http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/201253012747212669.html


Al Jazeera
June 1, 2012


NATO summit highlights neo-con/neo-liberal overlap
More similar than different, both of America's recent imperial ideologies have
failed
By Paul Rosenberg


San Pedro, CA: As the general election phase of the American presidential
election gets underway, the recent NATO summit serves as a potent reminder of
just how little difference there ultimately is between the neo-con extremists
who dominated US foreign policy under George W Bush, and the neo-liberals who
run just about everything in the Obama administration.

Most notably, dozens of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans returned their medals
in a mass action that recalled Operation Dewey Canyon III, in April, 1971, when
more than a thousand members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War held five days
of marches and demonstrations against the Vietnam War in Washington, DC,
including a memorial service near the Tomb of the Unknown and a ceremony on the
Capitol steps where more than 800 veterans returned their combat medals.

Sgt Alejandro Villatoro introduced the other veterans at the NATO protests:

"At this time, one by one, veterans of the wars of NATO will walk up on stage.
They will tell us why they chose to return their medals to NATO. I urge you to
honour them by listening to their stories. Nowhere else will you hear from so
many who fought these wars about their journey from fighting a war to demanding
peace. Some of us killed innocents. Some of us helped in continuing these wars
from home. Some of us watched our friends die. Some of us are not here, because
we took our own lives. We did not get the care promised to us by our government.
All of us watched failed policies turn into bloodshed."

Two sides of the same coin

Like their Vietnam-era forebearers, these anti-war veterans have broad, though
often unacknowledged support among the American people. In the most recent poll,
support for the Afghanistan War is down to 27 per cent, with 66 per cent opposed
- levels similar to the Vietnam War in 1971, with support down dramatically, 20
per cent lower than just two years ago. Yet, President Obama recently signed a
10-year security pact with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a surprise trip
to Aghanistan. There are virtually no traces of al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan,
but our continued involvement there may continue creating enemies for decades to
come.

This is not how most people expected things to be. Obama had, after all, given
an anti-war speech in October 2002, hadn't he? And that was a major reason
netroots activists gave him a decisive advantage in the 2008 Democratic primary.
He was the candidate people trusted to end Bush's wars, and set out a new
direction. Once in office, however, Obama's policies showed far more continuity
than change when compared to Bush's - a pattern that's only grown more
pronounced over time, as the NATO summit clearly underscored.

This isn't to say there aren't some important differences between neo-cons and
neo-liberals. Two in particular stand out: First off, the neo-cons only
represent one faction of the conservative ideological kaleidescope, with their
focus and influence limited largely to foreign affairs. In contrast,
neo-liberals represent an integrated economic, military/foreign policy, social
issues policy framework, applying na�ve faith in market-based solutions to
anything that moves. Second, the neo-cons are stupendously reckless, impulsive,
undisciplined and dangerous, and could easily plunge the world into any number
of military disasters, while the calmer, more methodical neo-liberals are far
more prone toward drifting, or bumbling into disaster, rather than
enthusiastically plunging in head first. These temperamental differences also
lead the neo-liberals to be more multi-lateralist.

In the long run, however, the end results tend to be depressingly similar.
Allies may find the neo-liberals more pleasant and less unpredictable to work
with, but it's all the same empire in the end. Neither the neo-cons nor the
neo-liberals have any intention to realistically face up to the facts of
imperial decline or the damage America's empire does to its own democracy, much
less anyone else's. And neither group has any clue about how to build a
sustainable economy with broad prosperity for all.

Obama was elected president largely based on the illusion his policies would not
substantially overlap with the neo-con thrust of Bush's policies, but would
constitute a fundamental repudiation of them. Instead, Obama's finally managed
to "rationalise" Bush's policies - in both a managerial and a propaganda sense -
far more effectively than Bush ever dreamed of. Yes, the term "global war on
terror" is gone, but the concept lives on, more unquestionable than ever by
virtue of not even being named. Torture is out, but assassination by drone is
in. More dissenters than ever have been prosecuted, or are under investigation,
with far less vigorous public dissent than Bush ever faced. War criminals walk
free under the rubric of "looking forward, not back", while whistleblowers like
Bradley Manning are prosecuted for aiding the terrorists. If Obama were still a
state senator, he might even be morally outraged.

Return of the Project for a New America

Meanwhile, the shifting focus from ground troops to drone warfare, while
continuing Reagan's Star Wars missile defence fantasy, betrays a much stronger
commitment on Obama's part than Bush's to the long-term neo-con endeavour of
transforming America's military into a highly agile, post-modern, cyber-age
fighting force, what the neo-cons called "transform[ing] US Forces to exploit
the 'revolution in military affairs'" [RMD] - one of "four core missions"
identified in the Project for a New America's September 2000 campaign document,
"Rebuilding America's Defenses". The report cited two defining aspects of RMD:
"global missile defences" and "control of space and cyberspace", but the shift
to a central focus on information technology - heralded by the use of GPS
technology in the first Gulf War - has ripple effects that profoundly impact
plans for every service branch of America's military.

Although the document was largely overlooked at the time, and Bush proved
singularly inept at fulfilling the first "core mission" to "defend the American
homeland", in many ways "Rebuilding America's Defenses" was eerily prophetic of
America's military response to 9/11 - despite the fact that the report barely
even mentioned terrorists themselves, except for the possibility they might take
over a communications satellite. At one point, the report frankly noted, "While
the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need
for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of
the regime of Saddam Hussein." Elsewhere, it said, "The process of
transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long
one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor."
9/11 was just such an event - and yet, for all their bluster, and all their
enthusiasm, when all was said and
  done, the neo-cons were simply not up for the job.

It's worth noting here that the other two "core missions" identified were:

fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theatre wars;
perform the "constabulary" duties associated with shaping the security
environment in critical regions

On the first point, the neo-cons typical lack of impulse control not only drew
them to the idea of multiple simultaneous wars in principle, but also in
practice, invading Iraq while leaving Afghanistan not just unfinished, but
deteriorating - yet another indication of their inability to execute their own
fantasies. Obama's firm commitment to multi-lateralism draws jeers - and worse -
from the neo-con crowd, but ultimately it translates into a more realistic way
of fighting multiple wars at once. On the second point, Obama's neoliberal
efficiency has manifested itself in a much more thorough and extensive attention
to "fighting terrorism" in a wider range of countries than the neo-cons ever
managed. Which brings us to the recent NATO summit, and the accompanying "No
NATO" demonstrations.

Climbing the NATO summit

While America's corporate media routinely downplayed the demonstrations, the
range of issues and contradictions they highlighted was simply overwhelming, the
organisers themselves implicitly admitted, when they moved the scheduled G8
meeting to Camp David, as private a locale as such a conference can have. In
Maryland, the Occupy G8 Peoples Summit convened to discuss a radically different
economic vision, reflecting the bottom-up perspective of the Occupy movement and
similarly-minded movements in Greece, Spain, Britain and the Arab world.

That vision might seem hopelessly utopian, but every aspect of the modern
welfare state once seemed equally utopian, from universal education, to minimum
wage laws, to retirement insurance - and every aspect of the modern welfare
state is now threatened by unaccountable elites who seem all too eager to
destroy it. Neo-liberals like Obama may oppose the extremist austerity measures
embodied in proposals like the Ryan Budget (even Romney has now admitted they
would lead to renewed recession), but even if Obama were to win resoundingly in
November, he's still on record as favouring a multi-trillion-dollar "grand
bargain" that would drastically slash core welfare state programmes like
Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Chicago saw a much wider array of activities spanning a full week, most
prominently, a demonstration led by the National Nurses Union calling for a 0.5
per cent "Robin Hood" tax on financial transactions, and the already-mentioned
joint anti-war march and demonstration led by members of Iraq Veterans Against
the War (IVAW) and Afghans for Peace. Many NNU members and their supporters
showed up wearing red shorts and green felt Robin Hood-style hats.

NNU co-president Karen Higgins said the nurses want to fund healthcare instead
of warfare. "We pay sales tax. It is time for Wall Street to start paying back
what they owe the rest of the country and they need to pay sales tax." Other
countries have such a tax, as did the US from 1914 through 1966. It could raise
up to $350 billion a year, according to the NNU.

Doing this would at least start to shift us back toward the sort of tax
structure that helped produce the decades-long robust economic success of the
early post-WWII years from 1946 through 1968.

Of course, those years were far from perfect - women and minorities were limited
to second-class citizen status, at best. But the basic promise of broadly-shared
prosperity for all is not something easily forgotten, once glimpsed - even
tasted. And if possible for virtually all white men, then why not for everyone?

This is the question that haunts America - and the world - today. It is a
question that neither neo-cons nor neo-liberals can possibly ever answer. And
that is why, sooner or later, their failed ideologies must fall.

Paul Rosenberg is the Senior Editor of Random Lengths News, a bi-weekly
alternative community newspaper.
====================================================================

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======================================================================

http://www.gallup.com/poll/154997/Snapshot-NATO-Intervention-Libya-Unpopular-Ara\
b-World.aspx


Gallup
May 31, 2012


Snapshot: NATO Intervention in Libya Unpopular in Arab World
Least popular in North Africa
Analysis by the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies


WASHINGTON, D. C. - After French President Francois Hollande in an interview
Tuesday hinted at an openness to military intervention in Syria, the question of
whether NATO should intervene in the violence-rattled country has again come to
the forefront. While distinct differences exist between the conflicts in Libya
and Syria, Gallup data from 2012 show pluralities in the Arab world opposed
NATO's intervention in Libya in 2011, suggesting that similar moves in Syria
could meet with considerable disapproval in the region.

The NATO-led air campaign against Libyan government forces, which began in March
2011, ended seven months later in a decisive victory for NATO and Libyan rebel
groups. The overthrow of the 42-year-old regime represented the third North
African government to fall in 2011 amid the uprisings in the Arab world and was
the first in the region to receive military support from Western nations.

At least a plurality in all nine Arab countries surveyed and the region of
Somaliland opposed NATO intervention in Libya. Residents in several North
African countries, including Morocco (12%), Egypt (13%), and Algeria (14%) were
the least likely to say they were in favor of NATO intervention. In Tunisia,
where the region's first successful revolution was publicly denounced by the
late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, attitudes were significantly more mixed (33%
in favor vs. 40% opposed).


Survey Methods

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults per
country, aged 15 and older, conducted from February-April 2012. For results
based on the total samples, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum
margin of sampling error ranges from �3.3 percentage points to �3.7 percentage
points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In
addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in
conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public
opinion polls.
====================================================================
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======================================================================

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=06&dd=01&nav_id=80\
549


Beta News Agency/Tanjug News Agency
June 1, 2012



Russian envoy warns about "Greater Albania" project


BELGRADE: Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin says his country is concerned
about the existence of a project to establish a so-called Greater Albania.

"It's a very dangerous project for the entire Southeastern Europe region, and it
would represent a precedent," the top Russian diplomat in Serbia said late on
Thursday, adding that his country will "strongly oppose attempts to form a
Greater Albania."

Taking part in a panel discussion in Belgrade dedicated to Russo-Serbian
relations, Konuzin noted that Russia supported all reconciliation efforts of the
peoples of the former Yugoslavia, noting that Serbia has been conducting a
balanced policy in that respect.

The ambassador stressed that Russia was also a firm supporter of the positions
held by Serbs in the Serb Republic (RS), in Bosnia, and noted that Russia was
one of the signatories of the Dayton Peace Accords "which it was not satisfied
with, but which must be respected".

"The goal of the so-called Butmir Process is to form a centralized state out of
Bosnia-Herzegovina. We have nothing against that, but only if all peoples in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbs included, agree to it," Konuzin said, underlining that
"international law must be respected".

Speaking about the relations between Serbia and Russia, the diplomat noted that
they reached a high level, and that regardless of the composition of a future
government in Belgrade, that cannot change.

He ruled out the possibility that a government could take over in Serbia that
would have a negative influence on the ties between the two countries.

Konuzin also revealed that Russia supported Serbia as a militarily neutral
country, "and statements from Belgrade on that subject".

As for Kosovo, Russia will support any Serbian policy toward the province, he
stated.

Commenting on the February referendum in northern Kosovo - when local Serbs near
unanimously rejected the ethnic Albanian authorities in Priština - the
ambassador quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's statement that "the position
of the Serbs who live in Kosovo must not be ignored".

Focusing on economic issues, Konuzin noted that trade between Serbia and Russia
reached USD 3.5bn last year, and that effort should be made to make that trade
"even more intensive - until it returns to the pre-economic crisis level of over
USD 4bn".

"I expect that works on the Serbian part of the South Stream pipeline will begin
late next year, and we're also considering building a new heating plant in
Pančevo, and possibly in Belgrade and Niš and well," he noted.

He further stressed that Russia was very interested in the development of
infrastructure in Serbia, especially in the energy sector, but also in building
a modern railroad system, adding that this also applied to all other former
Yugoslav republics.

"The money is there, we have the funds - help yourselves! But, projects are
needed for that," said Konuzin, and added that he was puzzled that it took "so
much time" for Serbia to come up with its projects.

The ambassador explained that the money to fund most Serbian projects would be
transferred in the fall, and that he on Monday handed over a harmonized draft
agreement on this subject to the Serbian government.

"If Serbia has an interest in building nuclear power plants here, we will help
you with that as well," the diplomat said, adding that the same applied to new
hydro power plants in Serbia.

Finally, Konuzin touched on the nature of the relations between the two nations,
saying that Russia was close to many other countries with which it shared its
culture, religion and script - but that it nurtured "closest, even intimate
ties" only with Serbia.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=06&dd=01&nav_id=80\
545


Beta News Agency
June 1, 2012


KFOR operation “aimed at pressuring Nikolić”


BELGRADE: Faculty of Political Sciences professor Predrag Simić says KFOR’s
operation in northern Kosovo is aimed at exerting pressure on President Tomislav
Nikolić.

He said that the Friday operation was “absolutely connected” with
Nikolić’s oath-taking.

According to him, the KFOR operation “represents some sort of pressure that
should determine Nikolić and the future Serbian government’s bad starting
position”.

“I think this is a baptism of fire of the new president but also a message
from Belgrade that things have gone too far and that the new president and the
government, once it has been formed, will have to start dealing with Kosovo
where the situation will be significantly different than the one which was left
by the previous government and the previous president,” Simić told Beta news
agency.

He assessed that tensions had been rising since the election campaign started in
Serbia, adding that the situation culminated today.

“It depends on Belgrade how the situation will develop. KFOR and Priština
have made their moves and let us hope that the new president and the future
government are ready for the challenges, like they claimed in their
campaigns,“ Simić concluded.

Four northern Kosovo Serbs were wounded in clashes with KFOR on Friday, after
KFOR troops started removing barricades near Zvečan.

Nikolić, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and several ministers held an
emergency meeting over the latest incidents in Kosovo on Friday.
====================================================================
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======================================================================

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_01/76739370/


Voice of Russia
June 1, 2012


Radar keeps an eye on Russia
Grigory Milenin
 


Meeting in Chicago last Month, NATO leaders looked at all aspects of the
potential Iranian threat and how to unravel the Afghan knot, and once again they
assured Moscow that a missile defense shield that is currently being deployed in
Europe is not directed against Russia.

Quite peace-loving statements, only sometimes out of tune with reality.

Far north of the Arctic Circle, the tiny windblown Norwegian town of Vardø on
the Barents Sea has for years been home to the Globe-2 radar. The United States
and Norway have reportedly been using it to track satellite and space junk in
low-Earth orbits.

A few years ago, however, Norwegian journalist Inge Sellevag found out that NASA
had no such radar in its space surveillance network.

According to the Bergens Tidende, Norway’s fourth largest newspaper, the above
radar was once named Have Stare and stationed in the town of Vandenberg in
California, being part of the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star
Wars” program. The same newspaper cites an Internet report by Raytheon, a
California-based corporation, which says that radars of that class are used in
missile defense to obtain data about ballistic and cruise missiles.

That’s true, said Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, head of the Center for
Geopolitical Studies in Moscow.

"The radar’s deployment coincided with Bill Clinton’s policy of withdrawing
from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Treaty. So, Americans simply dismantled
their radar in California and moved it over to Vardø in Norway. We immediately
suspected what was later confirmed by the intelligence, namely that that radar
was for other purposes than the ones declared by Norwegians and Americans."

As for tracking space junk that may vary from a screw to a rocket stage, Vardø
is the last place in the world for this task. Its location makes quality
surveillance impossible. You just won’t see most of the space junk from
Vardø. Better do it at somewhere closer to the equator. Whereas, in terms of
tracking Russian ballistic or cruise missile tests from Plesetsk to the Kura
launch pad on Kamchatka, Vardø is just ideal.

