Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

Stop NATO
March 6, 2010
By Rick Rozoff

Along with plans to base anti-ballistic missile facilities in Poland near Russia’s border (a 35 mile distance) and in Bulgaria and Romania across the Black Sea from Russia, Washington and the self-styled global military bloc it leads, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have arranged a series of military exercises on and near Russia’s borders this year.

While the White House, Pentagon and State Department pro forma identify al-Qaeda, Taliban, Iran, North Korea, climate change, cyber attacks and a host of other threats as those the U.S. is girding itself to combat, Washington is demonstrating its true strategic objectives by deploying interceptor missiles and staging war games along Russia’s western and southern borders. …

The NATO war games included troops from 15 nations, among them – in addition to the U.S. – Britain, Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Austria, Finland and Sweden are Partnership for Peace affiliates of the North Atlantic military bloc. …

American author Edward Herman recently presented a similar perspective in pointing out that since the end of the Cold War “Across the globe…U.S. military bases are expanding, not contracting. The encirclement of Russia and steady stream of war games and exercises in the Baltic, Caspian, Mediterranean and Western Pacific areas continue, the closer engagement with Georgia and effort to bring it into NATO moves ahead, as do plans for the placement of missiles along Russia’s borders and beyond.” …

American and other NATO member states’ troops, warplanes and warships are visiting Russia’s neighborhood more frequently and approaching its borders more precariously. Over the past five years the Pentagon and NATO have secured permanent air, naval and training bases in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania and interceptor missile sites in the first three nations. …

As Indian journalist M K Bhadrakumar remarked, NATO’s post-Cold War drive to the east began in the Balkans and has proceeded inexorably to the Black Sea, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Afghanistan. It has also turned the Baltic Sea into a U.S. and Alliance lake, with Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden within the Western military phalanx – all have troops in Afghanistan under NATO command, for example – and Russia left alone in the region.

That trajectory – from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, the Caucasus and Central Asia – places U.S. and NATO military presence along a substantial portion of the land borders of European Russia.

http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/

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Faxts.com
March 4, 2010

So far this year the United States has succeeded in inflaming tensions with China and indefinitely holding up a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia through its relentless pursuit of global interceptor missile deployments.

On January 29 the White House confirmed the completion of a nearly $6.5 billion weapons transfer to Taiwan which includes 200 advanced Patriot anti-ballistic missiles. Earlier in the same month it was reported that Washington is also to provide Taiwan with eight frigates which Taipei intends to upgrade with the Aegis Combat System that includes the capacity for ship-based Standard Missile-3 interceptors. …

If the proposed placement of U.S. missile shield components in Poland, the Czech Republic, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Alaska and elsewhere were explained by alleged missile threats emanating from Iran and North Korea, the transfer of U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles to Taiwan – and, as was revealed in January, 35 miles from Russian territory in Poland – represents the crossing of a new threshold. The Patriots in Taiwan and Poland and the land- and sea-based missiles that will follow them are intended not against putative “rogue states” but against two major nuclear powers, China and Russia. …

In fact the current U.S. administration has by no means abandoned plans to surround Russia as well as China with a ring of interceptor missile installations and naval deployments. …

…the ring encircling China can also be expanded at any time in other directions….Washington is hoping to sell India and other Southeast Asian countries the Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 missile defense system. …

Airborne laser anti-missile weapons will join the full spectrum of land, sea, air and space interceptor missile components to envelope the world with a system to neutralize other nations’ deterrence capacity and prepare the way for conventional and nuclear first strikes.

www.faxts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=436:us-tightens-missile-shield-encirclement-of-china-and-russia&catid=72:politics

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New York Times (Associated Press)
February 26, 2010

Russia has serious concerns about U.S. plans to deploy missile interceptors in Romania, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The statement from ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko reflected Moscow’s irritation about the U.S. missile defense plans and signaled tensions in relations with Washington.

