Greece, its "geography", and imperialist war

Greece: The birthplace of theater and Trojan horses

"Greece can offer military bases for logistical support or for naval maintenance in Suda [Crete] and elsewhere. Drones and aircraft can also operate from Greek military bases. You can also contribute with information as the refugee crisis offers the opportunity to collect data from interviewing these people, but also of using biometric data. If NATO decides to send military trainers in Iraq, Greece can participate. What is important is for Greece to utilize its geography. Imagine if the Cyprus issue is resolved. Then, Cyprus and Crete can become two mighty military bases"!!!

This what James Stavrides stated in his interview with "Vima" newspaper. Stavrides is Greek-American, a retired admiral of the U.S. Navy, a former Commander of NATO in Europe, and today, the Rector of the Fletcher Law and Diplomacy School at Tufts University, Boston. He thus gave a comprehensive picture of what the country's bourgeoisie, its governments, including that of SYRIZA-ANEL, are negotiating; how much deeper they plan to embroil the people in imperialist plans, aiming at the geostrategic upgrading of the local business groups, in order to claim a piece of the exploitation of resources and transportation avenues.

James Stavrides

Stavrides was in Athens after the invitation of the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute, to give a talk on "International Security in the 21st Century". During his stay in Athens he met, among others, with the PM Alexis Tsipas, as well as with the Minister of Defense Panagiotis Kammenos, and the Chief of the Army Staff, Ev. Apostolakis.

It doesn't bear reminding that, during the SYRIZA-ANEL government, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense has publicized plans to install a new NATO base in Karpathos island, while the existing installations of the wolfpack in Suda remain and even expand. Kammenos himself characteristically stated in the summer: "We are ready to offer installations, our armed forces, but also major military bases in the region of the Southern Aegean, so as to expedite the forces of the Alliance (i.e., NATO) in the development of the war against terrorism, and so as to guarantee energy avenues and fuelling".

Kammenos took care, indeed, to praise the "usefuleness" of Crete for imperialist planning: "Crete, with its extensive, high-quality and high operation-value installations, and its unique, Alliance-wise, naval installations, its units of logistical support and repair for naval units and weapons systems, is a giant aircraft carrier with a key location. it controls the maritime commercial and energy avenues, linking the Black Sea and the Red Sea, and constitutes the frontline of the Western world against an expanding field of instability, which threatens the European continent more and more"...

A day before Stavrides's interview was published in "Vima", a day before he indicated that Greece can "contribute" to information gathering by essentially questioning refugees and migrants, the Greek Minister of Defense was providing another governmental assurance that the government will meet this demand: "Concerning information, information on terrorism is now a part of military information, and for this reason, as you know, we are founding the Service of Military Information in the Greek Ministry of Defense".

Where will all this be "utilized"? Stavrides was clear in his interview. For instance, concerning Syria, he underlined that it is "indisputable" that a "peace force" will need to be sent there. On the Mediterranean more broadly, he said: "NATO must begin with a realist operation plan for the South (...) The Alliance will look deeper into naval matters. Its largest borderline is the Mediterranean, and yet it doesn't make the necessary investments, the ones it needs to operate from sea and air. NATO has already started using unmanned aircraft to monitor the Mediterranean. Additionally, I believe that the Alliance will participate more actively in the struggle against the Islamic State. This doesn't mean it will send 100,000 troops, but maybe 10,000 troops, to take over the training initially of the Iraqi Armed Forces in order to recapture Mossul, and perhaps, later, the training of the Kurds. We will need to reinforce NATO infrastructures, with a greater access to military bases in Greece, Italy and Southern France. I don't think NATO has really woken up yet. The refugee crisis and the Islamic State will change that."...

Rizospastis, 20 January 2016.