43 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 12 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
General News    H2'ed 10/15/09

Afghanistan: West's 21st Century War Risks Regional Conflagration

By       (Page 5 of 6 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   1 comment
Message Rick Rozoff

"[H]uge Starlifters, used by the US Air Force and Army to transport troops and heavy loads, have been flying in and out of the Benazir International Airport (BIAI) on a regular basis over the past few days." [26]

A day before that The Times of London reported that "Britain is building a training camp for Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps in the southwestern province of Baluchistan." Baluchistan borders southeastern Iran.

"The British personnel will work with six American trainers at the camp, which is designed to house 550 people....The plan is politically sensitive because the British and US trainers will be the first foreign forces formally stationed in Baluchistan since Pakistan's independence in 1947, although US special forces operated there during the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001." [27]

In what is not an unrelated development, the Pentagon recently revealed that it is completing the deployment of a new "bunker buster" bomb: "At a hefty 30,000 pounds, the new penetrator bomb weighs almost 4 tons more than the U.S. military's former heavyweight champion, the nearly 22,000-pound massive ordnance air blast conventional bomb, known by the acronym MOAB." [28]

From October 12-16 the U.S. and Israel will conduct the biennial Juniper Cobra military exercises in the latter nation, "their biggest joint air-defence exercise...testing missile interceptors that would serve as a strategic bulwark in any future showdown with Iran.

"American forces taking part will include 17 ships and ground personnel operating the Aegis and THAAD missile interceptors, which will be meshed with Israel's Arrow II missile-killer for computer-simulated tests...." [29]

The Pentagon has also begun its biennial Bright Star war games, the largest held in the Middle East, in Egypt.

In addition to American and Egyptian personnel "the coalition of military forces participating in the exercises also includes France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom....The training exercise will take place in Cairo and Alexandria from Oct. 10-26, and will include airborne, aviation, and naval and Marine field training exercises, along with a multinational command post battle-tracking exercise." [30]

On October 12 the annual Anatolian Eagle exercise will began in Turkey, "which would have involved the forces of several NATO countries" and was "to have included aerial attacks in Turkish airspace near the borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran." [31]

At the last moment Turkey canceled the participation of its NATO allies over their insistence that the Israeli Air Force take part in the war games. As the Jerusalem Post characterized the incident, "the cancellation of the exercise came after both the US and NATO threatened to pull out if the IAF [Israeli Air Force] did not participate." [32]

Had the exercises gone on as planned, U.S.-led military maneuvers - land, naval, air and missile - would have been held in Israel, Egypt and Turkey at the same time.

At the other end of the Afghanistan-Pakistan war zone - India - on October 12 "US and Indian troops will ...stage their biggest joint manoeuvres, including live-fire exercises, as the two nuclear powers build up military ties....

"Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, commander of US Army forces in the Pacific, said 200 US soldiers and 17 Stryker infantry combat vehicles were taking part in the Yudh Abhyas exercises at Babina, south of New Delhi, from October 12 to 29.

"It is the largest contingent sent by the US to the annual joint exercises since they began in 2004....It will be the largest deployment of Strykers outside Iraq or Afghanistan." [33]

The Stryker combat vehicle was first used in Iraq in 2003 and introduced in Afghanistan this June. "Stryker brigades are better suited to the near free-form modern battlefield, rather than the matched-force scenarios envisioned for tanks during the Cold War....The Stryker's ability to deploy more infantryman on the battlefield than any other type of brigade and its wheeled configuration are key advantages over conventional armor formations." [34]

On October 1 the U.S. Army announced a contract for 352 more Strykers.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Interesting 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Rick Rozoff Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Rick Rozoff has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. Is the manager of the Stop NATO international email list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Template: NATO Consolidates Grip On Former Yugoslavia

Pentagon Preparing for War with the 'Enemy': Russia

Pentagon's Christmas Present: Largest Military Budget Since World War II

Pentagon And NATO Apply Afghanistan-Pakistan War Model To Africa

21st Century Strategy: Militarized Europe, Globalized NATO

As Obama Talks Of Arms Control, Russians View U.S. As Global Aggressor

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend