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(no subject)
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rwro-@yahoo.com
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Nov 07, 2009 06:31 PST
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http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/1989-2009-berlin-wall-moves-to-r=
ussian-border/
Stop NATO
November 7, 2009
1989-2009: Moving The Berlin Wall To Russia's Borders
Rick Rozoff
November 9 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the government of the Ger=
man Democratic Republic opening crossing points at the wall separating the =
eastern and western sections of Berlin.
From 1961 to 1989 the wall had been a dividing line in, a symbol of and a m=
etonym for the Cold War.
A generation later events are to be held in Berlin to commemorate the "fall=
of the Berlin Wall," the last victory the West can claim over the past two=
decades. Bogged down in a war in Afghanistan, occupation in Iraq and the w=
orst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the United S=
tates, Germany and the West as a whole are eager to cast a fond glance back=
at what is viewed as their greatest triumph: The collapse of the socialist=
bloc in Eastern Europe closely followed by the breakup of the Soviet Union=
.=C2=A0=20
All the players in that drama and events leading up to it - Ronald Reagan, =
Mikhail Gorbachev, George H. W. Bush, Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa - will be r=
everently eulogized and lionized.
Gorbachev will attend the anniversary bash at the Brandenburg Gate and the =
editorial pages of newspapers around the world will dutifully repeat the li=
tany of bromides, pieties, self-congratulatory praises and grandiose claims=
one can expect on the occasion.
What will not be cited are comments like those from Mikhail Margelov, Chair=
man of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the upper house of the Russian p=
arliament, the Federation Council, on November 6. To wit, that "The Berlin =
Wall has been replaced with a sanitary cordon of ex-Soviet nations, from th=
e Baltic Sea to the Black Sea." [1]
With the unification of first Berlin and then Germany as a whole, the Sovie=
t Union and its president Mikhail Gorbachev were assured that the North Atl=
antic Treaty Organization would not expand eastward toward theie border. Go=
rbachev insists that in 1990 U.S. Secretary of State James Baker told him "=
Look, if you remove your troops and allow unification of Germany in NATO, N=
ATO will not expand one inch to the east." [3]
Not only was the former East Germany absorbed into NATO but over the past t=
en years every other Soviet ally in the Warsaw Pact has become a full membe=
r of the bloc - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and =
Slovakia.
Russia has twice before been attacked from the West, by the largest invasio=
n forces ever assembled on the European continent and indeed in the world a=
t one time (Herodotus' hyperbolical estimates of Xerxes' army notwithstandi=
ng), that of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812 and of Adolf Hitler in 1941. The fi=
rst consisted of 700,000 troops and the second of 5 million.
Moscow's concerns about military encroachments on its western borders and i=
ts desire to insure at least neutral buffers zones on them are invariably p=
ortrayed in the U.S. and allied Western capitals as some combination of Rus=
sian paranoia and a plot to revive the "Soviet Empire." What the self-anoin=
ted luminaries of Western geopolitics feel about neutrality will be seen la=
ter.
With the expansion of the U.S-dominated military bloc into Eastern Europe i=
n 1999 and 2004, in the latter case not only the remaining former non-Sovie=
t Warsaw Pact states but three ex-Soviet republics became full members, the=
re are now five NATO nations bordering Russia. Three directly abutting its =
mainland - Estonia, Latvia and Norway - and two more neighboring the Kalini=
ngrad territory, Lithuania and Poland. Finland, Georgia, Ukraine and Azerba=
ijan are being prepared to follow suit and upon doing so will complete a be=
lt from the Barents to the Baltic, from the Black to the Caspian Seas.=20
The total length of the Berlin Wall separating all of West Berlin from the =
German Democratic Republic was 96 miles. A NATO military cordon from northe=
astern Norway to northern Azerbaijan would stretch over 3,000 miles (over 4=
,800 kilometers).=C2=A0=20
As a Russian news commentary recently noted in relation to the U.S. spendin=
g $110 million to upgrade two of the seven new military bases the Pentagon =
has acquired across the Black Sea from Russia, "The installations in Romani=
a and Bulgaria go in line with the program of relocation of American troops=
in Europe announced on 2004 by then president George Bush. Its main goal i=
s the maximum proximity to Russian borders." [3]
The wall being erected (and connected) around all of European Russia is not=
a defensive redoubt, a protective barrier. It is a steadily advancing phal=
anx of bases and military hardware.
Last month NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was in Lithuania to=
inspect the Siauliai Air Base from where NATO warplanes have conducted uni=
nterrupted patrols over the Baltic Sea for over five years, skirting the Ru=
ssian coast a three-minute flight from St. Petersburg.
