Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

UK Progressive Magazine
By sherwood Ross
December 3, 2011

Forecasting a future of robotic warfare in which perverted science is put at the service of its Empire, the U.S. has built 60 bases around the world for its unmanned, remotely controlled killer drone warplanes. And more bases are under construction.

“Run by the military, the Central Intelligence Agency, and their proxies, these bases…are the backbone of a new robotic way of war,” writes Nick Turse, an investigative journalist for AlterNet and TomDispatch.

The bases “are also the latest development in a long-evolving saga of American power projection abroad—in this case, remote-controlled strikes anywhere on the planet with a minimal foreign ‘footprint’ and little accountability,” Turse points out.

He notes that there may be even more than 60 bases since the Pentagon has dropped a “cloak of secrecy” over its operations. With the recent murder of American citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen, the drones are now assassinating suspects in no fewer than six countries, Turse says.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post also reports the Obama Pentagon is building a constellation of secret drone bases in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen.

A number of the drone bases are located in the U.S., centered at Creech Air Force base outside Las Vegas, Nev., where “pilots” seated in front of computer screens can direct the unmanned drones and command them to launch a Hellfire missile on a suspect in Afghanistan, 7,500 miles away. …

Read on: www.ukprogressive.co.uk/us-expanding-drone-bases-to-assassinate-%E2%80%9Csuspects%E2%80%9D/article16087.html

France 24 (AFP)
December 2, 2011

The United States on Friday handed over to Iraqi control the sprawling Victory Base Complex near Baghdad, the main base from which the US war in Iraq was run, a US military spokesman said.

“The Victory Base Complex (VBC) was officially signed over to the receivership of the Iraqi government this morning. The base is no longer under US control and is now under the full authority of the government of Iraq,” said Colonel Barry Johnson, a spokesman for United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I).

“There was no ceremony, just a signing of paperwork akin to the closing of a home sale,” Johnson said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Lieutenant Colonel Angela Funaro, a spokeswoman for USF-I, said that US troops had pulled out in advance and that just five US bases in Iraq now remain to be handed over.

“All US troops departed as of last night,” she said. “The air base which adjoined VBC has transferred to the control of the State Department, but has some troops there.”

At its peak, the Victory base housed more than 100,000 people — some 42,000 military personnel and more than 65,000 contractors…

Read on: http://www.france24.com/en/20111202-us-hands-massive-base-over-iraqi-control

Defense Systems
November 28, 2011

The United States military has built and tested a directed-energy weapon designed to disrupt enemy electrical systems, reports Aviation Week.

Although little has been publicly revealed about the project of the Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing at this stage, military and industry officials familiar with the Counter-electronics High-power Microwave Advanced Missile Project have said the directed-energy missile payload is designed for integration into land, sea and other air-based platforms for operational flexibility.

Concerning the warhead’s anti-electronics payload, “the whole radio frequency spectrum is viable as a target,” said Keith Coleman, Boeing’s program manager for the project.

http://defensesystems.com/articles/2011/11/28/agg-electronic-warfare-missile.aspx

Global Security Newswire
November 28, 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday claimed that the United States was largely alone driving the fielding of antimissile systems around Europe, Reuters reported.

“The construction of the European missile defense shield has been largely imposed (on Europe) by the United States,” Medvedev said to journalists.

Washington and NATO have sought for the last year to persuade Moscow to join their developing Europe-based missile shield. The sides remain at odds over the organization of such a cooperative system and on Russia’s demand for a legally binding pledge that its nuclear forces would not be targeted by the NATO elements.

Medvedev said on Wednesday that if the issue remains unresolved, Russia would field Iskander missiles and a new long-range radar system in the Kaliningrad region to nullify the advantages of the planned NATO missile shield. He also threatened to withdraw from the U.S.-Russian New START nuclear arms control agreement.

The Russian president said unidentified European leaders had griped to him that their countries were regulated to secondary status in efforts to establish the NATO antimissile system.

“My partners … have hinted to me from time to time: ‘It is the Americans who decided that, they are promoting it, and our role as NATO member states is to provide territory,'” Medvedev said. …

Read on: http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20111128_7861.php

VP Biden: US troop departure marks new beginning with Iraq, Sadrists protest his presence

The Washington Post
November 29, 2011

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that his trip to Baghdad ahead of the U.S. military pullout marks a new beginning between Iraq and the United States, but protests in Iraq against his visit demonstrated the difficulties the relationship will face.

Biden arrived Tuesday in a surprise visit to Iraq at a pivotal time as the last of the American troops withdraw, and the U.S. must establish a new relationship with a country that is home to billions of barrels of oil and more closely aligned with neighboring Iran than the U.S. would like.

In comments surrounding his meetings with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Biden stressed that the U.S. and Iraq will continue to have a relationship long after the American troops have left the country.

“Our troops are leaving Iraq, and we are working on a new path together, a new face of this partnership,” he added. “This is marking a new beginning of the relationship that will not only benefit the United States of America and Iraq. I believe it will benefit the region and will benefit the world.”

