Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara is ready to ask NATO for a military intervention in Syria, Press TV reports.

“I am ready to ask NATO for a military intervention in Syria,” Erdogan was quoted as saying on Monday.

The Turkish premier made the remarks in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, prior to his trip to Italy. He met with Slovenian President Danilo Turk in Ljubljana on Monday.

Erdogan also stated that the turmoil in Syria has to be brought to an end with the cooperation of international powers.

“We have been very patient with Syria issue so far,” he claimed.

The Monday remarks by the Turkish prime minister came as Syria held the first parliamentary elections under a new constitution approved by an overwhelming support of the people in a February referendum.

On May 6, Erdogan also expressed Turkey’s support for the Syrians seeking refuge in Turkey during a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border.

Over the past few months, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar expressed support for providing weaponry to the armed groups fighting against the Syrian government.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claimed on March 3 that the “international community’s message might be conveyed to the Syrian administration via certain methods including the arming of the Syrian National Council (SNC).”

On April 8, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan had not “submitted written guarantees from the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey on stopping their funding to terrorist groups.”

In the past seventeen years millions of troops from approximately 60 nations have served under NATO command in wars and post-war zones in several countries outside of the military bloc’s territory.

The NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia had 60,000 troops in 1995, the Kosovo Force 50,000 in 1999, the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan 140,000 at peak strength and smaller detachments have served with Operation Unified Protector in Libya, Operation Allied Harmony in Macedonia, Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean Sea and Operation Ocean Shield in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

With rotations, the number of troops serving under the alliance’s command in Southeastern Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East is likely in the millions. In 2010 the American commander of the Transit Center at Manas in Kyrgyzstan said that 55,000 NATO troops had been airlifted through that base to Afghanistan in May of that year, an annual rate of two-thirds of a million at a time when an estimated 140,000 of 152,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan were serving under NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

NATO forces have also been stationed in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan over the past decade.

Alliance naval forces conducted a six-month blockade of Libya last year and have participated in Active Endeavor since 2011 and in Ocean Shield (and its predecessor, Operation Allied Protector) since 2009.

Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 and Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 have participated in NATO operations and war games throughout the Mediterranean, have circumnavigated the African continent, sailed down the Atlantic coast of Canada and the U.S. and into the Caribbean Sea, held exercises in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Guinea, participated in NATO drills in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, and planned to cross the strategic Strait of Malacca to the South China Sea in 2009.

NATO has had from 1995 to the present day the opportunity to build an integrated international military force for ground, naval and air operations in current and future operations.

Last week NATO’s top military commander (Supreme Allied Commander Europe), U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, said the bloc has “140,000 troops around the world” engaged in ongoing operations in South and Central Asia, the Balkans, off the Horn of Africa and, residually, in North Africa.

Stavridis’ second-in-command at his other post, as chief of United States European Command – EUCOM’s deputy commander Navy Vice Admiral Charles Martoglio – stated the following to the Pentagon’s news agency on May 4:

“We have been alongside NATO, or NATO has been alongside us, for 10 years in Afghanistan and Iraq, We have a combat edge that has been honed by 10 years of working together in very challenging circumstances. ”

Although not a formal NATO operation, the war and occupation in Iraq received assistance from the alliance beforehand – deployment of Patriot interceptor missiles and AWACS surveillance aircraft to Turkey – and afterward, with NATO supporting the Multi-National Force – Iraq and operations in the Polish-led South Central zone and running the NATO Training Mission-Iraq. The first commander of the latter was current Central Intelligence Agency director and former ISAF commander David Petraeus.

Three-quarters of current NATO members states supplied troops for the Iraq war, all except for Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg and Turkey, which in most instances compensated by increasing their troop commitments to NATO in Afghanistan. Over a dozen NATO partnership program nations also sent troops to Iraq.

EUCOM’s deputy commander elaborated on his above-cited comments in stating:

“So as we come out of Iraq and Afghanistan, how do we sustain that combat edge over time, particularly when everybody’s budgets are being significantly constrained? Our job here [in Europe] is to sustain the strategic partnership, the NATO alliance – that most successful coalition in history – across these difficult financial times.”

Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, EUCOM’s deputy commander for plans, policy and strategy, spoke in a similar vein:

“The question is how do we preserve all the investment that’s been made over the last eight to 10 years – an investment of not just money, but blood and sweat, working together in both Iraq and Afghanistan?”

Admiral Martoglio placed emphasis of continuing exercises and other training with nations that have provided troops for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to consolidate integration and operational cohesiveness for future military actions. According to American Forces Press Service, he particularly stressed the need “to take new strategic partnerships forged with Eastern European nations to the next level, and to maintain other ISAF contributors’ high-end capabilities. ”

In his own words, “We have to look toward ensuring interoperability of those forces and routinely training together so that if we have to conduct high-end operations, we have the ability to work together from a technical perspective, and the skills to work together from a training perspective.”