=20
New Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said at the time "We have been =
assured that NATO is still interested in investing in defence of the Baltic=
region....I am happy to see the NATO Secretary General here, in Lithuania,=
in the only and most important NATO air force base in the Baltic states. T=
his is one of the main NATO defence points in the Baltic region." [4]
In neighboring Poland a newspaper report of last April provided details on =
the degree of the Alliance's buildup in the nation:
"NATO's investments in defense infrastructure in Poland may amount to over =
1 euros (4.3 zlotys) billion over the next five years....
"Poland is already the site of the largest volume of NATO investment in the=
world.
"Currently, construction or modernization work on seven military airports, =
two seaports, five fuel bases as well as six strategic long-range radar bas=
es is nearing completion. Air defense command post projects in Poznan, Wars=
aw and Bydgoszcz have already been given the go-ahead, as has a radio commu=
nication project in Wladyslawowo.
"New investments will include, among other things, the equipping of militar=
y airports in Powidz, Lask and Minsk Mazowiecki with new logistics and defe=
nse installations." [5]
=20
The nation will soon host as many as 196 American Patriot interceptor missi=
les and 100 troops to man them as well as being a likely site for the deplo=
yment of American SM-3 anti-ballistic missile batteries.
As mentioned earlier, Washington and NATO have secured the indefinite use o=
f seven military bases in Bulgaria and Romania, Russia's Black Sea neighbor=
s, including the Bezmer and Graf Ignatievo airbases in Bulgaria and the Mih=
ail Kogalniceanu airbase in Romania. [6]
Gen. Roger Brady, U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, was in Romania on Oc=
tober 28 to oversee joint military trainings where "the U.S. Air Force flew=
about 100 sorties; half of those sorties were flown with the Romanian air =
force." [7]
The Pentagon leads annual NATO Sea Breeze exercises in Ukraine in the Crime=
a where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based.
It also conducts regular Immediate Response military drills in Georgia, the=
largest to date ending days before Georgia's attack on South Ossetia and t=
he resultant war with Russia in August of 2008 and one currently just being=
completed. This May the U.S. led the annual Cooperative Longbow 09/Coopera=
tive Lancer NATO Partnership for Peace war games in Georgia with 1,300 serv=
icemen from 19 countries. [8]=20
The Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe, General Carter F. Ham, was in G=
eorgia a few days ago and "got acquainted with the carrying out of the Geor=
gian-US military training Immediate Response 2009" which included "visit[in=
g] the Vaziani Military Base and attend[ing] military training." [9]=20
A Russian official, Dmitry Rogozin, spoke of the joint military exercises, =
warning that "We all remember that similar activities carried out last year=
were followed by the August events." [10]
A Georgian commentary on the drills confirmed Russian apprehensions by reit=
erating this link:
"Georgia is fighting for peace and stability in Afghanistan in order to
eventually ensure peace and stability in Georgia, as one good turn will
undoubtedly deserve another in the fullness of time." [11]. Which is to say=
, as Georgia assists the U.S. militarily in Afghanistan, so the U.S. will b=
ack Georgia in any future conflicts with its neighbors in the Caucasus.
The world press has recently reported on Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw S=
ikorski's three-day visit to the U.S. to among other things "meet with US S=
ecretary of State Hillary Clinton...to discuss Afghanistan and a new US pro=
posal for a missile shield" [12] and attend a conference at the Brookings I=
nstitution where he said of the Polish-Swedish-European Union Eastern Partn=
ership program to recruit Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova an=
d Ukraine into the "Euro-Atlantic" orbit and of Moscow's concerns that the =
West was moving to take over former Soviet space, "The EU does not need Rus=
sia's consent." [13]
What created the most controversy, though, was his address at a conference =
sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) call=
ed The United States and Central Europe: Converging or Diverging Strategic =
Interests?
The main motif of the conference was, of course, the twentieth anniversary =
of the end of the Cold War as symbolized by the dismantling of the Berlin W=
all.
Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski gave a presentati=
on replete with references to Russia's alleged "imperial aspirations," its =
threats to Georgia and Ukraine and its intent to become an "imperial world =
power." [14]
Sikorski, no stranger to Washington, having been resident fellow of the Ame=
rican Enterprise Institute and executive director of the New Atlantic Initi=
ative there from 2002-2005 before returning home to become Poland's Defense=
Minister, suggested that recent joint Belarusian-Russian military exercise=
s necessitated stronger NATO commitments in Northeastern Europe. Saying tha=
t the Alliance's Article 5 military assistance obligation - which is why, b=
y the way, there will soon be almost 3,000 Polish troops in Afghanistan - w=
as too "vague" and offered as a more concrete alternative something on the =
order of the 300,000 U.S. troops stationed in West Germany during the Cold =
War. [15]
=C2=A0=20
The Polish government has subsequently denied that its foreign minister exp=
licitly called for American troop deployments, and in fact he did not, but =
his comments are in line with several other recent events and statements.=
=20
For example, Poland revealed in late October that it planned a massive $60 =
billion upgrading of its armed forces. "Minister of Defense Bogdan Klich an=
nounced a plan...to modernize the army within 14 programs: air defense syst=
ems, combat and cargo helicopters, naval modernization, espionage and unman=
ned aircraft, training simulators and equipment for soldiers....