Once, in 2000, a strong wind tore off the radar’s dome. Beneath was a large
parabolic antenna directed towards Russia. A local newspaper editor joked back
then that although he wasn’t an expert, he had always been sure that space was
somewhere up in the sky. Norway called the incident a sheer coincidence, to
which Leonid Ivashov, then chief of the Russian Defense Ministry’s
international military cooperation department, retorted that Russia had targeted
its tactical nuclear missiles at Vardø, frightening the townsfolk who, up to
now, are equally fearful of a potential attack and the harmful effects of radar
beams on their health.

ANNOUNCER: A report from Grigory Milenin.

====================================================================
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http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/stop-nato-digest-for-may-28-june-1/


Stop NATO: Digest for May 28-June 1


===============


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/humanitarian-intervention-may-cause-b\
igger-disaster-in-syria/


“Humanitarian Intervention” May Cause Bigger Disaster In Syria


Politicizing humanitarian crises is a dangerous tendency. The so-called
humanitarian intervention in a country’s domestic crisis has often resulted in
a bigger or a real humanitarian disaster.

On the one hand, many military interventions carried out by Western powers were
based on false facts and ambiguous statements...Wars based on ambiguous,
fragmented truth will only further trample on international justice.

For example, before the NATO launched the “humanitarian intervention” war in
Libya, domestic conflicts in Libya caused only hundreds of deaths, but the Libya
war caused tens of thousands of deaths.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/norway-u-s-missile-radar-targets-russ\
ia/


Norway: U.S. Missile Radar Targets Russia


[The] radar was once named Have Stare and stationed in the town of Vandenberg in
California, being part of the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star
Wars” program. The same newspaper cites an Internet report by Raytheon, a
California-based corporation, which says that radars of that class are used in
missile defense to obtain data about ballistic and cruise missiles.

Once, in 2000, a strong wind tore off the radar’s dome. Beneath was a large
parabolic antenna directed towards Russia. A local newspaper editor joked back
then that although he wasn’t an expert, he had always been sure that space was
somewhere up in the sky. Norway called the incident a sheer coincidence, to
which Leonid Ivashov, then chief of the Russian Defense Ministry’s
international military cooperation department, retorted that Russia had targeted
its tactical nuclear missiles at Vardø, frightening the townsfolk who, up to
now, are equally fearful of a potential attack and the harmful effects of radar
beams on their health.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/nato-summit-highlights-neo-conneo-lib\
eral-overlap/


NATO Summit Highlights Neo-Con/Neo-Liberal Overlap


Once in office...Obama’s policies showed far more continuity than change when
compared to Bush’s – a pattern that’s only grown more pronounced over
time, as the NATO summit clearly underscored.

Allies may find the neo-liberals more pleasant and less unpredictable to work
with, but it’s all the same empire in the end. Neither the neo-cons nor the
neo-liberals have any intention to realistically face up to the facts of
imperial decline or the damage America’s empire does to its own democracy,
much less anyone else’s. And neither group has any clue about how to build a
sustainable economy with broad prosperity for all.

[T]he shifting focus from ground troops to drone warfare, while continuing
Reagan’s Star Wars missile defence fantasy, betrays a much stronger commitment
on Obama’s part than Bush’s to the long-term neo-con endeavour of
transforming America’s military into a highly agile, post-modern, cyber-age
fighting force, what the neo-cons called “transform[ing] US Forces to exploit
the ‘revolution in military affairs’” [RMD] – one of “four core
missions” identified in the Project for a New America’s September 2000
campaign document, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses“.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/ambassador-russia-alarmed-over-greate\
r-albania-project/


Ambassador: Russia Alarmed Over Greater Albania Project


“It’s a very dangerous project for the entire Southeastern Europe region,
and it would represent a precedent,” the top Russian diplomat in Serbia said
late on Thursday, adding that his country will “strongly oppose attempts to
form a Greater Albania.”

Konuzin also revealed that Russia supported Serbia as a militarily neutral
country, “and statements from Belgrade on that subject”.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/gallup-nato-intervention-in-libya-unp\
opular-in-arab-world/


Gallup: NATO Intervention In Libya Unpopular In Arab World


Gallup data from 2012 show pluralities in the Arab world opposed NATO’s
intervention in Libya in 2011, suggesting that similar moves in Syria could meet
with considerable disapproval in the region.

At least a plurality in all nine Arab countries surveyed and the region of
Somaliland opposed NATO intervention in Libya. Residents in several North
African countries, including Morocco (12%), Egypt (13%), and Algeria (14%) were
the least likely to say they were in favor of NATO intervention.


*****

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/u-s-nato-troops-open-fire-on-serbs-in\
-northern-kosovo/


U.S. NATO Troops Open Fire On Serbs In Northern Kosovo


Members of American KFOR did not allow injured to be taken to the emergency room
of Kosovska Mitrovica according to reports. Witnesses, the media and Mayor
Milović said KFOR Lieutenant Joseph Lynch did not allow the passage of injured
to the emergency room or the passing of local government representatives.

Armoured machinery of KFOR removes a concrete barricade on the bridge in Rudaru.
Prior to removing the roadblocks tear gas was fired at about 500 citizens
gathered around the bridge reports a KiM radio reporter from the scene who also
said they used rubber bullets and live ammunition.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/kosovo-nato-fires-on-serb-protesters/


Kosovo: NATO Fires On Serb Protesters


Local authorities said there was reason to believe KFOR troops had fired live
bullets.

KFOR troops threw teargas at Serbs who were trying to get to the barricade in
the village of Dudin Krš.

KFOR helicopters are flying over the area and a KFOR transporter is parked at a
bridge in Malo Rudare.

[T]here were around 1,000 people near the barricade and...KFOR would start
shooting as soon as they saw someone approaching the barricade.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/missile-shield-to-middle-east-mayhem-\
u-s-planning-broad-conflict/


Missile Shield To Middle East Mayhem: U.S. Planning Broad Conflict?


Today, it does not seem too far-fetched to suggest that Barack Obama was foisted
upon the world stage to rebrand America’s foreign policy, which had lost most
of its credibility and legitimacy under Bush. Ironically, however, with the
benefit of hindsight, Obama has turned out to be far more dangerous than his
reckless predecessor.

America’s hyperactive impetuousness when it comes to getting its military
invested around the world, combined with its determination to build a European
missile defense shield, lends itself to the theory that something sinister is
afoot.

Reminiscent of the US attack on Iraq in 2003, America seems to be gearing up for
a military move on Syria…

[W]hen the Middle East situation is viewed according to the sum of its parts,
which include the US missile defense shield over the fence from Russia’s
backyard, it looks as if the US, Israel and NATO may be pushing hard for a broad
military offensive in the Middle East.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/u-s-ready-to-attack-syria-outside-un/


U.S. Ready To Attack Syria Outside UN?


“Ambassador Rice is basically telling Russia and China and other members of
the Security Council that if they do not go along with Western plans for more
stringent sanctions and other actions against Syria, the US and its NATO allies
reserve the right to act outside the Security Council as they did with
Yugoslavia 13 years ago and launch military actions against Syria.”


*****

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/europe-replaces-u-s-as-cheerleader-fo\
r-military-expansion/


Europe Replaces U.S. As Cheerleader For Military Expansion


[B]esides the Russian nuclear potential (still a problem in the eyes of the
U.S., since it is the only deterrent to their global ambitions), Americans and
Europeans also plan to render defenseless those countries in the Middle East
which dare disagree with the Western policies.

“What is interesting is the fact that the perspective of a new missile shield
did not move West European nations even an inch closer to abandoning their
nuclear deterrents.”


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/obama-judge-jury-and-executioner/


Obama: Judge, Jury And Executioner


Most of the people targeted for such strikes are foreign nationals, but
occasionally there are American citizens among them, who are “brought to
justice” in this extrajudicial procedure. And commentators say that Barack
Obama is the first U.S. president who has acquired the right to single-handedly
decide to be “judge, jury, and executioner”.

“Innocent neighbors don’t hitchhike rides in the back of trucks headed for
the border with guns and bombs,” said one of the officials. Therefore they
reject all talk about collateral deaths as the militants’ propaganda.

Well, following such logic, all the Pashto population in the area on both sides
of the Afghan–Pakistani border may be eliminated. They travel to and from the
border quite frequently, and bearing guns is their usual habit (guaranteed, by
the way, by the Second Amendment for every American citizen as well).

In December 2009, less than a year in his presidential capacity, he was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize – regarded by most observers as a prize for just being
“anti-Bush”, rather than accomplishing anything significant on the global
arena.

But even by that time he had authorized more drone strikes than George W. Bush
had approved during his entire presidency.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/china-russia-offset-wests-actions-in-\
syria/


China, Russia Offset West’s Actions In Syria


If a country is allowed to intervene in another country’s domestic affairs at
will, our world will be plagued by a long series of wars driven by subversions
of regimes. No matter how history judges them, it will be a nightmare for people
of this age.

The West has not really tasted any victory in the post-Cold War era. Although it
managed to overthrow a few powerless regimes, the gains were only short-lived,
as resentment against the West still exists in these countries. Afghanistan and
Iraq are left with no solutions, while Egypt and Libya’s futures hang in the
air.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/pentagon-consolidates-control-over-ba\
lkans/


Pentagon Consolidates Control Over Balkans


The military bloc’s inauguration as an active, aggressive military force in
Bosnia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s laid the groundwork
for the U.S.’s already unmatched military to move troops, hardware and bases
into Southeast Europe for actions there and to points east and south: The Middle
East, the Caucasus, North Africa and Central and South Asia.

Each NATO military operation over the past 17 years, in Bosnia, Yugoslavia,
Afghanistan and Libya, has provided the alliance with bases, centers, troops and
logistics for later and for future wars. Air bases in Bulgaria and Romania were
employed for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and, as noted above, every
Balkan nation but Serbia has supplied troops for the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Pentagon and NATO military personnel, aircraft, ships and radar in
Southeast Europe can be used in attacks on Syria and Iran and in any new armed
conflict in the South Caucasus, such as the five-day war between Georgia and
Russia four years ago.

The U.S. and its NATO allies are expanding their military presence and
infrastructure ever closer to new theaters of war.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/chicago-nato-protests-bring-back-memo\
ries-of-1968/


Chicago: NATO Protests Bring Back Memories Of 1968


Many protesters were there to actually oppose the so-called global military arm,
NATO, whom my dad says, “just spreads the U.S. agenda by giving us an excuse
to ship out troops for the implementation of Western influence.”

“All I know is that it doesn’t stop…[it] didn’t stop in the ’60s, got
lost in the ’70s with consumerism and technology, but now it’s back: ‘Why
are you sending people to kill other people?’”


*****

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/video-occupy-wall-street-on-nato-summ\
it-and-protests/


Video: Occupy Wall Street on NATO summit and protests


Video:

http://www.citizenglobal.com/occupy/together#!/media/wdtbxw


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/madeleine-albright-and-the-iraqi-geno\
cide/


Madeleine Albright And The Iraqi Genocide


Soaring rates of cancer among children in Iraq and deformities at birth linked
to the weapons used in the 1991 US bombing of the country, and then in 12 years
of further bombing and the 2003 war, have exacerbated and compounded an enormous
tragedy. Others accused of crimes against humanity end up at the International
Criminal Court in the Hague, though only, it seems, if eastern European or
African. Meanwhile, Albright has been gathering a bizarre collection of
“humanitarian” awards.

A year later, the 1999 razing of much of the Balkans became known as
“Madeleine’s war”. The largely unrecognised state of Kosova, carved out of
that decimation, is now rated as one of the most corrupt and lawless countries
in the region and high in the world ranking, according to December 2011 findings
by the NGO Transparency International.

Talking after the virtual destruction of Iraq as a state, its archives and
government institutions bombed, looted, or stolen, she told US journalist Jim
Lehrer in September 2003 that “I think we actually kept him [former Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein] in a strategic box. We bombed very much, if you
remember all the maps, always in terms of north and south, covering a great
portion of Iraq. I think we had him in the box.”

No mention here that both the bombing and the boxing in were illegal.

As ever, the majority of the bombing victims consisted of Iraq’s children, for
whom Albright’s contempt was seemingly boundless: shepherds and goat herders
tending the family flocks with no place to hide.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-continue-\
unchecked/


Afghanistan: Civilian Deaths Continue Unchecked


The war in Afghanistan has already lasted for more than 10 years
(2001–present) and killed tens of thousands of Afghan civilians directly as
well as the deaths of tens of thousands more indirectly as a consequence of
displacement, starvation, disease, exposure, lack of medical treatment, crime
and lawlessness resulting from the war.


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/karl-kraus-the-evolution-of-humanitar\
ian-bombing/


Karl Kraus: The evolution of humanitarian bombing


Schalek: …You are a combatant, and I’d like to find out how its feels. Most
of all: how do you feel afterward?

Lieutenant: Well, it is strange. I feel like a king who has suddenly become a
beggar. You know, it almost feels like being a king, so high above the enemy
city. There they are below – helpless. No one can run away, no one can save
himself or hide. You have power over them all. It’s majestic – all else
becomes insignificant.

Schalek: I can identify with that feeling. Did you ever bomb Venice?…What, you
have scruples? Well, I’ll tell you something. Venice is a problem worth
thinking about. We entered the war filled with romantic ideas…

Lieutenant: Who did?


*****


http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/nato-summit-desperate-efforts-to-main\
tain-western-hegemony/


NATO Summit: Desperate Efforts To Maintain Western Hegemony


The just-concluded North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Chicago
proved that the West is desperately trying to maintain its hegemony in the
world. The 25th Summit was the largest summit and was attended by about 60
countries and organizations, including the 28 NATO members.

Countries such as China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela have all
refused to follow the Western pattern and are following their own pattern.
Similarly, the West is now aligning itself with the extreme and dogmatic
Islamists against liberal Islamic leaders such as Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar
al-Assad. The West is also inciting the Sunnis against the Shias, and is lining
up with the Saudis against the forces in the Arab world who want more democratic
rights for their people.

====================================================================
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======================================================================

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/7834172.html



People's Daily
June 1, 2012



'Humanitarian intervention’ may cause bigger disaster
By Tian Wenlin


Eight Western nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom,
expelled Syrian diplomats Tuesday in response to a massacre of civilians in the
Syrian town of Houla on May 25. The new French president even stated that he
would not rule out international military intervention in Syria.

Western powers have long been intervening in other countries' domestic affairs
under the banner of "preventing humanitarian catastrophes." The Houla massacre
has undoubtedly offered them a perfect excuse to intervene in Syria’s domestic
affairs. It is easy to imagine that they will impose harsher sanctions on the
violence-riddled country, and may even launch a military intervention.

Without truth, there can be no justice. The top priority right now is to find
out the truth behind the massacre. As Syria’s opposing parties are all
shifting the blame, we can guess that whoever benefits the most from the
massacre is the mastermind.

Previously, the Bashar al-Assad-led Syrian government had started a political
transition by holding a constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections,
and the country’s political situation was heading in the right direction as
the government expected. Furthermore, the mediation by U.N.-Arab League special
envoy Kofi Annan created a favorable international environment for a "political
soft landing" in Syria.

In such a context, the Syrian government was more than willing to maintain the
status quo. The massacre occurred at a time when the United Nations was sending
more monitors to Syria, and during Annan’s visit to the country. It would not
make any sense for the Syrian government to cause trouble for itself and to
offer Western powers an excuse to intervene. Therefore, the Syrian government is
the most unlikely suspect for the massacre.

Those who want to oust Assad and fish in troubled waters are more likely
suspects.

The Syrian government has vowed to find the truth. All parties concerned should
have refrained from taking reckless action before the truth comes out. However,
certain Western nations have hastily criticized the Assad regime, and imposed
diplomatic sanctions on Syria. The Houla massacre is being "politicized" by
Western powers seeking to increase pressure on the Syrian government.

Politicizing humanitarian crises is a dangerous tendency. The so-called
humanitarian intervention in a country's domestic crisis has often resulted in a
bigger or a real humanitarian disaster.

On the one hand, many military interventions carried out by Western powers were
based on false facts and ambiguous statements. For instance, Western powers
launched a war on Iraq in 2003 because of Saddam Hussein's regime's alleged
possession of weapons of mass destruction. The allegation was later proved
totally unfounded. Wars based on ambiguous, fragmented truth will only further
trample on international justice.

On the other hand, this kind of military intervention usually leads to real
humanitarian disasters. For example, before the NATO launched the "humanitarian
intervention" war in Libya, domestic conflicts in Libya caused only hundreds of
deaths, but the Libya war caused tens of thousands of deaths.