For high-end operations read wars.

As the U.S. moves into new bases in the Asia-Pacific region and deploys more warships and warplanes to the Middle East, it can count on NATO to police Europe, the Mediterranean – North Africa and the western Middle East – the Horn of Africa and the South Caucasus on its behalf.

NATO has secured a mobile, integrated, combat-tested global expeditionary force for the West.

Interview with Daniel Ganser

No, not yet! But in two weeks I am presenting the Russian version of my book in Moscow.

We received evidence that the secret army had actually existed, at least until the beginning of the 90s. And still there is no reason to believe it was dismissed.

Can you add some important details to the above-mentioned?

Historians say that in fact this army conducted acts of terror, aimed at changing the political course of one or another country, consistently dissociating it from the USSR and Eastern Europe. So, on August 2, 1980, a bomb exploded in the waiting room of a railway station in Bologna, which took the lives of 85 people. 200 people received injuries of varying severity.

At first, the Italian police attributed this terrorist act to the Red Brigades, but ultimately Gladio was pronounced guilty. A month and a half later, during Oktoberfest in Munich, there was another act of terror. Colonel Klaus Fishner, a former employee of the counter-intelligenc e service of Stasi, said: “The task was to create tension in NATO countries and to suppress any political left-wing deviation.” As we can see, that was the mission, aimed at justifying the existence of the secret army.

German historian Erich Schmidt-Eenboom affirms that in Germany a considerable part of the secret army, about 25%, was recruited from former members of the SS.

The general public is well-acquainted with the film “The Bourne Identity.” Only people do not know that the mysterious organization Dread Stone that stood behind the anonymous American political killers and was housed in Langley, has a real terrible prototype. And this is Gladio.

“You fasten the triggers for others to fire,

Then you sit back and watch,

When the death count gets higher.

You hide in your mansion

As young people’s blood

Flows out of their bodies

And is buried in mud.” (“Masters of War”, Bob Dylan, 1941- )

Humanitarian Awards are surely taking on a whole new meaning. The end of April brought the obscenity of the announcement that Madeleine Albright, a woman prepared to sacrifice children by proxy(i) was to be awarded America’s highest honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her role as a long time champion of democracy and human rights all over the world.

In the same twenty four hours, an announcement was made that Britain’s Prince Harry is to receive a special award for his “humanitarian work.”

The ”Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership” award: “recognizes outstanding achievement” and is presented annually by the Atlantic Council. Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, have been jointly nominated, with Prince Harry traveling to Washington to accept on behalf of both, on 7th May.

Madeleine Albright’s latest honour for her services to humanity, has been awarded to others who compete admirably with her dedication. They include such peerless war mongers as Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, General Colin Powell, whose pack of lies to the United Nations (February 2003) initiated Iraq’s destruction – and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair whose offices and officers provided those lies.

That human dove of peace, Dick Cheney has been a recipient, as has his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Perez and General Norman “No one left to kill” Schartzkopf, to name a few.

Fellow recipient of the Award with Albright is Bob Dylan. Funny world..

Prince William and Harry are both in the armed forces (between social engagements.) In a career move that has been dubbed by many: “a cynical PR stunt”, William flies Naval Rescue helicopters. Seemingly it no longer looks good for a future king to kill people. Harry clearly faces no such trying constraints.

Deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2007, he reportedly lurked safely, deep in a bunker, out of harms way, surrounded by a phalanx of armed Royal Protection Officers (ii) whilst playing at being a Forward Air Controller, who remotely (in all senses of the word) guide in aircraft to attack the locals.

There is not alone an irony, but a terrible deviance, about a supremely privileged young man, whose entire upbringing has been in palaces, castles and most elite of schools, calling in aircraft to destroy peasant farmers, in remote, poverty stricken villages – along with their subsistence livilihood and simple adobe homes.

There is a further irony in that his “child within” knows loss. At thirteen he walked behind his mother, Princess Diana’s coffin, as it was transported for her funeral, after her death in Paris in an appalling car crash, with her Muslim lover – some say fiancée – Dodi al Fayad.

Freud might have had something to say of his display of Crusading contempt for the people of Afghanistan – 99% Muslim population – just before he was hurriedly whisked out of the country for his safety in January 2008, once the media had exposed that he was there. His attitude, “day job” and his fleeing, beneath contempt. If Albright sacrificed children by proxy, the Prince, arguably, killed them by proxy.

Back home he and his brother have their own households, with flunkies to provide, and an aristocratic titled adviser to oversee the all and their lives.

Now his delayed return to Afghanistan to hone his killing skills, is seeming more imminent. He will be more hands on, having been awarded his Apache Flying Badge, so he can return and dissect living beings from an air born, mass human shredder of obscene and terrifying destructive power.

