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2000 syriske leiesoldater utsendt av Tyrkias president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hundrevis av russiske leiesoldater som trolig er styrt av president Vladimir Putin, 3000 soldater fra Sudan og 30-40 tyrkiske rådgivere. Dette er litt av den militære smørja i det borgerkrigsherjede Libya.[…]

I går avholdt EU et toppmøte om Libya i Berlin. En slutterklæring slo fast at det må en diplomatisk løsning til, og at våpenhvilen – som bare eksisterer på papiret – må fortsette.

Alt har gått til helvete i Libya siden den NATO-ledede flystyrken, der Norge var med, sørget for å få landets diktator Moammar Kadhafi styrtet i 2011.

Om det er kaotiske tilstander rundt den syriske borgerkrigen, er det ikke noe bedre i Libya. Mange frykter at det olje- og gassrike landet nå kan bli et nytt Syria, etter en borgerkrig som har vart i snart ni år. […]

EU prøver å få til en fredsløsning i Libya, ikke minst for å stanse flyktningstrømmen som går via landet. Men det skal mer til enn et møte i Berlin for å få i stand en levedyktig fredsprosess. Läs artikel

Framsteg görs om Libyen, javisst. Men fortsatt press behövs på parterna, konstateras sedan EU:s utrikesministrar diskuterat krisen på andra sidan Medelhavet. Svenskt deltagande kan bli aktuellt i en eventuell framtida EU-insats. […]

Libyens premiärminister Fayez al-Sarraj har bett om “internationella skyddsstyrkor” i det krigshärjade landet. Fast dit är det ännu långt.

– Först måste vi ha en vapenvila. Vi kan inte övervaka något som inte ens existerar, konstaterade FN-chefen António Guterres i söndags efter helgens Libyendiskussioner i Berlin.

Sveriges utrikesminister Ann Linde säger ungefär detsamma på frågan om ett potentiellt svenskt deltagande.

– Det är alldeles för tidigt att säga det ännu, men om det kommer ett sådant förslag så kommer vi att titta på det och diskutera det i riksdagen, naturligtvis, säger Linde i samband med måndagens EU-utrikesministermöte i Bryssel. […]

– Man måste komma några steg vidare i processen innan man kan börja tala om något eventuellt EU-förslag. Vi är inte där ännu. Det kan vara allting från gränsstyrkor eller fredsbevarande och alla möjliga saker som finns i EU:s verktygslåda, säger Ann Linde. Läs artikel

[…] Question: What role do you see Europe playing going forward? Will there be a monitoring mission with European troops?

Answer: Well, I’m very worried by the fact that several ports, several harbors from where oil is exported, have been blocked and that one very important oil field is also stopping after today. […]

But first, we need to have a ceasefire. We cannot monitor something that doesn’t exist. So we need to have a ceasefire. We have a truce, and one simple question is that all the participants today committed to support the ceasefire and committed to put pressure on the parties to conflicts for a full ceasefire to be reached.

Second, once we have a successful ceasefire, we need to have a long talk about how monitoring can be established in different ways. It will of course, require discussion with the parties to the conflict that will be accepted by the parties to the conflict and it will require that eventually the Security Council agree on a decision and, obviously, eventually, several international organizations will be involved, it’s early to say. […]

Question: What was achieved today that was different from before?

We have witnessed for months and months the progressive escalation of the conflict. But that escalation has reached in the last few days, a very dangerous dimension.

Now, we have an escalation of the Libyan conflict with some foreign interference. We were facing the risk of a true regional escalation and that risk was averted in Berlin provided of course that it is possible to maintain the truce and that it will lead to a ceasefire. But that escalation that was taking place and was becoming extremely dangerous, today there is a strong commitment to stop it. And this is a very important result of the Berlin Conference.

Question: There’s already a Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo in Libya, why was this communiqué necessary?

We are witnessing something that is totally unacceptable. It’s a constant violation of international law. Security Council resolutions that are not being respected. So I am totally convinced that the members of the Security Council need to assume their responsibilities for the body itself to be taken seriously in the context of the Libyan conflict. Läs intervjun

Conference conclusions:

1.          Today’s Berlin Conference on Libya, at the invitation of German Chancellor Merkel, has gathered the Governments of Algeria, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, the Republic of the Congo, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and High Representatives of the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, and the League of Arab States.

2.          We, the participants, note the Co-Chair’s statement on the political, security and humanitarian situation in Libya of the meeting at Foreign Ministers’ level convened by France and Italy on the margins of the 74th General Assembly of the UN in New York on 26 September 2019.

3.          We reaffirm our strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya. Only a Libyan-led and Libyan owned political process can end the conflict and bring lasting peace. Läs dokumentet

[…] Alla de åtta riksdagspartierna i Försvarsberedningens var i maj 2019 eniga om att främst stärka armén. Men enligt det förslag som ÖB lämnade till regeringen den 15 november så kan endast hälften av Försvarsberedningens förslag genomföras till 2025.

I botten finns en grundläggande skillnad mellan politiken och myndigheten. Enligt Försvarsberedningens rapport Värnkraft ska försvaret “kunna möta väpnat angrepp mot Sverige inklusive krigshandlingar på svenskt territorium”. Därför satsas på att bygga ut armén, “den gröna” förvarsgrenen. Försvarsmakten, däremot, vill “först och främst utgöra en tröskel” för en angripare. Sveriges “territoriella integritet” upprätthålls av de “de blå” försvarsgrenarna marinen och flygvapnet. Först i andra hand kommer försvaret mot väpnat angrepp, enligt Försvarsmaktens yttrande.

