British Navy Completes Training Mission in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Britain on May 22 concluded its naval training mission in Iraq, more than eight years after it contributed the second largest contingent of troops to the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Despite having pulled out the vast majority of its troops in mid-2009, the Royal Navy has continued to train Iraqi personnel to defend their territorial waters and offshore oil installations.

"Their contribution was most appreciated and valuable," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. "They have given many sacrifices to stabilize [Iraq] and they were the second-largest force of the coalition.
"Mistakes were made, not only by them, but by all of us," Zebari added, declining to give specific details. "But that doesn't diminish their valuable contribution to training, capacity building and, recently, for the protection of our oil ports at the tip of the Gulf."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a text message that the British naval training mission had "finished" and, when asked to confirm that there were no more British soldiers or sailors left in Iraq, he replied: "Yes."
About 46,000 British troops were deployed to Iraq in March and April 2003, at the height of combat operations that resulted in Saddam's overthrow and eventual execution for crimes against humanity.
In the aftermath of the invasion, the country was engulfed in a brutal sectarian war which peaked in 2006 and 2007. Tens of thousands of Iraqis died.
Violence has since declined, but attacks remain common.
A total of 179 British personnel died in Iraq in the past eight years.
A small number of service personnel will remain at the British embassy in Baghdad.
"The actual U.K. maritime agreement comes to an end today but pretty much everyone was out [May 19 and 20]," a British defence ministry spokesman said.
"The actual guys came out a couple of days ago."
He added: "There's a few staff left in the diplomatic corps but the deployment of military personnel has finished."
London formally ended military operations in Iraq in April 2009, and pulled out its forces in July that year, but has since been involved in the bilateral naval training mission.
That same year, then-prime minister Gordon Brown opened an independent inquiry into Britain's role in the invasion and its aftermath. The inquiry is expected to issue a final report later this year.
The Royal Navy's role has involved training 1,800 Iraqi personnel on 50 different courses ranging from oil platform defense to handling small arms as part of efforts to secure Iraq's southern oil export terminals, through which the vast majority of its crude exports pass.
About 90 percent of Baghdad's government revenues come from oil sales.
British forces will continue to support NATO's officer training program, while some Iraqi soldiers will attend the army's officer training college at Sandhurst.
Most of Britain's troops were based in the predominantly Shiite southern port city of Basra.
Basra, Iraq's third-largest city and a strategic oil hub, had been under British command since the 2003 invasion, but the province and its airport returned to Iraqi control in 2009.
The withdrawal comes 52 years after Britain's previous exit from Iraq, in May 1959, when the last soldiers left Habbaniyah air station near the western town of Fallujah, ending a presence that dated back to 1918.
It also comes with just months to go before a year-end deadline for the 45,000 U.S. troops still stationed here to withdraw from Iraq under the terms of a bilateral security pact.

Pakistan Asks China to Build Naval Base in Nation

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan wants China to build a naval base at a deep-sea port in southwestern Baluchistan province, its defense minister said May 22, while also inferring that Washington was a fair-weather friend.

Ahmad Mukhtar, who accompanied Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during a recent visit to China, said the request was made during the trip, when Pakistan thanked Beijing for constructing Gwader Port, on the Arabian Sea.

"However, we would be more grateful to the Chinese government if a naval base was being constructed at the site of Gwader for Pakistan," Mukhtar said in a statement.
The deep-sea port was around 75 percent financed by China, which Pakistan has been trying to draw in as a strategic partner, especially since the discovery and U.S. killing on May 2 of Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad.
The commando raid rattled U.S.-Pakistan relations, with American politicians angered at how the al-Qaida leader had managed to conceal that he was living barely two hours from the Pakistani capital.
Gilani and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao have both made a point of lauding mutual ties, just as Pakistan finds itself under pressure about whether its security services knew where bin Laden was.
"China is an all-weather friend and the closest ally of Pakistan, and it could be judged from the fact that in whichever sectors Pakistan requested assistance during PM's recent visit to China, they immediately agreed with Pakistan," the defense minister's statement said.
India, however, has voiced "serious concern" about defense ties between China and Pakistan and said it would need to bolster its own military capabilities in response.
New Delhi's comments follow reports that China plans to accelerate supply of 50 new JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat jets to Pakistan.
Pakistan also last week opened a nuclear power plant in central Punjab province with Chinese help and said Beijing had been contracted to construct two more reactors.

