FIDEL: "Yankee Response in the Hemisphere: the Fourth Fleet of Intervention"

[magbana]

TOPIC: Reflections by Cde. Fidel: Yankee response in the hemisphere: the
Fourth Fleet of intervention
http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba-Inside-Out/browse_thread/thread/1f123930dd21e6b6?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Mon, May 5 2008 1:23 pm
From: "Karen Lee Wald"


REFLECTIONS BY COMRADE FIDEL

Yankee response in the hemisphere: the Fourth Fleet of intervention

IT was created in 1943 to fight Nazi submarines and protect shipping during World War II. It was deactivated as unnecessary in 1950. The Southern Command was meeting the needs of United States hegemony in our region. However, it has been reborn in recent days, after 48 years, and its interventionist purposes do not need to be demonstrated. The military officials themselves, in their statements, are making that known naturally, spontaneously and even discreetly. The problems of food prices, energy, unequal trade, an economic recession in the market most important for their products, inflation, climate change and investments required for their consumerist dreams, are weighing down and consuming the time and energy of the leaders and the led.

The real case is that the decision to reestablish the Fourth Fleet was announced in the first week of April, almost a month after Ecuador's territory was attacked with bombs and U.S. technology and, by the latter's pressure, killing and injuring citizens from different countries, which prompted a profound condemnation by Latin American leaders at the Rio Group meeting in the capital of the Dominican Republic.

Even worse: this is coming at a time of almost unanimous opposition to the disintegration of Bolivia, advocated by the United States. The military officials themselves explain that they will have more than 30 countries under their responsibility, covering 15.6 million square miles in the waters adjoining Central and South America, the Caribbean Sea and its 12 islands, Mexico and the European territories on this side of the Atlantic.

The United States has 10 Nimitz class aircraft carriers, with parameters that tend to be more or less the same: full load displacement of 101,000 tons; a deck 333 meters long, with a width of 76.8 metros; 2 nuclear reactors; speed of up to 56 kilometers per hour; 90 war planes. The latter of these bears the name of George H. W. Bush, father of the current president; it has already been christened in champagne by its namesake, and should be ready to join the other ships in the coming months.

Not a single country in the world has ships similar to these, which are all equipped with sophisticated nuclear weapons and can approach any of our countries within a few miles. The next aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, will be a new class: Stealth technology, invisible to radar and electromagnetic weapons. The main builder of either type is Northrop Grumman, a company whose current president is also on the executive board of the U.S. oil company Chevron-Texaco. The cost of the last Nimitz was $6 billion, without including planes, missiles and operational costs, which could also rise into the billions. It's like a science fiction story. With that money, they could have saved the lives of millions of children.

What is the stated objective of the Fourth Fleet? "To combat terrorism and illegal activities such as drug trafficking," and to send a message to Venezuela and the rest of the region. It has been announced that it will begin operating this coming July 1st.

The head of the U.S. Southern Command, Admiral James Stavrides, said that his country needs to work harder in "the market of ideas, to win the hearts and minds" of the region's people.

The United States now has its 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th fleets deployed in the West Atlantic, East Pacific, Middle East, the Mediterranean and the East Atlantic, and West Pacific. The Fourth Fleet was the only one missing for guarding all of the planet's oceans. The total: nine Nimitz aircraft carriers on active duty or very close to being in complete combat readiness, like the George H. W. Bush. They have a reserve sufficient for tripling or even quadrupling the power of any of their fleets in any given theater of operations.

The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs being used to threaten our countries serve to sow terror and death, but not to fight terrorism or illegal activities.

They should also serve to bring shame to the empire's accomplices and increase solidarity among the peoples.

Translated by Granma International

Fidel Castro Ruz

May 4 de 2008

8 y 46 p.m.

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1. More Info on Fourth Fleet - USS George Wash in Brazilian Waters

The Return of the Fourth Fleet
May 10th 2008, by BBC

The U.S.S. George Washington is currently in Brazilian waters carrying out military exercises.
The U.S.S. George Washington is currently in Brazilian waters carrying out military exercises.

After 58 years, the United States Navy will reactivate the Fourth Fleet, which will be in charge of patrolling Latin American waters.

The fleet had been deactivated following the end of the Second World War, but starting July 1st of this year, U.S. naval forces will have a high level command specifically dedicated to supervising the projects of its units in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A U.S. military spokesperson pointed out to the BBC that this does not imply in itself an increase in U.S. military presence in the region.

Despite this, analysts assure that the measure has a symbolic significance that seeks to respond to the appearance of anti-U.S. regimes in the region.

From Florida

The fleet will be based in the city of Mayport, in the state of Florida, and will be under the command of the United States Southern Command, which is located in the city of Miami and directs all the country's military forces in Latin America.

Some see in this decision a response to the election of several governments in the region which have expressed policies contrary to those of the government in Washington.

Alejandro Sánchez, an analyst with the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a U.S. investigative organism, interprets the reactivation of the Fourth Fleet as a political decision, more than a military one.

"For the last few years, the United States was concentrated on Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently now it is trying to return to Latin America," he told the BBC.