"Klich announced plans to buy new LIFT combat training aircraft, Langust mi=
ssile launchers, Krab self-propelled howitzers, Homar rocket launchers, as =
well as several more Rosomak tanks and 30 billion zloty will be spent on ar=
my modernization alone." [16]
The arrival at the same time of the American destroyer USS Ramage and its 2=
50 marines, fresh from NATO war games off the coast of Scotland, "to partic=
ipate in a military exercise with Polish navy officers," proves Sikorski's =
wishes are not being ignored. [17] Before leaving, the USS Ramage "which wa=
s participating in joint US-Polish maneuvers...shelled the coast of Poland,=
local TV-channel TVN24" reported. [18] Commander Tom Williamson at the U.S=
. embassy in Warsaw said "The USS Ramage crew is being interrogated in rela=
tion to the case." [19]
Another American warship that had participated in the NATO naval maneuvers =
off Scotland, Joint Warrior 09-2, docked in Estonia afterward. The Aegis-eq=
uipped guided missile destroyer USS Cole.
The guided-missile frigate USS John L. Hall which included "embarked sailor=
s of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 48 Detachment 9" [20] arrived in Li=
thuania early this month. A U.S. navy officer said of the visit: "We are he=
re as part of the United States Navy's continuing presence in the Baltic Se=
a....We are also here to work with the Lithuanian Navy, who has been a valu=
able partner and our visit here is part of the ongoing relationship between=
our two countries and our two navies." [21]
As American warships were demonstrating their "continuing presence in the B=
altic Sea," Estonia's defense minister affirmed that "NATO has defence plan=
s in the Baltics and they're being developed" [22], and his Latvian counter=
part said, "It is important for Latvia that the new Alliance Strategic Conc=
ept will include points about the collective unity for the enforcement of t=
he strategic security in the Baltic Sea region and the common responsibilit=
y for the future of Alliance military operations." [23]
Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo told The Associated Press "that his=
country sees new threats since Russia's invasion of Georgia last year and =
a cyber attack that targeted his country in 2007.
"Aaviksoo plans to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates" on Nov=
ember 10. [24]
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an American expatriate and former =
Radio Free Europe operative, offered to hold NATO drills in the Baltic stat=
es.
Defense Minister Imants Liegis recently confirmed that "Latvia is to hold l=
arge-scale military exercises in summer, in response to the Russian-Belarus=
ian strategic exercises." [25] Not alone, no doubt.
The above catalogue of military activities and bellicose statements should =
put to rest sanguine expectations resulting from the end of the Cold War, w=
hich never in fact ended but shifted its operations - substantially - eastw=
ards.
Those whose names will be evoked and invoked on November 9 on the occasion =
of the anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall didn't fare well i=
n the immediate aftermath.
Three years afterward Georgia H. W. Bush, even a year after Operation Deser=
t Storm, became only the third American president since the 1800s to lose a=
reelection bid.
Four year after that Mikhail Gorbachev ran for the Russian presidency and r=
eceived 0.5% of the vote.
In his last race for the Polish presidency in 2000 Lech Walesa, when his na=
tion' electorate had finally seen through him, got 1% of the vote.
But he and fellow Cold War heroes of the West march ever onward in confront=
ing Russia during the current phase of the new conflict.
In July, in what they titled An Open Letter to the Obama Administration fro=
m Central and Eastern Europe, old/new Cold War champions like Lech Walesa, =
Vaclav Havel, Valdas Adamkus, Alexander Kwasniewski and Vaira Vike-Freiberg=
a - Adamkus lived for several decades in the U.S. and Vike-Freiberga in Can=
ada - ratcheted up anti-Russian rhetoric to a pitch not heard since the Rea=
gan administration.
Their comments included:
"We have worked to reciprocate and make this relationship a two-way street.=
We are Atlanticist voices within NATO and the EU. Our nations have been en=
gaged alongside the United States in the Balkans, Iraq, and today in Afghan=
istan....[S]torm clouds are starting to gather on the foreign policy horizo=
n."
"Our hopes that relations with Russia would improve and that Moscow would
finally fully accept our complete sovereignty and independence after joinin=
g NATO and the EU have not been fulfilled. Instead, Russia is back as a rev=
isionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics and=
methods."