Nesterenko said that Russia has been annoyed to learn about the move from the media.

”We are worried that we find out about important decisions regarding the U.S. missile defense in Europe from the media rather than our official counterparts in Washington or Bucharest,” Nesterenko told a briefing. …

… other Russian officials, including the nation’s top military officer, recently said the U.S. missile defense plans threaten Russia and have slowed down negotiations on a successor deal to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Russia and the U.S. had hoped to reach agreement before START expired on Dec. 5, but differences persisted. Still, Sergei Prikhodko, President Dmitry Medvedev’s foreign policy adviser, said Friday that the Kremlin believes the treaty could be signed in March or April, Russian news agencies reported.

www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/26/world/AP-EU-Russia-US-Missile-Defense.html

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ITAR-TASS
February 2, 2010

The United States seeks to interact with Russia in the missile defence sphere, it is said in the US Ballistic Missile Defence Review (BMDR) released Monday. Such a document has been prepared by the Pentagon for the first time.

The review says that the US administration seeks to interact with Russia in the ballistic missile defence sphere. Together with Russia it is working on a wide agenda focused on the mutual early warning about missile launches, possible technical and operational cooperation.

It is admitted in the review that as of today only Russia and China have the potential for launching a large-scale attack on the US territory with the use of ballistic missiles. However, according to American specialists, such a scenario is very low probable and is not in the focus of the US missile defence plans.

Regarding Russia as an important partner, the document stresses further, the Barack Obama administration is working on the agenda aimed at bringing the two countries’ strategic military doctrines in line with the relations formed between them after the end of the Cold War. It is explained in the document that the United States and Russia are not enemies any longer and that there is no serious threat of war between them. …

Key areas of focus for the BMDR include:

Implementing a phased, adaptive approach for missile defence in Europe, as outlined in the Fact Sheet on US Missile Defence Policy: A “Phased, Adaptive Approach” for Missile Defence in Europe; Providing effective regional missile defences for US forces and allies against short-, medium-, intermediate-range missiles; Providing effective defence of the United States against longer-range missiles; Balancing ballistic missile defence capabilities and investments, accounting for near and long-term threats to the US, allies, and deployed forces; Determining requirements for ballistic missile defence capabilities, as well as the execution and oversight of the US ballistic missile defence program; and The objectives, requirements, and standards for ballistic missile defence program testing and evaluation …

www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=14779096&PageNum=0

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NTI: Global Security Newswire
January 26, 2010

Russia remains reluctant to partner with the United States on missile defense, Interfax reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 22).

“As far as missile defense issues are concerned, we have told the U.S. and NATO that it is necessary to start everything from scratch — to jointly analyze the origin and types of missile proliferation risks and threats,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

“We are not ready to simply trust someone else’s analysis and proposals to counter such threats on the basis of this analysis,” Lavrov said. “But they have simply told us: these are the systems we plan to develop, and you will have to contribute your radars. This is not the kind of approach we are ready to support.”

Both the Bush and Obama administrations have tried to involve Moscow in efforts to prepare a European missile shield that would largely be aimed to countering Iranian weapons. The Kremlin loudly objected to the Bush administration plan — which involved fielding 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic — and has appeared to question a revamped initiative that would use land- and sea-based versions of the Standard Missile 3 system.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have requested a shared assessment of missile proliferation threats, Lavrov noted.

“We are ready for this work. But the result of this joint analysis is unclear to me,” he said. “We will have to take a look at the situation surrounding all missile proliferation risks, not only those posed by Iran” (Interfax/Kiev Post, Jan. 22).

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China Daily
January 21, 2010

The United States and Russia are currently in discussion over the issue of global missile defense, said U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle here on Wednesday.

Beyrle told the Ekho Moskvy radio station that Washington and Moscow were discussing the possibility to involve Russia into a system of global missile defense, on which two rounds of negotiations have been held between experts from the two countries.

