Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

Eurasianet.org
Deirdre Tynan
September 17, 2009

The US military is preparing for a worst-case scenario in Central Asia. The Pentagon is presently developing plans covering the potential deployment of elite Special Forces to Central Asian states other than Afghanistan.

In each of the Central Asian states, US Special Forces 3rd Group are preparing to conduct “foreign internal defense” missions — military shorthand for counter-insurgency operations fought by host nation troops with training and other forms of assistance provided by Washington.

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, currently consists of four operational battalions. At least one battalion will be deployed to Central Asia on every rotation of troops serving in Afghanistan.

According to a military handbook, Joint Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Foreign Internal Defense (FID), published under the auspices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2004, “the United States will normally consider FID support only if the following three conditions exist: the existing or threatened internal disorder threatens US national strategic goals; the threatened nation is capable of effectively using US assistance; and the threatened nation requests US assistance.”

It adds: “assistance will normally focus on civil-military operations (primarily, the provision of services to the local populace), psychological operations, communications and intelligence sharing, and logistic support.” …

The prospect of US forces carrying out foreign internal defense operations in Central Asia is generating mixed views. Some analysts described it as routine, while others call it risky. All agree, however, that Russia will be agitated by any deployment.

www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav091709.shtml

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philstar.com
September 19, 2009

The United States formally left the Manta military base in Ecuador yesterday via a 9.00 a.m. local time ceremony in which Ecuador took full control of the Pacific Coast facilities.

The Ecuador government formally resumed control of Manta, a military base on its Pacific coast, 10 years after was leased, rent-free, to the US military for anti-drug operations.

During the handover ceremony, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said that the exit of US soldiers was “a triumph for national sovereignty.”

He also said that the lease agreement, signed in 1999, had not been properly legalized because it had only been approved by then foreign minister Heinz Muller and the legislature’s foreign affairs committee, not by the full legislature nor all Ecuadorians.

He also made a call for nations to avoid relations “based on subordination” and foreign military bases. …

The 1999 agreement was slammed by Ecuadorian social and political organizations, who also denounced US personnel and the base for violating Ecuadorians’ human rights.

www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=506676&publicationSubCategoryId=200

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Stars and Stripes
September 18, 2009
By Geoff Ziezulewicz,

RAF MILDENHALL, England — A day before the Obama administration announced its intent to scrap the controversial European missile defense shield, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report calling for better Pentagon stewardship overall for missile defense programs worldwide.

In its Sept. 16 report for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee, the GAO found that the Pentagon had not taken a big-picture look at the technical and manning needs of various costly missile defense efforts around the world that collectively fall under the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

As such, the report notes, the Defense Department is missing a foundation for making sound decisions about what will be required for the various missile defense initiatives.

“Without a full assessment of its overall requirements, DOD lacks the information it needs to make the best possible policy, strategy and budgetary decisions for ballistic missile defense,” the report states.

While combatant commands have analyzed missile defense needs by region, as have certain service branches, no overall analysis has been conducted, according to the GAO.

In some cases, the Pentagon put missile defense elements into use before first ensuring that the military services had created units and trained troops to operate the systems, according to the GAO, even though the DOD typically requires that major weapons systems be fielded with a full array of organized and trained personnel. …

www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64847

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defencemanagement.com
September 17, 2009

Barack Obama’s decision to drop plans to put missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic won’t affect RAF Fylingdales and RAF Menwith Hill, the Ministry of Defence has said.

A spokesman said: “For us, everything is normal. The announcement doesn’t affect the UK position at all. The bases in North Yorkshire will continue to provide an early warning system that the United States taps into, as it currently does. That agreement still stands. In addition, the UK will continue to work on a missile defence plan as part of an overall Nato agreement, whatever those plans might be.”

Around two years ago RAF Fylingdales was upgraded for missile defence with early-warning radar equipment. This was around the same time that the Prime Minister said the satellite ground station at Menwith Hill would monitor satellite warnings of potentially hostile missile launches.

www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=10689

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Bloomberg.com
September 16, 2009
By Tony Capaccio

China is developing new weapons that could threaten the U.S. military presence in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today.

“We should be concerned less with their potential ability to challenge the U.S. — fighter-to-fighter or ship-to-ship — and more with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options,” Gates told an audience of airpower advocates during a speech in suburban Maryland.

“Investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, and ballistic missiles could threaten American’s primary way to project power and help allies in the Pacific — particularly our forward bases and carrier strike groups,” Gates told the Air Force Association, a private organization of Air Force retirees and contractors.

His comments reflect a growing concern within the U.S. intelligence and military community over the range and sophistication of China’s weaponry. …

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=am6ExRzB1cjo

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VHeadline.com
September 16, 2009
By Patrick J. O’Donoghue

The meeting of Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) defense and foreign ministers in Quito has ended without any general consensus on military agreements with non-UNASUR countries.

Colombia, whose allowance of US military bases in its territory is under question, refused to provide member nations with firm guarantees that the US presence in Colombia would not filter across the border into neighboring countries.

Venezuelan Executive Vice President, Ramon Carrizalez said the meeting stalled when Columbia refused to provide information that would tender greater “transparency and generate a line of confidence.” The Venezuelan position is that the agreement between Colombia and the USA means strengthening the USA’s strategic capacity in the region and is a direct threat to Venezuela and its oil installations.