"The danger is that Russia's creeping intimidation and influence-peddling i=
n the region could over time lead to a de facto neutralization of the regio=
n."
"Our region suffered when the United States succumbed to 'realism' at Yalta=
. And it benefited when the United States used its power to fight for princ=
iple. That was critical during the Cold War and in opening the doors of NAT=
O. Had a 'realist' view prevailed in the early 1990s, we would not be in NA=
TO today...."
"[W]e need a renaissance of NATO as the most important security link betwee=
n the United States and Europe. It is the only credible hard power security=
guarantee we have. NATO must reconfirm its core function of collective def=
ense even while we adapt to the new threats of the 21st century. A key fact=
or in our ability to participate in NATO's expeditionary missions overseas =
is the belief that we are secure at home." [26]
The collective missive also resoundingly endorsed U.S. interceptor missile =
plans for Eastern Europe and held up the Georgia of Mikheil Saakashvili (an=
other former U.S. resident) as the cause celebre for a new confrontation wi=
th Russia.
On September 22 Britain's Guardian published a similar group Open Letter, t=
his one from Vaclav Havel, Valdas Adamkus, Mart Laar, Vytautas Landsbergis,=
Otto de Habsbourg, Daniel Cohn Bendit, Timothy Garton Ash, Andr=C3=A9 Gluc=
ksmann, Mark Leonard, Bernard-Henri L=C3=A9vy, Adam Michnik and Josep Ramon=
eda, called Europe must stand up for Georgia, which featured these topical =
allusions ahead of the seventieth anniversary of the beginning of World War=
II and the twentieth of the demise of the Berlin Wall:
"As Europe remembers the shame of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact of 1939 and t=
he Munich agreement of 1938, and as it prepares to celebrate the fall of th=
e Berlin wall and the iron curtain in 1989, one question arises in our mind=
s: Have we learned the lessons of history?"
"Twenty years after the emancipation of half of the continent, a new wall i=
s being built in Europe =E2=80=93 this time across the sovereign territory =
of Georgia."
"[W]e urge the EU's 27 democratic leaders to define a proactive strategy to=
help Georgia peacefully regain its territorial integrity and obtain the wi=
thdrawal of Russian forces illegally stationed on Georgian soil....[I]t is =
essential that the EU and its member states send a clear and unequivocal me=
ssage to the current leadership in Russia." [27]
Georgia has become a new Czechoslovakia twice, that of 1938 and of 1968, a =
new Berlin, a new Poland and so forth. Eastern and Western European figures=
like the signatories of the above appeal, contrary to what they state, are=
nostalgic for the Cold War and anxious to launch a new crusade against a t=
runcated and weakened Russia.=C2=A0=20
Along with 1990s-style "humanitarian intervention," such campaigns are thei=
r stock in trade.
But the demand for more American military "hard power" in Europe as well as=
the Caucasus and the expansion of NATO to Russia's borders may provoke a c=
atastrophe that the continent and the world were fortunate enough to be spa=
red the first time around.
1) Russian Information Agency Novosti, November 6, 2009
2) Quoted by Bill Bradley, Foreign Policy, November 7, 2009
3) Voice of Russia, October 22, 2009
4) President of the Republic of Lithuania, October 9, 2009
5) Warsaw Business Journal, April 20, 2009
6) Bulgaria, Romania: U.S., NATO Bases For War In The East
=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0Stop NATO, October 24, 2009
=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/bulgaria-roman=
ia-u-s-nato-bases-for-war-in-the-east
7) U.S. Air Forces in Europe, October 29, 2009
8) NATO War Games In Georgia: Threat Of New Caucasus War
=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0Stop NATO, May 8, 2009
=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/nato-war-games=
-in-georgia-threat-of-new-caucasus-war
9) Trend News Agency, October 28, 2009
10) Rustavi2, October 31, 2009
11) The Messenger, November 3, 2009
12) Deutsche Presse-Agentur, October 28, 2009
13) Polish Radio, November 3, 2009
14) Video
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 http://csis.org/multimedia/video-strategic-overview-us-and-ce=
ntral-europe-strategic-interests
15) Audio
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 http://csis.org/multimedia/corrected-us-and-central-europe-ra=
doslaw-sikorski
16) Polish Radio October 27, 2009
17) Polish Radio. October 28, 2009
18) Russia Today, October 28, 2009
19) Polish Radio, October 28, 2009=20
20) United States European Command November 2, 2009
21) Ibid
22) Baltic Business News, October 27, 2009
23) Defense Professionals, October 26, 2009
24) Associated Press, November 2, 2009
25) Russian Information Agency Novosti, November 2, 2009
26) Gazeta Wyborcza, July 15, 2009
27) The Guardian, September 22, 2009
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato
Blog site:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/
=20
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