Russia Softens Stance on U.S. Missile Shield

MOSCOW - Russia on May 21 said it may be ready to drop its objections to the U.S.-backed missile defense shield for Europe if it receives a formal security pledge from the United States.
The comments by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggest an easing of Moscow's position and precede a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of G8 summit in France next week.

Lavrov said during talks with the German and Polish foreign ministers that missile defense negotiations with the United States and NATO were "progressing but slowly."
"We are proposing, and asking for it to be put in writing, that the missile defense system for Europe is not directed against any of the participating states - not NATO, Russia or other European states," Lavrov said.
"We are told there is no need to get this down in writing because this is inherently the case," he told a televised news conference.
"But if it is inherently not aimed against Russia, why not write [that] down?" he asked.
Lavrov's nuanced language appears aimed at easing tensions between Washington and Moscow on the eve of the Group of Eight summit talks May 26 and 27.
Russia previously sought veto power in the system's operation - a subject not broached by Lavrov.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used a closely watch pre-election television appearance this week to warn the United States of a return to the Cold War should the shield be constructed despite Russia's objections.
And the chief of the military's general staff warned May 20 that the shield's deployment could lead to a "mad arms race."
Russia's tough talk and decision to test two heavy nuclear missiles in the past month underscore a fear in Moscow that the Obama administration is paying lip service to the "reset" in relations announced by Washington in 2009.
The United States argues that the shield is meant only to protect Europe from nations such as Iran but has said nothing about Russian security safeguards.
Analysts note that Moscow is primarily worried the system will leave a permanent stamp on the security map of Europe and formalize the reduced role Russia plays in the post-Cold War world.
The shield could theoretically be expanded to sizes that one day neutralize Russia's shrinking nuclear arsenal, or transformed into an offensive weapon that target its soil.
"This issue is so serious that we cannot ignore a single detail," Lavrov said.
But he stressed that Moscow saw itself joining the systems under the right conditions.
Russia envisioned "a joint concept and architecture of a future European missile defense system," Lavrov said.
"We hope that we will be able to resolve these issues - at least at the expert level."

Joint Strike Fighter Makes First Public Appearance

The U.S. Defense Department's embattled F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) made its first public air-show appearance May 21 at Joint Base Andrews, Md., just outside of Washington.
An F-35C variant aircraft flew alongside an F/A-18 Hornet chase plane during a single pass before disappearing into the distance. Both the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps will operate the C-model aircraft from the Navy's large deck carriers.

The jet was flying with Lt. Cmdr. Eric "Magic" Buus at the controls as part of a commemoration marking 100 years of naval aviation.
After the flyover pass, the F-35C and its Hornet chase plane continued with their planned test sortie, said Joe DellaVedova, a spokesman for the JSF program office who was in attendance alongside program manager Vice Adm. David Venlet.
Both planes were flown out of Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., which serves as the Navy's main flight test center.

India Worried By Growing China-Pakistan Ties

NEW DELHI - India views with "serious concern" growing defense ties between China and Pakistan, and says it will have to bolster its own military capabilities to meet the challenge.
"It is a matter of serious concern for us. The main thing is we have to increase our capability - that is the only answer," Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters in New Delhi on May 20.

