The US-NATO "Arc of War" Stretches From Afghanistan to the Caspian
Sea and the Caucasus
By Rick Rozoff
URL of this article:www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19624
Global Research, June 9, 2010 Stop NATO - 2010-06-08
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Baku, the capital
of Azerbaijan, on June 6, meeting with President Ilham Aliyev on
that day and on the following with Defense Minister Colonel General
Safar Abiyev.
Gates was the first cabinet-level American official to visit the
strategically positioned nation located in the South Caucasus with
Russia to its north, Iran to its south and the Caspian Sea to its
east in five years and the first U.S. defense chief to visit since
Donald Rumsfeld did in 2005.
When Gates predecessor was last in Azerbaijan his mission centered
on the transportation of Caspian oil and the security of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline as the chief element of U.S.
trans-Eurasian oil and natural gas plans which [are] directly
connected with Mr Rumsfelds department [1] to bring Caspian Sea
hydrocarbons into Europe while bypassing Russia and Iran, both of
which adjoin Azerbaijan.
Rumsfelds visit of five years ago also focused on a related initiative,
the Caspian Guard project the Pentagon launched in 2003. Guaranteeing
security to the pipeline... will be the prime goal of the Caspian
Guard. The Caspian Guard will represent a network of police detachments
and special military units in the Caspian region. [2]
At the time Rumsfelds Defense Department planned to allot over $100
million for the Caspian Guard to operate at both ends of the inland
sea Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and to be based in Stuttgart, Germany
where the Pentagons new Africa Command is now based. In fact U.S.
European Command was simultaneously elaborating plans for the Caspian
Guard and a complementary Gulf of Guinea Guard in oil-rich western
Africa to secure control over the 21st centurys main new sources
of energy supplies. [3]
Gates arrived in Azerbaijan the day after the ninth annual Asian
security summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic
Studies in Singapore and before his attendance at the NATO defense
chiefs meeting in Brussels on the 10th and 11th.
He had intended to visit Beijing following the conference in
Singapore, but his overtures in that direction were rebuffed by the
Chinese government, presumably because of Washingtons confirmation
this January of plans to complete a $6.5 billion arms transaction
with Taiwan, one whose latest installment includes 200 Patriot
Advanced Capability-3 anti-ballistic missiles.
That Baku replaced Beijing on the Pentagon chiefs way to the NATO
meeting indicates the importance that the comparatively small nation
with a population of under nine million while Chinas is over 1.3
billion has in American global geostrategic plans.
U.S. media reports highlighted efforts to mend fences with Azerbaijan
after joint military exercises scheduled in the nation for last
month were abruptly cancelled evidently by the host country as a
sign of dissatisfaction with Washingtons moves to take a more
balanced approach toward Azerbaijans regional rival Armenia in a
bid to lure all the nations of the South Caucasus into the U.S. and
NATO orbit. Last December the Armenian government approved the
deployment of troops to serve under NATO command in the Afghan war
theater along with those of their Caucasus neighbors Azerbaijan and
Georgia.
Received opinion has it that the U.S. intends to incorporate all
three nations into NATO simultaneously. Armenia and Azerbaijan have
NATO Individual Partnership Action Plans and Georgia a special,
even more advanced, Annual National Programme.
The cancelled exercises were to have built upon last years Regional
Response 2009 in Azerbaijan, a NATO Partnership for Peace operation
to advance the North Atlantic military blocs Individual Partnership
Action Plan with the nation.
To demonstrate that Rumsfelds Caspian Guard plans are still alive,
during his visit to Azerbaijan Secretary Gates discussed bilateral
military ties, particularly further U.S. help with maritime security
in the Caspian Sea.
In his own words, We already help them there with several tens of
millions of dollars, boats, radars and capabilities. [4]
According to the Pentagons website, More military exercises and
intelligence sharing also came up during the meetings, Gates added,
and the discussions also touched on Iran and Russia, with the
American defense secretary saying of his hosts, These guys clearly
live in a rough neighborhood. [5]
Georgia borders Russia and Armenia borders Iran, but Azerbaijan
alone abuts both. The same defense minister Gates met with on June
7, Colonel General Safar Abiyev, not long ago addressed the head
of state Gates met with the day before and said: Our armed forces
are able to annihilate targets in all the territory of Armenia. Mr.
President, I notify you that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are able
to hit any target in the territory of Armenia. [6]
Gates main concentration or at least that of most immediate
importance was on the expanding war in South Asia, where he will
soon have 100,000 U.S.
troops serving with another 50,000 NATO forces.