Currently, signs showing that the "humanitarian intervention" will lead to
larger humanitarian disasters have already appeared in Syria. If Western
countries did not always suppress the Bashar administration and financially
support the opposition, the turbulence of the Syrian situation would not have
lasted to today and the Houla incident would not have happened. In this sense,
Western countries should be held responsible for this slaughter.

More dangerously, if the West insists on making use of the "Houla incident" to
overthrow the Bashar administration, it will intensify contradictions among the
different denominations of Syria and lead to real humanitarian disasters that
are severer and much more tragic than the Houla incident. It is not that the
Western countries cannot see this prospect, they just do not care. Their
"humanitarian intervention" is hypocritical actually.

Currently, the Houla incident has pushed Syria to the top of the wave once
again. Syria is facing two roads and two prospects. First, various denominations
of Syria base their considerations on the overall national interest of Syria and
the welfare of the Syrian people, and learn a lesson from the past and choose
the road of political reconciliation. This road will have a bright future.
Second, various denominations of Syria continue intensifying their
confrontations. It will make the political situation of Syria more turbulent and
even lead to a result like the result of Libya: The current administration will
be overthrown by them and the West and larger humanitarian disasters will occur.
This road will have a dark prospect.

All peace-loving political forces must learn a lesson from the past and make up
their minds to make the political situation of Syria have a "soft landing."
====================================================================
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======================================================================

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/pentagon-prepares-for-confrontation-i\
n-the-asia-pacific/


Stop NATO
June 2, 2012


Pentagon Prepares for Confrontation in the Asia-Pacific
Rick Rozoff


In January of this year the three officials in charge of U.S. global military
strategy and operations - commander-in-chief President Barack Obama, Secretary
of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff General
Martin Dempsey - unveiled the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance, entitled
“Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense,”
which officially confirmed American plans to increase its military presence in
the Asia-Pacific region to counter China, now the world's second-largest
economy.

Alternately referred to as rebalancing, reemphasis, refocusing and a pivot away
from Europe and toward the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, the new doctrine
reflects the past twenty years' consolidation of U.S. military and political
control of Europe through the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and the subjugation of North Africa and the Middle East except for,
at least for the present, Syria and Iran through the creation of U.S. Africa
Command, NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative
military partnerships and its ten-and-a-half-year-old Operation Active Endeavor
in the Mediterranean, and the wars against Iraq and Libya.

Having not so much neutralized opposition - there were no effective challengers
to U.S. geopolitical hegemony in the indicated areas - as eliminated remaining
pockets of independence and nonalignment (Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya), the
Pentagon and its allies are free to move against China, having already
surrounded Russia through NATO expansion and partnerships from the Baltic Sea to
the Black Sea, the South Caucasus to Central Asia, the Arctic Ocean to Mongolia.

On June 1 Pentagon chief Panetta spoke at the eleventh annual Shangri-La
Dialogue defense summit in Singapore, where the U.S. has recently gained basing
rights for its warships, and reiterated plans to expand, tighten and integrate
its alliances with defense treaty partners in the Asia-Pacific: Australia,
Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. (Taiwan is
practically if not formally in that category.)

As the Defense Department's news agency, American Forces Press Service,
reported, Panetta emphasized that "Defense policy in the region calls for the
U.S. military to expand military-to-military relationships well beyond the
traditional treaty allies." The allusion is to the members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand) not already included in
bilateral military alliances with Washington as well as new partners like
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
Mongolia, Tonga and others supplying troops or transit bases for the U.S.-NATO
war in Afghanistan. An old ally, Pakistan, and newly acquired ones, India and
Bangladesh, are also within the Pentagon's purview.

In the past few years the U.S. has pulled Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam into its political-military
orbit and expanded partnerships with Malaysia and Singapore, which have troops
serving under NATO command in Afghanistan along with Australia, Mongolia, New
Zealand, South Korea and Tonga.

Panetta's comments in Singapore included the following: "By 2020, the Navy will
reposture its forces from today’s roughly 50/50 split between the Atlantic and
Pacific to about a 60/40 split between those oceans - including six aircraft
carriers, a majority of our cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships and
submarines.”

To appreciate the scale of what that redeployment portends, it's worth noting
the unprecedented and unparalleled military capacity the U.S. has built from the
end of World War II to the present, in the process establishing the first and
only global military force.

The U.S. has eleven aircraft carriers with attached strike groups; all the
world's supercarriers and all but one of its twelve nuclear-powered carriers.
(France has the other.) The eleven American supercarriers are the largest
warships ever built.

It has 61 guided missile destroyers and 22 guided missile cruisers, all of which
are part of or can be upgraded to join the Aegis Combat System, thereby being
capable of participating in Washington's worldwide interceptor missile program.

The U.S. Navy also possesses 72 submarines, 18 ballistic and 53 attack models,
and 24 frigates, nine amphibious assault ships, seven amphibious transport
docks, 12 dock landing ships, four littoral combat ships and scores of other
vessels.

Washington has pledged to deploy 60 percent of the above to the Asia-Pacific
region in the imminent future.

Ahead of his trip to Singapore, Panetta visited the headquarters of U.S. Pacific
Command (PACOM) in Honolulu, Hawaii and American Forces Press Service reported
that "There are 330,000 U.S. service members in the Pacific Command area now,
and Panetta anticipates the proportion of the total military in the region will
rise."

The same source added: "The American military also wants to strengthen power
projection capabilities in the region. Panetta said there will be new platforms
and capabilities for troops in the area."

U.S. military chief Martin Dempsey is also attending the three-day Shangri-La
Dialogue in Singapore and his meetings in the Southeast Asian nation indicate
one component of the Pentagon's  "power projection" strategy for the
Asia-Pacific area. He met with the host country's defense minister, chief of
defense and heads of its army, air force and navy and toured the Sembawang Air
Base and other military facilities.

His discussions included topics like the regular Commando Sling joint
U.S.-Singapore air combat exercises and the imminent deployment of U.S. littoral
combat ships to Singapore agreed upon late last year.

Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen visited the Pentagon in April, during
which Panetta announced the doubling of the number of U.S. warships to be
"forward deployed" to Singapore, from two to four, for exercises and operations
near the strategic Strait of Malacca.

In the same month the U.S. deployed the first 200 of 2,500 Marines to northern
Australia as part of a military buildup which will also include aircraft,
warships and drones.

The Philippines is the third Asia-Pacific nation where the Pentagon is securing
new bases to contain and ultimately confront China.

In April the U.S. and the Philippines conducted the latest Balikatan military
maneuvers with 4,500 American Marines and 2,500 Philippine troops which included
an amphibious assault at Ulugan Bay on Palawan Island to rehearse the
"recapture" of an island near the Spratly Islands contested by the Philippines
and China.

Most of the Asia-Pacific is in the area of responsibility of U.S. Pacific
Command, one of six Unified Combatant Commands the Pentagon employs to maintain
control of and pre-position for potential military actions throughout the world.
It consists of U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet
and U.S. Pacific Air Forces.

PACOM's website boasts that its geographical reach "encompasses about half the
earth’s surface, stretching from the waters off the west coast of the U.S. to
the western border of India, and from Antarctica to the North Pole."

Its area of responsibility takes in 36 nations and over half of the world's
population.

The website also itemizes American military assets already deployed to the
Asia-Pacific:

Some 350,000 military personnel, one-fifth of total U.S. forces.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet, assigned to PACOM, includes six of eleven aircraft
carrier strike groups, approximately 180 ships, 1,500 aircraft and 100,000
service members.

U.S. Marine Forces Pacific consists of two-thirds of U.S. Marine Corps combat
troops, two Marine Expeditionary Forces and 85,000 personnel.

U.S. Pacific Air Forces has over 40,000 airman and more than 300 aircraft, with
an additional 100 aircraft based in Guam.

U.S. Army Pacific has over 60,000 service members and five Stryker combat
vehicle brigades.

There are also an estimated 1,200 Special Operations troops assigned to PACOM.

Components of U.S. Pacific Fleet, the U.S. Third Fleet is home-based in
California and the Seventh Fleet in Japan. The Seventh Fleet, the largest
forward-deployed naval force in the world, has 50 to 60 ships, 350 aircraft and
60,000 Marines and sailors.

U.S. Pacific Air Forces includes the Fifth Air Force in Japan, Seventh Air Force
in South Korea, Eleventh Air Force in Alaska and Thirteenth Air Force in Hawaii.

PACOM has three subordinate unified commands: U.S. Forces Japan, U.S. Forces
Korea and Alaskan Command.

Pacific Command has in recent years been making inroads into Asian nations that
were off-limits during the Cold War period and for the first decade and a half
afterward.

PACOM has been running annual Khaan Quest military exercises in Mongolia since
2003, mainly to train Mongolian troops for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Army Pacific conducts annual Angkor Sentinel exercises in Cambodia, as with
those in Mongolia including troops from American NATO and from other
Asia-Pacific allies.

PACOM and its service affiliates also hold regular military exercises elsewhere
throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

In January the U.S. and Japan held the latest Keen Edge command post exercise in
Japan and Hawaii.

From January 15-February 17 of this year 7,000 U.S, troops and 3,000 from
Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea participated in
the Cobra Gold 2012 war games in Thailand.

The U.S. and South Korea held their joint Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises
from February 28 to April 30 (February 28-March 9 and March 1-April 30,
respectively) with 11,000 American and over 200,000 South Korean troops.

In March the air forces of the U.S., Thailand and Singapore participated in the
Cope Tiger exercise at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base.

At the end of the month the three-week U.S.-led Commando Sling air combat
exercises in Singapore were begun.

In April the U.S. and India engaged in this year's Malabar naval exercise, the
latest in a series of annual drills with that codename, in the Bay of Bengal.
The ten-day Malabar 2012 exercise was led by the U.S. Seventh Fleet and included
aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, guided
missile destroyer USS Halsey and American aircraft and a submarine.

In the same month the 7,000-troop U.S.-Philippine Balikatan 2012 exercise was
held in the South China Sea.

On May 30 the U.S. began the 18th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and
Training (CARAT) in Indonesia. The nine-day exercise included a U.S. Navy Task
Group and Marine landing force.

Other regular U.S.-led military exercises in the Asia-Pacific include the
biennial U.S.-Australia Talisman Sabre and the biennial Rim of the Pacific
exercises, the second the largest multinational naval maneuvers in the world.
This year's Rim of the Pacific exercise in and near Hawaii will run from June 29
to August 3 and include 24 nations, 42 ships, six submarines, over 200 aircraft
and 25,000 personnel.

Having vanquished most all islands of resistance and neutrality in Europe,
Africa and the Middle East, the Pentagon is moving its global military machine
into the Asia-Pacific for a showdown with China.

====================================================================
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http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/437187.html



Itar-Tass
June 3, 2012


SCO enlargement to give fresh boost to organization


MOSCOW: Moscow stands for the enlargement of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), which will give it a fresh boost, Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov told Xinhua ahead of the SCO Beijing summit.

“Obviously, regional security threats may be deterred efficiency with
collective efforts only,” he said, referring to the SCO summit consideration
of the observer status of Afghanistan and the partner status of Turkey. “In
this context there is no alternative to the enlargement of the SCO, an interest
in which is growing steadily inside and outside of the region. We are confident
that the admission of such countries as India and Pakistan, which have observer
status at present, will strengthen the SCO potential and international
authority. The ‘fresh blood’ will give a boost to the organization and
promote its modernization.”

“SCO enlargement aspects are under consideration. Financial, legal and
administrative terms of the admission of new members are being coordinated. That
is the mandatory homework any international organization must do while preparing
for its enlargement,” the minister said.

“Meanwhile, observers and partners already have wide opportunities for
contributing to SCO activity. We welcome the official appeals of Afghanistan for
observer status and of Turkey for partner status. Hopefully, the chiefs of SCO
states will support these appeals at the Beijing summit,” Lavrov said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/437137.html


Itar-Tass
June 3, 2012


Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has great plans for future


====

“International relations are at a turning point,” the Russian minister
stated. “Changes in these relations are accompanied by rising turbulence at
the global and regional levels. The dangerous unbalancing of the entire system
of global administration takes place before our own eyes.”

“Aftermaths of the financial and economic crisis have not been overcome up to
the end; negative factors in the world economy which can bring about its second
wave continue piling up,” the minister stressed. “The conflict potential
persists, and threats to security multiply.”

====


MOSCOW: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has great plans for future, sad on
Sunday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with the Xinhua
news agency on the eve of the SCO summit in Beijing next week.

“International relations are at a turning point,” the Russian minister
stated. “Changes in these relations are accompanied by rising turbulence at
the global and regional levels. The dangerous unbalancing of the entire system
of global administration takes place before our own eyes.”

“Aftermaths of the financial and economic crisis have not been overcome up to
the end; negative factors in the world economy which can bring about its second
wave continue piling up,” the minister stressed. “The conflict potential
persists, and threats to security multiply.”

“Under these conditions, the SCO priority task remains regional security and
stability, consolidation of the potential of responding to various threats and
countering terrorism, separatism, extremism, illicit drug trafficking and
transborder organized crime,” Lavrov emphasized.

In the minister’s words, the upcoming meeting of the SCO heads of state in
Beijing on June 6-7 “will be an important stage of consolidating cooperation
in tackling problems the Organisation faces”. “The leaders of our countries
will have to sign a Declaration on building a region of a lasting peace and
joint prosperity,” the minister informed.

“A serious conceptual document is submitted for the consideration of the heads
of state: Guidelines of a SCO development strategy for a mid-term perspective,
formulating the key benchmarks for further development of our association.”

“Of great importance will be the approval of a new wording of the Regulations
on political and diplomatic measures and mechanisms for responding to
situations, putting into jeopardy peace, security and stability in the region,
drafted with an account for experience and lessons of the dynamically changing
international situation,” Lavrov continued.

“Struggle against the drug threat also assumes top importance for security of
our region.”

“The SCO now is a closely-knit group of like-minded people, firmly bent on
developing actively a trustworthy political dialogue, equal and mutually
advantageous economic and humanitarian cooperation as well as on expanding
international relations,” the minister said in conclusion.

“I’m sure that our Organisation has good prospects and great future.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/03/c_131628116.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 3, 2012


Russia-China relations at "unprecedented high": Russian FM


MOSCOW: Relations between Russia and China have reached unprecedented high
levels, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says in an interview ahead of
President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to China.

Top leaders of the two countries are expected to discuss the expansion of
bilateral cooperation in various fields during Putin's state visit to China on
June 5-7, Lavrov said.

Since Russia and China signed the Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and
Cooperation in 2001, the two countries have witnessed many breakthroughs in the
development of their relations, Lavrov told Xinhua in a written interview.

He listed some of the achievements, including an overall settlement of the
border issues, a record high of 80 billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade in
2011, the strategic cooperation in the energy sector, the launches of reciprocal
National Years and Years of Languages, and close coordination in international
affairs.

"During Putin's visit, officials from both Russia and China are going to sign a
joint communique on relations and their entrepreneurs will sign a number of
agreements," Lavrov said.

The two countries will also explore ways of further promoting their trade and
economic relations, including how to optimize their bilateral trade structure,
ensure rational use and protection of cross-border water resources, and
conducting joint border inspections, he added.

Since the leaders of the two countries decided to upgrade their relationship to
a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination based on equality, mutual
trust and support, common prosperity and lasting friendship, the countries have
made concerted efforts to further their relations, Lavrov said.

On the political front, the two sides have agreed to continue enhancing mutual
trust, promoting high-level exchanges and providing mutual support in efforts to
safeguard their own sovereignty, state unity, and territorial integrity; On the
economic front, the two countries have set a goal for bilateral trade to reach
100 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 and 200 billion dollars in 2020, Lavrov said.

Besides, both Russia and China have strived to boost people-to-people and
cultural exchanges and deepen their military cooperation, he said.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing have carried out close cooperation in global and
regional organizations, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), the Group of 20 (G20) and the BRICS, he said.

The two sides have also actively coordinated with each other on the world's
hot-spots, including the situation in West Asia and North Africa and the nuclear
issue on the Korean Peninsula, he added.

"Russia-China cooperation at all levels in international affairs has set a good
example for other countries to harmonize their positions and solve the most
complicated global problems," Lavrov said.

Sharing similar positions on many international issues, the two countries have
conducted close coordination in response to the fundamental changes of global
geopolitics and economy, the Russian foreign minister said.

"Russia and China have common core interests. They hold similar stances on the
ongoing profound changes in the world and similar approaches to new challenges,"
Lavrov said.

"Russia and China support building a multi-polar world, establishing a more just
and democratic global political and economic system, and enhancing the UN's
central role in coordinating and resolving hot international issues," he said.

Russia-China cooperation on the international arena has "facilitated global
peace and stability," he said.

