standards policy when reporting on the events
in the breakaway republic, as well as on Kosovo.

The Minister also noted that, having analyzed a series
of reports in western media, he concluded that the
main thesis was that "powerful Russia attacked small
unprotected Georgia."

Furthermore, he added that foreign television channels
broadcasted pictures of destroyed buildings, implying
that Russian tanks destroyed Georgian towns, whereas
in reality these were pictures from Tskhinvali.





===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080901/116440323.html


Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 1, 2008


Russian-Kazakh war games start in Urals


CHELYABINSK - Russia and Kazakhstan launched the first
stage of a strategic exercise in the Chelyabinsk
Region in Russia's Urals on Monday, the Ground Forces'
press service said.

The first stage of the drills, named Center-2008, will
run through September 5, involving about 1,500 troops
on each side.

The subsequent stages in the Chelyabinsk Region, which
borders on Kazakhstan, will run until September 27,
with 12,000 troops taking part.

The exercises will also involve around 1,000 armed
vehicles, over 50 fixed and rotary winged aircraft,
including Su-24 Fencer fighter/bombers, and airlift
and attack helicopters Mi-8 Hip and Mi-24 Hind.

The exercise is designed to contribute to "the further
development of a united outlook and approach to joint
planning in the interests of maintaining the national
security of the two countries," the statement said.


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

Dear friends,
 
I am attaching herewith the text of the Appeal of the Belgrade Forum for the
world of Equals regarding the 10th anniversary of the NATO aggression
against Serbia (FRY) hoping to have your understanding and support in its
enrichment and implementation. At this stage we would be particularly
grateful for any assistance in providing the widest possible circulation of
the Appeal.
 
Sincere thanks and best wishes,
 
Zivadin Jovanovic,
President of the Belgrade Forum
 
 =================== BELGRADEFORUM
FOR A WORLD OF EQUALS
11.000 Belgrade, Murska 14, Serbia
Tel. +381 11 24 52 071, 381 11 24 55 822
                                                                            
                           Belgrade, August 2008
e-mail- beoforum@...
 
                                                          A P P E A L
 
NOT TO FORGET
NATO AGRESSION AGAINST SERBIA, TEN YEARS AFTER
 
Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, an independent, non-party, and
non-profit association of citizens, has initiated a program of activities to
mark the 10th anniversary of the NATO aggression against Serbia (the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia) in 1999.

            The primary objectives are to pay due respect to human victims,
to shed more light on the real goals and consequences of that aggression,
and to spread messages of peace, mutual respect and equal rights of all
nations and all human beings on the Planet. The framework is: NOT TO FORGET.
Remembrance of victims and consequences of the aggression will contribute to
upgrading the overall responsibility for the observance of the universal
principles of International Law and the role of the international
institutions, headed by the United Nations.
            The activities will continue throughout 2009, culminating in
March (the beginning) and June, 2009 (the end) of the aggression.
            The Belgrade Forum invites all the state, scientific, cultural
and religious institutions of Serbia, the Serbian Academy of Science and Art
(SANU), the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), associations of citizens,
mass-media, and the Serbian Diaspora (with its associations and mass-media)
to take part in various activities aiming not to forget victims and
consequences of the 1999 NATO aggression. Consequences are not felt in
Serbia and the Balkans only but also in Europe, Caucasus, Middle East, Asia,
Africa, Latin America.
            The Belgrade Forum believes that marking this anniversary will
promote international solidarity with Serbia and Serbian people as victims
of the aggression which transformed NATO from a defensive into an offensive
alliance. The day of the beginning of NATO aggression, March 24th, 1999 set
a most dangerous precedent of using military force of an regional
organization against a sovereign state without authorization of UN Security
Council. It was a clear violation of the universal principles of
International Law, the UN Charter, the OSCE Final Helsinki Act and the Paris
Charter. It represents also violation of the NATO 1949 founding act as well
as the constitutions of the member countries. Uniqueness is reflected also
insofar that the aggression was conducted in an alliance of NATO and the
terrorist UCK organization.
              The aggression left over 3.500 dead and about 10.000 wounded,
out of which more than two thirds are civilians, including children and
disabled. In addition, many people died later as a consequence of deceases
caused by use of depleted uranium and other armament banned by the
International Law. The material losses - destroyed bridges, railways,
highways, factories, transformers and electricity transmission lines,
apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, even 30 TV stations and
transmitters - amounted about 100 billion US dollars.
             The goals of the 1999 military NATO aggression have been
incessantly pursued during the past ten years. Their continuity was
reflected through sustained support to the Albanian terrorism and
secessionism - that resulted in thousands of killed and abducted, ethnic
cleansing of 270.000 Serbs and other non-Albanians, destruction of 150
Serbian medieval monasteries and churches, massive pogrom of Serbs in March
2004 - all the way to open support to the recently proclaimed illegal
independence of Kosovo (17th of February 2008). Notably, the US/NATO/UCK
aggression against Serbia and their open support to the Albanian terrorism
and separatism in Kosovo and Metohija (Serbia) led to the overall rise of
terrorism, separatism and organized international crime in Europe and the
world, to the occupation of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), to the
threats of military interventions in many other countries all over the
world. 
             Following the 1999 aggression USA and NATO have established a
network of new military bases in Eastern Europe and the Balkan countries
(Bulgaria, Albania, Rumania, Hungary, Bosnia). This actually started by
establishment of Camp Bondstill, an American military base in Kosovo and
Metohija (Serbia) in 1999 as the biggest American base outside the USA and
the largest built since the Vietnam War.
            To conclude, NATO aggression against Serbia (FRY) was not a
local war, the least "humanitarian intervention" but the testing of a USA
strategy with global objectives threatening the whole humanity.
             Belgrade Forum is addressing an
 
                                                   A p e a l
 to peace movements, intellectuals, youth organizations, leaders of friendly
countries and organizations, to co-fighters for peace, equal sovereign
rights, and cooperation, to friends - in Europe, Asia, North and South
America, Africa:
             to mark the 10th anniversary of the USA/NATO/UCK aggression
against Serbia (FRY), demand abolishment of NATO and foreign military basis,
condemn illegal secession and recognition of Kosovo and Metohija (by NATO
and some EU countries), to support sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Serbia, denounce USA double standards on separatism and terrorism.
             The Belgrade Forum is engaged in preparation of the following -
                                                 Activities:
            -        International Round table on 23 of March, 2009, in
Belgrade.
-        Publication of the of the interventions 
-         Photo, books, audio/video exhibition on the aggression
-         Evenings of documentary films of domestic and foreign production
in Belgrade and other cities in Serbia
-     Reconstruction of the monuments to the victims
-        Laying wreaths in honor to the victims in Belgrade and other places
-        Opening of the Library for Study, Investigation and Documentation
on the aggression
-     Peace meetings and marches
-         Preparation of the book "Friends of Serbia in the World"
-      Cooperation with associations of Serbian Diaspora
-      Placing a plaque of gratitude to Greek People in Thessaloniki  
                                                       