Western and local reports have recently divulged that 25 percent
of U.S. and NATO supplies and equipment for the Afghan war pass
through what is referred to as the Caucasus Spur Azerbaijan and
Georgia and that 100,000 troops have flown through Azerbaijani
airspace in the past year en route to Afghanistan. [7]
More specifically, Tens of thousands of cargo aircraft have flown
over Azerbaijan for the Afghan war, with planes ferrying 100,000
US and allied troops and personnel through the countrys airspace
last year, Pentagon officials said. [8]
With the recent turmoil in Kyrgyzstan hampering the transit of
troops and equipment through the Central Asian country where hundreds
of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces have passed directly to
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan (in addition to Kazakhstan [9]) will play
an even more pivotal role as the battle for Afghanistans Kandahar
Province begins.
While in Baku, Gates delivered a personal letter from President
Barack Obama to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev. As the
local press described it, Gates, the most senior U.S. official to
visit Azerbaijan since Obama took office last year, hand delivered
the letter to Aliyev to make clear we have a relationship going
forward, a senior defense official said... [10]
Obama commended his opposite number for doubling the amount of
troops deployed to Afghanistan and providing the use of his nations
land (for supply trucks) and air space, especially ahead of the
next surge of 30,000 U.S. troops.
An Azeri news agency reminded its readers that Azerbaijan is also
a major oil producer and a key hub on a route for Central Asia and
Caspian Sea energy to Europe bypassing Russia to the north and Iran
to the south, while quoting the following from Obamas letter:
Azerbaijans leadership in the development for a Southern Corridor
for energy has also increased regional prosperity and enhanced
global energy security. [11]
Gates told Azerbaijans defense minister that U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton would also be visiting the nation shortly.
Last month an Azerbaijani delegation visited Afghanistan to meet
with the nations defense minister and NATO International Security
Assistance Force commanders, during which the education of Afghan
national policemen, soldiers and officers in Azerbaijan was discussed.
[12] In early May U.S. military officers arrived in Baku to hold
seminars related to the tasks of operational officers at the battalion
and brigade [levels]. [13] The month before Azerbaijani troops began
a communication course in San Antonio, USA from April 21 to December
15. [14]
In April Robert Simmons, the NATO Secretary Generals Special
Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia and NATO Deputy
Assistant Secretary General for Security Cooperation and Partnership
[15], was in Baku to promote Azerbaijans Individual Partnership
Action Plan. In the same month it was announced that the blocs
chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is to visit this summer.
Since January of 2009 Romania has been the NATO Contact Point Embassy
in Azerbaijan and its ambassador to the country, Nicolae Ureche,
the Brussels-based military blocs main liaison there. In early May
he opened a conference in Baku titled NATOs Role in Ensuring Security
and Stability in Europe and in the Strategic Arena, dedicated to
NATO 61st anniversary and the 16th of Azerbaijan joining the blocs
Partnership for Peace program.
The preceding month the Romanian envoy gave a speech in Baku in
which he stated that In connection with the 61st anniversary of
NATO, the NATO Institute of Cooperation and embassies of the NATO
member-states accredited in Azerbaijan have declared April NATO
Month in Azerbaijan. [16] During his presentation Ureche especially
emphasized NATOs attention to energy security. [17] A week before
he said, We... welcome Azerbaijans role in ensuring global energy
security. [18]
That sentiment was echoed last week when Special Envoy of the United
States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy Richard Morningstar
spoke at the 17th International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition and
Conference held in the capital of Azerbaijan and confirmed that
Washington support[s] the diversification of energy exports from
the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia and American that
he is presumed to speak on behalf of Europes energy security,
endorsing the anti-Russian Southern Corridor to transport natural
gas and oil from the Caspian Sea Basin and the Middle East to Europe.
[19]
The preceding month Morningstars fellow Foggy Bottom denizen, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Tina
Kaidanow, was in Azerbaijan. While there her message to the nations
leaders was: The United States considers Azerbaijan an essential
partner. Our interests overlap in many areas, from collaborating
on strengthening energy security via the Southern Corridor gas and
oil projects to our work together countering terrorism and extremism.
