by Rick Rozoff
June 9, 2010
from
GlobalResearch Website
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Baku, the capital
of Azerbaijan, on June 6, meeting with President Ilham Aliyev on that
day and on the following with Defense Minister Colonel General Safar Abiyev.
Gates was the first cabinet-level American official to visit the
strategically positioned nation - located in the South Caucasus with Russia
to its north, Iran to its south and the Caspian Sea to its east - in five
years and the first U.S. defense chief to visit since Donald Rumsfeld
did in 2005.
When Gates’ predecessor was last in
Azerbaijan his mission centered on “the
transportation of Caspian oil and the security of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline” as the chief element of U.S. trans-Eurasian oil and natural
gas plans “which [are] directly connected with Mr Rumsfeld’s department”
[1] to bring Caspian Sea hydrocarbons into Europe while bypassing
Russia and Iran, both of which adjoin Azerbaijan.
Rumsfeld’s visit of five years ago also focused on a related initiative, the
Caspian Guard project the Pentagon launched in 2003.
“Guaranteeing security to the pipeline… will
be the prime goal of the Caspian Guard. The Caspian Guard will represent
a network of police detachments and special military units in the
Caspian region.” [2]
At the time Rumsfeld’s Defense Department
planned to allot over $100 million for the Caspian Guard to operate at both
ends of the inland sea - Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan - and to be based in
Stuttgart, Germany where the Pentagon’s new Africa Command is now based.
In fact U.S. European Command was simultaneously
elaborating plans for the Caspian Guard and a complementary Gulf of Guinea
Guard in oil-rich western Africa to secure control over the 21st century’s
main new sources of energy supplies. [3]
Gates arrived in Azerbaijan the day after the ninth annual Asian security
summit organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in
Singapore and before his attendance at the NATO defense chiefs meeting in
Brussels on the 10th and 11th.
He had intended to visit Beijing following the conference in Singapore, but
his overtures in that direction were rebuffed by the Chinese government,
presumably because of Washington’s confirmation this January of plans to
complete a $6.5 billion arms transaction with Taiwan, one whose latest
installment includes 200 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 anti-ballistic
missiles.
That Baku replaced Beijing on the Pentagon chief’s way to the NATO meeting
indicates the importance that the comparatively small nation - with a
population of under nine million while China’s is over 1.3 billion - has in
American global geostrategic plans.
U.S. media reports highlighted efforts to mend fences with Azerbaijan after
joint military exercises scheduled in the nation for last month were
abruptly cancelled - evidently by the host country as a sign of
dissatisfaction with Washington’s moves to take a more balanced approach
toward Azerbaijan’s regional rival Armenia in a bid to lure all the nations
of the South Caucasus into the U.S. and NATO orbit.
Last December the Armenian government approved
the deployment of troops to serve under NATO command in the Afghan war
theater along with those of their Caucasus neighbors Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Received opinion has it that the U.S. intends to incorporate all three
nations into NATO simultaneously. Armenia and Azerbaijan have NATO
Individual Partnership Action Plans and Georgia a special, even more
advanced, Annual National Program.
The cancelled exercises were to have built upon last year’s Regional
Response 2009 in Azerbaijan, a NATO Partnership for Peace operation to
advance the North Atlantic military bloc’s Individual Partnership Action
Plan with the nation.
To demonstrate that Rumsfeld’s Caspian Guard plans are still alive, during
his visit to Azerbaijan Secretary Gates discussed bilateral military ties,
particularly,
“further U.S. help with maritime security in
the Caspian Sea.”
In his own words,
“We already help them there with several
tens of millions of dollars, boats, radars and capabilities.” [4]
According to the Pentagon’s website,
“More military exercises and intelligence
sharing also came up during the meetings,” Gates added, “and the
discussions also touched on Iran and Russia,” with the American defense
secretary saying of his hosts, “These guys clearly live in a rough
neighborhood.” [5]
Georgia borders Russia and Armenia borders Iran,
but Azerbaijan alone abuts both.
The same defense minister Gates met with on June
7, Colonel General Safar Abiyev, not long ago addressed the head of
state Gates met with the day before and said:
“Our armed forces are able to annihilate
targets in all the territory of Armenia. Mr. President, I notify you
that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are able to hit any target in the
territory of Armenia.” [6]
Gates’ main concentration - or at least that of
most immediate importance - was on the expanding war in South Asia, where he
will soon have 100,000 U.S. troops serving with another 50,000 NATO forces.