With regard to the upcoming 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member
States of the SCO which Putin will attend, Lavrov said the meeting is of great
significance to consolidating cooperation among SCO member states.

According to Lavrov, the leaders are expected to endorse a number of documents
during their meeting and review the proposal to accept Afghanistan as an
observer state and Turkey as a dialogue partner.

Only through joint efforts can countries counter the threats to regional
security, Lavrov said, adding that the SCO is becoming a key factor in
safeguarding regional security and stability.

The expansion of the SCO "would strengthen the organization's potential and
raise its international prestige. New blood would bring extra energy to the
SCO," he said.

Established on 15 June, 2001 in Shanghai, the SCO is an intergovernmental
international organization which groups Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its observer states include India, Iran, Mongolia and
Pakistan, while its dialogue partners are Belarus and Sri Lanka.

The 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the SCO will be
held in Beijing on June 6-7.
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http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2012-06/04/content_15462717.htm


China Daily
June 4, 2012


Reconstructing regional stability


====

The clearer the West's intention was to impose on Kabul its political, economic
and other standards, the stronger the SCO documents stressed the fruitlessness
of resolving the conflict solely through military means and the overriding
importance of respecting the historical and ethnic reality of Afghanistan, as
well as the traditional and religious values of its people.

The Afghan government strongly believes in establishing a modern Silk Road. This
would unify Eurasia with a trade and transport system that would enhance
prosperity and security for all involved.

A lasting peace can only be realized through agreements among the various
political powers in Afghanistan. Compared with an "imported peace" imposed by
the US, a "domestically made peace" would be more reliable.

====



Editor's note: With the withdrawal of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan by the
end of 2014, what kind of role can the Shanghai Cooperation Organization play to
help maintain stability and promote development in the country?

Chinese and foreign scholars shared their views on the topic at a forum hosted
by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations on May 30 and 31
in Beijing. Here are some excerpts:

From the moment it was founded, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been
supportive of its members' efforts to implement economic reconstruction projects
in Afghanistan.

At the international conference on Afghanistan held in Bonn late last year,
heads of delegations from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states
confirmed their willingness to contribute to the revival of Afghanistan, and
pointed out the significance of strengthening the role of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

With the withdrawal of NATO troops scheduled for the end of 2014 and the
transfer of security responsibilities to the national law enforcement
authorities, the active stance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is of
special significance, as the member states, being Afghanistan's immediate
neighbors, are concerned about the future security situation in the country.

The clearer the West's intention was to impose on Kabul its political, economic
and other standards, the stronger the SCO documents stressed the fruitlessness
of resolving the conflict solely through military means and the overriding
importance of respecting the historical and ethnic reality of Afghanistan, as
well as the traditional and religious values of its people.

In this regard, the more coordinated and dynamic the response of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization to future challenges in Afghanistan, the more it will
be able to position itself as a powerful and irreplaceable mechanism for peace
and stability in Southwest and Central Asia.

Mikhail A. Konarovskiy, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai Cooperation
Organization

A stable, secure and developed Afghanistan is a necessity if the region is to
achieve security and meaningful economic integration.

The Afghan government strongly believes in establishing a modern Silk Road. This
would unify Eurasia with a trade and transport system that would enhance
prosperity and security for all involved. It would cement the relationship
between the establishment of the Northern Distribution Network and the much
wider vision for the future of Afghanistan and Eurasia. As highlighted in the
Afghan national development strategy, Afghanistan's future vision and prosperity
will be part of a Eurasian trading and transport network.

The international efforts in Afghanistan over the last decade represent a unique
engagement. We are delighted to see the international community's commitment to
Afghanistan lasting beyond transition.

Abdul Ghafoor Poya Faryabi, director-general of the Center for Strategic
Studies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan

The United States started withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July 2011.
Where the country is heading after the withdrawal of all NATO troops in 2014 is
still uncertain.

If different military forces cannot reach an agreement before the US pulls its
troops out of the country, there could be a civil war. Or, realizing their
inability to win a total war, Pashtun-dominant Taliban forces might even seek to
establish a Pashtun state in the southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan,
thus dividing the country.

Even if war can be prevented the different ethnic groups within the country
might establish their own areas, making it a loose confederation.

Of course what people should pursue is integration, a universal agreement that
includes various political forces in propelling the country forward.

To strive for the best results, we need to employ both internal and external
resources in a mechanism where both regional and world powers can contribute.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization as the biggest organization of regional
cooperation can offer the basis for such a mechanism, by maintaining dialogues
with Western countries and assisting Afghanistan with its domestic problems.

So we hope the Shanghai Cooperation Organization can accept Afghanistan as an
observer and extend a cooperation regime, so that the political cooperation
process can begin sooner.

Hu Shisheng, director of Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian
Studies CICIR

To the US and Afghan governments, war with the Taliban can end in three ways: by
defeating it, being defeated by it, or reaching an agreement.
Having realized the impossibility of the first two, both the Afghan government
and the US are seeking negotiations with the Taliban, but with little success.

Actually even if the US and the Taliban did reach an agreement that would only
be sharing political power, which is far from ethnic reconciliation. So the
future of Afghanistan remains in doubt.

A lasting peace can only be realized through agreements among the various
political powers in Afghanistan. Compared with an "imported peace" imposed by
the US, a "domestically made peace" would be more reliable.

However, a domestic peace will only grow in fertile soil. The various political
forces are now accustomed to violence. It is the responsibility of the
international community to provide assistance, and guidance if necessary, so
that the different forces lay down their arms and a true, lasting peace can be
realized, not only in Afghanistan, but also in the whole of central Asia.

Zhao Huasheng, director of the Russia Research Center, Fudan University
We should not assume that regional or international actors can solve all of
Afghanistan's problems - history is full of examples of the negative outcomes
that result from other nations thinking they can control or change Afghanistan.
The reality is, long-term and sustainable change in Afghanistan can only be
achieved by Afghanistan itself.

The only way forward is to integrate Afghanistan into the region through an
effective economic structure. This will require strengthening Afghanistan's
regional transport links as well as its government.

Improved economic structures and the linking of the Afghan economy to the
regional and international economy offer the hope of creating long-term
stability and decreasing the radicalization of the Afghan state and its
neighbors. Short-term gains for different forces will need to be overseen, and
rivals will have to cooperate to attain security benefits.

What is needed is more effective coordination, which could be initiated with an
international conference that would aim to organize future efforts. It will be
necessary to look at the development side first and then slowly move on to the
political issues.

Niklas Swanstrom, director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy,
Sweden
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http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/nato-from-the-north-atlantic-to-the-s\
outh-pacific/


Stop NATO
June 5, 2012


NATO: From the North Atlantic to the South Pacific
Rick Rozoff


On June 4 NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and New Zealand’s
Prime Minister John Key signed a partnership agreement at NATO Headquarters in
Brussels, Belgium.

As the Western military bloc reported, the Individual Partnership Cooperation
Programme conferred on the South Pacific nation "formalised ties between the two
sides after almost two decades of increased cooperation."

After meeting with Prime Minister Key, Rasmussen said, “Partnerships are
essential to NATO’s success and we want to be even more closely connected with
countries that are willing to contribute to global security where we all have a
stake.“

The increasing use of the word global by the U.S.-dominated military alliance -
New Zealand was recently announced to be a member of its newest partnership
category, partners across the globe - leaves no room for doubt regarding the
emergence of NATO as a self-designated international military force, history's
first, and its intention to assume so-called out-of-area missions much farther
from the territory of its member states than previous military campaigns and
operations in the Balkans, South Asia, North Africa and the Indian Ocean.

New Zealand has supplied troops for the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan since 2003. Speaking on the June 4th accord, the
NATO chief affirmed, "This arrangement is a move to capitalise on this
engagement, and formalise the current, more substantive relationship that exists
between NATO and New Zealand."

He also claimed: “We may be far away geographically, but we are linked by
common values and commitment. NATO looks forward to building on this important
partnership in the years to come.”

Rasmussen mentioned that areas of joint cooperation, in addition to the ongoing
war in Afghanistan, will include cyber-defence, disaster relief, crisis
management and joint education and training. That is, NATO training the New
Zealand Defence Force.

The common values alluded to comprise much more than the parliamentary system of
government, which exists most everywhere in the world, and instead are a veiled
reference to the fact that NATO is what it has always been: A military alliance
of the former colonial powers in Europe and Britain's past outposts in North
America - the U.S. and Canada - now to be complemented by those in the South
Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.

On the same day he met with New Zealand's Key, the NATO secretary general
announced that he was paying his first visit to nearby Australia, in the words
of an earlier report from the Sydney Morning Herald, to sign "a high level
political declaration" to consolidate military ties with that nation.

Prime Minister Key and his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard attended the
NATO summit in Chicago last month and were among 13 "partner countries from
across the globe" (NATO's term) that the heads of state and government of the
alliance's 28 member states met with there, the others being Austria, Finland,
Georgia, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United Arab Emirates. Japan has been mentioned as the next focus of NATO's
attention after Australia and New Zealand.

In regard to New Zealand's new Individual Partnership Cooperation Programme, the
NATO website reported that the bloc "has similar partnership programmes with
Switzerland and Sweden among others." Mongolia was granted what NATO at the time
called an Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme in March.

Rasmussen's visit to Australia will be the latest, and most pronounced, step in
the solidification of military ties between NATO and Canberra that began with
Rasmussen's predecessor, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, paying the first-ever visit by a
NATO chief to the country in 2005. Rasmussen's trip will also follow President
Barack Obama's visit to Australia last November during which he announced the
deployment of 2,500 U.S. Marines to the north of the nation, as NATO's new
partnership with New Zealand follows the recent renewal of military relations
between that country and the U.S. after a 25-year hiatus.

This January Kevin Rudd, former Australian prime minister and at the time
foreign minister, visited NATO Headquarters to accredit his country's first
ambassador to NATO, Dr. Brendan Nelson. On January 20 Rudd's website announced
that "Dr Nelson's appointment as Ambassador represents a deepening of
Australia's engagement with NATO."

Australia has provided NATO with troops for campaigns in the Balkans and in
Afghanistan, where with 1,550 soldiers it is the largest non-NATO force
contributor, and participates in NATO's Operation Ocean Shield naval mission off
the coast of Somalia.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is indeed what is has frequently been
characterized as being: the military arm of the policy of the West versus the
rest, with West defined as consisting of "common values and commitment," however
"far away geographically" its 28 members and over 40 partners may be.

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_05/77175011/


Voice of Russia
June 5, 2012



The U.S. steps up activity in Georgia
Ilya Kharlamov


====

Moscow is particularly concerned over intensified military cooperation between
Washington and Tbilisi. It`s no secret that before invading Abkhazia and South
Ossetia in 2008 the Georgian army had been trained and equipped by the U.S.

"Americans are not giving up the idea of using Georgia to undermine stability in
the Caucasus. The 2008 scenario is likely to repeat..."

There is one more reason why Washington has stepped up its presence in Georgia:
in case the West invades Iran and Syria, Georgia could become a springboard for
attacks.

====



The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Georgia on June 5. Apart
from making traditional remarks about democratic reforms in the country, Mrs.
Clinton made some political statements proving that Washington plans to increase
its presence in Georgia and keep on supporting the Saakashvili regime.

Mrs. Clinton said that to become a full member of the Euro-Atlantic community
Georgia should bet on competitive parliamentary elections and strong democratic
reforms. Actually, these are nothing but standard phrases US officials
traditionally use with respect to those countries whose political circles rely
on financial assistance from Washington.

"The U.S. has presidential elections within months. So each foreign visit paid
by a U.S. official has not only strategic but purely political reasons," says
Andrei Kortunov, the president of the New Eurasia foundation. "Since his very
first days in office Barack Obama was accused of betraying Georgia's interests
and bothering too much about relations with Moscow. And this has become one of
the episodes of the ongoing presidential campaign. In view of this, the
Democrats have to prove that the U.S policy has not changed and that the country
keeps on abiding to traditional principles, being loyal to its allies in the
Southern Caucasus. This visit could be used by President Saakashvili to
strengthen his influence in the country amid the increased activity of the
opposition forces. The regime is no longer that stable."

It appears that Washington and Moscow are now experiencing new difficulties in
relations, and not only about the European missile defense. Otherwise how could
one interpret Mrs. Clinton's remarks that the U.S. opposes the Russian
occupation of the Georgian territory, obviously implying Abkhazia and South
Ossetia as if there were no evidence of Tbilisi's aggression against these
countries in 2008 as well as crimes against humanity committed by the Georgian
army. Russia's response to the aggression and the subsequent recognition of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence by Russia and other states were just a
necessary step to protect the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia but not
‘occupation.’

Certainly, Mrs. Clinton again voiced support to Georgia over its NATO membership
bid, which caused a cordial response from local politicians who thanked the U.S.
for its overwhelming political, financial and military support.

Meanwhile, Moscow is particularly concerned over intensified military
cooperation between Washington and Tbilisi. It`s no secret that before invading
Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008 the Georgian army had been trained and
equipped by the U.S. “In early 2012 Presidents Obama and Saakashvili agreed to
deepen defense cooperation, which could result in a new outbreak of violence in
the region," says Valery Korovin who runs the Centre for Geopolitical Expertise.

"Americans are not giving up the idea of using Georgia to undermine stability in
the Caucasus. The 2008 scenario is likely to repeat. Rearming the Georgian army
won`t be a challenging task for the U.S. More emphasis is being placed on
strategic training and the use of the media. The Americans are persistently
trying to achieve what they failed to four years ago.”

There is one more reason why Washington has stepped up its presence in Georgia:
in case the West invades Iran and Syria, Georgia could become a springboard for
attacks. 

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http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/11860/china-and-russia-can-free-us-of-the-us/


Express Tribune
June 4, 2012


China and Russia can free us of the US
Farooq Yousaf


Pakistan is looking to the East for help. We are pinning our hopes on regional
cooperation through blocs such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
This bloc boasts support from two major regional powers - Russia and China.

Why should we support this alliance, one might ask.

To them, I would like to state simply, we need this to free ourselves from the
stranglehold of the US.

We have numerous reasons to support this alliance. For instance, despite all
cooperation and the consequent suffering, Pakistan continues to face immense
pressure from America. The recent episode of this series of pressures came when
Pakistan suspended the Nato supply lines as a backlash to the Salala checkpost
attack on November 26, 2011. This suspension led to threats of slashing civil
military aid to the country from the US Congressmen and policy makers.

This scared Pakistan, because the US is our life-line. It provides us with
much-needed money, and we remain at their beck and call due to this unfortunate
reality.

There is increasing pressure on Pakistan by the United States and several other
countries towards combating terrorism, as well as in terms of the settlement of
the Afghan crisis.

Washington uses financial instruments, mainly financial aid, and military
threats in the form of drone attacks to keep us dancing to their tune. It has
even launched a mass media campaign against Islamabad, accusing Pakistan of
supporting terror.

Pakistan’s possible membership in the SCO presents a rewarding opportunity for
us to finally obtain freedom from this mounting pressure. Partnership with
super-powers like China and Russia can reduce Pakistan’s dependence on the US
and its Western allies. Furthermore, increased cooperation with these
aforementioned regional powers can also help to lower our dependency on US
financial aid – a tool used to keep Pakistan within the clutches of the US.

Eastern cooperation can pave the way for opening numerous corridors of progress
for Pakistan as well as other South Asian states – mainly India and
Afghanistan. The alliance can open ways for exporting energy from energy-rich
countries such as Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran to energy-scarce states such as
Pakistan and India.

Energy-deficient countries can greatly benefit from this increased regional
cooperation. One such example is the trans-Afghan pipeline, or TAPI
(Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India), which surely can help in
overcoming some part of the energy shortfall in Pakistan and India.

In order to achieve these goals and gain a dividend from the SCO, Pakistan needs
to participate actively in the activities of the SCO in the areas of combating
terrorism, drug trafficking and the Afghan settlement. Drug trafficking has been
a major area of concern for Moscow. It claims that it is the negligence of
coalition forces in tackling the issue which has led to more drugs seeping into
Russia. Thus, participation and cooperation will help to expedite the process of
obtaining full membership in the organisation for Pakistan.

Interaction with the SCO will create real preconditions for countries to engage
in large-scale regional development programmes, particularly in the energy,
transport and information spheres. This will eventually lead to an improvement
in areas of the economy and the country’s security, strengthening its impact
in the region.

Russia and the Central Asian countries have supported Pakistan’s desire to
become a full member of the organisation, while China has refrained from doing
so. Sergei Lavrov, the acting Russian Foreign Minister, in a recent SCO meeting
pushed for India's and Pakistan’s membership in the SCO, coupled with more
involvement in the Afghan security situation in a post-Nato withdrawal scenario.