                                                   How you can
help?               
             -     Spreading information on the coming anniversary
-     Initiating activities in your country, town,   and/or association
    condemning aggression and expressing solidarity with Serbia's rights to
be free, sovereign, integrated and compensated for the losses caused by
criminal aggression
-    Denouncing NATO as an aggressive alliance aiming to be above the UN
   and asking its abolishment
-             Writing and publishing your own analyses, experiences, and
views on the NATO aggression and its consequences
-             Asking the government institutions in your countries to
publicly mark this anniversary and condemn arms race, disregard of the
International Law and interventionism initiated by the 1999 aggression
-             Asking civic and youth association, political parties,
parliamentarians, independent intellectuals, scientists, mass-medias to mark
this anniversary, condemn policy manipulations, double standards on
separatism, terrorism and selective justice 
-             Taking part in public discussions, meetings, or marches
against the aggression
-             Collecting books, photos, CDs, DVDs, films, or any other
documents for the future Library on the aggression
-             Nominating personalities for the "Book of Friends of Serbia in
the World" with the basic biographic data
-             Donating Belgrade Forum, thus helping the implementation of
the proposed activities.
                                                                   
       
                                                                            
    P R E S I D E N T
                                                                            
            Zivadin Jovanovic

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13026490&PageNum=0


Itar-Tass
September 1, 2008


Sevastopol protests against US naval ship


SEVASTOPOL - The US costal guard ship Dallas, that
called at the Sevastopl sea port on Monday at the
invitation of the Ukrainian side, has been met by
angry city residents who staged protest acts.

The hopes cherished by the Ukrainian leadership that
the population of Sevastopol would not demonstrate
their anti-NATO position on teh first school day have
been frustrated.

City residents came to the Sevastopol pier to
demonstrate with slogans of protest against the US
ship. The Dallas called at the Sevastopol seaport
after it had completed its " humanitarian" mission at
the Batumi seaport in Georgia.

At present, there are 18 NATO ships staying in the
Black Sea, including the US destroyer McFaul and
Spanish, German and Polish ships.

The group of NATO ships have been conducting joint
maneuvers in close proximity of the Georgian coast.

In the next few days another US coast guard ship, the
Mount Whitney, is expected to arrive in the Black Sea.


The US coast guard ship Dallas has a displacement of
around 3,000 tons. its speed is up to 29 knots and
range is around 14,000 miles.

Its crew numbers 167.

The ship is equipped with artillery systems with a
range of 15 kilometers and a carrier-based combat
helicopter.

The ship is capable of conducting air reconnaissance,
spot submarines and wage radio-electronic war.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13025567&PageNum=0


Itar-Tass
September 1, 2008


Russian army capable of defeating any enemy -
Yevnevich


CHEBARKUL RANGE, Chelyabinsk region - Russia’s army is
capable of defeating any enemy even if it received
support from the U.S. or Europe, the deputy commander
of Russia's Ground Forces, Lieutenant-General Valery
Yevnevich said after the launch of Russian-Kazakh
tactical exercise on Monday.

“The peace coercing operation in Georgia proved that
irrespective of who trained the aggressor and what
moral support it received overseas or in Europe, we
have everything necessary to destroy it, and it will
be destroyed,” he said.

Kazakhstan’s chief of the joint manouvers, Nikolai
Kuatov said in turn that Kazakhstan and its armed
forces learned a lesson from the armed conflict
between Russia and Georgia.

“We live in peace with all nations, but we are always
ready to such turns in the world policy and we learnt
relevant lessons,” he said.

“At the Chebrakul range we work through all those
issue of combat interaction with the Russian army that
will help us act in practice in any complex
conditions,” Kuatov said.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.barentsobserver.com/sweden-finland-debate-nato-as-russia-relations-wo\
rsen.4504795-58932.html


Barents Observer
September 1, 2008


Sweden, Finland debate NATO as Russia relations worsen


-Russia will not however welcome new NATO members
along its borders, be it in the Caucasus or in the
European North. Several prominent Russian politicians
have been outspoken about negative consequences of
Finnish and Swedish membership in the alliance.
-[A] Russian diplomat working based in Helsinki in a
television interview said that Russia would see
Finland’s possible membership in NATO as “a direct
military threat”.



Several cabinet members in both Finland and Sweden say
the crisis in Georgia shows that an enhanced debate on
NATO membership must be taken.

Meanwhile, hardliners in Russia say NATO membership
will harm relations with the two countries.

"We need to reconsider our security policy," Finnish
Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said in an interview
with Austria's Die Presse on Saturday, EUobserver.com
reports.

"The talk about how nothing has changed is
inconceivable to me," the minister added.

Meanwhile, in Sweden government coalition junior
partner, the People’s Party, steps up rhetoric for
Swedish membership in the alliance.

The pro-NATO statements come as the two neutral
countries increasingly open up for defence cooperation
with other states.

Recently, both countries have engaged in enhanced
defence cooperation talks with NATO member Norway.

As reported by BarentsObserver, a report on Nordic
defence cooperation is currently in the making under
the leadership of Norway’s former foreign minister
Thorvald Stoltenberg.

The report’s likely conclusion is that the Nordic
countries should step up cross-border military
cooperation, both in order to cut costs and in order
to meet joint challenges in the region.

Russia will not however welcome new NATO members along
its borders, be it in the Caucasus or in the European
North. Several prominent Russian politicians have been
outspoken about negative consequences of Finnish and
Swedish membership in the alliance.

As reported by newspaper Helsingin Sanomat a Russian
diplomat working based in Helsinki in a television
interview said that Russia would see Finland’s
possible membership in NATO as “a direct military
threat”.

The statement from Mr. Vladimir Kozin caused something
of a political storm in Finland last autumn. Russia
officially distanced itself from Kozin’s comments, and
he soon returned to Moscow.

Still, the statement illustrates the sensitivity of
the NATO issue in east-west relations in the region.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13025739&PageNum=0


Itar-Tass
September 1, 2008


Kazakhstan considers Russia strategic partner –
military chief


-“The world community continues to face a steamroller
approach in international relations that is based on
the use of off-line, extraordinary and unpredictable
actions, including political and psychological
pressure, information war, the use of force and
economic sanctions.”


CHEBARKUL RANGE, Chelyabinsk region - Kazakhstan sees
in Russia a strategic ally and partner, the chief of
Russian-Kazakh tactical exercise, Mayor General
Nikolai Kuatov said at the manouvers’ launch on
Monday.