That the two Princes have established a charity to aid needy children in Africa, whist has been involved in orphaning, maiming and ending fledgling lives in Afghanistan, and now returning, is surely a near schitzophrenic perversity.

The Atlantic Council presentation for the pair’s humanitarian endeavors however is “for efforts in championing” others soldiers involved in invading and killing in two decimated lands which posed no threat to anyone, yet alone far away Britain and America.

Prince Harry: “is being recognized (with The Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership trinket) for support to Forces charities like Walking With The Wounded, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and Help For Heroes.” All of which are funded with the sort of moneys which would help the maimed, destitute and traumatized in the countries the Charity’s beneficiaries have helped destroy, back to normality for many years.(eg: iii)

A St James’s Palace spokesperson commented:“Prince Harry will use the award to pay tribute to British and American veterans’ charities for their achievements in helping to rehabilitate wounded servicemen and women, and to reintegrate those who have served in the armed forces into civilian life.”

No such helping and rehabilitation for their Afghan or Iraqi victims.

The Prince, however is in good company. Previous presentations of the Awards have included Madeleine Albright’s philandering, Iraq strangulating boss, William Jefferson Clinton; President George W. “Crusader” Bush, wanted by many for Crimes Against the Peace;Tony Blair; Henry Kissinger of course – and General Colin Powell (2005, just two years after his serial misleading of the UN.)

Blair’s acceptance speech air-brushed out “Shock and Awed”, destitute Iraqis and Afghans and blathered on about: “commitment to freedom … economically, politically, culturally …”

Brent Scowcroft, Former National Security Advisor and Atlantic Council Director lauded Colin Powell’s: “wisdom, sagacity, integrity …” Powell of course responded by talking of: “Peace and freedom … respect for human rights …”

Sponsors of this peaceful and freedom loving establishment run in to several pages (iv) but include the US Departments of the Air Force, Navy, Defence and Energy, and Los Alamos National Laboratory which brought the world the atomic bombs, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In the October of that year the Laboratory received the “Army-Navy ‘E” Award” for “excellence in production.”(v)

Another sponsor is the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory whose development aimed originally to: “spur innovation and provide competition to nuclear weapons design at Los Alamos.” It also brought the world the Polaris nuclear armed submarine.

NATO and Lockheed Martin are on the roll of honour, as Raytheon and SAIC ($2.6 Billion in trade with the Department of Defence in 2003, year of the invasion of Iraq.) SAIC’s Management team include Bill Clinton, a clutch of former US Defence Secretaries and former UN Iraq Weapons Inspector David Kay, who continued his fruitless hunt for Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction after the Iraq invasion, when the US-UK coalition was using them.

General Dynamics is at the table, so to speak, as is Boeing and Dow Chemical, which swallowed up Union Carbide, which brought the world the 1984 Bhopal disaster. Exact casualty numbers have never been established relating to Bhopal, but upper figures are fifteen thousand dead and over half a million medically affected, still ongoing.(vi)

The Atlantic Council lists its “ Important contributions” as including:

“The process of NATO transformation and enlargement” and “drafting roadmaps for U.S. policy towards the Balkans, Africa, Cuba, Iraq, Iran and Libya.”

No “E” for Excellence Award for the Balkans and Iraq, watch out Africa and Cuba. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, under whose watch and UNSCR 1973 Libya was largely destroyed by NATO’s “Humanitarian Intervention”, is a fellow recipient of this year’s Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership Awards.

It can only be hope this joyous occasion is not sullied by the Prince’s lack of respect for cultural diversities and that he is sparing with the liquid refreshment. Hopefully he will also dress suitably .

One episode, when he dressed in a Nazi uniform complete with Swastika arm band, caused Royal Photographer, Arthur Edwards to write: “Where were his father and the highly-paid courtiers who advise this young man? Who let him drive out of (Highgrove House, his father, Prince Charles’ Residence) dressed this way? Smoking cannabis, late-night drinking and brawling with paparazzi could be explained away as the errors of youth. But Harry, what must you have been thinking when you put on that armband?”(vii)

This was shortly before his Uncle, Prince Edward, was to attend the commemorations of the liberation of Auschwitz, representing the Queen.

Incidentally, Prince Harry’s Award is to be presented by Colin Powell and Ban Ki-Moon’s by Henry Kissinger.

In all, mind stretching stuff. Oh to be a fly on the wall.

Notes

i. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30612  

ii. http://www.eliteukforces.info/police/RDPD/  

iii. http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/how_we_spend.html  

iv. http://www.acus.org/about/sponsors

v.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Livermore_National_Laboatory  

vi. http://www.bhopal.org/what-happened/  

vii. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/101247/Prince-wears-Nazi-regalia.html