Pakistan must convince Beijing that Islamabad’s full participation in the
organisation will be useful in addressing major regional issues. Pakistan must
seize the moment and exploit regional energy resources by partnering with
Russia, China and India for energy and commercial trade.

Let’s free ourselves from the hold of the West by embracing our friends in the
East.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/06/03/news/national/sco-ballast-for-regiona\
l-peace-stability-masood-khan/


News Network International
June 3, 2012


SCO ballast for regional peace, stability: Masood Khan


BEIJING: The Pakistani Ambassador to China sang the praises of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO), saying the organization works as a ballast for
peace, security and stability in the region.

Masood Khan was speaking ahead of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's visit
to China, where he will attend the SCO leaders' summit, next week.

"It is not a security organization in the traditional sense and has no military
arm," Khan said. However, the SCO has worked hard to ensure security and fight
against transnational crime, and the "three evil forces" of terrorism,
separatism and extremism by tackling the root causes through promoting economic
development, economic cooperation, infrastructure development, and raising the
people's standard of living collectively, he said.

Khan added that the performance of the SCO over the past decade has been
"outstanding" and has become a new paradigm and a new model for regional
cooperation.

Speaking of his country's role within the SCO, Khan explained that Pakistan has
been an observer state since 2005 and has been actively participating in various
conferences and events organized by the body.

He also promised Pakistan would play a "very constructive and effective" role in
the organization and would devote all its energy to building peace. He said
Pakistan has expressed its strong desire to become a full member and submitted
the application.

The ambassador also talked about Pakistan's relationship with China and
described China as Pakistan's "trusted strategic partner."

Pakistan is satisfied with the continued flow of high-level exchanges between
the two countries, and will try to further its economic cooperation with China
in areas such as energy, infrastructure and agriculture, according to Khan.

He also urged the two nations to step up their people-to-people exchanges,
especially among the younger generation to promote mutual understanding between
the two countries. He said that learning Chinese is becoming very popular in
Pakistan, where there is also growing demand for more Confucius Institutes.

"Recently, China's ministry of education has approved setting up a Confucius
Institute in Karachi University... I hope there will be more of such institutes
to promote understanding of Chinese culture and help people learn the Chinese
language," he added.

The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, and currently has six full
members including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are its four observer states.

====================================================================
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http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/06/06/17-civilians-dead-nato-airstrike


Pajhwok Afghan News
June 6, 2012



17 civilians dead in NATO airstrike
By Abdul Maqsud Azizion


PUL-I-ALAM: A pre-dawn airstrike by NATO-led forces killed at least 18
civilians, including women and children, and seven insurgents, in central Logar
province, officials said on Wednesday.

The air raid that caused the latest civilian casualties was conducted at 1:00 am
in the Sajawand area on the periphery of Baraki Barak district, said the
provincial deputy police chief.

Raees Khan Sadeq told Pajhwok Afghan News some insurgents who gathered at a
residence opened fire on foreign soldiers. As a result, the soldiers retaliated
with an airstrike that led to death of civilians and fighters.

He said a Taliban commander - Qari Sardari - was staying at the tribal elder’s
house at the time of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) strike.

He confirmed the death of 18 civilians, including seven children, five women and
six men, besides acknowledging death of seven rebels.

He added the residences belonged to two area tribal elders - Bashir Akhundzada
and Qayyum Akhundzada - who were also killed along with all their family
members.

The governor’s spokesman Din Mohammad Darwiash, denying insurgents’ deaths,
said 15 civilians - mostly children - were killed in the NATO raid.

Dr. Abdul Wali Wakil, head of the provincial council, confirmed the incident,
saying Akhundzada was among 16 civilians killed in the ISAF raid.

He added the locals protested in front of the governor’s office in Pul-i-Alam,
carrying the dead bodies to prove the victims were ordinary residents and not
insurgents.

The Taliban denied their commander was hiding in the tribal elder’s residence.
Their spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said all the victims were civilians.

At the same time, residents demonstrated in Logar’s capital to condemn the
killings, but security personnel opened fire at them, injuring one protestor.

The protestors chanted anti-US and anti-Afghan government slogans, saying
“death to America, death to the Afghan government, death to Hamid Karzai and
death to Barak Obama.”

Habib Rahman, one of the area residents, said Bashir was arranging a wedding
party for his son, to be held in the next three days, and had invited some of
his relatives to his house.

Meanwhile, ISAF media office in Kabul denied the civilians fatalities, saying
they conducted the operation jointly with Afghan forces to nab an insurgent
commander in the area.

During the operation, the insurgents attacked the security force, which returned
fire and requested a precision airstrike, said a statement from the
multinational force.

It added during a follow-on assessment, security forces discovered two women
with non-life-threatening injuries. However, it did not mention civilian deaths
in the attack.
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/05/c_131632322.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 6, 2012


SCO Beijing Summit to set tone for new decade
By Wu Liming


BEIJING: The 12th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), to be
held here Wednesday and Thursday, is expected to set the tone for the
development of the six-member bloc over the next decade.

Clearly, the founding of the SCO in June 2001 was a major international event
that has reshaped the global strategic landscape and reshifted the balance of
power.

This year marks the beginning of the second decade for the development of the
SCO, so the Beijing summit will take on the historic task of mapping out a new
blueprint for the increasingly important global players.

The Beijing summit will further identify the direction of the SCO's development
and major tasks for the next decade and will adopt the Strategic Plan for the
Medium-Term Development of the SCO.

"It is no exaggeration to say the adoption of this document will have
far-reaching influence on the SCO's development," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister
Cheng Guoping said.

Security and economic cooperation are the two key fields within the SCO.

Over the past decade, the SCO has scored remarkable achievements in security
cooperation, such as jointly fighting terrorists, separatists, drug and arms
traffickers, and staging joint anti-terrorism military exercises. The efforts
have helped ensure peace and stability in the region.

It is reported that the Beijing summit will adopt the amendments to the SCO
Regulations on Political and Diplomatic Measures and Mechanism of Response to
Events Jeopardizing Regional Peace, Security and Stability. The move will
considerably boost the SCO's ability to prevent and tackle emergencies.

As regards the economy, the SCO has established an effective platform for
deepening cooperation, which has led to a rapid increase in trade volume among
the SCO members. A case in point: China's annual trade with the rest of the SCO
members grew from 12.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2001 to around 90 billion dollars
in 2011.

Comparatively speaking, economic cooperation has lagged behind security
cooperation within the SCO. It is expected that China, the host of the Beijing
summit, will present further proposals to boost economic cooperation within the
SCO.

Also, the summit will try to reach consensus on establishing multilateral
financing guarantee mechanisms and speeding up transportation facilitation.

Expansion will be another issue at the Beijing summit. As more and more
countries are expressing interest in joining the intergovernmental bloc, the
summit is set to deliberate observer status and dialogue partnership for certain
countries.

Numerous scholars suggest that the SCO should be cautious about granting
membership, as any hasty decision in that regard could undermine the bloc's
capability given the sharp economic and historical differences between the
individual countries.

All in all, it is widely believed that the Beijing summit will be a milestone in
the SCO' history, and is sure to give new impetus to the development of the
six-member bloc.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=4&id=337791


Interfax
June 6, 2012


Kyrgyzstan proposes creation of SCO Development Bank - Atambayev


BEIJING: Kyrgyzstan intends to propose more intensive discussion of the issue of
creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Development Bank at the
SCO summit opening on Wednesday.

"We in SCO propose to emphasize the economics, the creation of the SCO
Development Bank, an open credit account. It's important to us," Kyrgyz
President Almazbek Atambayev said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Kyrgyzstan needs funding for development, he said. "We need to get on our feet
as quickly as possible using the organizations and the assistance provided,"
Atambayev said.

Atambayev said he is not scheduled to have bilateral meetings with the heads of
the SCO countries at the SCO summit opening in Beijing on Wednesday, but is
expected to have a bilateral meeting with the president of Iran, which will take
place at the request of the Iranian leader.

SCO comprises Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_06/77264048/


Itar-Tass
June 6, 2012


Syria intervention would make matters worse – Putin, Hu


       
In a statement issued after their Beijing summit held on Tuesday and Wednesday,
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao said that any outside military
intervention aimed at bringing about a regime change in Syria would destroy
peace in the Middle East and must therefore be opposed. They argued that the
Syrian crisis must be resolved peacefully through a political dialogue.

The two leaders also pledged their continued support of the Syria mission led by
international mediator Kofi Annan.

They said their countries would continue to block motions at the UN Security
Council to oust legitimate governments anywhere in the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20120606150858.shtml


RosBusinessConsulting
June 6, 2012


   
Russia and China join forces to implement Syria peace plan


Moscow: Russia and China have joined forces to implement the UN-Arab League
Special Envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is visiting Beijing and has said that "We
have confirmed that we will coordinate efforts for Syria." The minister attended
a number of meetings and also added, "the main objective is to implement Annan's
peace plan and the UN Security Council's resolution."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.rt.com/news/putin-china-military-ties-139/


RT
June 6, 2012


Russia and China pull together to counter US Asia drive


President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will cement its military alliance with
China, including an increase in joint exercises in the Asia-Pacific.

The move follows a US pledge to step up its naval presence in Asia in a bid to
extend its influence.

"Recently joint navy exercises were held in the Yellow Sea, and they were the
first of such exercises. We have agreed with Chairman Hu that we will continue
such cooperation," Putin said following a meeting with his Chinese counterpart
Hu Jintao in Beijing.

The Russian leader said that security in the Asia-Pacific region was a top
priority for both countries and they will work together to further develop ties.

"We favor the formation of an open and equal-minded security and cooperation
architecture in the region, based on the principles of international law," Putin
said.

Russian and Chinese naval forces recently held six days of military drills in
the Yellow Sea. The first drills of their kind, they included anti-submarine
exercises and hijacked vessel rescue operations.

Russia deployed four warships from its Pacific fleet for the drills with 16
Chinese ships and two submarines.

The strengthening of Sino-Russian relations also serves to counterbalance US
influence in Asia.

US defense minister Leon Panetta announced on Saturday that the US plans to step
up its naval presence in the Pacific as part of the so-called “Asia
re-balancing” initiative.

Panetta has also announced that the US intends to cement military ties with
India.

The American government plans to maneuver 60 per cent of its battleships into
the Asia-Pacific region by 2020. It currently has around 50 per cent of its
fleet stationed there.

China views an increased US military presence in the Asia-Pacific as a challenge
to its own sovereignty and an attempt by America to curtail the country’s
rise.

"China is Russia's strategic partner. We enjoy mutually beneficial, mutually
trusting, open cooperation in all fields," said Putin.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/06/c_131635461.htm



Xinhua News Agency
June 6, 2012


China, Russia agree to enhance strategic partnership
   


  • China and Russia have agreed to enhance their comprehensive strategic
partnership of coordination.
  • The statement was released during Russian President Vladimir Putin's
three-day state visit to China.
  • China and Russia pledged to respect each other's interests and rights of
choosing own social systems.


BEIJING: China and Russia have agreed to enhance their comprehensive strategic
partnership of coordination, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday.

The statement was released during Russian President Vladimir Putin's three-day
state visit to China, where he will also attend the 12th Meeting of the Council
of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization being held in
Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Besides his talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Putin also met with other
Chinese leaders, including Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress; Premier Wen Jiabao; Vice President Xi Jinping and
Vice Premier Li Keqiang.

"The two sides will continue their commitment to enhancing the China-Russia
comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination characterized by equality
and trust, mutual support, common prosperity and long-lasting friendship," said
the statement.

In the document, China and Russia pledged to respect each other's interests as
well as rights of choosing their own social systems and development paths.

The two sides will firmly adhere to the principles of non-interference in each
other's internal affairs, mutual support for each other's sovereignty,
territorial integrity, security and other issues of core interests, win-win
reciprocity and non-confrontation, according to the statement.

It continued by saying that the nations have agreed to continue their close
high-level interactions, enhance communication and coordination on regional and
global issues and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various areas.

They are to make joint efforts to hit their target of bilateral trade reaching
100 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 and 200 billion dollars in 2020. In 2011,
bilateral trade volume reached 80 billion U.S. dollars, a record high showing a
42.7-percent year-on-year rise.

According to the statement, China and Russia will boost their cooperation in
investment, energy resources, high technology, the aviation and space industry,
trans-border infrastructures and other areas.

They will also focus on strategic and large-scale projects and expand
cooperation at local levels and enterprise-to-enterprise exchanges.

The two sides will also further enhance bilateral military ties and boost
cooperation on security and law enforcement as well as advance cultural and
people-to-people exchanges.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/06/c_131635698.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 6, 2012


China's Xi meets Putin, underlines strategic cooperation against global change


BEIJING: Vice President Xi Jinping underlined the necessity for China and Russia
to strengthen their strategic cooperation while meeting with visiting Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday.

Xi said it is necessary to safeguard the two neighbors' common interests against
the backdrop of a world that has witnessed unprecedented and profound changes.

Putin said he is in full agreement with Xi's view on Russia-China relations.
Russia and China should further strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various
sectors that reflect the strategic level of Russia-China relations, he said.

Russia highly values its relations with China and is confident about the
development of Russia-China relations, said Putin, who kicked off his three-day
China visit on Tuesday, his first to Asia since starting his third term last
month.

Putin is scheduled to attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member
States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization running from Wednesday to
Thursday in Beijing.

On Tuesday, Putin and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao held two-hour-long
talks, during which they agreed on boosting the comprehensive partnership of
strategic coordination between the two countries and reaffirmed the commitment
to safeguarding world peace, security and stability.

China is willing to work with Russia to complete the new tasks set forward by
the heads of states of both countries, and consolidate the basis of Sino-Russia
relations and improve bilateral relations, Xi noted.

As two important emerging economies, both China and Russia have emphasized
economic development as a priority, he said.

Both countries are undergoing economic restructuring and committed to
innovation-driven development and opening up, which provide important new
opportunities for the two countries to carry out pragmatic cooperation, Xi said.

Xi congratulated Putin on his victory in the Russian presidential election.
Putin's visit, about a month after his inauguration, shows the importance both
Russia and the Russian president attach to Sino-Russia relations, Xi said.

Xi said high-level exchanges have been a trait of Sino-Russia relations, which
have demonstrated mutual political trust between the two countries and served to
guarantee the advancement of bilateral relations and cooperation in various
sectors.

It is hoped that both countries would make use of their respective advantages to
strengthen pragmatic cooperation so as to bring their economic interests more
closely together, Xi said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://top.rbc.ru/english/index.shtml?/news/english/2012/06/05/05171045_bod.shtm\
l


RosBusinessConsulting
June 6, 2012


Putin touts technological alliance with China


“I believe we should aim for a true technological alliance of both countries.
We should create production and innovative chains that will link our scientific
and design bureaus, and engineering centers, and tap the markets of other
countries,” Putin wrote in article published in the Chinese newspaper People's
Daily ahead of his visit today to China and the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization summit in Beijing.

Russia intends to actively promote large-scale joint projects with China in
aircraft building, aerospace, and other high-tech industries, as well as to
develop technology parks, industrial clusters, and special economic zones on the
territories of both countries.

He also announced the goal of increasing bilateral trade to $100bn by 2015 and
$200bn by 2020 from $83.5bn in 2011, adding that the current trend suggests that
this target could be reached earlier.

The quality of bilateral trade should be enhanced by raising the share of
value-added products in it. “There are objective prerequisites for this, since
national markets of both countries have huge capacities, demand for modern goods
and services is on the rise, while our countries hold strong positions in
education, science, and technologies,” the president pointed out.

He also called for up-to-date financial infrastructure for bilateral business
relations and transition to bilateral payments in national currencies in order
to stave off currency risks and boost the ruble and the yuan.
====================================================================
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http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/clinton-pledges-increased-military-as\
sistance-to-georgia-for-new-conflicts/


Stop NATO
June 7, 2012


Clinton Pledges Increased Military Assistance to Georgia for New Conflicts
Rick Rozoff


In the middle of her three-nation tour of the South Caucasus, on June 5
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with fellow short-term New Yorker Mikheil
Saakashvili in Georgia. The latter is a premiere, a greatly favored, a nonpareil
American satrap, for whom the doors of the White House and the op-ed pages of
the major U.S. dailies are always open. For eight and a half years he has been
president of his nation after winning 96 percent of the vote on January 6, 2004
in a spurious election following standing head of state Eduard Shevardnadze
being manhandled and deposed in the so-called Rose Revolution of the preceding
November. The sort of election the State Department is always willing to endorse
if the result advances American geostrategic interests.

Clinton was in the country both to meet with Saakashvili and to attend the third
annual plenary session of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission,
which was created five months after the five-day war between Georgia and Russia
in August 2008.

