NATO Summit
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AP Coverage: Welcome to NATO Summit Live20 May 2012 1300 GMTThey come from all around the world. Starting today, dozens of world leaders are gathering for the NATO summit in Chicago. Not far away, protesters are converging as well.What is discussed - and ultimately decided - in the corridors of power will affect all corners of the globe. People will be reacting to statements and decisions about Afghanistan, Syria, military spending and missile defense: from Asia, to the Middle East, to Europe and right by the leaders in downtown Chicago.How to keep up as it unfolds? And how to understand the reaction and impact from around the world? The Associated Press now begins NATO Summit Live, a moment-to-moment online feed built around a major news event that is rippling around the planet.Today's coverage provides real-time coverage in words, photos, sound and video, featuring AP reporters and editors all over the world. Stay tuned and we'll put you in the middle of the story, wherever it goes. -
20 May 2012 1307 GMTNATO Agenda
AFGHANISTAN:- - Affirm shift in NATO's military mission in Afghanistan from a combat role to an advisory role next year.
- - Affirm plans to help underwrite the -Afghan military after the NATO-led military mission ends two years from now.
NATO OPERATIONS:- - Showcase "smart defense" plan, which seeks to pool and share military resources between member countries in effort to modernize NATO on a budget.
- - Declare that alliance has partly completed a missile defense shield for Europe.
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20 May 2012 1316 GMTFaces of the protest
Susan Blaschak, 59, San Francisco.
Blaschak is a nurse who came with a group of nurses from California to Chicago. She says she supports a tax that would find a way to spread the wealth. Blaschak said she came to Chicago despite the G-8 protests being moved because "nonetheless it made sense to go ahead." "Collectively as a group, we can do more than as individuals,” she said. Charles Rex Arbogast (AP Photo)by ajohnson on May 18, 2012 at 5:32 PM via email
Samuel Blantz, 23, Springfield, Mo.
Blantz was specialist rank in Army and served in Iraq before medical discharge and now says he suffers from PTSD and works odd jobs. He says he realized while in Iraq during 2007-2008 that NATO was bad. Blantz held a sign calling it National Arrangers of Terrorism and Oppression. "I witnessed a lot of stuff that was actually unsoldierly." The scarf covering his face is made of wool from an army blanket. "We're too busy trying to play world police," he said. Charles Rex Arbogast (AP Photo)by ajohnson on May 18, 2012 at 5:31 PM via email
Michelle Cunha, 40, Hill, N.H.
Cunha took a bus from Boston to Chicago. She works as an EMT making $10 an hour, but says she has $60,000 owed on her mortgage and $120,000 in student loans. Says she's tired of the U.S. spending more on the military then on social services. "We are prioritizing hurting people instead of helping people,” she said. Cunha hopes this weekend's protests will bring attention to social problems that need to be solved. Charles Rex Arbogast (AP Photo)by ajohnson on May 18, 2012 at 5:30 PM via email
Ronald Schupp. 60, Chicago.
The Occupy Chicago activist says he's glad to have protesters coming to the city this weekend.
"I think it helps to keep the issue alive. The more the merrier,” Schupp says. Charles Rex Arbogast (AP Photo)by ajohnson on May 18, 2012 at 5:32 PM via email
Bill Quigley, 62, New Orleans.
Quigley is a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans and his wife is a nurse. He said he took the Amtrak 17 hours to Chicago to come for the protest. “I just think it’s a great social justice opportunity,” he said. Quigley wants to show people abroad that Americans also care about social justice because “most people think the United States is all about war and money.” Charles Rex Arbogast (AP Photo)by ajohnson on May 18, 2012 at 5:28 PM via emailPreviousNext1 of 5
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Violence in Afghanistan20 May 2012 1323 GMTTwo NATO service members were killed in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan today, just as world leaders discuss the country's post-conflict future in Chicago. Afghan officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint near a marketplace in the country's south. A NATO convoy was at the checkpoint at the time of the blast. Three NATO troops were wounded, as were six children.
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Activists accused of plotting attack20 May 2012 1326 GMTThree activists who traveled to Chicago for the summit were accused Saturday of manufacturing Molotov cocktails in a plot to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets. Defense lawyers argued that the police trumped up the charges to frighten peaceful protesters away. They told a judge it was undercover officers who brought the firebombs to an apartment in Chicago's South Side where the men were arrested."This is just propaganda to create a climate of fear," lawyer Michael Deutsch said.
"My clients came to peacefully protest."More on protests can be found here.
by Jim Suhr and Robert Ray -
20 May 2012 1330 GMTAfghanistan: End of conflict?I think they do see an end to the conflict. The problem is they just don't know what that end will be. Many are nervous about 2014 when international troops leave, mostly, they say, because they don't feel they have the equipment they need to put up the fight they want to.