We appreciate Azerbaijans contributions to regional and global
security, from Kosovo to Iraq to Afghanistan. [20] Kaidanow took
over her current post last August from Matthew Bryza, arguably a
contender for Washingtons main point man in the former Soviet Union
over the past two decades. His resume includes:
- Being attached to the U.S. embassy in Poland from 1989-1991 as
contact person for Solidarnosc
- Serving at the U.S. embassy in Russia during the equally key
transitional years of 1995-1997 with his main assignments being the
Russian parliament, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
and the North Caucasus, especially then tense Dagestan
- Special advisor to Richard Morningstar (the current Special Envoy
of the United States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy) from
1997-1998, who at the time was Special Advisor to the President and
Secretary of State on Assistance to the New Independent States of
the Former Soviet Union
- Deputy to the Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of
State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy from July 1998 to March
2001
- In 2001 he occupied the post of the National Security Councils
Director for Europe and Eurasia with emphasis on the Caucasus,
Central Asia and Caspian Sea energy
- Became Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs in 2005
Last month the White House nominated Bryza as U.S. ambassador to
Azerbaijan.
His appointment indicates the importance Washington assigns to the
nation.
In March of this year Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg
spoke of U.S.-Azerbaijan cooperation, mentioning in particular the
involvement of Azerbaijan in NATOs Partnership for Peace program,
bilateral military ties in the context of Caspian energy and
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline security, and the participation of
Azerbaijan in the US-led military missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan
and Iraq. [21]
A Russian report on his comments added, US companies are actively
involved in the development of Caspian hydrocarbons in offshore
Azerbaijani oilfields, and the US government actively supported the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline as the primary route of transportation
for Caspian oil. [22]
In the same month the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus in Washington
sent a letter to President Obama reflecting the importance of
Azerbaijan-US relations.
It included these items:
Azerbaijan has opened Caspian energy resources to development by
U.S companies and has emerged as a key player for global energy
security. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, supported by
both the Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations... has become
the main artery delivering Caspian Sea hydrocarbons to the US and
our partners in Europe.
Notably, in 2009 Azerbaijan provided nearly one quarter of all crude
oil supplies to Israel and is considered a leading potential natural
gas provider for the U.S supported Nabucco pipeline.
Azerbaijan was among the first to offer strong support and assistance
to the United States. Azerbaijan participated in operations in
Kosovo and Iraq and is actively engaged in Afghanistan, having
recently doubled its military presence there.
Azerbaijan has extended important over-flight clearances for US and
NATO flights to support ISAF and has regularly provided landing and
refueling operations at its airports for US and NATO forces. [23]
With Turkey increasingly adopting an independent foreign policy
orientation not to Washingtons liking; with the nearly nine-year-old
war in Afghanistan reaching its apex; with the U.S. and its NATO
allies ramping up pressure on Iran in Azerbaijans rough neighborhood;
and with the U.S. pursuing global interceptor missile plans that
may include evicting the Russian military from the Gabala radar
station in the north of the country, Azerbaijan is assuming a greater
strategic significance with each passing day.
That is why U.S. Defense Secretary Gates was there on June 6 and
7. It will not be his last visit.
Related articles:
Wests Afghan War And Drive Into Caspian Sea Basinhttp://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/wests-afghan-war-and-drive...
spian-sea-basin Azerbaijan And The Caspian: NATOs War For The Worlds
Heartlandhttp://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/azerbaijan-and-the-caspian...
ar-for-the-worlds-heartland Eurasian Crossroads: The Caucasus In
U.S.-NATO War Planshttp://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/118
Notes
1) Armenian News Network, May 10, 2005 2) Ibid 3) Global Energy
War: Washingtons New Kissingers African Plans Stop NATO, January
22, 2009http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/global-energy-war-washingt...
kissingers-african-plans 4) U.S. Department of Defense American
Forces Press Service June 7, 2010 5) Ibid 6) Azeri Press Agency,
April 24, 2010 7) Trend News Agency, June 7, 2010 8) Agence
France-Presse, June 6, 2010 9) Kazakhstan: U.S., NATO Seek Military
Outpost Between Russia And China Stop NATO, April 14, 2010http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/kazakhstan-u-s-nato-seek-m...
outpost-between-russia-and-ch 10) Azeri Press Agency, June 7, 2010
11) Ibid 12) Azertag, May 20, 2010 13) ANS News, May 3, 2010 14)
Azeri Press Agency, April 19, 2010 15) Mr. Simmons Mission: NATO
Bases From Balkans To Chinese Border Stop NATO, March 4, 2009http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/mr-simmons-mission-nato-ba...
-balkans-to-chinese-border 16) Trend News Agency, April 8, 2010 17)
Azeri Press Agency, April 8, 2010 18) Interfax-Azerbaijan, Azeri
Press Agency, April 1, 2010 19) Trend News Agency, June 2, 2010 20)
Azeri Press Agency, May 12, 2010 21) Itar-Tass, March 30, 2010 22)
Ibid 23) Azeri Press Agency, March 30, 2010
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Copyright Rick Rozoff, Stop NATO, 2010
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