Biden said that people in both countries have had to overcome misperceptions about the relationship. He said people in the U.S. still ask whether it is worth it to spend so much energy and money in Iraq, a country where 4,485 American military personnel have died and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. …

Read on: www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/vice-president-joe-biden-arrives-in-iraq-for-talks-as-us-military-presence-winds-down/2011/11/29/gIQAtRar8N_story.html

Agence France-Presse
November 29, 2011

US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit on Tuesday, during which he is due to meet top Iraqi officials, as American troops depart Iraq ahead of a year-end deadline. …

Biden’s visit comes after a bloody seven days for Iraq, during which at least 61 people were killed in a wave of attacks.

The White House said that while in Iraq, “the vice president will co-chair a meeting of the US-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee. He will also meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, (and) Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi.”

“We are deepening our cooperation on politics and diplomacy; trade and finance; energy; services, technology, the environment, and transportation; law enforcement and the judiciary; and defence and security,” the White House said in a statement. …

Obama on October 21 announced that US troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war that has left thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

About 13,800 US soldiers are still in the country, and seven US bases remain to be handed over, according to USF-I spokesman Major General Jeffrey Buchanan.

In full: www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/29/u-s-vice-president-visits-iraq-as-troops-depart/

The Guardian
By Rob Edwards
November 27, 2011

The Ministry of Defence is spending £2bn on new nuclear weapons plants before a formal decision has been taken over whether to replace Trident warheads, according to ministers.

The revelation has prompted fierce attacks on the MoD for making “a complete mockery” of the democratic process by pre-empting a decision and so attempting to force the hands of future governments.

The ministry says the investment helps to ensure the safety of the existing Trident warheads, but accepts that the money also maintains the capability to design a new warhead “should that be required”.

Details of the MoD’s investments have been unveiled for the first time. They include a £734m facility called Mensa for dismantling and assembling of warheads, a risky but essential maintenance process; a £634m highly enriched uranium plant called Pegasus; and a £231m high explosives factory called Circinus.

The plants are being built at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire. Other facilities with similarly stellar names but smaller bills – Orion, Gemini, and Leo – are also being built as part of the AWE development plan covering 2005 to 2015. The costs of two more – Octans and Orchard – are being kept secret for commercial reasons. …

Read on: www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/27/mod-trident-nuclear-weapons-spending

The Huffington Post
By Sebastian Abbot, (AP)

The Pakistani government has demanded the U.S. vacate an air base within 15 days that the CIA is suspected of using for unmanned drones.

The government issued the demand Saturday after NATO helicopters and jet fighters allegedly attacked two Pakistan army posts along the Afghan border, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. …

Read on: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/26/pakistan-drone-base_n_1114177.html

Russia Today

Missile defense: no border breaking

The military measures outlined by President Dmitry Medvedev in response to America’s controversial missile defense system in Europe will be taken within Russia’s borders, according to senior Russian MP Konstantin Kosachev.

­“All the announced measures are being and will be taken by the Russian Federation within its national borders,” he said, adding that it is Russia’s sovereign right. “Unlike the USA and its NATO allies, we are not going beyond these bounds,” Kosachev, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, told a media conference.

The foreign policy architect added that the actions listed by Medvedev, including Russia’s possible withdrawal from the New START treaty, do not violate the country’s international obligations. He pointed out that the document provides for such a withdrawal and the president had “only reminded about this possibility” and noted that Russia may use it under certain circumstances.

According to Kosachev, the president’s statement amounts to a coercive measure. However, he emphasized that to the last, Moscow had tried to avoid a situation where such measures were necessary. Russia urged its American partners to find a compromise on missile defense “when we still had an opportunity to come to an agreement in the sphere of strategic stability.” The Russian side had put forward quite a few options, but Washington declined them all. …

Read on: http://rt.com/politics/kosachev-missile-defense-us-137/

Xinhua
November 24, 2011

Pakistan has decided to take up the issue of strikes by the CIA-run unmanned aircraft in the country’s tribal regions, which the government, rights groups and tribesmen said killed innocent people, reported local TV channel Dawn on Thursday.

The U.S. drones routinely fire missiles into Pakistani tribal regions which the American officials have claimed to be bases for the militants who launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.

Pakistan repeatedly asks the Unites States to stop drone strikes but Americans have ruled out any change in the policy. The issue of drone attacks is one of the irritants in the bilateral relationship.

After the U.S. refusal to halt the strikes, Pakistan has decided to approach the UN to seek its help to stop these attacks, which Pakistan insists is counter-productive in the war on terror.

Dawn reported Pakistani government has started collecting data about the U.S. drone attacks and casualties.

The government has directed the administrative officials in the tribal regions to provide details about the strikes to vigorously pursue the case.

Pakistan is discussing its new strategy to be adopted in the UN, the report said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/24/c_122332575.htm