Western and local reports have recently divulged that 25 percent of U.S. and
NATO supplies and equipment for the Afghan war pass through what is referred
to as the Caucasus Spur - Azerbaijan and Georgia - and that,
“100,000 troops have flown through
Azerbaijani airspace in the past year en route to Afghanistan.” [7]
More specifically,
“Tens of thousands of cargo aircraft have
flown over Azerbaijan for the Afghan war, with planes ferrying 100,000
US and allied troops and personnel through the country’s airspace last
year, Pentagon officials said.” [8]
With the recent turmoil in Kyrgyzstan hampering
the transit of troops and equipment through the Central Asian country where
hundreds of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces have passed directly to
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan (in addition to Kazakhstan [9]) will play
an even more pivotal role as the battle for Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province
begins.
While in Baku, Gates delivered a personal letter from President
Barack
Obama to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.
As the
local press described it,
“Gates, the most senior U.S. official to
visit Azerbaijan since Obama took office last year, hand delivered the
letter to Aliyev to make clear ‘we have a relationship going forward,’ a
senior defense official said…” [10]
Obama commended his opposite number for doubling
the amount of troops deployed to Afghanistan and providing the use of his
nation’s land (for supply trucks) and air space, especially ahead of the
next surge of 30,000 U.S. troops.
An Azeri news agency reminded its readers that “Azerbaijan is also a major
oil producer and a key hub on a route for Central Asia and Caspian Sea
energy to Europe bypassing Russia to the north and Iran to the south,” while
quoting the following from Obama’s letter:
“Azerbaijan’s leadership in the development
for a Southern Corridor for energy has also increased regional
prosperity and enhanced global energy security.” [11]
Gates told Azerbaijan’s defense minister that
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would also be visiting the nation
shortly.
Last month an Azerbaijani delegation visited Afghanistan to meet with the
nation’s defense minister and NATO International Security Assistance Force
commanders, during which,
“the education of Afghan national policemen,
soldiers and officers in Azerbaijan” was discussed. [12]
In early May U.S. military officers arrived in
Baku to,
“hold seminars related to the tasks of
operational officers at the battalion and brigade [levels]." [13]
The month before Azerbaijani troops began,
“a communication course in San Antonio, USA
from April 21 to December 15.” [14]
In April Robert Simmons, the NATO Secretary
General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia and NATO
Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Security Cooperation and Partnership
[15], was in Baku to promote Azerbaijan’s Individual Partnership
Action Plan.
In the same month it was announced that the
bloc’s chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is to visit this summer.
Since January of 2009 Romania has been the NATO Contact Point Embassy in
Azerbaijan and its ambassador to the country, Nicolae Ureche, the
Brussels-based military bloc’s main liaison there. In early May he opened a
conference in Baku titled NATO’s Role in Ensuring Security and Stability in
Europe and in the Strategic Arena, dedicated to NATO 61st anniversary and
the 16th of Azerbaijan joining the bloc’s Partnership for Peace program.
The preceding month the Romanian envoy gave a speech in Baku in which he
stated that,
“In connection with the 61st anniversary of
NATO, the NATO Institute of Cooperation and embassies of the NATO
member-states accredited in Azerbaijan have declared April NATO Month in
Azerbaijan.” [16]
During his presentation Ureche,
“especially emphasized NATO’s attention to
energy security.” [17]
A week before he said,
“We…welcome Azerbaijan’s role in ensuring
global energy security.” [18]
That sentiment was echoed last week when Special
Envoy of the United States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy Richard
Morningstar spoke at the 17th International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition
and Conference held in the capital of Azerbaijan and confirmed that
Washington “support[s] the diversification of energy exports from the
countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia” and - American that he is -
presumed to speak on behalf of Europe’s energy security, endorsing the
anti-Russian Southern Corridor to transport natural gas and oil from the
Caspian Sea Basin and the Middle East to Europe. [19]
The preceding month Morningstar’s fellow Foggy Bottom denizen, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Tina Kaidanow,
was in Azerbaijan.
While there her message to the nation’s leaders
was:
“The United States considers Azerbaijan an
essential partner. Our interests overlap in many areas, from
collaborating on strengthening energy security via the Southern Corridor
gas and oil projects to our work together countering terrorism and
extremism. We appreciate Azerbaijan’s contributions to regional and
global security, from Kosovo to Iraq to Afghanistan.” [20]
Kaidanow took over her current post last August
from Matthew Bryza, arguably a contender for Washington’s main point man in
the former Soviet Union over the past two decades.
His resume includes:
-
Being attached to the U.S. embassy in
Poland from 1989-1991 as contact person for Solidarnosc
-
Serving at the U.S. embassy in Russia
during the equally key transitional years of 1995-1997 with his main
assignments being the Russian parliament, the Communist Party of the
Russian Federation and the North Caucasus, especially then tense
Dagestan
-
Special advisor to Richard Morningstar
(the current Special Envoy of the United States Secretary of State
for Eurasian Energy) from 1997-1998, who at the time was Special
Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Assistance to the
New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union
-
Deputy to the Special Advisor to the
President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy
from July 1998 to March 2001
-
In 2001 he occupied the post of the
National Security Council’s Director for Europe and Eurasia with
emphasis on the Caucasus, Central Asia and Caspian Sea energy
-
Became Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs in 2005
Last month the White House nominated Bryza as
U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan.
His appointment indicates the importance Washington assigns to the nation.
In March of this year Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg spoke of
U.S.-Azerbaijan cooperation, mentioning in particular the,
“involvement of Azerbaijan in NATO’s
Partnership for Peace program, bilateral military ties in the context of
Caspian energy and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline security, and the
participation of Azerbaijan in the US-led military missions in Kosovo,
Afghanistan and Iraq.” [21]
A Russian report on his comments added,
“US companies are actively involved in the
development of Caspian hydrocarbons in offshore Azerbaijani oilfields,
and the US government actively supported the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline as the primary route of transportation for Caspian oil.”
[22]
In the same month the Congressional Azerbaijan
Caucus in Washington sent a letter to President Obama “reflecting the
importance of Azerbaijan-US relations.”
It included these items:
“Azerbaijan has opened Caspian energy
resources to development by U.S. companies and has emerged as a key
player for global energy security. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
project, supported by both the Clinton and
George W. Bush
Administrations… has become the main artery delivering Caspian Sea
hydrocarbons to the US and our partners in Europe.”
“Notably, in 2009 Azerbaijan provided nearly one quarter of all crude
oil supplies to Israel and is considered a leading potential natural gas
provider for the U.S. supported
Nabucco pipeline.”
“Azerbaijan was among the first to offer strong support and assistance
to the United States. Azerbaijan participated in operations in Kosovo
and Iraq and is actively engaged in Afghanistan, having recently doubled
its military presence there.”
“Azerbaijan has extended important over-flight clearances for US and
NATO flights to support ISAF and has regularly provided landing and
refueling operations at its airports for US and NATO forces.” [23]
With Turkey increasingly adopting an independent
foreign policy orientation not to Washington’s liking; with the nearly
nine-year-old war in Afghanistan reaching its apex.
With the U.S. and its NATO allies ramping up
pressure on Iran in Azerbaijan’s “rough neighborhood”; and with the U.S.
pursuing global interceptor missile plans that may include evicting the
Russian military from the Gabala radar station in the north of the country,
Azerbaijan is assuming a greater strategic significance with each passing
day.
That is why U.S. Defense Secretary Gates was there on June 6 and 7.
It will not be his last visit.
Related articles
Notes
1) Armenian News Network, May 10, 2005
2) Ibid
3) Global Energy War: Washington’s New Kissinger’s African Plans Stop
NATO, January 22, 2009 http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/global-energy-war-washingtons-new-kissingers-african-plans
4) U.S. Department of Defense American Forces Press Service June 7, 2010
5) Ibid
6) Azeri Press Agency, April 24, 2010
7) Trend News Agency, June 7, 2010
8) Agence France-Presse, June 6, 2010
9) Kazakhstan: U.S., NATO Seek Military Outpost Between Russia And China
Stop NATO, April 14, 2010 http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/kazakhstan-u-s-nato-seek-military-outpost-between-russia-and-ch
10) Azeri Press Agency, June 7, 2010
11) Ibid
12) Azertag, May 20, 2010
13) ANS News, May 3, 2010
14) Azeri Press Agency, April 19, 2010
15) Mr. Simmons’ Mission: NATO Bases From Balkans To Chinese Border Stop
NATO, March 4, 2009 http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/mr-simmons-mission-nato-bases-from-balkans-to-chinese-border
16) Trend News Agency, April 8, 2010
17) Azeri Press Agency, April 8, 2010
18) Interfax-Azerbaijan, Azeri Press Agency, April 1, 2010
19) Trend News Agency, June 2, 2010
20) Azeri Press Agency, May 12, 2010
21) Itar-Tass, March 30, 2010
22) Ibid
23) Azeri Press Agency, March 30, 2010