NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's address included the reminder that "At our Summit in Bucharest last year, we agreed a number of guiding principles for NATO's role in energy security....NATO provides a forum where four of the Arctic coastal states can inform, discuss, and share, any concerns that they may have. And this leads me directly onto the next issue, which is military activity in the region.
"Clearly, the High North is a region that is of strategic interest to the Alliance." (36)
The four states Scheffer alluded to are Canada, the United States, Denmark and Norway, frequently described at being in competition regarding Arctic claims but all subsumed under the NATO banner.
The four also share air surveillance and defense facilities in the North Atlantic, Denmark through its Greenland island possession, and Norway is already tied into the US European missile shield project and according to Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart Jr., head of both the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command "We are in discussions with the MDA [Missile Defense Agency] on alternatives if the discussions in Europe do not continue," and the FTG-05 - Ground-based Midcourse [Missile] Defense-05 - "involve[s] both operational commands, Norad and NorthCom, and 'operationally sound execution,'" he added. (37)
NORTHCOM is the United States Northern Command and NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command, run jointly by the US and Canada since 1958.
This march, months after Washington proclaimed its right to use the Arctic region for missile defense and strategic sea and air systems and after NATO rallied its members in pursuit of strategic military objectives there, Russia announced plans to prepare a military force by 2020 to defend its Arctic claims.
The turn for saber rattling passed from Canadian Defense Affairs Minister MacKay to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, who said "Let's be perfectly clear here: Canada will not be bullied." (38)
To quote the Canadian military at some length on this April's Operation Nunalivut 2009, the first of three "sovereignty operations" scheduled in the Arctic this year:
"'In keeping with the Canada First Defence Strategy, we are placing greater emphasis on our northern operations, including in the High Arctic. This operation underscores the value of the Canadian Rangers, our eyes and ears in the North, which at the direction of the Government are growing to 5,000 in strength.'
"In addition to air and ground patrols, this operation calls on a range of
supporting military capabilities-communications, intelligence, mapping, and satellite imaging.
"[T]his year's operation will involve an exchange visit with the Commander of Greenland Command, Danish Rear-Admiral Henrik Kudsk, to discuss military collaboration in the North.
"The North represents 40 per cent of Canada's land mass and is Canada Command's single biggest region," said Vice-Admiral Dean McFadden, Commander of Canada Command.
"'This operation is a golden opportunity to expand our capabilities to operate in Canada's Arctic,' said Brigadier-General David Millar, the Commander of Joint Task Force North." (39)
As Operation Nunalivut 2009 was underway, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a joint Arctic-Antarctic summit in Washington while Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Cannon was also in Washington "giving a speech about Canada's Arctic strategy amid rising tensions with Russia over its northern military ambitions.
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