The diplomat also said the two sides are discussing measures to develop cooperation in this field, adding that their talks on strategic arms reduction were to conclude in the very near future.

In a late December visit to Russia’s Far East, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia must develop offensive weapons systems to counter the U.S. missile shield plans.

Putin said Russia would provide more information about its offensive weapons in exchange for more information on the U.S. missile defense systems, and would link such a demand with the new nuclear arms control treaty.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on September 17, 2009 to abandon the Bush-era missile defense shield program while initiating a “phased, adaptive approach” of the plan in Eastern Europe.

The Bush administration planned to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of its European missile shield to protect its European allies from missile threats from the so-called “rogue states.”

Russia strongly opposed the measure, saying it poses threat to its security.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Obama’s announcement by officially declaring to scrap plans to install short-range Iskander missiles in its western Kaliningrad enclave.

However, Moscow’s urge for Washington to further expound the new approach merely received lukewarm response.

NATO, Russian chiefs of staff to meet next week

NATO and Russian chiefs of staff will meet in Brussels on January 26 for the first time since the outbreak of war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, a spokesman for the NATO military committee said on Wednesday.

Colonel Massimo Panizzi told a press briefing that the Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, General Nikolai Makarov, was expected to attend the meeting with NATO military committee, which brings chiefs of staff from the 28 NATO nations.

“It will be the first time that the Russian chief of staff has taken part in such a meeting since the Georgian affair,” he said.

The two sides will discuss about furthering military cooperation, including Russia’s possible contribution to the NATO-led military efforts in Afghanistan and fight against terrorism, he said.

“Afghanistan will be one of the most important items on the agenda, given that these discussions will take place on the eve of the international conference on the country organized in London,” he said.

The relations between NATO and Russia were frozen after the August 2008 war. Though Georgia remains a source of tension, the relations between the two sides have improved in recent months.

In December 2009, NATO and Russian foreign ministers met in Brussels and agreed on enhancing military cooperation.

www.chinadaily.com.cn/2010-01/21/content_9351861.htm

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China View – Xinhua
January 17, 2010

Russia should firmly defend its security interests in talks with the United States over a new nuclear arsenal cut deal, Russian parliamentary leaders said Saturday.

“Our interests of national security must be our primary goal in signing the new treaty,” said Sergei Mironov, Federation Council Speaker and leader of the Fair Russia party, in a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev at Zavidovo of Tver region.

The new document to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty(START-1) that expired on Dec. 5, 2009, said Mironov, should be signed on an equal basis.

When Moscow engaged in negotiations with Washington over specific issues such as number of nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles, he said, no compromise shall be made at the cost of national interests.

Russia and the U.S. “must undoubtedly have equal rights and duties under the new treaty,” which first and foremost applies to mutual inspections, said Boris Gryzlov, Russian State Duma Speaker, as cited by the Interfax news agency.

He also voiced support on the linkage between the issues of strategic weapons cut and missile defense, while downplaying U.S. edge on the missile defense.

Equal reductions of warheads would be detrimental to Russia and lead to Moscow’s “geographical lose-out,” said Liberal Democratic leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, as Russia is surrounded by multiple U.S. missile bases.

Zhirinovsky insisted Russia must not slash its deployment of multiple independent reentry vehicles, and ensure equal rights on mutual inspections.

The strategic arms reduction shall not pose threat to Russia’s basis security, said Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.

If Russia cannot retain its current nuclear power, he said, its security will be intimidated and it will not become U.S. equal.

“There can be no parity with the Americans anyway because they have 30-fold superiority over us in terms of conventional armaments. We can’t make a minimum concession,” he said.

Insisting Russia and the United States ratify the new START treaty simultaneously, Medvedev also stressed its significance to Russia.

“This is a foreign policy issue, but it is of extreme importance and will, in the final analysis, determine the face of Russia for years to come,” he said.

Moscow and Washington have exerted intense efforts trying to clinch a deal on the new START treaty.