“The fact that one third of our land frontiers
stretches over Russia’s southern regions inevitably
persuades us to choose our foreign policy priority and
build good-neighbourly relations, he said stressing
that the priority is the constructive and fruitful
development of military cooperation with Russia.

“Therefore Kazakhstan considers Russia its strategic
ally and partner both in political and military
spheres,” Kuatov said.

“The world community continues to face a steamroller
approach in international relations that is based on
the use of off-line, extraordinary and unpredictable
actions, including political and psychological
pressure, information war, the use of force and
economic sanctions,” he said.

“Therefore without adaptation of the country’s defence
policy and military structure to changing realities it
would be impossible to ensure effective protection of
its vital interests,” Kuatov said.

The deputy commander of Russia's Ground Forces,
Lieutenant-General Valery Yevnevich said that “our
countries’ efforts aimed at raising efficiency of
joint actions become more practical.”

He expressed confidence that “our countries’
cooperation in the fight against terrorism, separatism
and extremism will have a fresh impetus to further
development.”

“We are always ready to develop partnership, upgrade
interaction and strengthen relations both in military
and political spheres,” Yevnevich said.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/09/01/ap5375825.html


Associated Press
September 1, 2008


NATO: Artillery strike kills 3 Afghan children


KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO says its artillery strikes
in eastern Afghanistan have accidentally killed three
children and wounded seven others.
....
It says one of the rounds hit a house, killing three
children and wounding seven other civilians.

The deaths will likely fuel the growing schism between
the Afghan government and the foreign forces, who have
been accused in the killings of several dozen
civilians in recent weeks.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8dGftYb0s4XWdUMRdIVs3vh1CKAD92TQUO80


Associated Press
September 1, 2008


Kabul raid kills 3, including 2 children
By AMIR SHAH


-Angry men gathered at the victims' house in the
Utkheil area east of Kabul, where the bodies of
Nurullah and his two children — boys aged 1 and 2 —
were displayed inside a mud-walled compound.
Nurullah's wife was also wounded in the operation,
said Yahya Khan, a cousin.


KABUL, Afghanistan — A raid by foreign and Afghan
forces in Kabul killed a man and his two children
early Monday, a police official and witnesses said.

The raid in the eastern outskirts of the Afghan
capital was conducted by U.S. troops backed by Afghan
intelligence agents, said police officer Qubaidullah,
who like many Afghans goes by one name.

He said the raid killed a man named Nurullah and two
of his children and wounded his wife.

The deaths are likely to further strain relations
between the local people and the U.S. and other
foreign forces in Afghanistan, who have been accused
by Afghan officials of killing up to 90 civilians
during an Aug. 22 operation in the country's west.
....
The U.S.-led coalition and NATO-led force said they
had no information about Monday's raid and could not
confirm their troops participated.

Angry men gathered at the victims' house in the
Utkheil area east of Kabul, where the bodies of
Nurullah and his two children — boys aged 1 and 2 —
were displayed inside a mud-walled compound.
Nurullah's wife was also wounded in the operation,
said Yahya Khan, a cousin.

The raid left the house with broken windows and bullet
holes in the walls.

Three other men, all the victims' cousins, were
detained during the operation but later released, Khan
said.
....
The issue of civilian deaths is a particularly
sensitive topic in Afghanistan following the Aug. 22
bombing of the village of Azizabad in Herat province
by the U.S.-led coalition. An Afghan government
commission said 90 civilians were killed, a finding
backed by a preliminary U.N. report.
....

===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=31902&cid=87&p=01.09.2008


Voice of Russia
September 1, 2008


JOHN McCAIN ROOTING FOR “A FREE CHECHNYA”
By David Brian


-"We have made our choice and there is no need to try
and impose on us new wars, conflicts and turmoil",
Kadyrov said, adding "We are fed up with conflicts".
He then accused the entire Bush Administration of
hypocrisy.


Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has supported President
Dmitry Medvedev’s decision to recognize the
independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, thereby
giving an extramural response to claims by Republican
John McCain.

"I am extremely surprised by statements made by U.S.
presidential candidate John McCain and some other
American politicians of their intent to return to the
issue of Chechnya, and all but calling for its
independence", Kadyrov said in a statement.

Kadyrov noted that he saw no parallels between
President Medvedev’s decision and the situation in his
republic. "There is no connection between the events
in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the Chechen
Republic. The Americans try drawing Chechnya by the
ears to these events, but this is fruitless," Kadyrov
noted.

The Chechen leader’s statement came less than a day
after Senator John McCain said that "after Russia
illegally recognized the independence of South Ossetia
and Abkhazia, Western countries should think about the
independence of the North Caucasus and Chechnya".

Therefore, President Kadyrov felt it necessary to
remind the Arizona Senator that the Chechens are not
going to demand independence for themselves.

"In Chechnya, where Mr. McCain is not known, we’ve had
a referendum in which people voted for the
Constitution, recognizing the Chechen Republic as an
integral part of Russia.

"We have made our choice and there is no need to try
and impose on us new wars, conflicts and turmoil",
Kadyrov said, adding "We are fed up with conflicts".

He then accused the entire Bush Administration of
hypocrisy.

“Why didn’t they think about Chechnya when they were
taking East Timor away from Indonesia, when they were
breaking up Yugoslavia and then Serbia?” Kadyrov
queried.

“They remembered us the very moment Russia moved in to
prevent another attempted genocide of South Ossetians
and Abkhazians. Mind my word: nothing will come out of
this,” Kadyrov warned.

With the start of the armed conflict in South Ossetia
John McCain overhauled his entire election campaign
strategy putting critique of Moscow at the top of his
political agenda.

Many experts both in Russia and in the West believe
the conflict has been benefiting McCain, whose tough
foreign policy rhetoric has already helped him catch
up with his Democratic rival Barack Obama.

Ramzan Kadyrov didn’t miss a chance to poke fun at
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. “I was
watching TV yesterday and saw the Georgian
Commander-in-Chief running away like crazy at the
sound of a jet plane flying high overhead, abandoning
the crowd of officials and Cabinet ministers,” Kadyrov
sneered.

“Saakashvili wasn’t even man enough to look at the
plane....In fact he ran so fast that his bodyguards
could hardly catch him!

"The Georgians need to send him to the Olympics to be
a splinter there! How can the commander in chief be
such a coward, especially when he is supposedly giving
orders to the Georgian army? If I were him, I would
resign right then and there!” Kadyrov added.




===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=31916&cid=87&p=01.09.2008


Voice of Russia
September 1, 2008


GLIMPSING A BRIEF HISTORY OF US MILITARY INTERVENTIONS
OVERSEAS
By Yuri Reshetnikov


The latest events in the Caucasus, in South Ossetia
and Abkhazia in particular, have provoked a strong
reaction in the United States.

