Speech to the conference of World Peace Council

Lisbon, Mai 30.- June 2. 2013

Harald Reppesgaard.

Chairman of Norway For Peace (NFP)

Dear peace fighters. Dear comrades.

I represent the peace organization, “Norway for peace”, who‘s tasks are to oppose NATO, and work for the worldwide disarmament, especially the abolition of nuclear weapon. Norway for peace promotes dialog and peaceful solutions for states in conflict, and support countries that fight for sovereignty and autonomy. We support anti-imperialistic movements and campaigns, and movements working for social, cultural and economic justice in the world. And we are, inevitably, against torture and violation of human rights. Thus we comply with the ideology and policy of WPC.

On behalf of the peace loving people in Norway, I thank you for the invitation to this conference.

The situation for the monopole capitalism is more and more desperate, and they use NATO to get control over markets and resources all over the world. The situation for the people in the Middle East, and especially in Syria, is on the verge of catastrophe. The imperialistic forces know no limits for resorting to criminal means. USA, England, France and Turkey, and some Arabic states, support and use killers from Al Qaida and 20 other cynical, criminal Muslim gangs to destroy the lives and the society in Syria to gain geopolitical bridgehead in the area and to secure their grabs on energy resources to increase their profit. For instance Wikileak has revealed that the US government also contracts private security firms, like Blackwater, helping the so-called “free” Syrian opposition to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad regime.

I am sorry to say In Norway the main stream media is unilateral promoting NATO’s viewpoints, and objections are mainly censured. So there is much ignorance concerning world peace. A poll from 2012 showed that 76 % of the five million Norwegians supported our membership in NATO, and that is even after Norwegian F16 aircrafts dropped nearly 600 bombs over the sovereign state of Libya.

Norway has strategic importance for NATO and the multinational companies because the country has oil resources and is close to the North East Passage that is gradually open, for transport to East Asia, because of the rapid ice-melting. The passage is on the north side of Russia, our neighbor.

Annually there are carried out large scale military exercises in the Northern Norway where other NATO-countries fully participate. Last year, 15 counties and NATO, including the alliance-free countries, Finland and Sweden, accomplished a military exercise in Norway. About 16 000 soldiers, from all military branches took part, and was the greatest exercise in ten years. Since 2006 they have called the exercises for Cold Response, because the soldiers are training under extreme weather conditions, in the hard wintertime up in the north of Norway. The soldiers shall learn to kill under polar circumstances.

What are NATO's War Plans For The High North? Let us look back few years ago.

Since the beginning of the year 2006 the United States and NATO have repeatedly indicated in both word and deed their intention to lay claim to and extend their military presence in what they refer to as the High North: The Arctic Circle and the waters connecting with it, the Barents and the Norwegian Seas, as well as the Baltic.

Washington issued National Security Presidential Directive 66 on January 12, 2009 which includes the bellicose claim that "The United States has broad and fundamental national security interests in the Arctic region which include such matters as missile defense and early warning; deployment of sea and air systems for strategic sealift, strategic deterrence, maritime presence, and maritime security operations." Later in the same month NATO held a two-day Seminar on Security Prospects in the High North in the capital of Iceland attended by the bloc's secretary general and its top military commanders.

This coordinated initiative has been covered in a previous article in this series and plans by the West to encroach on Arctic territory and confront Russia in the western region of the ocean have been addressed in another.

During May- June, 2009 efforts by NATO member states, individually and collectively, to increase their military presence and war fighting ability in the High North have accelerated dramatically.

The alarming and aggressive campaign is exemplified by the ongoing 10-day Loyal Arrow 2009 NATO military exercises being conducted in Sweden, described by a major American daily newspaper as "A NATO rapid-reaction force...on a war footing in Swedish Lapland" which consists of "Ten countries, 2,000 troops, a strike aircraft carrier, and 50 fighter jets - including the US Air Force's F-15 Eagle...participating in war games near contested Arctic territories."

NATO reflects that "Choosing this place for war games reflects the growing strategic importance of the Arctic, which is estimated to contain a quarter of the Earth's oil and gas...."

NATO has deployed and used military reaction forces in areas of crisis they have to cope with everything from high intensity warfare to terror threats and mass demonstrations with UN mandates. It is ironic that they train to attack mass demonstrations and at the same time call for demonstrations, named “Arabic spring”, in countries like Syria, Egypt and Libya. It shows their double standard and undemocratic intentions.

The imperialist states fear real democratic movements in the Western World when people are opposing the new-liberal market economy and fight against capitalist exploitation.

This emphasis that those types of military reactions should be carried out with UN endorsement and mandate. The Norwegian peace fighters warn against NATO´s preparedness to use UN for undemocratic purposes aimed against their own civilian populations

Norway is a huge arm producer. Per capita Norway is the third biggest exporter of weapons in the world. The Norwegian Government tries to ensure the world to keep up their ethical appearances that they do not sell weapons to countries in war. Thus, according to the UN-Charter. The reality is, they profit from selling weapons to Israel by steering clear of the UN-Charter by delivering and deploying all sorts of items for sophisticated warfare to the USA that conveys them further to the Zionist state. To demonstrate the Norwegian double standard furthermore we hand out the peace price of Nobel every year.

The Norwegian government has decided to exchange F16 plane fighter for 56 F35 Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin. These planes are meant for out of area strikes, and not for protecting Norway. We seem to be ready for the war against Russia. We shall not turn a blind eye to the fact that the ongoing enterprise to expand and develop the airbase for the new air fighters in the Middle of Norway is merely an adaption to launch an attack against Russia if NATO finds it necessary and appropriate.

In June 2012 the arctic branches of the communist parties in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway on a conference in Finland stated the following:

The conference opposes strongly the increased activity of NATO in the Arctic region and the integration of Sweden and Finland in the military exercise and training. We remind of NATO as the military spearhead of the imperialistic powers USA and EU and is not an organization for peace.

NATO`s new concept and “out of area”-strategy are only aimed to secure economic and geopolitical interests of USA and EU. In Lisbon 2010 NATO decided on a fare more expansive and aggressive doctrine. From then they allow themselves to use military forces all over the world to secure energy resources and the access to them and to gain the control of the global, capitalistic trade of oil and gas for the transnational monopoly companies. NATO therefor is revealed to be a huge threat against democracy and stability of the states in the world.

We realize that this threat, if NATO finds it necessary, also will be aimed to our resources, autonomy and welfare in the Northern regions. The conference concludes that the overall important struggle for our future and for the control of our lives is the permanent fight for peace and against NATO.

Dear peace fighters and comrades.

Our main task is to dismantle and abolish NATO. I am very satisfied with the decisions made today to take concrete actions April 4 next year to demonstrate against NATO in the biggest city in Europe. NFP will already during this autumn to start planning local actions in Norway to carry out WPCs resolutions.

Thank you for your attentions