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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Transatlantic team work

NATO countries began implementing Lisbon agenda
22 May, 2012 - 00:00
REUTERS photo
REUTERS photo

The first day of the NATO Summit in Chicago proved efficiency of this military and political organization and at the same time dispelled the rumors about the death of the Alliance. Hopes of some of NATO’s enemies that the next Summit will be shallow also were shattered.

Despite economic challenges, the allies proved to be worthy of the higher goal and future. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen noted at a press conference that the allies have learned their lesson from the past, including the operations in Libya and are now willing to do everything in order to be ready to face future security challenges in 2020.

“At our last Summit in Lisbon 18 months ago, we set out an ambitious agenda. And here in Chicago, we are delivering. In Lisbon, we agreed to create a NATO missile defense system. Today, in Chicago, we have declared that a reality. We call this an Interim Capability. It is the first step towards our long-term goal of providing full coverage and protection for all NATO European populations, territory and forces.

Our system will link together missile defense assets from different Allies – satellites, ships, radars, and interceptors – under NATO command and control. It will allow us to defend against threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. This is true trans-Atlantic teamwork: the United States and European Allies investing in our common security. And it is an excellent example of the renewed culture of cooperation which we call Smart Defense: countries working together to develop capabilities which they could not develop alone,” stressed Rasmussen.

He said that there has already been made a decision to continue air policing of the Baltic countries, to buy six drones [unmanned aircraft. – Ed.] or surveillance. However, according to him, the question of their usage has not been discussed yet.

Although the meeting on May 21 is dedicated to Afghanistan, the Secretary General said that the allies are planning to complete the military mission in that country by 2014 and after the transition of authority to Afghan forces they will continue their training mission.

One of the topics discussed at the Summit was Euro-Missile Defense system strongly opposed by Russia, which became the reason why the Russian president even refused to come to Chicago. Rasmussen made it clear that nobody can block the construction of the system. After the press conference he looked at the model of this system in lights of video and photo cameras of journalists.

Secretary General said that NATO invites Russia to jointly develop Euro-Missile Defense and expressed hope that Russia would understand that the threat of missile attack is real and therefore join this project because it is of common interest.

Rasmussen said that at this stage the Allies are in process of implementing 20 joint projects. According to him, to protect military and civilians a few allies will jointly purchase remotely controlled robots for destroying roadside bombs that are being used by insurgents against military equipment in Afghanistan. He also added that a group of allies agreed to jointly use their maritime patrol aircraft.

Rasmussen said that NATO is undergoing the process of reforming, effective use of resources, reorganization, and improvement of military structure. According to him, the number of military headquarters will be reduced from 11 to 7, as well as the number of positions in the military command which will be reduced by 30 percent, and the number of agencies that will drop from 14 to 3. Besides it is planned to reorganize the headquarters in Brussels.

The protests which have been lasting for a couple of days already in Chicago shifted the focus from the actual purpose of the meeting of NATO leaders in news reports and printed media. Some protestors went beyond what is understood a peaceful protest. The Day before the summit three men who planned to attack the headquarters of the Obama’s election campaign, the house of Mayor Emanuel Rahm, and a few police stations were arrested. US law enforcement agencies have proved that they keep the situation under control. The local printed media reported that the failed terrorists had been watched for over a week before the arrest. Some of them were under surveillance since May 1.

Thus, there is no wonder that there are so many policemen in the city: one can see them almost on every corner in the city center, but they do not check or arrest anyone, thus Chicago residents and tourists can freely walk around the city, go shopping, and it is clear that they are more unhappy over the demonstrators who disturb them. Therefore, most of them support the actions of police, who had to use batons and bicycles to block the movement of demonstrators who tried to force their way into the hotel which accommodated many senior Alliance officials.

NATO’s Secretary General himself visited the office of the newspaper Chicago Tribune on May 19 and during the meeting with its editorial staff said that he respects the right of demonstrators to express themselves. However, he believes that the protestors are wrong when they speak of the Alliance as of a “war machine.” “If this is the core statement of protest, it is based on lack of knowledge. NATO is a peaceful movement. For over 60 years the Alliance has been the basis of security in Europe and North America. Thanks to NATO we maintain peace and stability in Europe during a long period after the World War II. It has been the longest period of peace in European history. This is a real success. And this is what I call a peace movement,” Rasmussen explained.

By the way, the summit cost over 130 million dollars. The expenses have been covered mainly by the US government and American companies based in this state. The headquarters of Boeing, Pentagon’s largest military contractor, is also located in Chicago.

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day, Chicago
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