Critics in Washington have lambasted Moscow for what
it called “overreaction” with regard to Georgia which
was the prime cause behind these events. Meanwhile,
the United States itself has a long historical record
of such seeming “overreaction”.

As Russian troops were dispatched to South Ossetia on
August 8 to drive Georgian forces out of the breakaway
territory, and subsequently moved beyond South
Ossetia’s territory in hot pursuit of fleeing Georgian
soldiers, both Tbilisi and Washington were under the
impression that the Russians would go all the way to
the Georgian capital to effect ‘regime change’ and
topple the Georgian regime.

Moscow put those apprehensions to rest saying that
‘regime change’ is not part of its political culture
and vocabulary. And Russia’s ambassador to the United
Nations, Vitaly Churkin said the expression ‘regime
change’ belonged to American politics.

In the history of post-Soviet Russia, there has been
no precedent of this practice, unlike in the case with
the United States which has long practiced ‘regime
change’ and whose foreign policy doctrine allows for
toppling unwanted governments in countries far from
the US borders.

In fact, the United States military has been
intervening in other countries for a long time.

In 1898, it seized the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto
Rico from Spain.

In the first half of the 20th century it repeatedly
sent Marines to “protectorates” such as Nicaragua,
Honduras, Panama, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

All these interventions directly served corporate
interests, and many resulted in massive losses of
civilians, rebels, and soldiers.

In the early 1960s, the US returned to its pre-World
War Two interventionist role in the Caribbean,
directing the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs exile invasion
of Cuba, and the 1965 bombing and Marine invasion of
the Dominican Republic during an election campaign.

During the Cold War, the CIA would also help to
support or install pro-US dictatorships in Iran,
Chile, Guatemala, Indonesia and scores of other
countries around the world.

The US war in Indochina, lasting from 1960 through
1975 pit US forces against North Vietnam and Communist
rebels fighting to overthrow pro-US dictatorships in
South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Echoes of Vietnam reverberated in Central America
during the 1980s, when the Regan administration
strongly backed the pro-US regime in El Salvador.

US troops also invaded the island nation of Grenada in
1983, to oust an anti-American government in that tiny
country and in 1989 US forces invaded Panama to topple
the nationalist regime of Manuel Noriega.

Washington accused its former ally of allowing
drug-running in the country, though the drug trade
actually increased after his capture.

And finally the United States led the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, nearly plunging the country into a full-blown
civil war in a conflict that has yet to be resolved.






===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13026565&PageNum=0


Itar-Tass
September 1, 2008


Over 28,000 people return to South Ossetia


MOSCOW - More than 28,000 people have returned to
South Ossetia, ITAR-TASS learnt at the Information
Department of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies
(RME).

“Since August 12, a total of 28,666 people have
returned to South Ossetia, 651 of them over the past
24 hours,” a representative of the press service said.


According to the Federal Migration Service, after
Georgia’s aggression, over 34,500 people left South
Ossetia and many of them were accommodated in Russia’s
south. “Stationary points of temporary accommodation
in the constituencies of the Southern Federal District
concluded their work late last week. At the same time,
about 7,000 people are still staying at their
relatives in North Ossetia,” a RME spokesman said.

According to the ministry’s information, 393 people
suffered from military actions of Georgia are still
remaining in hospitals of North Ossetia and Moscow. “A
total of 337 peoples are staying in North Ossetian
hospitals and 56 people in Moscow clinics,” the
spokesman specified.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=09&dd=01&nav_id=53126


BBC News
September 1, 2008


Backing Georgia "mistake of historic magnitude"


MOSCOW, BRUSSELS - Russia's FM Sergei Lavrov has
warned against further Western support for Georgia's
present leadership.

Continued support would be a mistake of historic
magnitude, Lavrov said, and called for an embargo on
arms supplies to Georgia until a different government
was in place there.

He was speaking ahead of an emergency EU leaders'
summit on the Georgian crisis.

They are expected to condemn Moscow's recognition of
independence for Georgia's breakaway regions of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says his decision is
irrevocable.

Correspondents say that despite talk of sanctions from
the French foreign minister last week, such a tough
response now looks highly unlikely.
....
The EU's 27 members are united in their alarm at
Russia's action in Georgia, but divided about how to
respond, says the BBC.

But calls for a fundamental change in the relationship
with Russia are unlikely to get the support required.

Many EU states are wary of alienating Russia, an
important trading partner and a major energy supplier,
our correspondent says.
....
The summit comes a day after British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown called for a root-and-branch review of
the EU's relationship with Russia, saying no nation
should be allowed to exert an energy stranglehold over
Europe. [Except the United States and Britain itself,
of course.]

But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
warned Europe would only hurt itself if, as he put it,
it were to get emotional and slam the doors.

France, which currently chairs the EU and brokered a
peace deal between Russia and Georgia, has called the
meeting, which is expected to last about three hours.

"Russia's commitment to a relationship of
understanding and co-operation with the rest of Europe
is in doubt," wrote French President Nicolas Sarkozy
in a letter to EU leaders before the summit obtained
by the Associated Press news agency.

"It's up to Russia today to make a fundamental choice
and to engage neighbors and partners in settling
disputes peacefully."

On the eve of the summit, President Medvedev warned
that Russia was ready to retaliate against any
sanctions the EU might impose.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili urged EU
leaders not to give up in the face of what he called
Russia's "dirty attempt at aggression".

Russia's four-day war with Georgia began on August 7
when Georgia tried to regain control of South Ossetia
by force, and Russia counter-attacked deep into
Georgia.


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=87846


Azeri Press Agency
September 1, 2008


Daniel Fried says Georgia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine are
the most endangered countries


Washington - Speaking to the Financial Times, Daniel
Fried, US Assistant Secretary for European and
Eurasian Affairs, put support for Georgia as the top
of the list of US objectives, followed by an effort
“to blunt Russia’s efforts to draw a new line in
Europe and Eurasia and enforce a sphere of influence”,
APA reports.

He added that US Vice President Richard Cheney’s visit
to the region this week is very important.

“Mr. Cheney will visit three of the most endangered
countries in the region – not just Georgia but also
Azerbaijan and Ukraine”.

Daniel Fried indicated that the US would not rush to
impose countermeasures on Moscow in the current
volatile situation.

“We need to work on this with Europe and we need to
think this through,” he said.

Fried played down any hope that Russia would reverse
its recognition of South Ossetia and Abhazia. “I have
greater hopes that they will realize that they are
even more isolated every day,” he said. “It is
self-isolation further than anything the US has come
up with…Nobody is on their side.”


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=87817


Azeri Press Agency
September 1, 2008


NATO and Azerbaijan hold joint events


Baku - A Military English course will take place in
Budapest, Hungary on September 8-November 28 within
the (Partnership for Peace) PfP program according to
the NATO-Azerbaijan individual program, the press
service of the Defense Ministry told APA.

The Cooperative Archer 2009 exercise preliminary
planning conference will start on September 9 in
Naples, Italy.

The staff officers’ introductory course will take
place in Baku on September 10-12.

The European Security Research Center will host a
seminar on stability, security, transition period and
reconstruction in Garmisch, Germany on September 3-19.


An International Staff Officer course will take place
in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia from September 3 to
November 14.

The STANAG test seminar in Tbilisi, Georgia on
September 10-12, EPRIME training course in Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstan on September 8-12.


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.rbcnews.com/komment/komment.shtml


RosBusinessConsulting
September 1, 2008


Russia’s tough response to the West
Russian military bases will be set up in South Ossetia



-In view of NATO’s continued expansion in the Black
Sea region, Abkhaz President Sergei Bagashp recently
offered to create conditions for the temporary
deployment of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Abkhaz
port of Ochamchire.




An agreement to build Russian military bases in South
Ossetia will be signed on September 2 in the South
Ossetian capital city of Tskhinvali, announced Tarzan
Kokoity, Deputy Chairman of the republic’s parliament.


The move will defy the West as military bases in South
Ossetia would not only ensure security for South
Ossetia, but they could also pose a military threat to
NATO’s plans in Georgia.

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity said earlier
that his republic would offer Russia to build a
military base in the republic. Apparently, Moscow
decided to accept the offer. A motorized infantry
brigade could be deployed in the South Ossetian town
of Dzhava.

In strategic terms, Russian military bases in South
Ossetia will provide security for the local
population. “A Russian military base in South Ossetia
will guarantee security for the republic. That is why
increasing Russia’s military contingent is vital for
Ossetia,” Marat Dzhioyev, an activist of the
international movement For United Ossetia, told RBC
Daily.

“The presence of military bases means an automatic
military intervention in the event of provocation from
Georgia. If it dares to do so again, there will be no
second attack on Tskhinvali as Russia will protect
Ossetians against Saakashvili’s criminal intents,”
said Sergei Oznobishchev, Director of the Strategic
Assessments Institute and a member of the Council for
Foreign and Defense Policy.

The deployment of Russian military bases in South
Ossetia is of strategic importance for Moscow, too.
“The strategic Trans-Caucasus Highway, linking Russia
to Trans-Caucasian countries, runs through South
Ossetia. South Ossetia and North Ossetia have always
been Russia’s outposts. A Russian base will protect
not only the population but strategic communications
as well,” Dzhioyev explained.

Russia should not set up large military bases in South
Ossetia as this is not necessitated by the current
military and political situation in the region,
believes Dmitry Yevstafyev, senior researcher at the
Center for Political Studies in Russia. “Most
importantly, strong peacekeeping and air defense units
should be sent there in order to block Georgia’s
destabilizing actions,” Yevstafyev told RBC Daily.

On the other hand, setting up military bases in South
Ossetia could be aimed at ensuring stable oil delivery
via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline under Russia’s
guarantee of security.

“The security of the oil pipeline can only be ensured
if international sanation and demilitarization
practices are introduced in Georgia and if the
republic is taken under the aegis of the UN. The
implementation of this scenario will require from us
certain military efforts as one of the guarantors of
security in the Caucasus,” the expert reckons.

In the future Russia could also set up its military
bases in Abkhazia.

In view of NATO’s continued expansion in the Black Sea
region, Abkhaz President Sergei Bagashp recently
offered to create conditions for the temporary
deployment of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Abkhaz
port of Ochamchire.

In addition, Russia’s paratrooper unit, aviation and
air defense units could be located in the Abkhaz city
of Gudauta, and Ochamchire could become a Russian
naval base.




===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

-"Are these two children al Qaeda?" an angry resident
asked as the bodies were taken for burial. "We don't
expect anything from the government because we don't
have a government."
-"They threw hand grenades on one house and killed
three family members."



http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYUWOqkD5EX7sChabU0a9I5KSGPw


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2008


Afghans demonstrate after children die in troop raid


KABUL — Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets Monday
in protest at what they said was the murder of four
civilians, including two baby boys, in an early
morning raid by international troops.

The demonstrators showed journalists the bloodied
bodies of the children shot dead with their father on
the eastern outskirts of the capital, an AFP reporter
said.

"They attacked the house and killed two children,
almost two years-old, a woman and a man," Mohammad
Naweed from Hoodkhail village said.

Naweed said "foreign forces" also took three men from
the house after blasting open the main gate and
opening fire.

It was not clear if the woman killed was the
children's mother.

Local television stations showed pictures of women
wailing as they were standing by the bodies demanding
President Hamid Karzai stand down.

"We demand our prisoners be released immediately and
those that killed innocent people while asleep on the
first night of the holy month of Ramadan be brought to
justice," Noor Rehmand, another protester said,
referring to the men taken from the scene.
....
The incident comes a week after a US-led coalition air
strike killed 90 civilians in western Afghanistan's
Herat province, according to United Nations and local
investigators.
....
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL22425820080901


Reuters
September 1, 2008


Afghans protest in Kabul over civilian deaths


KABUL - Hundreds of protesters blocked a road in Kabul
on Monday accusing U.S.-led troops of killing three
members of a family, including two children, in a raid
in the city, residents and witnesses said.

NATO and U.S. military officials could not be reached
for comment on the allegation, the latest in a string
of incidents that have angered Afghans and caused a
split between the Afghan government and foreign
troops.

Residents said U.S.-led troops carried out a pre-dawn
raid in Hud Kheil area in the eastern quarter of
Kabul, killing Noorullah and two of his sons, one of
whom was eight months old.

"It was past one o'clock when the troops came and
surrounded our houses," said Sulaiman, a resident.

"They threw hand grenades on one house and killed
three family members," he said. Noorullah's wife was
wounded, he said.

Local television showed footage of bodies and a
damaged house.

"Are these two children al Qaeda?" an angry resident
asked as the bodies were taken for burial. "We don't
expect anything from the government because we don't
have a government," Sulaiman said.

Several U.S. and NATO military bases are located in
the area. Three people were taken away by the troops,
residents said.

Angry demonstrators burnt tires on the Kabul-Jalalabad
highway which links Afghanistan with Pakistan.

President Hamid Karzai last week ordered a review of
foreign troops in Afghanistan after his administration
said 96 civilians were killed in an air raid by the
U.S.-led coalition in western Herat. The U.S. military
said it had targeted militants and that an
investigation was being carried out.

More than 500 civilians have been killed during
operations by foreign and Afghan forces against the
militants so far this year, according to the Afghan
government and some aid groups.