With regard to the supposed U.S. military challenges in the region, Sánchez added: "Let's be honest. Even if Venezuela acquires a Russian submarine, or Brazil wants to develop a nuclear submarine, neither of these countries can present a military threat to the United States."

From the analyst's perspective, the U.S. navy's recent decisions demonstrate, among other things, that "no matter which Latin American country is in an arms race, they cannot compare to U.S. military power."

"This Does Not Increase Military Presence"

The official in charge of external relations for Southern Command Naval Forces is Lieutenant Myers Vásquez.

The BBC asked him why the Fourth Fleet was re-deployed in this moment.

"In reality, the U.S. naval forces of the Southern Command have been acting as a fleet, so from the operational point of view in the region, nothing has changed. Basically this is about changing the name of reality," assured the official.

He added that the measure is meant to better align the units with the maritime strategy of the United States.

"We will have a base working in conjunction with other components of the Southern Command," the military spokesperson indicated.

He denied that this necessarily increases the United States military presence in the region and presented the reactivation of the Fourth Fleet as an administrative type measure.

"We will continue the operations that we have been carrying out in the last two years, principally in the struggle against drug trafficking and in theatre of war security cooperation missions," he specified.

He stressed that the re-establishment of the Fourth Fleet also indicates the importance of Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States.

According to Vásquez, at this moment in Latin America 4 U.S. warships are committed to anti-drug trafficking missions, the George Washington aircraft carrier operates in the region, and the U.S.S. Boxer is currently involved in a humanitarian mission in Guatemala, which amount to a total of eight or nine ships.

Friendly Bases?

Analysts point out that one of the operational challenges confronting the U.S. military forces in the region is the difficulty of obtaining permission to operate bases in Latin America.

Sánchez recounts that the U.S. Air Force has been using the Ecuadorian Manta Base, but it is expected that after 2009, the Ecuadorian government will not renew Washington`s permit to operate there.

However, according to official information from the U.S. military, in the coming months several humanitarian missions and military exercises that involve U.S. naval units will be carried out.

For example, the Southern Command has organized a six-month operation called Partnership of the Americas.

"The ships will participate in a series of Security Cooperation Missions in operational theaters in such a manner as to circumnavigate South America, including military to military cooperation, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, joint training, exercises, and security operations, and maritime security," a Southern Command report states.

Special Operations

The Fourth Fleet will be united with other U.S. Navy divisions that are also assigned to specific geographic areas.

For example, the Seventh Fleet patrols East Asian waters, while the Sixth Fleet is located in the Mediterranean.

Until this year, the Second Fleet had been responsible for Latin America.

In command of the Fourth Fleet will be Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, who until now had been the Navy's Chief of Special Operations.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3427

http://snipurl.com/28dzm

[magbana]

2. BOREV weighs in, too , by showng what the idiot "experts" are saying

Beltway Bloviators: A Reader's Guide

How are you preparing for the results of the Magic Laptop diagnostic due out later this week? If you are one of the busy beavers in the Bush Administration, you're probably already ahead of the game by moving an entire fleet of warships into the region, armed with bombs, missiles, and plenty of heart! Agence France Presse tracked down three of Washington's douchiest commentators for their analysis, but which one is the most contemptible? We investigate, after the jump.

>>> National War College Professor Frank Mora is a vision of equivocation. You see, on the one hand, "The United States' obsession with Venezuela, Cuba and other things indicates they are going to use more military force, going to use that instrument more often," and yet on the other, perhaps "this is not about the United States trying to use this military instrument to invade or coerce any country, but to actually work together with other countries to deal with common threats and challenges."

So the fleet of armed warships is down there to either help the region cooperate...or to blow it up. Thanks, Professor Mora! That's what makes you a trusted D.C. expert.

>>> Retired Army Colonel Jay Cope wants you to stop worrying and love the nuclear aircraft carrier: "This doesn't have to be seen as some kind of deterrence, or as threatening things for countries. That's not the intent…We have got to compete with other countries of this world for our relationships with the countries of this hemisphere."

Well played, Col. Cope! Extra douche points for framing it in market terminology. Don't think of it as us threatening your little country, it's just the invisible hand at work!

>>> Peter Hakim of the Inter-American Monologue Dialogue wonders aloud why the U.S. hasn't been doing more of this sort of crap in recent years: "Is it because the US now recognizes Latin America is more mature, that it can deal with its problems on its own, and that it's giving it space to do so? Or is it that basically that the US doesn't care right now, it just doesn't feel threatened by all this? It's impossible to know at this point."

Oh, bravo, Peter Hakim. Not only do you compare an entire continent to a pubescent child, but you end wrap it up with a "who knows?" clause guaranteed to insulate you from future accountability. Truly a masterwork of arrogance and idiocy.

Wait, we can play this game, too: All three analyst demonstrate nauseating levels of cock-eyed ignorance laced with unwavering trust in the current administration, two hallmarks of beltway bloviation in its purist form. So are they all equally contemptible? It's impossible to know at this point.

http://www.borev.net/2008/05/beltway_bloviators_a_readers_g.html

http://snipurl.com/28e1m