Månad: april 2021

Has a new Cold War, this one pitting the United States against the People’s Republic of China, commenced? Rhetoric coming out of Washington, amplified by hawkish media commentary, appears to take a Second Cold War as a given, something perhaps even to be welcomed.

If Cold War II looms, how will it compare with its predecessor? Does the term “Cold War” aptly describe the contest now being joined? Or might the revival of the term itself represent a potentially fatal misstep? […]

Recall that at the onset of the original Cold War, the United States occupied an immensely advantageous global position. Apart from Washington’s well-honed capacity for waging war, those advantages have since diminished or disappeared altogether. The Biden administration’s stated ambitions, centered on repairing a badly frayed social fabric, amount to a tacit admission of that fact. President Biden can “build back better” or he can court a showdown with China. The days when the United States could do both are long gone. Läs artikel

An addict to force and invasion, the United States, a self-proclaimed ”shining city on the hill,” has long sought to justify its wanton military operations in the name of ”humanitarian intervention.”

The world’s sole superpower has long been the mastermind of a number of humanitarian disasters and in fact the creater of wars, turmoil and pains across the world. From directly waging wars to supporting proxy wars, from inciting domestic rebellion elsewhere to providing weapons and ammunition, and training anti-government armed forces, the United States has an appalling record of intervening in many countries by force.

Statistics suggest that from the end of World War II to 2001, there were at least 248 armed conflicts in the world, of which 201 were initiated by the United States, according to a recently published article titled ”Severe Humanitarian Disasters Caused by U.S. Aggressive Wars against Foreign Countries” by China Society for Human Rights Studies. Läs artikel

Etter en betydelig eskalering av konflikten mellom Ukraina og Russland de siste dagene er det grunn til å spørre seg om dette vil true verdensfreden. Det vil under alle omstendigheter true mange allianser og i verste fall starte en krig mellom landene som kan inkludere både de allierte av Russland og de allierte av Ukraina i vest ved NATO med USA i spissen. Her hjemme i Norge bør vi være bekymret. Konflikten handler om landområder, makt, sikkerhet og ikke minst historie. […]

Med Norge som en sterk partner i NATO og med tilsynelatende provoserende NATO øvelser også her hjemme, mot en ”tenkt fiende”, vil vi garantert bli involvert i en eventuelt storkrig. Norge som medlem i FNs Sikkerhetsråd bør gjøre alt for å dempe provoseringen fra alle sider og ikke la pandemien ta fokuset fra konflikten som kan føre til en storkrig langt verre enn COVID-19. Läs  krönikan

Litt etter litt er den store samling kinesiske fartøyer ved Juan Felipe Reef forsvunnet derfra. I dag mandag 12/4 morgen meldes i alt 26 kinesiske skip i hele området som benevnes Sør-Kinahavet. Det er 4 kystvaktskip, 2 fra maritim militia og 20 fiskefartøyer.

Hangarskipsgruppen Theodore Roosevelt viste seg 6.-7. april å ha drevet øvelser i Sør-Kinahavet sammen med det malayiske flyvåpen og marine. Det betyr at øvelsene må ha foregått ikke langt fra Malaysia og landets flystasjoner, utenfor kysten nord for landet. Det kan ha vært rimelig nær enten fastlandsdelen sør for Thailand eller nordvest for Borneo. Spratlygruppen ligger litt nord for der øvelsene må ha foregått.

Läs artikel

The U.S. and Norway signed a revised defense cooperation agreement Friday that will allow the Americans to build facilities at three airfields and one naval base in the country.

The agreement comes amid continuing concerns of Russian military activities along NATO’s borders, including in the Arctic region.

Facilities will be built at Rygge Military Air Station south of Oslo, Sola Military Air Station on the southwestern coast, and Evenes Military Air Station and Ramsund Naval Station in the far north.

The updated agreement “confirms Norway’s key position on the northern flank of NATO,” Foreign Affairs Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said. “To ensure that Norway and our Allies can operate together in a crisis situation under difficult conditions, we must be able to hold exercises and train regularly here in Norway.” The agreement gives the U.S. unimpeded access to specified facilities and areas, Norway’s government said. It does not change Norwegian policies that bar foreign forces from being stationed in the country. […]

The agreement has to be ratified by the Norwegian parliament before it takes effect. Läs artikel

Tilläggsavtalet kan läsas här.