(Reporting by Yousuf Azimy, writing by Sayed
Salahuddin, editing by Sanjeev Miglani)






===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1220265121.97


Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2008


Russia calls on EU leaders to reject NATO


-Lavrov...called for an end to a security system in
Europe based around the NATO military alliance and
instead for European leaders to examine a Russian
proposal for a continent-wide security system that
would include Russia.


MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on
Monday called on the European Union to reject
"NATO-centrism," as EU leaders prepared to discuss the
Georgia crisis.

"Today's European Union summit should reveal a lot. We
expect a choice to be made that is based on the core
interests of Europe," Lavrov said ahead of the
emergency EU summit intended to respond to Russia's
crushing of a Georgian attack in the separatist South
Ossetia region.

The EU summit in Brussels was called by French
President Nicolas Sarkozy to respond to Russia's
military surge into Georgia and recognition of
Georgian rebel regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as
independent states.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a
"determined European response" and a "root and branch"
review of ties with Russia.

Lavrov however called for an end to a security system
in Europe based around the NATO military alliance and
instead for European leaders to examine a Russian
proposal for a continent-wide security system that
would include Russia.

He warned against any attempts to break the close
relationship between Russia and Germany and said
Georgia should be subject to an arms embargo.

"There are clear systemic defects and above all
NATO-centrism, which in effect mitigate against
creating a real, universal mechanism of collective
security in the Euro-Atlantic area," Lavrov said in
the address to students at an institute for future
diplomats.
....
Lavrov said that while Russia wants Europe to revise
its security arrangements, the conflict with Georgia
had underlined Moscow's readiness to act to defend its
citizens - a key Russian justification for its
military action in Georgia.

"In its answer to Georgian aggression Russia set out a
reaction standard that fully corresponds with
international law....Russia has returned to the
international arena as a responsible state that can
stand up for its citizens," Lavrov said.

"If our partners are not ready for joint action,
Russia will be forced to act alone to defend its
natural interests, though always on the basis of
international law," Lavrov said.

Concerning weapons sales to Georgia, Lavrov said an
embargo on sales of weapons to Georgia should be
established "until another government turns Georgia
into a normal state."

Lavrov's comments followed a series of media
interviews by President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin aimed at dissuading the EU
from taking harsh measures such as sanctions in
response to what many in Europe regard as
disproportionate Russian aggression against Georgia.

Medvedev warned Russia was ready to hit back against
any sanctions, saying: "If needed, we also can adopt
such special laws."

Putin stressed that Russia wanted to diversify its oil
export routes, a reminder of European dependence on
Russian energy.

Lavrov on Monday warned against a further escalation
of geo-political tensions in the strategic Caucasus
region, seen by the West as a counter-balance to
Russia and alternative route for energy exports.

Referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili,
he said "if the United States and its allies finally
make a choice not based on their national interests or
the interests of the Georgian people but choose
Saakashvili's regime... this will be a mistake on a
real historical scale," Lavrov said.



===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.for-ua.com/news/2008/09/01/163545.html


ForUm (Ukraine)
September 1, 2008


The Party of Regions to watch foreign policy


The parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions will
initiate the strengthening of the parliament’s role in
the foreign policy of Ukraine, Anna Herman told
RBK-Ukraine.

“The state should know that none of the decisions
influencing the development of the country can be made
without the parliament.

"If Speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk had called the parliament
immediately after the beginning of events in Georgia
in order to discuss the situation and work out a
common position, we would not have had these silly
things, which involved Ukraine into the conflict,”
Herman said.

“It is the first thing to be considered at the
tomorrow’s session,” she noted.


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.for-ua.com/news/2008/09/01/100041.html


ForUm (Ukraine)
September 1, 2008


US ship arrived to Sevastopol to irritate NATO
protesters


A build-up of naval forces is underway in the Black
Sea, involving both NATO and Russian ships.

The provocative actions by the US-lead military
coalition create the danger of a clash with
potentially catastrophic consequences.

US ship “Dallas” has reached the coast of Sevastopol.

  About 200 protesters from Communist Party of Ukraine
and Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine have met
the ship with shouts “NATO, get out!” and “Yankee, go
home!”

The participants of the protest action are planning to
organize a permanent picket near the moorage.


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.agi.it/world/news/200809011216-cro-ren0017-art.html


Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
September 1, 2008


AFGHANISTAN: WITNESSES SAY 70+ CIVILIANS KILLED IN AIR
STRIKE


Kabul - Over 70 civilians have reportedly been killed
in an air strike by international forces in the
Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

Reuters received reports of this from a number of
residents in Sangin, the district where the bloodshed
allegedly occurred.

At the moment the news has not yet been confirmed by
the Afghan government, which last week threatened to
reconsider the role of foreign troops after another
air strike on 22 August, killed 90 civilians,
including over 50 children.
....
In Kabul, hundreds of Afghans have begun protesting in
the streets against he death of four civilians,
including two very young children, which happened this
morning during an operation by foreign troops in the
suburbs of the eastern part of the capital.

This, at least, was claimed by the demonstrators, who
showed journalists the bodies of two of the young
children, saying that in an attack on a house in the
Hoodkhail village a man and a woman also lost their
lives.

A witness, Mohammad Naweed, said that international
troops took the three men from the house after having
blown up a bomb to open a passageway. It is not clear
whether the woman killed was the mother of the two
young boys....


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.azg.am/EN/2008083001


AZG Armenian Daily
September 1, 2008


PRESIDENT SERGE SARGSIAN TO MAKE A WORKING VISIT TO
SOCHI SEPTEMBER 2


Armenian President Serge Sargsian will make a working
visit to the southern Russian City of Sochi on
September 2.

The presidential press office told Armenpress that in
Sochi Sargsian will have a meeting with Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev.

It said they will discuss Armenian-Russian strategic
partnership, issues pertaining to Armenia’s rotating
chairmanship in the CSTO and also regional and
international issues.
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26874


PanArmenian.net
September 1, 2008


Lavrov, Babacan to discuss situation in South Caucasus



Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Ali
Babacan of Turkey will focus on the situation in
Transcaucasia and prospects of eliminating the
consequences of Georgia’s armed aggression against
South Ossetia, said Andrey Nesterenko, spokesman for
the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“The officials will discuss possibilities of
implementation of the Caucasus Stability and
Cooperation Platform. They will also touch on other
urgent issues in the regional and international agenda
as well as on development of the Russian-Turkish
relations,” he said, the RF MFA press office reported.


===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.regnum.ru/english/1048862.html


Regnum (Russia)
September 1, 2008


US vessel moors in Sevastopol Bay (Ukraine)


September, 1, 9:05 a.m. local time, the US Coast Guard
Cutter Dallas entered the Bay of Sevastopol.