The comments followed reports China plans to accelerate supply of 50 new JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat jets to Pakistan under a co-production pact.
Antony added safe havens for militants in Pakistan is another "main concern" for New Delhi and told Islamabad to "disband and destroy" all guerrilla outfits if it "sincerely" wants to improve relations with India.
The killing by U.S. commandos of Osama bin Laden, who was hiding out near the Pakistani capital Islamabad, has "internationally stamped the nation's position as the core of terrorist activities in the South Asian region," he said.
India has long accused Pakistan of providing shelter and support to militant groups planning attacks on Indian soil and has pushed the global community - the United States in particular - to censure Pakistan.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars since attaining independence in 1947, two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Antony declined to comment on remarks by senior Indian military leaders that India has the capability to launch a strike like the one the U.S. carried out in Pakistan to kill bin Laden.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India would not undertake such a strike.
But a leaked diplomatic cable published earlier in the week quoted India's home minister as saying in 2009 that India would have to respond to another attack on its soil by Pakistan-based militants.
Discussing the prospect of another raid after the Mumbai 2008 assault which killed 166 people, home minister P. Chidambaram said, "The people of India will expect us to respond," according to the WikiLeaks website.
Antony added that India may sign a contract to buy 126 fighter jets for its air force by the end of March 2012.
"This fiscal [year] ends on March 31, 2012. The deal can happen before that," Antony said.
Last month, India short-listed France's Dassault Aviation SA and European consortium Eurofighter GmbH for the contract. The deal, estimated at $10 billion, is considered the biggest of its kind globally in the past 15 years.
India has allocated 1.64 trillion rupees ($3.6 trillion) for the defense sector in the fiscal year through March, up from 1.47 trillion last year.
The budget is nearly double the 890 billion rupees in the 2006-07 year.

Pakistan Awaits 50 Jets Made With China: Minister

BEIJING - Pakistan hopes to take delivery within the next six months of 50 JF-17 fighter jets manufactured jointly with China, Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said May 20 during a visit to Beijing.
Mukhtar made the comments on the sidelines of a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was wrapping up a four-day visit to China - his country's long-time ally.

"We think there is a good deal," said Mukhtar, who put the price of each JF-17, or Thunder, aircraft at $20 million to $25 million "as compared to $80 million for the F-16", a U.S.-built jet also used by Pakistan's air force.
Mukhtar did not explicitly say whether the deal had been finalized, but it appeared that the agreement was nearing completion.
Further details of the deal were not made public but the agreement was apparently discussed during the visit by Gilani, who met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao earlier in the week.
China is Pakistan's main arms supplier and a close ally of Islamabad.
Pakistan's air force has a fleet of Chinese aircraft, including F-7PGs and A-5s, but also F-16s and French Mirages.
The neighbors began developing the JF-17 together in 1999 and has said it wants 250 of the jets. In November, Islamabad said it would buy Chinese missiles and flight systems for the jets, Chinese state media reported.

China 'To Target 1,800 Missiles at Taiwan In 2012'

TAIPEI - The number of Chinese missiles targeted at Taiwan is likely to reach 1,800 next year, despite improving ties between the former arch-rivals, Taiwanese media said May 20.
The Liberty Times newspaper cited a military intelligence report as providing the forecast.

Taiwanese experts have estimated that China currently has more than 1,600 missiles aimed at the island, mostly deployed in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces in the mainland's southeast.
The report followed comments made by Taiwan's top intelligence chief Tsai Teh-sheng in March, saying that China was targeting Taiwan with a "new type of powerful missile" known as Dongfeng 16.
"Its range is longer, and it increases the threat to Taiwan," Tsai said then, without giving further details of the weapon or the number that have been deployed so far.
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have eased since Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan's president in 2008 on a China-friendly platform.
However, Beijing still refuses to renounce the possible use of force against the island, which has ruled itself since the end of a civil war in 1949, should it declare formal independence.
The Pentagon said in an annual report to Congress last year that China's military build-up against Taiwan had "continued unabated" despite improving political relations.
Taiwan's defense ministry was not immediately available for comment.