-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: August 8, 2007 1:01:44 AM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Russia & China Begin JOINT Military Exercises in Eurasia
The Times
August 6, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2204006.ece
‘Rival to Nato’ begins first military exercise
Tony Halpin in Moscow
Russian and Chinese troops are joining forces this week in the
first military exercises by an international organisation that is
regarded in some quarters as a potential rival to Nato.
Thousands of soldiers and 500 combat vehicles will take part in
“Peace Mission 2007”, organised by the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. Russian
officials have also proposed an alliance between the SCO and a body
representing most of the former Soviet republics.
Scores of Russian and Chinese aircraft begin joint exercises
tomorrow before a week of military manoeuvres from Thursday that
will include Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. At least 6,500
troops are involved in what is described as an antiterror exercise.
Colonel-General Vladimir Moltenskoi, the deputy commander of
Russian ground forces, said: “The exercise will involve practically
all SCO members for the first time in its history.”
Staff officers from Uzbekistan, the sixth SCO member, will also
attend in what is being regarded as a major extension of the
organisation’s capabilities. The SCO was founded as a nonmilitary
alliance in 2001 to combat drugs and weapons smuggling as well as
terrorism and separatism in the region. It has since developed a
role in regional trade and is increasingly regarded by Moscow and
Beijing as a counterweight to US global influence.
The secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty
Organisation (CSTO) called last week for joint military exercises
with the SCO. Nikolai Bordyuzha said that the body representing
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan should work with the SCO to guarantee security across
the region. Mr Bordyuzha has already announced a CSTO plan to
create a large military force capable of assisting a member state
in the event of an attack. A rapid-reaction force is already based
in Central Asia and there are plans for a common air defence system
covering most of the former Soviet Union.
Leaders of SCO member states will meet in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz
capital, next week for their annual summit. Turkmenistan will also
attend for the first time, while Mongolia, Iran, India and Pakistan
have observer status.
Igor Ivanov, the head of Russian security, played down concerns in
May that the SCO was evolving into a military alliance to counter
the expansion of Nato into Asia as part of the War on Terror.
But MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee expressed fears
last year that the West could be on a collision course in the
struggle for energy resources with “an authoritarian bloc opposed
to democracy” that was based on an alliance between China and Russia.
A newly assertive Russia, flush with oil and gas revenues, is
moving rapidly to increase its military capability amid tensions
with the West over missile defence and Nato expansion. Almost £100
billion has been set aside for rearmament over the next eight years.
At the ready
$24.9bn Russian defence budget 2006
395,000 on active service in army
142,000 in active service in navy
160,000 on active service in air force $35.3bn Chinese defence budget
$35.3bn Chinese defence budget
1.6m Army
255,000 Navy
400,000 Air force
$535bn US defence budget
595,946 Army
376,750 Navy
347,400 Air force
Source: International Institute for Strategic Studies
Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