Thousands of protesting city residents met the boat at
the bay. People chanted loudly “Go home!” and waved
banners “STOP NATO!”

The second  line of defense was held on the Grafsky
dock where people also held posters demanding the NATO
warship to retreat from Sevastopol.

Worthy of note, Dallas received the right to moor at
the maritime station where passenger ships moor.

So far, the American seamen have not been allowed
ashore.

According to one of the customs officials, the ship's
commander is concerned with the anti-NATO sentiments
in the city and does not rely on the Sevastopol
administration's statements that the situation in the
city is under control.

It's most likely that, if Dallas's crew goes ashore,
they will do it in civilian clothes.

The US Coast Guard Cutter Dallas arrived in Sevastopol
from the Georgian port of Batumi where, according to
the vessel's command, it was unloading, during the
night and in secrecy, “drinking water for wounded
Georgian soldiers.”
------------------------------------------------------
http://en.rian.ru/world/20080901/116450879.html


Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 1, 2008


U.S. warship met by anti-NATO protests in Ukraine's
Sevastopol


SEVASTOPOL - The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Dallas, which arrived on Monday morning at the
Ukrainian port of Sevastopol where Russia has a naval
base, has refused to go ashore amid anti-NATO
protests, customs officers said.

The Dallas, which recently delivered humanitarian aid
to Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi, docked at the
Crimean port on the invitation of Kiev.

The ship was met with thousands of protesters chanting
"Yankees go home!" and waving banners with the slogan
"NATO Stop!" The area around the ship has been
cordoned off by police, with an anti-NATO picket
nearby.

Ukrainian customs officers who went on board the ship
and met with the commander said the U.S. servicemen
are refusing to leave the vessel on foot, but that
buses could be provided so they can be given a tour of
the city.

Tensions between Russia and the West have been
exacerbated by the build-up in the Black Sea of U.S.
and NATO naval vessels delivering humanitarian aid to
Georgia. In an apparent response, Russia sent a group
of warships last week, including the Moskva missile
cruiser, to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet uses the Sevastopol base
under agreements signed in 1997. Ukrainian President
Victor Yushchenko announced earlier this year that
Ukraine would not extend the lease beyond 2017.

Yushchenko signed a decree earlier this month
requiring prior notice of all movements by Russian
naval vessels and aircraft from the Sevastopol base in
the Crimea.

The decree is not has not yet come into force, but
Russia views it as a provocation and is likely to
resist any Ukrainian attempts to restrict the
deployment of its navy.








===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26873


PanArmenian.net
September 1, 2008


West can urge Azeri leadership on resolution of
Karabakh problem by use of force?


The West’s ultimate goal is to weaken Russia’s
influence in Georgia and Azerbaijan, through which the
Nabucco [and other] pipelines will go. It’s quite
clear that the struggle for energy sources
transportation bypassing Russia is the main cause of
armed conflict in the Caucasus, according to a Russian
expert.

“Gambling on Russia’s support to Armenia, there will
be attempts to involve Russia in a conflict with
Azerbaijan, thus inciting the Azeri leadership to
resolve the Karabakh problem by the use of force,”
said Mikhail Delyagin, head of the institute of
Globalization Studies.

Azerbaijan ‘has always pursued a reasonable foreign
policy’, according to him. “We hope that this country
will not yield to provocation. Furthermore,
maintaining close ties with both Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Russia will not be able to take an
unequivocal position on Nagorno Karabakh,” he said,
ibk.ru reports.




===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080901/116452810.html


Expert (Russia)
September 1, 2008


Russia assumes harsher stand on NATO expansion


"Smile as we put a gun to your temple" is what the
wordy American diplomacy essentially boils down to
when it comes to NATO's eastward expansion and
deployment of US antimissile bases in Europe.

With this kind of diplomacy, it is no wonder they are
heading for a crisis.

One just can't underestimate the extent of the crisis
when US warships enter the Black Sea and Russia is
diligently testing its new Topol M ballistic missiles.


Moscow spent years trying to get the simple idea
across to its Western partners that we won't have NATO
military infrastructure closing in on the Russian
border. It is the only thing that we find completely
unacceptable.

So far, there is no reason for a serious conflict; but
the US bases mushrooming in close proximity to our
border are threatening to finally create one.

"We are a peace-loving nation and open to cooperation
with our immediate neighbors and partners. But if some
politicians believe that it's possible to come and
kill people with impunity then it is high time for
them to seriously think what consequences such a
policy will have for them," Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin said in an interview with CNN. It was a policy
statement.

Russia did not decide automatically to recognize
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries
immediately after the West recognized Kosovo. Russia
then tried to stick by the territorial integrity
principle because it realized how important it was.

And it made every effort to preserve Georgia's
integrity.

But President Mikheil Saakashvili crossed the line
when he began killing people, many of them Russian
citizens.

It is impossible to keep protecting the integrity of a
country that aims guns at you.

After a meeting with George Bush in Beijing, Russia
expected Washington to intervene in the conflict and
force its Georgian protege to stop slaughtering
people. But it never happened.

Then what kind of partnership between Russia and the
US are we talking about? If we are partners, how
should we interpret Washington's insistence on
dragging Georgia into NATO? Can Russia still look at
NATO as a peace-loving alliance open to mutually
beneficial cooperation with us?

The answers to these questions are obvious and
regrettable.

They are the reason why Russia is assuming a harsher
position on NATO's expansion plans. We cannot calmly
accept an expansion of a military bloc which backs an
aggressor guilty of mass genocide of our compatriots,
so close to our borders.




===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080901/116453506.html


Russian Information Agency Novosti
September 1, 2008



South Ossetians sue Georgia for genocide


TSKHINVALI - South Ossetians have sent over 300
lawsuits to the International Criminal Court, seeking
to bring Georgian authorities to justice for
'genocide' committed in the August 8-12 attack, a
local presidential advisor said.

Zhanna Galeyeva, who heads the non-governmental
'Organisation of the South Ossetian people against
genocide,' said the group has received a total of
2,500 lawsuits from the republic's residents.

"About 300 of them have been sent to the Hague court,
and 200 will be presented to the court in the next few
days," she said.

In mid-August, Georgia filed a lawsuit against Russia
at the same court for alleged ethnic cleansing during
three military interventions in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia from 1993 to 2008.

In return, Russian prosecutors have begun gathering
evidence to support allegations of genocide committed
by Georgia against South Ossetians, most of whom hold
Russian citizenship.

Russia officially recognized the Georgian breakaway
republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent
countries last Tuesday.




