DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: NATO Secretary General Says Russia Must Suffer Consequences

DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: NATO Secretary General Says Russia Must Suffer Consequences

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 19, 2014: There must be consequences for Russia’s actions against Ukraine, the NATO secretary general said at the Brookings Institute here today.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the think tank that “the only way for us to address these challenges is for Europe and North America to stand together.”

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has changed the world, the secretary general said. “Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine is a blatant breach of its international commitments, and it is a violation of Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. “The annexation of Crimea through a so-called referendum held at gunpoint is illegal and illegitimate, and it undermines all efforts to find a peaceful political solution.”

The Russian action is a wake-up call for the Euro-Atlantic community, for NATO and for all those committed to a Europe whole, free and at peace, he said. The action directly violates the 1994 agreement Russia signed with Ukraine.

Further, the action has occurred right on NATO’s doorstep, the secretary general said.

Rasmussen called the action the gravest threat to European security and stability since the end of the Cold War and said the move threatens the freedom of 45 million people. He called the Russian action “21t-century revisionism” and labeled it as an attempt to turn back the clock to draw new dividing lines on the European map.

It also signals an attempt “to use force to solve problems rather than the international mechanisms that we have spent decades to build,” he said. “We had thought such behavior had been confined to history,” he added. “But it’s back, and it’s dangerous, because it violates international norms of accepted behaviors.”

Combatting the move is not easy and will not be quick, the secretary general acknowledged, noting that it is the nature of democracies to debate, deliberate and consider the options before making decisions. The NATO nations do this because “we value transparency and seek legitimacy for our choices, and because we see force as the last not the first resort,” he said.

NATO has condemned Russia’s military actions in Ukraine and is standing firmly behind the Ukrainian government in Kiev. The alliance also is making it clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to escalate the situation have consequences.

“As a first step, we have suspended joint planning for maritime escort mission for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons,” Rasmussen said. “This would have been the first joint operation of the NATO-Russia Council.”

NATO has suspended all staff-level civilian or military meetings with Russia, and the alliance is re-examining the entire range of NATO-Russia cooperation.

NATO foreign ministers will make decisions when they meet in Brussels early next month, the secretary general said. Still, the alliance will keep the door open for political dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council. He hopes this will give Russia the opportunity to engage.

On the military side, the alliance has increased readiness. More assets have been assigned to the Baltic air police mission, and NATO has launched surveillance flights over Poland and Romania.

All this is in addition to steps allies have taken to impose diplomatic and economic consequences. “These are not our preferred choices,” Rasmussen said, “but they are inevitable and appropriate consequences of Russia’s choices.”

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY September 5, 2009 ~ NATO Raid Kills 90 In Afghanistan, World Urges Probe Into Incident

DTN News: Afghanistan TODAY September 5, 2009 ~ NATO Raid Kills 90 In Afghanistan, World Urges Probe Into Incident

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) BRUSSELS, Belgium - September 5, 2009: World leaders call for a NATO probe into an air strike in Afghanistan, which resulted in 90 civilian causalities, as the incident could trigger a backlash against foreign troops.

A German KZO drone, or unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle, takes off from the German base outside Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jets blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban outside Kunduz, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said.

"I am very concerned by the reports we have seen this morning of casualties among civilians from an air strike against stolen trucks in Aliabad district of Kunduz Province," deputy UN envoy in Afghanistan, Peter Galbraith, remarked.

The United Nation official went on to add, "As an immediate priority, everything possible must be done to ensure that people wounded by this attack are being properly cared for and that families of the deceased are getting all the help they need."

This is while the Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday described the loss of civilian lives in any form as 'unacceptable'.

He underscored that representatives from the Interior Ministry and National Directorate of Security are commissioned to investigate how the incident took place. Moreover, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also pledged to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the lethal attack.

"The Afghan people should know that we are clearly committed to protecting them and that we will fully and immediately investigate this incident," Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for an 'urgent investigation' into the NATO air strike that killed as many as 90 people in Kunduz.

Afghan security forces stand guard near a burnt fuel tanker in Kunduz, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said.

"It's important that we are very open and clear about what happened and make sure that it doesn't happen again," Miliband told reporters in Stockholm.

If the civilian deaths are confirmed, the incident could reignite outrage against foreign troops in war-battered Afghanistan. Under new orders issued in July by the ISAF commander,

US Army General Stanley McChrystal, aircraft can only open fire if they can confirm no civilians are in danger or that the lives of coalition forces are not at stake.