Venezuela’s purchase of weapons from Russia was reviewed by member nations and the Venezuelan government insisted that the weapons are to defend its borders from attacks by US and Colombian forces, owing to the seven bases where the US will install military aviation and equipment. …

www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=84112

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420th Munitions Squadron Operations Flight Chief
September 9, 2009
by Master Sgt. Kenneth C. Burnett

RAF WELFORD, United Kingdom — The final day has come! The last remaining M117 General Purpose Bombs at the 420th Munitions Squadron, Royal Air Force Welford were removed Sept. 2.

This journey began over a year ago with Headquarters United States Air Forces in Europe soliciting for a contractor to agree to demilitarize 3,509 bombs. As RAF Welford is the command’s forward operating location for bomber aircraft, it was the optimum location for storing the M117 bombs until the decision was made to demilitarize the bombs. The accomplishment of shipping the M117s for demilitarization served three-fold for the Welford storage site: disposing of outdated munitions, reducing net explosive weight as directed by command, and eliminating munitions from outside storage to meet 3rd Air Force’s agreement with the United Kingdom government.

The M117 is a 750 pound general purpose bomb with an explosive weight of 403 pounds and is smaller in comparison to mark 80 series bombs. It was standard arsenal for various 1950s aircraft that have been since retired. Until recently the everlasting B-52 Stratofortress carried the M117. The M117 bombs were vital weapons dropped extensively in the Vietnam and Gulf wars. However, the bombs are no longer a component of the Department of Defense supply inventory, hence, the reason for M117 Demilitarization Project.

The M117 contract was awarded at end of 2008 to a Norway company for $2.3 million and funded by Headquarters United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Force Materiel Command. On March 1, RAF Welford was charged by headquarters to stow 3,509 bombs into International Organization for Standardization containers for shipment with a deadline of March 31. …

www.501csw.usafe.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123166861

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Stars and Stripes
September 15, 2009
By John Vandiver

Some 1,000 U.S. European Command troops will soon deploy to Israel for a large-scale missile defense exercise with Israeli forces.

This year’s Juniper Cobra comes at a time of continued concern about Iran’s nuclear program, which will be the subject of talks in October. Iranian officials will meet with multiple nations, including the U.S., to negotiate the program, which many in the international community suspect is being developed for weapons. …

The exercise, slated for mid-October, also will be conducted amid widespread speculation about U.S. plans for its controversial missile defense program, proposed to be anchored in Europe with missile interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic.

The proposal has long angered Russia, which views the program as a threat. But recent reports in the Polish press have claimed that plans for a site in Poland have been scrapped by the U.S., which could be looking at alternative locations.

And last week, the Jerusalem Post reported that the U.S. and Israeli officials have engaged in informal talks about placing elements of the system in the Jewish state. …

www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64775

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The Jerusalem Post
September 10, 2009, Updated September 13, 2009

On Sunday, the USS Higgins hauled up its anchor and sailed out of Haifa Port where it had docked for a short visit.

An Arleigh Burke class destroyer – one of the largest and most powerful naval vessels built in the United States – the Higgins is one of 18 American ships with an Aegis interceptor system, capable of destroying enemy ballistic missiles above the atmosphere.

In just a few weeks, additional Aegis vessels will arrive here to participate in the biennial Juniper Cobra missile defense exercise that the IDF has been holding with the US European Command (EUCOM) and Missile Defense Agency since 2001.

This year’s drill, scheduled for mid-October, is being described as the largest joint exercise ever held by the countries. During it they will jointly test four ballistic missile defense systems.

In addition to the Aegis, the MDA and EUCOM are sending THAAD and Patriot 3 missile defense systems – America’s most-advanced – for the first time. …

www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804542241&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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Global Security Newswire
September. 10, 2009

The Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee yesterday signed off on $7.7 billion in funding for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency in the next budget year …

The money is included in the fiscal 2010 defense appropriations bill, which was scheduled to be considered today by the full Appropriations Committee.

“The need for a robust national missile defense has never been more apparent than it is today,” Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said in a statement. “Threats from rogue nations that seek to do America and her allies harm must be countered. This funding will help ensure the safety and security of our country.”

The agency is charged with developing and deploying “an integrated, layered, ballistic missile defense system to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies, and friends against all ranges of enemy ballistic missiles in all phases of flight,” according to its Web site.

The defense legislation provides $846 million for Ground-based Midcourse Defense, which could be used to destroy ballistic missiles in the middle range of flight, and $1.1 billion for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense program, which could be used against weapons in the final phase of flight.

The Patriot Advanced Capability 3 program would receive $569 million, while $257.4 million would go to the Standard Missile 3 …

Meanwhile, the Defense Department has issued a $93 million contract for production of the new Standard Missile 6 …

The contract calls for defense firm Raytheon Missile Systems by March 2012 to deliver 19 SM-6 missiles, along with additional components and containers for the weapons. Further contracts are expected.

The Navy could use the ship-based SM-6 against short-range ballistic missiles, along with cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other threats …

www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090910_5589.php

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