===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================

http://en.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=1578


Strategic Culture Foundation
September 1, 2008


Impact of Five-Day War on Global Energy
Igor Tomberg


-The parallel preparation for the Georgian offensive
against South Ossetia and buildup of the US Navy
presence in the Persian Gulf were seen by many
analysts (in Tehran especially) as a prelude to a US
attack against Iran.
Under the circumstances, the devastation of the
Georgian military infrastructure by the Russian army
made the use of Georgia as a foothold for an operation
targeting Iran much less probable, and thus reduced
the threat of the US-Iranian armed conflict.


The brief armed conflict in South Ossetia will have
long-lasting and serious repercussions globally. The
infrastructures of the energy sector have been
particularly affected by the crisis.

It is hard to say at the moment whether fundamental
changes in the energy landscape of the Caspian and
Middle East regions should be expected, but the
immediate character of the reaction of exporters and
transit countries shows that the military factor is
bound to play a bigger role in assessing both
individual energy projects and the potentials of
entire regions in the global energy politics.

It is also true, though, that the essence of the
conflict in South Ossetia is not limited to struggle
over transit routes used to deliver oil and gas from
the Caspian region. The situation should be viewed in
a broader perspective: Russia has resolutely made a
bid to regain its positions in the Caspian region, and
the control over energy transit routes is just one of
the aspects of the matter.

The hostilities in South Ossetia triggered a new
information war between Russia and the US largely
centered on the control over oil and gas transit from
the Caspian region.

Expressions of skepticism concerning a number of
corresponding energy projects – primarily the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline constructed thanks to the
US political and financial backing - are often
perceived in the US as efforts aimed at deliberately
discrediting them.

As a result, Washington has a thin skin to any
criticisms of the Trans-Caucasian routes originally
devised to bypass Russia.

“We have important strategic interests at stake in
Georgia, especially the continued flow of oil through
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which Russia
attempted to bomb in recent days”, said US
presidential contender Sen. John McCain. He called for
US to cooperate with Baku and Ankara on the BTC
security: “The US should work with Azerbaijan and
Turkey, and other interested friends, to develop plans
to strengthen the security of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline”.

Currently, the atmosphere in which the US is appealing
to its traditional and freshly baked allies became
different from what it used to be prior to the war in
South Ossetia. Several new factors are contributing to
the balance of forces in the region.
....
Turkey took an active role in the settlement in
Georgia. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan visited
Moscow to meet Russian President D. Medvedev and Prime
Minister V. Putin. Erdogan expressed support for
Russia's actions. Turkey is keenly interested in
stability in the Caucasus as it gets most of oil and
gas across it. Erdogan said to President Medvedev that
the purpose of his visit was to demonstrate Turkey's
solidarity with Russia.

Ankara finds itself in a difficult situation now that
the West has shown how easily it can ignore Turkey's
interests.

Having taken Iraq, the US allowed in its north a de
facto independent Kurdish state which became a
stronghold of Kurdish separatism.

Europe continues to deny Turkey admission to the EU.
Finally, the recent developments in Pakistan, where
the West and the US in particular had abandoned their
traditional ally Gen. Pervez Musharraf, made Turkey
question the expediency of the exclusively pro-Western
orientation.

Turkey had to search for an alternative “frame of
reference” and to think of its own security
architecture in the region, one of its functions being
to safeguard the energy transit routes.

This is the explanation behind Turkey's support for
Russia's peacekeeping mission in South Ossetia, and
not only on the verbal level – US warships which
headed for Georgia could not pass through the Turkish
straits until the active phase of the conflict was
over.

Ankara's ire drawn by the US policy of destabilizing
the region is no reason to expect that Turkey is going
to make a definitive step away from NATO and the West.
Nevertheless, from the standpoint of Turkey's
interests, Washington's plan to partition Iraq is
prone to cause a surge of Kurdish separatism.

Clearly, Iraq will not be the only country affected as
Kurdish populations reside everywhere from the
Caucasus to the Middle East, and Turkey will
inevitably be the number one target.

The Iranian Factor

The parallel preparation for the Georgian offensive
against South Ossetia and buildup of the US Navy
presence in the Persian Gulf were seen by many
analysts (in Tehran especially) as a prelude to a US
attack against Iran.

Under the circumstances, the devastation of the
Georgian military infrastructure by the Russian army
made the use of Georgia as a foothold for an operation
targeting Iran much less probable, and thus reduced
the threat of the US-Iranian armed conflict.

Besides, Iran seized the opportunity opened as a
result of the developments in the Caucasus to
strengthen its own position in the European energy
market.

The fighting in South Ossetia was going on when Dr.
Hojatollah Ghanimifard, deputy director for
investments of the National Iranian Oil Company, said
that the Georgian segment of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline is no less vulnerable than the Turkish one
and that the halt of its operation is a reason to
reassess the whole project's security and
environmental safety.

In Ghanimifard's view, Iran's Neka-Jask export
pipeline could serve as a viable alternative to BTC.
Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Nogrekar-Shirazi
says a feasibility study for the project is underway.
Recently Russia and Kazakhstan indicated being ready
to join it.

Having faced problems shipping its oil to the West,
Azerbaijan turned to Iran for new transit routes. Iran
News reported the first transit oil shipment from
Azerbaijan to Iran on August 26.

Besides, Tehran is increasingly exerting pressure on
Europe in the framework of the “political support for
energy” formula.

Judging by the interview given by head of Nabucco Gas
Pipeline International Reinhard Mitschek, the
possibility of gas hunger gives Iran a chance to get
heard in Europe.

According to Mitschek, market studies show that
potential exporters need more than 100% of the Nabucco
capacity (up to 31 bn cu m of natural gas annually).
Europe is interested in buying gas from Azerbaijan,
Turkmenistan, Iraq, and Iran. Considering that
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have no reserves
sufficient to load a major pipeline, Iran remains the
only potential source provided that massive
investments are poured in gas production in the
country.

The Russian Factor

Russian Utro.ru said on August 27 that Russia's
decision to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia
signaled with ultimate clarity the country's joining
the big geopolitical game, the stake being Russia's
new role and status in the present-day world.

Having stepped in to protect its citizens in South
Ossetia, Russia has also established itself as the
only stable transit space connecting Europe, Central
Asia, and the Caspian region.

When the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum pipeline suspended
shipments following the halt of BTC and Baku-Supsa,
Georgia as a transit country drew another round of
criticisms from the expert community.

The August 13 report entitled “Turkey and the Problems
with the BTC” presented by the Jamestown Foundation
says: “...the long-term impact of the crisis is to
throw into sharp relief the West’s assumptions about
the expediency of using Georgian territory for oil and
natural gas projects without taking Moscow's views
into consideration”.

Europe is not delighted to see Moscow's control over
the oil and gas transit from the Caspian region
restored. The options open to it are a confrontation
or a new architecture of relations with Russia.
....

===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato

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

Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages

http://lists.topica.com/lists/ANTINATO/read
==============================