The talks are expected to resume in the second half of this month, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier.

The START-1, signed in 1991 between the then Soviet Union and the United States, obliged both sides to reduce the number of their nuclear warheads to 6,000 and delivery vehicles to 1,600.

The new treaty’s outline agreed by the two presidents at a July summit in Moscow included slashing nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/17/content_12822678.htm

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BBC News
December 29, 2009

US plans for a missile defence shield are holding up a new nuclear disarmament treaty, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.

Russia and the US are yet to find a successor to the Cold War-era Start I treaty, which expired on 5 December.

Analysts say Moscow wants a clause in the new treaty that would limit the scale of any US defence shield.

The US has shelved plans for missile defence stations in Central Europe, but intends to use a sea-based system.

Asked by a reporter what was the biggest problem blocking a new treaty, Mr Putin said: “What is the problem? The problem is that our American partners are building an anti-missile shield and we are not building one.”

“By building such an umbrella over themselves, our [US] partners could feel themselves fully secure and will do whatever they want, which upsets the balance,” the Russian premier added.

He said that “to preserve the balance, we must develop offensive weapons systems”, but did not specify what kinds he had in mind.

Earlier this month, President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would continue to develop new warheads, delivery vehicles and launchers despite the disarmament talks, describing this as “routine practice”.

Russia and the US are negotiating in Geneva on the details of a new treaty. Last week, the Russian foreign minister said a deal was very close. …

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8433352.stm

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Media-Newswire.com

The United States and Russia have agreed to maintain a critical nuclear arms control agreement past its expiration date until a new agreement is reached, saying that strategic stability is very important.

In April, when President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held their first face-to-face meeting in London, the two leaders pledged to work for a world free of nuclear arms, and said every effort would be made before the end of this year to reduce their nuclear arsenals with the long-term goal of reducing global nuclear tensions.

In a joint statement December 4 issued in Washington and Moscow, they said that it’s too important to let the terms of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty ( START ) expire on December 5 while negotiators continue working on a successor treaty. …

At the Moscow Summit in July, Obama and Medvedev agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads each possesses to a range of 1,500 to 1,675 over seven years. The treaty would also limit the means of delivery, which include nuclear-powered submarines, long-range bombers, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The missiles can be used to deliver non-nuclear warheads over the same distance, and that has been one of several highly technical areas of discussion.

START was signed July 31, 1991, by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and President George H.W. Bush; President Ronald Reagan originally proposed the treaty in 1982. It was designed to limit nuclear warheads to about 6,000 in each arsenal.

In 2002, the United States and Russia agreed to the Moscow Treaty that sought to reduce nuclear arsenals to between 1,700 and 2,200 operationally deployed warheads by 2012.

In Prague earlier this year, Obama called for a nuclear-weapons-free world and pledged to work for greater arms control and nonproliferation goals. It comes at a time when Washington is enlisting Moscow’s support in curbing the nuclear ambitions of both North Korea and Iran. The United States and Russia participate in talks aimed at convincing the two regimes to give up weapons and long-range missile development programs in return for economic and political incentives.

START negotiations are being held in Geneva and are led by Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller and Russian negotiator Anatoly Antonov. They have been working quickly to resolve remaining differences in areas of offensive weapons levels and missile defense issues.

http://media-newswire.com/release_1107449.html

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Associated Press
September 2, 2009

The United States is assuring Poland that it has not made a decision on where to deploy a European missile defense system but will keep Warsaw informed. …

U.S. national security adviser James Jones … conveyed “the United States’ firm and unwavering commitment to Poland’s security and defense.”

The message comes amid nervousness in Poland that the Obama administration is preparing to drop plans to build a missile interceptor site on Polish soil.

The plans, which also call for a radar in the Czech Republic, are opposed by Russia.

www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hqIytTYhtOLWpkZaBfoSdZ6kffQwD9AEN8804

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