[…] Biden has stated that the new sanctions against Russia announced today have been imposed for three reasons  — and all three of them are wrong.

The Solarwinds hack (which it does seem was most probably the work of Russia) is widely described as an “attack.” It wasn’t. No U.S. institutions or infrastructure were attacked. It was an espionage operation in cyberspace, of a kind that the United States has openly acknowledged carrying out against Russia and other states. All major states conduct this kind of espionage, and it has never previously been made a cause of sanctions. The Biden administration is therefore introducing a new and very dangerous factor into international relations. Moreover, America’s ally Israel has just carried out an open act of cyber-sabotage against Iran in a transparent effort to destroy U.S. talks with Iran  — without a word of Washington condemnation in response. Is this what a “ruled-based international order” looks like? Läs artikel

[…] So how should Washington respond to this situation, a middle power aligning itself more closely to America’s interests, aims, and vision than any other ally? As the former foreign minister and prime minister, Lord Palmerston famously said, “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.” But the more dramatic line came earlier in the same speech:

As to the romantic notion that nations or Governments are much or permanently influenced by friendships, and God knows what, why, I say that those who maintain those romantic notions, and apply the intercourse of individuals to the intercourse of nations, are indulging in a vain dream. The only thing which makes one Government follow the advice and yield to the counsels of another, is the hope of benefit to accrue from adopting it, or the fear of the consequences of opposing it. Läs artikel

Läs källan till citatet här.

The American Legion has now gone on record calling for an end to the “Forever Wars.” This is a major development in the fight for a more restrained foreign policy.

Despite its declining membership, The American Legion continues to be the largest and most powerful of the DC veterans advocacy organizations. And, while its advocacy power is most pronounced in veterans affairs, it maintains a commission dedicated to advocating for national security issues and can be influential given its status as a voice for military veterans and service members. […]

When a powerful beltway voice like The American Legion, with the credibility provided by two million veterans and their families behind it, calls for an end to two decades of war, it is clear that change is afoot in DC. Advocates of a restrained foreign policy are making major headway, despite the complaints of those who would have more American blood spilled and treasure spent in far-away places 20 years after the events that sent them there. Läs artikel

– Vi frykter at denne avtalen kan bidra til en videre uthuling av basepolitikken, og legge til rette for større og mer permanent utplassering av amerikanske styrker.

Det skriver Audun Lysbakken i en e-post til Forsvarets forum. Partilederen for SV mener samarbeidsavtalen regjeringen la fram fredag 16. april ikke er i Norges interesse, og at det kan uthule norsk basepolitikk. Det kan legge til rette for en mer permanent utplassering av amerikanske styrker, mener Lysbakken. […]

Overfor NTB sier partileder i Rødt at avtalen med USA vil være et brudd på norske basepolitikk.

– Regjeringa vil åpne for det som i praksis er amerikanske militærbaser på norske flyplasser. Läs artikel

Utenriksminister Ine Eriksen Søreide og forsvarsminister Frank Bakke-Jensen presenterte 16. april hovedtrekkene i tilleggsavtalen om militært samarbeid mellom Norge og USA. Avtalen ble undertegnet av Bakke-Jensen.

I den nye tilleggsavtalen er det definert fire satsingsområder – eller «omforente nærområder». Disse er Sola, Rygge, Evenes og Ramsund. Grunnen til at disse fire områdene pekes ut skal blant annet skyldes behovet for å styrke samarbeidet i lufta og på det maritime domenet. Det kan derfor bli aktuelt med ny USA-finansiert infrastruktur eller amerikanske investeringer på disse områdene.

Prosjekter innenfor de «omforente områdene» vil bli utviklet i dialog med USA, men oppstart forutsetter at midler blir tildelt over det amerikanske forsvarsbudsjettet. […]

Målet skal være at USA og andre allierte områder skal kunne benytte disse områdene. I noen av områdene vil det være en mulighet for at bare USA opererer. Läs artikel