– Det här är våra prioriteringar. Om man läser uppdraget från regeringen så handlar det om att vi ska gå in och ge våra prioriteringar. Och det är det vi har gjort, säger Micael Bydén om skillnaden.

– Generellt så är det ungefär halva ambitionen som nås 2025 och 75 procent 2030 med angiven ekonomi. Då får vi skjuta saker framåt när det gäller tillväxttakten. I grund och botten har vi inte plockat bort något, säger ÖB.[…]

I viktiga frågor tar ÖB råd av Försvarsmaktsledningen (FML). Trots att armén är största försvarsgrenen så domineras FML av personer med ”blå” bakgrund. Läs artikel

Spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, revealed the mechanism for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, pointing out that the US has not yet set a date for the withdrawal of its forces.

Khalaf announced in statements on Friday, that the Iraqi government submitted a request to the United Nations for the withdrawal of international forces combating Daesh, according to a memorandum sent by the former foreign minister, Ibrahim Al-Jaafari. Khalaf also stressed that Iraq will not have any financial and political commitment, as a result of these forces’ withdrawal from its territories. He explained that the Iraqi authorities issued an order on 3 January prohibiting the flight of aircrafts of the international coalition in its airspace.

Accordingly, the radar signal was withdrawn from these forces. “However, these forces have gone beyond their duties and carried out bombings of foreigners and Iraqis, which necessitated the Foreign Ministry to summon the US ambassador to Baghdad to denounce this behaviour.”

Khalaf confirmed that Iraq is a member state of the international coalition. He insisted that any movement at the level of air sorties through Iraqi airspace take place only after the approval of the local government, which he states: “Has recently been surprised by the air strike carried out by US aircrafts in Qa’im, resulting in the deaths and injuries of 90 victims from the support forces of the Iraqi army, under the pretext of targeting an armed faction in the region.” Läs artikel

[…] Canada will respect any decision by the Iraqi government to expel foreign troops from the country, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Friday, even as reports suggested the United States was considering sanctions and cuts to military aid should Baghdad give American forces the boot.

Speaking to reporters by phone during a visit to the Middle East, where he met with some of the hundreds of Canadian troops participating in the five-year fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Sajjan said Canada wants to continue its military training efforts in Iraq.

However, he added: “We are there at the request of the Iraqi government. If they were to change that, we do have to respect that.”[…]

Canada’s mission in Iraq has two main elements. One involves about 200 troops who have been training local forces through NATO to fight ISIL. A similar number of special forces have been working separately with Iraqi counter-terrorist units as part of the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition.

Both elements saw their missions suspended last week, with orders for the troops to hunker down on military bases or, in some cases, relocate to Kuwait, over fears Iran or its proxies would retaliate for the U.S.’s having killed Iran’s most important general, Qassem Soleimani. Läs artikel

Spenningen stiger i Persiabukta, men forsvarsminister Frank Bakke-Jensen avviser at det er aktuelt å sende norske marineskip til området. Norske soldater i Irak blir værende inntil videre. […]

Norge har ennå ikke svart på henvendelsen, og det er heller ikke aktuelt å gi et svar nå, sier Bakke-Jensen.

– Vi har ikke vurdert at vi kan bidra med noe nede i Hormuz per nå, sier han.[…]

Det har vært stor usikkerhet om Nato-styrkene i Irak etter at USA drepte den iranske generalen Qasem Soleimani i Bagdad forrige fredag. Tyske myndigheter ga i går ordre om å trekke ut deler av den tyske kontingenten i landet, og det har de siste dagene kommet flere ulike meldinger om de amerikanske soldatene i Irak skal ut eller ikke. […]

– Vi avventer en eventuell kontakt med irakiske myndigheter, hvis det skal komme endringer i det oppdraget vi har nede i Irak, sier han.[…]

Forsvarsministeren holdt mandag kveld foredrag i Oslo Militære Samfund. I foredraget advarte han mot en utvikling der rivaliseringen mellom stormaktene i verden gjør livet vanskeligere for et lite land som Norge. Små land som Norge kan «risikere å miste innflytelse og sikkerhet fordi stormaktene tar seg mer til rette», sa Bakke-Jensen i talen.

– Når det blir større rivalisering mellom stormaktene, så vil konsekvensene for et lite land være at man kan komme i skvis, forklarer han. Läs artikel

A conservative veterans’ group backed by the Koch family is launching a multimillion-dollar ad blitz in three presidential battleground states Thursday, seeking to tap into rising public support for withdrawing all American troops from Afghanistan.

The appeal organized by Concerned Veterans for America — “Tell Washington it’s time to bring our troops home!” — marks a new and more aggressive effort to roust voters in both parties to demand an end to the United States’ longest war, which has killed nearly 2,400 U.S. troops since 2001, including two more who died in a blast last weekend. […]

“We’ve been engaged for 18 years in Afghanistan,” said CVA Executive Director Nate Anderson, a former Army Green Beret. “That is an injustice both to the shrinking population of men and women who wear the uniform, willing to put their lives on the line, as well as the American taxpayers who pay the bill for that.”

“The public opinion on this issue shows very clearly that the majority of American people, including veterans, would be supportive of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan,” he added. Läs artikel