During a joint press conference in Batumi, the capital of Adjara, subjugated by
the Saakashvili regime shortly after it came to power, the Georgian head of
state greeted Clinton with these words:

"Madam Secretary, I will speak in English. They have heard me already speak in
Georgian many times." Columbia University graduate Saakashvili and former
carpetbagging senator from New York Clinton speak a common language in more than
one sense.

Never one to shy away from fawning on his American financial and military
sponsors, from George W. Bush and Barack Obama to Condoleezza Rice and the
current secretary of state, the erratic Georgian strongman laid on his
characteristic cloying praise particularly thick in regard to last month's North
Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in the town Clinton was born in:

"I want to thank you, Madam Secretary, for your Administration’s leadership
and your personal leadership of the decided question of our integration into
Euro-Atlantic alliance. The last summit in Chicago was an important step forward
toward that process for Georgia. The language of the communiqué, the meeting of
the 28 allies with the four aspirant countries that put Georgia in the same
group as the three Balkan states, and the words you pronounced during the
meetings on enlargement perspectives and talking to them at length about
Georgia’s continued reform and progress and success showed to everybody that
Georgia was closer than ever to fulfill its Euro-Atlantic aspirations."

In the earlier meeting of the Strategic Partnership Commission, Clinton was
accompanied by Joseph McMillan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
for International Security Affairs, in which capacity he is described by the
Pentagon as "oversee[ing] the formulation, coordination, and implementation of
strategy and policy involving Africa, Europe and NATO, the Middle East, and most
of the former Soviet Union." The two met with a Georgian contingent headed by
Defence Minister Bacho Akhalaia.

During the event with Saakashvili, Clinton thanked the American client regime
for committing 1,700 troops to NATO's ten-and-half-year armed conflict in
Afghanistan. Georgian troop strength will increase notwithstanding claims that
NATO is "drawing down" forces from the war-plagued South Asian nation. In
Clinton's words, "Georgia is already the largest per capita contributor of
troops to our efforts in Afghanistan, and we thank you for sending a second
battalion which will make you the largest non-NATO contributor."

She also pledged U.S. support for several new military assistance initiatives,
including training and material aid for Georgia's armed forces "to better
monitor your coasts and your skies", upgrading its helicopter fleet and "helping
Georgia give its officers the 21st century training they need for today’s
changing missions."

With increased assistance from the Pentagon, Clinton added, "Georgia will be a
stronger international partner with an improved capacity for self-defense."

"Self-defense" is a reference to Russia, which will defend South Ossetia and
Abkhazia against any new acts of aggression perpetrated by Georgia.

To make the above point patently unambiguous, America's top diplomat
regurgitated claims that Russia is "occupying" the two new nations and
reiterated the U.S. demand that Russian troops leave Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
where they were reinforced after Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia four years
ago, affirming that "the United States remains steadfast in our commitment to
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally
recognized borders."

Fielding questions from the local media, Clinton was even more explicit:

"As we stated at the Chicago NATO summit, the United States and all NATO allies
support Georgia’s aspirations for NATO membership, and we reaffirmed the
Bucharest decision and all subsequent decisions. We continue to work closely
with Georgia both bilaterally and through the NATO-Georgia Commission to support
the goals that Georgia has set for itself in its annual national program. And we
remain committed to supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity."

The NATO-Georgia Commission is an initiative established the month after the
Georgian-Russian war of 2008 and the Annual National Program was launched two
months later under its auspices to promote Georgia's full integration into NATO
by circumventing the traditional Membership Action Plan.

Russia was not long in reacting to Clinton's pronouncements.

The following day Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich accused the
U.S. of "fueling the revanchist aspirations of Tbilisi,” demonstrating that
Washington had "failed to learn lessons from the August, 2008 events in the
Caucasus."

In regard to Clinton's announcement that the U.S. was stepping up training of
the Georgian military, the U.S. Marines Corps has been training the country's
armed forces since 2003. Two months ago 300 U.S. Marines were in Georgia to lead
the two-week Agile Spirit 2012 military exercise. In July of 2008 1,000 U.S.
Marines led the Immediate Response 2008 exercise in Georgia, which ended on July
31, a week before Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia. American troops and
equipment remained in Georgia during the ensuing war with Russia and U.S.
military aircraft flew 2,000 Georgian troops back from Iraq to join the
hostilities.

In reference to the above, the Russian Foreign Ministry statement added:

"It was the active encouragement from the U.S. and other Western states,
commitments about accepting Georgia into NATO and the massive supply of
armaments from abroad that formed a sense of all-permissiveness and impunity for
Mikheil Saakashvili, which pushed him to commit a criminal adventure in South
Ossetia. At the time we had to bring the aggressor to his senses.

“There is a sense of deja vu today. High-ranking U.S. officials are again
making loud statements about supporting Saakashvili, repeating verbatim false
theses of his propaganda about ‘Russian occupation of Georgia’.”

The day after Clinton's departure from Georgia, Deputy Secretary of the National
Security Council of Georgia Batu Kutelia said that the decision to expand
military cooperation between the U.S. and his nation was reached at the
one-on-one meeting of presidents Obama and Saakashvili in the Oval Office of the
White House in January of this year.

Emphasizing that Pentagon experts and advisers were involved in what he listed,
Kutelia said:

"The main objective is to modernize the armed forces up to modern standards so
that they can cope with the challenges we face. Defenses on the principles of
territorial defense will be developed with the help of the U.S. side. Clinton
noted several components. First of all, air and sea control, which is one of the
main challenges for us, the war with Russia in 2008 clearly demonstrated it.
Modernization of the fleet of helicopters is also important, because it will
increase the mobility of our armed forces and will be one of the most important
elements in ensuring the principle of territorial defense. The preparation of
our officers and the armed forces to the standards of the 21st century was also
noted, and she mentioned this particular phrase."

On the same day Deputy Defense Minister Nodar Kharshiladze told journalists that
"The U.S. will provide assistance to Georgia to improve [its] defense
capability, which implies such areas as control of air space, development of
helicopter flight capacity, development of engineering capabilities and training
of Georgian units to conduct defensive operations."

The Georgian - and American - definition of defense has already been commented
upon and is evidenced by the war against South Ossetia and the deployment of
U.S. Marines Corps-trained Georgian troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In recent months speculation has been rife, including a statement to the effect
by former Georgian president Shevardnadze, that Washington intends to employ
military assets in Georgia for an attack against Iran. Adding to the Saakashvili
regime's arsenal and emboldening the reckless American client with carte blanche
backing will threaten peace even beyond the Caucasus.
====================================================================
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======================================================================

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_07/77329534/


Voice of Russia
June 7, 2012


SCO opposes military intervention in MidEast


The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Beijing has resulted in the
signing of 10 agreements, including a joint program of cooperation against
terrorism, separatism and extremism, and a plan for the SCO development for the
coming years.

The declaration voices concern over the US-NATO plans to unilaterally deploy
anti-missile defense elements in Europe.

The delegations at the SCO summit also confirmed their disapproval of a possible
military operation in Syria and urged for a diplomatic solution to the issue.

They also condemned the attempts to settle the Iranian nuclear issue by force.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin offered the SCO member states to set up an
all-purpose centre to counteract terrorism, drug trafficking and organized
crime.

The SCO was founded in 2001 and comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The SCO summit opposes Syria intervention

Leaders of a grouping led by Russia and China on Thursday issued a statement
opposing military intervention in the Middle East, a day after opposition claims
that Syrian forces had killed 100 people.

"Member states are against military intervention into this region's affairs,
forcing a 'handover of power' or using unilateral sanctions," said a statement
signed at the end of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Beijing.

Use of force to solve Iran problem 'unacceptable' - SCO

Leaders of a regional grouping led by Russia and China issued a statement in
Beijing Thursday opposing any use of force in Iran, saying this could threaten
global security.

"Any attempts to solve the Iranian problem with force are unacceptable and could
lead to unpredictable circumstances that threaten stability and security in the
region and the entire world," said the statement signed at the end of a Shanghai
Cooperation Organization summit that was attended by Iran's leader.

TASS, Vesti.ru, AFP
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======================================================================

http://rt.com/usa/news/panetta-us-war-pakistan-225/


RT
June 7, 2012


Panetta admits that US is at war in Pakistan


Hold the phone, anti-war activists. President Obama says that American troops
are done with Operation Iraqi Freedom and their episode in Afghanistan is almost
over. Now, though, it looks like the US is calling its operation in Pakistan an
actual war.

­Only one day after American officials announced that US troops executed an
alleged al-Qaeda higher-up with a drone strike in Pakistan, Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta told reporters on Wednesday that America’s fair-weather ally is
indeed serving as a battlefront in the War on Terror.

“We are fighting a war in the FATA, we are fighting a war against
terrorism,” Secretary Panetta said this week. Panetta was referring to the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a region in northwest Pakistan that is
currently the scene of American airstrikes.

Since well before the top-secret raid and execution of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden brought US troops into Pakistan, the American military has tried time and
time again to sugarcoat its activities overseas. Despite being an at-one-time
top ally of the United States, Pakistani officials have continuously condemned
the US over Uncle Sam’s continuing air strikes with unmanned aerial vehicles,
or drones. Now after years of trying to re-develop those deteriorating ties with
Pakistan, the United States’ top military man flatly called his country’s
operations in FATA an actual war.

To put it simply, this might not be good news for anyone.

While Panetta’s comment came only a day after the Pentagon confirmed that
al-Qaeda’s “number-two in command,” Abu Yahya al-Libi, was executed with a
drone strike in the FATA region, it also coincides — coincidently — with a
statement made by another former CIA official. Robert Greiner, the one-time head
of the CIA’s counterterrorism center, tells reporters this week that
America’s mishandling of drone attacks is creating a safe haven for
terrorists.

In a report published this week by the UK’s Guardian, Greiner says that
ongoing attacks that target a broad and often unspecific range of targets is
causing anti-American sentiments to increase faster than the US can actually
combat terror. After the US has increased its air strikes in locales such as
Pakistan and Yemen, says Greiner, insurgency has only become more rampant.

Because the Obama administration has gone on the record to say that all
military-age men in strike zone are considered combatants, Greiner believes that
unrest with the US is adding up at a rate that repeated strikes won’t help.

"We have gone a long way down the road of creating a situation where we are
creating more enemies than we are removing from the battlefield. We are already
there with regards to Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Greiner.

"That brings you to a place where young men, who are typically armed, are in the
same area and may hold these militants in a certain form of high regard. If you
strike them indiscriminately you are running the risk of creating a terrific
amount of popular anger. They have tribes and clans and large families. Now all
of a sudden you have a big problem … I am very concerned about the creation of
a larger terrorist safe haven in Yemen.”
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======================================================================

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/philippines/philippine-government-gives-ok-f\
or-us-to-use-old-bases-newspaper-reports-1.179790


Stars and Stripes
June 7, 2012


Philippine government gives OK for US to use old bases, newspaper reports
By Travis J. Tritten


====

The United States began talks with the Philippines late last year in hopes of
expanding military ties.

During that time, the U.S. has struck a deal with Australia to rotate thousands
of Marines through bases at Darwin, outlined a plan to forward deploy warships
in Singapore, and unveiled a new agreement with Japan to realign the
controversial Marine Corps presence on Okinawa.

The Philippines has been embroiled in a heated dispute with China over ownership
of the Spratly Islands, a conflict that could draw in the United States due to
its mutual defense treaty.

====




CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa: The Philippine government said this week that the United
States military is again welcome to use Subic Bay and the sprawling Clark Air
Base, two decades after the installations were abandoned due to political
friction with Manila, according to media reports.

Philippine Defense Undersecretary Honorio Azcueta said U.S. troops, ships and
aircraft can make use of the old bases, as long as prior approval is granted by
the government. Azcueta made the comments following a meeting with Joint Chiefs
Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, who traveled to the country as part of a regional
trip to generate support for a military pivot toward Asia, according to the
Philippine Star newspaper.

The United States had key bases in the Philippines for decades after World War
II, but relations broke down in the early 1990s, and the facilities were
returned.

The announcement of an expanded military relationship this week comes after
months of talks between Washington and Manila, and appears to be another step
forward in the U.S. plan to bolster forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

“They can come here provided they have prior coordination from the
government,” Azcueta said following the meeting at the Philippine military
headquarters of Camp Aguinaldo in Manila, according to the Philippine Star
newspaper. “That’s what we want … increase in exercises and
interoperability.”

The United States has a 60-year-old mutual defense treaty with the Philippines
and participates in annual exercises with its military. There are also roughly
500 U.S. Special Forces troops that have been advising the Philippine military
in its fight against Islamic terrorist groups in the southern portion of the
county since 2001.

However, it was unclear Thursday how useful the Clark and Subic bases might now
be to the United States because much of the land has been privately developed
over the past 20 years.

The former Navy base at Subic Bay still has an airfield that can accommodate
military aircraft and also can provide a safe haven for ships during cyclones,
according to the Philippine Star.

The United States began talks with the Philippines late last year in hopes of
expanding military ties.

During that time, the U.S. has struck a deal with Australia to rotate thousands
of Marines through bases at Darwin, outlined a plan to forward deploy warships
in Singapore, and unveiled a new agreement with Japan to realign the
controversial Marine Corps presence on Okinawa.

Dempsey met with Philippine leaders this week as top U.S. officials, including
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, traveled through the region in hopes of building
more support among allies for a vastly increased military presence, which will
stretch in an arc across the Pacific and Asia from Hawaii to Singapore. Panetta
has said the United States plans to shift military forces from a 50/50 split
between the Pacific and Atlantic to a 60/40 split that will focus more on the
Pacific.

In an interview this week with the Department of Defense press service, Dempsey
downplayed the size of the increase in military forces, saying some countries
were concerned it could spark confrontation with China.

The Philippines has been embroiled in a heated dispute with China over ownership
of the Spratly Islands, a conflict that could draw in the United States due to
its mutual defense treaty.

“That’s not the intent” of the Asia pivot, to challenge China or cause
confrontation, Dempsey told the press service. “The intent is to increase the
quality of our engagement [with allies], the quality of our
relationship-building, the quality of our thinking, the quality of our
leaders.”
====================================================================
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http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/with-new-partners-sco-to-be-force-for\
-security-stability-development/


Stop NATO
June 7, 2012



http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-06/08/content_15484213.htm


China Daily
June 8, 2012



SCO will be 'fortress of security and stability'


====

The participation of Afghanistan and Turkey enlarges the region that the SCO
covers geographically and increases the bloc's global influence...

Leaders and officials from the four SCO observer countries, Mongolia, Iran,
Pakistan and India, as well as Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov
and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, also delivered speeches at the meeting.

====


 
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization granted Afghanistan observer status on
Thursday as President Hu Jintao said the bloc aimed to become a "fortress of
regional security and stability and a driving force of regional economic
development".

The current summit of the organization in Beijing, which witnessed the signing
of agreements covering security, politics and the economies of the members, will
be a landmark in the bloc's history as it set out a clear vision of its
direction, analysts said.

By granting observer status to Afghanistan, the SCO, which groups China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, consolidated ties
with the war-torn country ahead of the pullout of most foreign troops by the end
of 2014.

The organization also announced that Turkey, a NATO member, will join Sri Lanka
and Belarus as a dialogue partner.

Observer status will strengthen "political, economic and civilian cooperation
between the SCO states and Afghanistan," Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheng
Guoping said after the summit.

Central Asia's stability is a pressing issue for the regional bloc, analysts
said, especially considering the turmoil in the Middle East and the withdrawal
of troops from Afghanistan.

Chen Yurong, a researcher of regional affairs with the Institute of
International Studies, said as the security situation in Central Asia has
changed, the SCO must revise security policies.

The participation of Afghanistan and Turkey enlarges the region that the SCO
covers geographically and increases the bloc's global influence, Chen said. But
some analysts suggested that the SCO should be cautious about more participants,
as it could undermine the bloc's capability given the sharp economic and
historical differences between some countries.

The SCO on Thursday also recommitted itself to closer security ties by adopting
a 2013-15 anti-terrorism plan and establishing a swift response mechanism.

The mechanism allows SCO members to request the help of other members to handle
domestic emergencies.

It "will considerably boost the SCO's ability to prevent and tackle
emergencies", a diplomatic source said.

Hu told the summit that "we should establish and improve a system of security
cooperation".

He also said that the members must tackle terrorism, separatism and extremism,
as well as drug traffickers and other organized cross-border criminal activity.

Development blueprint

Analysts said that the Beijing summit will be a milestone as it gives impetus to
the development of the bloc, founded in 2001.

The member countries issued a joint declaration to adopt the Strategic Plan for
the Medium-Term Development of the SCO and vowed to build the region into an
area of secure and lasting peace and shared prosperity.

"It is no exaggeration to say the adoption of the strategic plan will have a
far-reaching influence on the SCO's development," Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng
said.

Xing Guangcheng, executive director of the SCO Research Center, said the
declaration and strategic plan not only show the openness of the SCO, but also
highlight the sustainability and stamina of the organization's future
development.

Hu said the summit is pivotal for the future development of the SCO, especially
as the international and regional situation has been more complex and volatile.

Only after SCO members enhance cooperation and act in unison can they
effectively cope with emerging challenges, safeguard regional peace and achieve
development, he said.

Hu also said China will offer a loan of $10 billion to support economic
cooperation within the bloc, and the loan will also be used to aid the
development of SCO member states.

He also said China will help train 1,500 experts from other member countries
over the next three years. It is also going to provide 30,000 government
scholarships and invite 10,000 Confucius Institute teachers and students to come
to China for research and study over the next decade.

The president also called for the establishment of a development bank, a food
security mechanism, and for the promotion of trade and investment.

The 2013 SCO summit will be held in Kyrgyzstan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz
President Almazbek Atambayev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbek President
Islam Karimov also addressed the summit on Thursday.

Leaders and officials from the four SCO observer countries, Mongolia, Iran,
Pakistan and India, as well as Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov
and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, also delivered speeches at the meeting.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-06/07/content_15483673.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 8, 2012


SCO accepts Afghanistan as observer, Turkey as dialogue partner


BEIJING: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has decided to grant
Afghanistan observer status and accept Turkey as a dialogue partner, President
Hu Jintao said Thursday.

Hu announced the decision made by SCO member states at a press conference held
after the SCO Beijing summit, which ran from Wednesday to Thursday. China
currently serves as SCO president.

While announcing the inclusion, Hu also elaborated on the agreements that have
been reached by SCO member states over the past two days.

Member states have vowed to facilitate trade and investment in a bid to tap
economic potential within the bloc, Hu said.

Hu said SCO member states have agreed to enhance cooperation in the
finance,transportation, energy, telecommunications and agriculture sectors.

To advance regional economic development, the organization will continue to make
efforts to establish a special account and development bank, Hu said.

The SCO's development over the next decade will weigh heavily on the peace and
development of its member states, the region and the world, Hu said.

He explained that member states have approved a mid-term development strategic
plan and agreed to build the SCO into a "harmonious community."

With terrorism, separatism, extremism and transnational crime on the rise, SCO
member states have agreed to enhance their capacity to warn about and handle
emergencies, as well as make the organization a reliable guarantor of regional
security, Hu said.

SCO member states believe it is necessary to promote cultural and educational
exchanges and expand their channels for people-to-people exchanges and social
interaction, Hu said.

The SCO will strengthen cooperation with its observer states and dialogue
partners, the United Nations and its affiliated organizations, as well as other
international and regional organizations, Hu said.

Kyrgyzstan will fill the SCO's rotating presidency after the two-day Beijing
summit, Hu said.

China will continue to support the SCO's development and provide aid within its
capacity to other member states, according to Hu.

At the end of the summit, SCO member states adopted 10 new agreements, including
the Declaration on Building a Region with Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity,
the Strategic Plan for the Medium-Term Development of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization and regulations concerning the SCO's method of response to regional
security threats.

While addressing the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of
the SCO Thursday morning, Hu called for the SCO to be built into an effective
platform for increasing international exchange and influence.

"We should enhance consultations with international and regional organizations
through the platform to safeguard peace, promote development and boost world
multipolarization and democratization of international relations," Hu said.

The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001 and currently has six full
members -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Prior to Thursday's inclusion, the SCO had four observer states (Mongolia, Iran,
Pakistan and India) and two dialogue partners (Belarus and Sri Lanka).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_07/77392955/


Voice of Russia
June 7, 2012


Shanghai Organization’s summit: diplomacy is the only solution
Svetlana Andreeva and Konstantin Garibov



A summit between the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member
countries ended in Beijing on Thursday.

The Shanghai Organization is an alliance between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China,
Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which was formed to promote cooperation
between its members in economic and other spheres, as well as joint efforts to
fight against terrorism.

The amendments signed at the summit outline a new strategy of development for
the Shanghai Organization – in particular, the procedure for accepting new
members to the organization.

One of the agreements signed at the summit is entitled “A Declaration on
Building a Region with Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity”. All of the
presidents attending the summit called for Central Asia to become a nuclear-free
zone. They also declared that no outside interference in the affairs of the
region would be acceptable. The declaration also says that the concrete
mechanisms of preserving security within the borders of the alliance should only
be determined by its member countries. At the same time, the alliance does not
aim at challenging any other countries.

One of the main outcomes of the SCO summit was the granting of observer status
to Afghanistan. The countries that already had this status are Mongolia, India,
Pakistan and Iran.

“The Shanghai Organization has always stood for closer cooperation with
Afghanistan,” Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said at the summit.

“We hope that the observer status in the Shanghai Organization will allow
Afghanistan to promote closer ties with Asian countries. The Shanghai
Organization is open for cooperation with other countries or international
organizations. If a country wants to establish closer ties with the SCO, such
moves would only be welcomed.”

The summit also granted Turkey’s request to give it the status of dialogue
partner in the Shanghai Organization. The other countries that already had this
status are Belarus and Sri Lanka.

“The global influence of the Shanghai Organization is obviously growing,”
Russian political analyst Stanislav Tarasov says. “In fact, we are seeing the
emergence of another strong “pole” in a multi-polar world. Today, one can
hardly deny that the influence of the East in the world is increasing.”

The members of the Shanghai Organization have a common approach to one of the
most burning problems of today – the civil wars engulfing the countries of
North Africa and the Middle East. They believe that no foreign power has the
right to interfere in these conflicts by force.

Summit participants issued a statement expressing support for the efforts made
by the UN Security Council to end the Syrian conflict. They believe there could
only be one way to settle this conflict: when both the Syrian government and all
the opposition groups agree to lay down arms and engage in a dialogue.

The summit’s participants also expressed concern about the situation around
Iran, which holds an SCO observer status. They believe that any attempt to solve
the Iranian problem by force could have unpredictable consequences, which could
threaten security in the entire region.

Unlike some other countries, members of the Shanghai Organization believe that
Iran fully realizes its responsibility as a member of the international
community and can be trusted. The summit praised the efforts of international
mediators to settle the Iranian problem through diplomacy.

Summit participants supported the proposal made by Russia’s President Vladimir
Putin to appoint Dmitry Medvedev as Secretary General of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization. Mr. Medvedev has headed the organization’s Business
Council for about 6 years.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-06/07/content_15484070.htm


Xinhau News Agency
June 7, 2012


Use of force to solve Iran issue unacceptable: SCO


BEIJING: Any attempts to resolve the Iranian issue by force are unacceptable,
said the heads of state of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) Thursday.

Such attempts will produce unpredictable and serious consequences threatening
stability and security of the region and even the world, said the leaders in the
Declaration on Building a Region with Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity.

The declaration was adopted at the end of the SCO Beijing summit on Thursday.

The SCO currently has six full members - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran is one of its observer states.

In the declaration, the SCO leaders express "deep concern over the developments
surrounding Iran" and "call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and
avoid remarks or actions which might further escalate confrontation."

"All countries should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as
well as the basic norms governing international relations," the SCO leaders
agreed, adding that they "stand for strict implementation of relevant UN
Security Council resolutions."

The member states support the P5+1 and Iran in opening sustainable dialogue
process and efforts to find a political and diplomatic solution to the Iranian
nuclear issue through dialogue and talks between relevant parties, says the
declaration.

The declaration also says that the member states expect Iran "to play an
important role in maintaining peace and prosperity" as a responsible member of
the international community.

Iran currently was in nuclear talks with the United States, Britain, France,
Russia and China plus Germany, known as P5+1.

The next round of talks between Iran and the six countries is scheduled to be
held in Moscow from June 18-19.
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/07/c_131638198.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 7, 2012



SCO calls for nuclear-weapon-free zone, space security


BEIJING: Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) called for
the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in central Asia in a declaration
released after the conclusion of the group's Beijing summit on Thursday.

The SCO calls on all nuclear weapon states to sign relevant protocols to the
Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia and take real steps to move
forward the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the region, according
to the declaration on Building a Region of Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity.

All member states stand for ensuring outer space security, the peaceful use of
outer space and the prevention of the weaponization of outer space, said the
declaration of the heads of state of the member states of the SCO.

Member states will work to build a peaceful, secure, fair and open information
space, on the basis of the principles of respect for state sovereignty and
non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, according to the
declaration.

The member states oppose using information and telecommunication technologies in
a way that "endangers their political, economic and social security" and will
work to prevent the Internet from being used to promote terrorism, extremism and
separatism, it said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/07/c_131638063.htm



Xinhua News Agency
June 7, 2012


Unrestrained increasing missile defense harms int'l security: SCO heads of state



BEIJING: The heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
uphold that the strengthening of missile defense by a country or group of
countries in a unilateral and unrestrained manner in disregard of the legitimate
interests of other countries will cause harm to international security and
global strategic stability.

The leaders expressed the agreement in a press communique released here Thursday
after the SCO summit in Beijing.

The communique said the relevant issue "must be addressed by all countries
concerned through political and diplomatic efforts."

The two-day summit groups Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Chinese
President Hu Jintao, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Tajikistan's President Emomalii Rahmon and Uzbekistan's
President Islam Karimov.
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======================================================================

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/stop-nato-digest-june-2-7/


Stop NATO Digest: June 2-7


SCO Wants Nuclear-Free Zone, Opposes Space Weapons, Missile Shield

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/sco-wants-nuclear-free-zone-opposes-s\
pace-weapons-missile-shield/


U.S. Seeks Militarization of Strategic Asian Waterways

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/u-s-seeks-militarization-of-strategic\
-asian-waterways/


With New Partners, SCO To Be Force For Security, Stability, Development

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/with-new-partners-sco-to-be-force-for\
-security-stability-development/


Report: U.S. To Regain Use of Philippine Air and Naval Bases

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/report-u-s-to-regain-use-of-philippin\
e-air-and-naval-bases/


Pentagon Chief Admits U.S. Is At War In Pakistan

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/pentagon-chief-admits-u-s-is-at-war-i\
n-pakistan/


SCO Opposes U.S.-NATO Missiles, Middle East Military Intervention

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/sco-opposes-u-s-nato-missiles-middle-\
east-military-intervention/


Clinton Pledges Increased Military Assistance To Georgia For New Conflicts

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/clinton-pledges-increased-military-as\
sistance-to-georgia-for-new-conflicts/


SCO Beijing Summit To Set Tone For Next Decade

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/sco-beijing-summit-to-set-tone-for-ne\
xt-decade/


NATO Air Strike Kills At Least 18 Afghan Civilians

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/nato-air-strike-kills-at-least-18-afg\
han-civilians/


U.S. Boosts Ties With Georgia As Syria And Iran Are Targeted

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/u-s-boosts-ties-with-georgia-as-syria\
-and-iran-are-targeted/


SCO Can Free Pakistan From West’s Stranglehold

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/sco-can-free-pakistan-from-wests-stra\
nglehold/


NATO: From the North Atlantic to the South Pacific

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/nato-from-the-north-atlantic-to-the-s\
outh-pacific/


Asia-Pacific: American Exceptionalism to the Rescue

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/asia-pacific-american-exceptionalism-\
to-the-rescue/


Reconstructing Regional Stability: Afghanistan and the SCO

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/reconstructing-regional-stability-afg\
hanistan-and-the-sco/


International Relations at Turning Point: Russia, China and Expansion of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/international-relations-at-turning-po\
int-russia-china-and-expansion-of-the-shanghai-cooperation-organization/


Pentagon Prepares for Confrontation in the Asia-Pacific

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/02/pentagon-prepares-for-confrontation-i\
n-the-asia-pacific/

====================================================================
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======================================================================

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/southeast-asia-u-s-revives-and-expand\
s-cold-war-military-alliances-against-china/


Stop NATO
June 8, 2012


Southeast Asia: U.S. Revives And Expands Cold War Military Alliances Against
China
Rick Rozoff


On May 30 the two officials most in charge of the U.S.'s formidible global
military machine, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, visited Pacific Command headquarters in
Hawaii to launch multi-nation tours of the Asia-Pacific region and formally
commence the announced shift of American military concentration and assets to
the area.

The two, General Dempsey by way of the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, arrived
in Singapore for the eleventh annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum, where
they met with their counterparts from 26 Asia-Pacific nations. Afterwards each
went his own way: Panetta to Vietnam and India, the most significant new U.S.
Asian military partners in the entire post-Cold War period, and Dempsey to the
Philippines and Thailand, two long-standing military allies.

While in Singapore, Panetta announced that Washington would increase the
percentage of U.S. naval forces in the Asia-Pacific - aircraft carriers,
cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships and submarines - from 50 to 60
percent and strengthen and expand military alliances with nations throughout the
region, especially those in Southeast Asia which are embroiled in territorial
disputes with China in the South China Sea. As General Dempsey put it following
the Shangri-La Dialogue, "This means that as the rebalance evolves, we'll make
available our most advanced ships, our fifth-generation aircraft and the very
best of our missile defense technology as we work with our partners.”

Defense Secretary Panetta stressed an intensification of military collaboration
with the six Asia-Pacific countries with which the U.S. has defense treaties
(signed during the height of the Cold War and at the time aimed against China) -
Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand - as
well as broadening and deepening existing partnerships with nations like
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Panetta additionally spoke of forging
military ties with Myanmar, which like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(along with Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam).

Dempsey pursued the same design with fellow military chiefs at the Shangri-La
conference.

After leaving Singapore, Panetta arrived at a U.S. ship docked in Vietnam's Cam
Ranh Bay, a year after the U.S. and Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding
to promote military cooperation in five areas and two years after the USS John
S. McCain guided missile destroyer visited Da Nang to engage in a joint exercise
in the South China Sea. He was the first major American official to visit the
former U.S. military base after the end of the Vietnam War.

Following Panetta's eight-day Asia-Pacific trip to, in the words of the Defense
Department's press service, "promote President Barack Obama's new 'pivot to
Asia' in foreign policy," the Pentagon's website reported his two main themes to
be that "Washington is putting a greater policy emphasis on Asia and the
Pacific, as opposed to Europe and the Middle East" and "the United States
intends to increase its military activities in that region, with more joint
exercises involving more countries, including Australia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand, and with more equipment, including at least 40 new
ships."

While the American defense chief was consolidating a strategically important
partnership with China's rival on the western shore of the South China Sea,
General Dempsey was on the eastern end, in the Philippines, doing the same with
the nation that is most directly at loggerheads with China in the sea at the
moment.

Two weeks after the USS Caroline nuclear attack submarine spent a week at the
former U.S. naval base in Subic Bay, Dempsey visited the headquarters of the
Special Operations Task Force Philippines in Mindanao where as many as 600
American service members are deployed for counterinsurgency operations. Later he
met with his Philippine counterpart General Jessie Dellosa in Manila.

During the American military chief's visit the nation's foreign secretary,
Albert del Rosario, announced that "We can anticipate a greater number of port
calls [by U.S. warships]” and asserted "the increased presence of the US is
consistent with its strategic guidance for the Asia-Pacific."

On June 5 the Philippine Star disclosed that "American troops, warships and
aircraft can once again use their former naval and air facilities in Subic,
Zambales and in Clark Field in Pampanga," citing Undersecretary for Defense
Affairs Honorio Azcueta after he had met with Dempsey. (The U.S. has supplied
the Philippines with two warships since last year. In November Philippine Navy
Chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama referred to the acquisitions as symbolizing
"the revival of the Philippine Navy.")

When asked by a reporter "if American troops as well as their warships and their
fighter planes will be allowed access to their former US Naval Base in Subic,"
Azcueta confirmed that they would, stating “That’s what we want...increases
in exercises and interoperability."

Like Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay, the Subic naval base and its airfield were used for
major operations during the Vietnam War.

As was the U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield 90 miles southeast of Bangkok. After
leaving the Philippines, General Dempsey visited Thailand where he met with the
country's defense minister, chief of defense forces and heads of the army, air
force and navy.

Among other matters dealt with, Dempsey secured the use of the U-Tapao base for
American operations, ostensibly solely humanitarian in nature but, as Xinhua
News Agency pointed out, "some skeptics are saying that the naval airfield would
eventually be used for military operations."

The base was used by the U.S. for its war in Vietnam and is currently employed
for joint U.S.-Thai Cobra Gold military exercises, the largest U.S.-led
multinational military drills in the Asia-Pacific region. This year's Cobra Gold
also included the participation of Indonesian, Japanese, Malaysian, Singaporean
and South Korean military forces.

The Pentagon's news agency paraphrased Dempsey as stating, "Geostrategic
location and global commitment, paired with a maturing military and a growing
economy, make longtime U.S. ally Thailand an attractive prospect for even
greater bilateral cooperation," and quoted him directly as saying "They’re in
an extraordinarily key location."

The news source described that strategic position as vital in that Thailand
borders Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar, "with Vietnam, India and China not
much further away" and has "an eastern coastline on the Gulf of Thailand -
opening into the South China Sea - and a west coast on the Andaman Sea, also
known as the Burma Sea."

Dempsey announced that the U.S. and Thai militaries "are examining concepts for
a center of excellence in Thailand devoted to humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief" which "may begin as a bilateral U.S.-Thai effort, or it could
involve additional nations from the beginning," according to the Pentagon's
website.

Panetta's overture to Myanmar has been mentioned. Discussing the increasingly
wider range of new military partnerships in Southeast Asia, particularly the
role of the U.S. in upgrading the militaries of its partners, the Pentagon chief
stated in Singapore on June 2, "We will encourage that kind of relationship with
every nation that we deal with in this region, including Myanmar."

Until the U.S. successfully courted it last year, Myanmar was one of China's few
dependable allies in Asia.

On June 2 Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen assured Defense Secretary
Panetta of his government's willingness to host four American littoral combat
ships as an obligation entailed by the Strategic Framework Agreement signed by
Washington and Singapore in 2005. The two defense chiefs also pledged to further
implement the agreement and increase the scope of joint military exercises; for
example, adding a naval to the existing air force component of annual Commando
Sling exercises.

Panetta and his counterpart also discussed using the Murai Urban Training
Facility for bilateral exercises involving U.S. Marines and the Singaporean
armed forces beginning next year.

Regarding the rotation of U.S. warships to Singapore, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
head Dempsey said that "The littoral combat ships that will soon begin
rotational deployment to Singapore are an example of the increased military
engagement called for under the U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy."

The Asian nation rests on the southeastern end of the Strait of Malacca that
connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and through which oil flows
from the Persian Gulf to the oil-hungry East Asian economies of China, South
Korea and Japan.

By forming military partnerships with the ten members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations the U.S. is building the foundation for an Asian
analogue of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As the first has been
expanded to enclose, contain and ultimately confront Russia, so the new alliance
is intended to achieve the same objective in regard to China.

====================================================================
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-06/07/c_131638362.htm


Xinhua News Agency
June 8, 2012


Commentary: SCO says "no" to interventionism


====

The SCO summit marks the first time for the leaders of all SCO member states to
stand together and speak with one voice on major international issues. With its
growing economic power and unambiguous position, the multinational bloc will
definitely become a key force for peace in the world.

====



BEIJING: When the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member
states concluded their latest summit on Thursday, they unanimously rejected
military intervention as a way to resolve international hotspot issues.

According to a statement that came after the summit, all SCO member countries
oppose military intervention in Syria and reject the idea of a regime change in
the country.

The leaders also rejected the idea of using military means to solve the Iranian
nuclear dispute, instead choosing to support dialogue and other diplomatic
methods.

These heads of state have ample ground to make an appeal for peace and stability
and to support their request for the peaceful settlement of these problems.

Across the world, from the Middle East to north Africa, deadly conflicts and
terrorist attacks are still resulting in innocent deaths, as many countries in
these regions sunk into chaos last year.

Being fully aware that their own countries' security and stability are closely
associated with that of these troubled regions, the SCO leaders decided that
peace can only be created through peaceful means.

It is a common experience in human history, both recent or remote, that meeting
violence with violence can only beget more loss of life and spark hard-to-heal
hatred.

More than a year has passed since NATO air forces began to drop bombs on Libya
in order to drive its previous government out of power, but the country is still
in chaos.

Additionally, over ten years have passed since the United States and its
coalition partners ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, a country that
shares borders with a number of SCO countries.

Yet as Washington drafts its plan for withdrawal, it seems that few people are
optimistic about Afghanistan's ability to stand on its own after taking its weak
security forces and frequent suicide bombings into account.

Therefore, the time has come to say "no" to military intervention, as the
painful experiences of the past should not be allowed to repeat themselves.

The SCO summit marks the first time for the leaders of all SCO member states to
stand together and speak with one voice on major international issues. With its
growing economic power and unambiguous position, the multinational bloc will
definitely become a key force for peace in the world.
====================================================================
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http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_09/77630671/


Voice of Russia
June 9, 2012


Rebel groups in Syria backed by NATO?
John Robles


Interview with Rick Rozoff, the manager and the owner of the STOP NATO website
and mailing list, and a regular contributor to the Voice of Russia.


Recorded on June 1, 2012
Audio at URL above


Correction: For Operation Phoenix read Operation Cyclone


What correlations do you see between the situation going on in Syria and Kosovo?
What do you know about rebel groups in Syria being funded and backed by NATO?

I mean, we all have heard, and it’s a matter of substantiating it, but I think
we have enough proof already to establish the fact that...The parallel you
Kosovo you draw is remarkable given what occurred early yesterday, where NATO
troops and armored personnel carriers - vehicles - faced off against ethnic
protesters in the north of Kosovo, firing live ammunition at them as well as
deploying helicopters, gunships and so forth and what is currently going on in
Syria.

As a matter of fact, the parallels are so striking at times as to suggest that
the Western governments, those backing the so-called Free Syrian Army armed
rebel forces inside Syria are playing from the same script as they did in
Yugoslavia 13 years ago in support of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army
there.

And there are direct connections between the two of them. For example, last
month, a self-proclaimed rebel leader or opposition leader, Syrian-born, one
Ammar Abdulhamid, who has been living in Washington and was a former visiting
fellow, visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution until recently, came to
the United States as head of a delegation of opposition figures from Syria to
visit with U.S. officials, government officials. And immediately afterwards he
flew into Pristine, the capital of Kosovo, to meet with leaders of the
government, who are former KLA fighters, such as Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and
others, and quite bluntly told Associated Press in May that he was studying the
Kosovo example to be replicated in Syria, even stating that he was particularly
impressed with how the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army was able to integrate
various armed groups - for which we can understand in many instances nothing
more than criminal underworld
  militias - into a fighting force, which was then coordinated with the United
States and NATO during the bombing war against Yugoslavia in 1999.

So we have a direct connection there. And we can also base what’s going on in
Syria with reports that fighters in Libya have joined rebel groups inside Syria,
so that we have an international network of extremist fighters that first earned
their stripes, if you will, in Afghanistan during the CIA Operation Cyclone
against the government of Afghanistan and their Soviet backers in the 1980s.

And I am thinking particularly of the commander of the Libyan rebel forces last
year, Abdelhakim Belhadj, who had fought in Afghanistan with the Afghan
mujahideen, who was rumored to have met with and collaborated with Mullah Omar
of al-Qaeda, was subsequently interned as part of the extraordinary rendition
program by the United States and returned to Libya, where he was a head of
something called the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and then became the leader,
became the top commander, of the Libyan rebels last year. And that forces loyal
to him that had fought under his command are now in Syria is I think is a
distinct possibility. So, we see the connections emerging, really of 30 years of
the United States...

So, you are saying he was recruited and now his people are in Syria doing the
U.S. government’s bidding?

There have been reports for several months that Libyan fighters, those who
fought on behalf of the Transitional National Council and in coordination with
both the NATO bombing campaign against Libya for six months last year but also
with reports of British, French, Italian and other special operations troops as
well as those from Arab Gulf states like Qatar and United Arab Emirates fighting
in Libya, this would seem to be a model that can be exported to other countries
and there have certainly been reports that Libyan and other foreign fighters
have crossed the borders from Iraq and Lebanon into Syria to fight with the
so-called Free Syrian Army.

Now with this massacre in Houla, the UN’s own observer said it was not the
fault of Syrian forces. Despite that Hillary Clinton has been making comments
and it seems like the U.S. in continuing with their own narrative.

I mean you're correct that the West, the U.S. in the first instance, and its
Western European allies as well as Australia and Japan, which for all intents
and purposes are a part of the West, have withdrawn their ambassadors or have
expelled, rather, the Syrian ambassadors from their capitals.

And this is a concentrated effort to present the tragedy in Houla - and it is a
tragedy that over 100 human lives were lost - as not only the work of the Syrian
government, exclusively the work of the Syrian government, whereas Russia,
China, Cuba and other countries have urged a methodical, dispassionate
investigation into the events, as terrible as they are, to determine the actual
cause and the actual perpetrators. So, nobody has a definitive answer to what
occurred in Houla and until there is one...This is again evocative of what the
U.S. did with Yugoslavia in January of 1999 around the so-called Racak massacre
in Kosovo where the bodies of several dozen young ethnic Albanian men were
identified as having been massacred by Serbian and Yugoslav security forces even
though there are contradictory reports and the Serbian government’s position
was these were KLA fighters who had been killed in action.

And the Russian Foreign Ministry a few weeks ago, perhaps less than that, maybe
two and a half weeks ago, when the report surfaced of the Syrian delegation
going to Kosovo that we spoke about a moment ago, denounced that, saying that in
fact what the delegation was going there for was to study the example or receive
actual military training for their fighters inside Kosovo with even the
observation that some of the topographical similarities between the two
countries would make Kosovo an ideal place to study the sort of guerrilla
warfare that the KLA conducted in conjunction with NATO during the bombing of
Yugoslavia 13 years ago.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that the Houla
massacre would not have been possible if the perpetrators had not received arms
and funding from abroad, meaning from the West.

That's self-evident. We know the Free Syrian Army, so-called, is harbored, is
not only given refuge but presumably training and arms inside Turkey. A report
of several months ago in the Daily Telegraph of Britain cited a member of the
Syrian opposition boasting of having 15,000 fighters inside Turkey, which is a
breach of interstate relations.
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http://www.rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-opposition-military-476/


RT
June 9, 2012


Annan plan stalled because of those who support intervention, but plan ‘only
chance for peace’ - Russian FM


====

Lavrov has voiced concern about “the reaction on the part of some foreign
players”, who, he said, “support armed groups of the opposition and at the
same time demand that the international community take decisive steps to change
the regime in Syria.”

The minister said that “in order to justify a foreign intervention they keep
talking about the refugees from Syria. However, nobody talks about refugees
inside Syria itself.”

“This is similar to the former Yugoslavia. Does anybody think about the
refugees from Serbia and Slovenia?” he enquired.

“According to some estimates, there are about a million refugees from Iraq and
half a million Palestinians in Syria, and I don’t think people talk much about
that,” Lavrov said.

====



External players provoke the opposition in Syria to continue military action;
this may lead to a Libyan scenario, the Russian Foreign Minister warned.

The main reason the Annan peace plan is stalling is because those who support
external intervention in Syria impede its implementation, said Sergey Lavrov.

Lavrov said the main reason why the Kofi Annan plan is not making progress is
that certain parties “don’t like” the idea of the stabilization it would
bring “during the initial period. They want the international community to be
filled with indignation and start a full-blown intervention in Syria,” he
said.

Lavrov has voiced concern about “the reaction on the part of some foreign
players”, who, he said, “support armed groups of the opposition and at the
same time demand that the international community take decisive steps to change
the regime in Syria.”

He reiterated Russia’s position that it will “never agree to sanction the
use of force in the UN Security Council”. He said that this would lead “to
severe consequences for the entire Middle East region”.

Referring to the UN commissioner, Lavrov then gave some statistics, saying that
the number of refugees from Syria currently stands at around 80,000. He stressed
that these people all need support.

The minister said that “in order to justify a foreign intervention they keep
talking about the refugees from Syria. However, nobody talks about refugees
inside Syria itself.”

“This is similar to the former Yugoslavia. Does anybody think about the
refugees from Serbia and Slovenia?” he enquired.

The community, he stressed, should think more helping refugees. “According to
some estimates, there are about a million refugees from Iraq and half a million
Palestinians in Syria, and I don’t think people talk much about that,”
Lavrov said.

Lavrov said the Syrian government is responsible for people’s security and
human rights, as well as for everything that is going on in the country.

Nevertheless, tragedies like Houla and the other numerous violent acts are a
result of confrontation, which is increasingly actively supported by external
forces. He also expressed concern over Russian experts coming under fire in
Damascus on Saturday.

The Foreign Minister also touched on media coverage of the events in Syria,
saying that “blocking Syrian government and private channels from
broadcasting” does not “square well with freedom of speech.” He recalled
the airstrikes on TV centers in Serbia’s Belgrade and Libya’s Tripoli. “We
should all be on the same page regarding freedom of speech and how it should be
respected by the international community to ensure access to information – no
matter what kind of information it is,” Lavrov said.

Conference in Moscow to help implement Annan's plan

Moscow has proposed an international conference on the Syrian crisis with all
key international players taking part.

Russia has expressed hope that all the parties that can influence the issue will
take part, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following a UN session where the
Secretary General announced that Syrian president Bashar al Assad had lost his
legitimacy.

“The conference should come under the UN umbrella,” said Lavrov, adding that
the global discussion would not be a one-off event.

With some western countries calling to ban Iran from the international
conference on Syria, Lavrov said to dismiss Tehran “would be thoughtless at
the very least”.

Russia is seriously concerned about the increasing activity of international
terrorists and extremist elements, Lavrov said.

The FM listed Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, the
League of Arab States, the EU and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation among
the “integral parts” to the process.

Also on Thursday Lavrov told journalists he guarantees that “there’ll be no
mandate by the UN Security Council for a foreign intervention.”

The Russian Foreign Minister is currently speaking on Syria. More details are to
follow.
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http://rt.com/politics/russia-us-missile-defense-shield-486/


RT
June 9, 2012



US missile shield may provide ‘false sense of security’
Robert Bridge



====

"The European missile defense system is certainly designed not to defend from a
mythical missile threat on the part of Iran and North Korea, but from what
Western politicians believe could be a possible attack by Russian ballistic
missiles. Any NATO military plans classify the Russian nuclear missile potential
as posing a threat to the alliance, which envisions certain measures to
neutralize (Russia’s nuclear defense forces)."

====


The deployment of a global missile defense system by the United States and NATO
undermines strategic stability in the world and prompts Moscow to take
appropriate steps in response, says a leading Russian engineer.
Yury Zaitsev, an advisor at the Academy of Engineering Sciences, told reporters
on Saturday that as long as the Americans continue to pursue a global missile
defense system, the idea of strategic stability does not exist.

"While the US is planning to set up a missile defense system without any
limitations, you can forget about strategic stability forever," Zaitsev said.
"Russia is going to find itself surrounded by a belt of NATO interceptor
missiles along its western borders.”

In light of these developments, the specialist said that Russia’s plans to
deploy tactical missile systems near the NATO borders are “absolutely
justified."

"The same thing concerns the creation of other forces and systems capable of
destroying or disabling missile defense systems on the territories of
neighboring states," he added.

NATO announced at its Chicago summit in May that an interim European missile
defense system is already on line, and that the alliance is determined to
proceed with its expansion until it fully realizes the system's potential.

Meanwhile, at the same time that US and NATO officials declare that the missile
defense system is not targeted against Russia, their actual steps are proving
the opposite, Zaitsev said.

"The European missile defense system is certainly designed not to defend from a
mythical missile threat on the part of Iran and North Korea, but from what
Western politicians believe could be a possible attack by Russian ballistic
missiles," he said. "Any NATO military plans classify the Russian nuclear
missile potential as posing a threat to the alliance, which envisions certain
measures to neutralize (Russia’s nuclear defense forces)."

The Russian specialist said that it is possible that the missile defense system
may give some politicians a false sense of security, possibly resulting in
potential adversaries “dictating their terms” to Russia.

"No one can guarantee that there will not be politicians with the illusion of a
reliable missile shield over their heads and, being sure of their security,
wanting to dictate their terms to Russia," Zaitsev said.
In such a situation, it makes no sense to demand legal guarantees that the
system will not be targeted against Russia, he stressed.

"Even if such guarantees are issued, they will only serve to lull Moscow, and
then they will retract these guarantees just as easily,” Zaitsev said.

“Suffice it to recall how prominent Western politicians swore that, following
Germany's reunification, NATO would not move eastward even by an inch."

America’s determination to build a missile defense system in former Warsaw
Pact territory represents the main stumbling block in relations between Russia
and the US, Zaitsev explained.

He insisted that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which former US
President George W. Bush walked away from in late 2001, maintained strategic
global stability precisely because it limited the deployment and modernization
of missile defense systems. At the same time, the treaty provided opportunities
to negotiate the reduction of strategic offensive weapons.
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