— AP reporter Kathy Gannon, answering a question on Facebook about the Afghan National Army from her embed in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. See her recent chat with AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus here. -
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Current Military Missions20 May 2012 1340 GMT
- AFGHANISTAN - Forces are expected to withdraw by 2014.
- KOSOVO - NATO has been leading a peace-support operation there since 1999.
- MEDITERRANEAN - NATO's ships patrol the sea, monitoring shipping in the hopes of deterring terrorism.
- AFRICA - NATO is fighting maritime piracy off the Horn of Africa and in the Gulf of Aden.
- SOMALIA - NATO is providing assistance to the African Union's efforts in Somalia.
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All about Afghanistan20 May 1345 GMT
This year's NATO summit will be largely devoted to Afghanistan by focusing on:- The shift in NATO's military mission in Afghanistan from a combat role to an advisory role next year. Plans to help underwrite the Afghan military after the NATO-led military mission ends two years from now. NATO's commitment to the calendar it set at the last meeting in 2010, when it agreed to maintain a multinational combat force in Afghanistan until sometime in 2014, with a firm deadline to end the mission by 2015.
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Taliban to NATO nations: Leave this year20 May 2012 1349The Taliban is urging all NATO nations in Afghanistan to follow France's lead and pull their international forces from the war this year. The call, which noted declining public support for the war in the West, comes in a three-page statement released today as heads of state meet at the NATO summit in Chicago.
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20 May 2012 1353 GMTScenes of protest
A NATO protester is arrested after refusing to let go of a police bicycle on Saturday. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
Occupy Chicago protesters, some wearing masks, sit in the street outside
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's house during a march and demonstration in Chicago on Saturday. (AP Photo/Charles Rex
Arbogast)
Occupy Chicago protesters march down Montrose Avenue to Mayor Rahm Emaunel's
house on Saturday. (AP Photo/Charles Rex
Arbogast)
NATO demonstrator Medea Benjamin, of Washington, D.C., holds a sign in front
of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home on Saturday. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo)
A protester sits in front of Chicago police officers on State Street during a
NATO summit demonstration in downtown Chicago on Saturday. (AP Photo/ Nam Y.
Huh)
A protester tears down a NATO summit banner from one of the bridge towers
along the Chicago River at the Michigan Ave. bridge in Chicago on Friday. (AP Photo/Nomaan Merchant)
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Chicago plot suspects20 May 2012 1405 GMT
From left, Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla., Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, N.H., and Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The three men have been arrested on accusations of making Molotov cocktails with plans to attack President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home and other targets during this weekend's NATO summit.(AP Photo/Chicago Police Department) -
Pakistan's Presence20 May 2012 1407 GMTPakistan's attendance at NATO is important because it is considered vital to brokering a peace deal with the Taliban and their allies in Afghanistan. That would allow foreign troops to withdraw without Afghanistan descending into further chaos. Pakistan has historical links to the militants, and many of the top commanders are believed to be based in its territory.
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20 May 2012 1412 GMTProtesters gearing up
Thousands of protesters are expected to march today from a downtown park to the lakeside convention center where President Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders are meeting. The demonstrations began a day earlier when protesters tested police who used bicycles to barricade off streets and horseback officers to coax them in different directions. AP reporter Robert Ray was there, and here's some sound he gathered. -
Meet the Afghan Army20 May 2012 1417 GMT
What has really struck me about the Afghan army is their openness and willingness to talk. We are the first Western reporter and photographer who have embedded, and they are anxious to talk about their families and their life in the army. I think they want people to understand who they are.
— AP reporter Kathy Gannon, answering a question on Facebook from her embed with the Afghan National Army in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. See her recent chat with AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus here. -
20 May 2012 1422 GMTThe 800-pound gorilla at the NATO summit
While the NATO summit isn't expected to deal directly with Syria, the continuing violence looms in the background, underscored by a roadside bomb that went off Sunday as senior U.N. officials toured an area outside Damascus. Lebanon Bureau Chief Elizabeth Kennedy, who covers Syria, says there is no end in sight to the conflict that has claimed more than 9,000 lives. -
20 May 2012 1428 GMTProtest weather: Sunny skies, mostly
Demonstrators gathering today for the first day of the NATO Summit in Chicago will have sunny skies for most of the morning and early afternoon. Temperatures (in Fahrenheit) will start off in the 70s but will quickly rise to a high of 88. There could be a few thunderstorms starting around 3 p.m. local time, right when the biggest protest march of the summit is to get into full swing.This morning, the streets of Chicago's downtown "Loop" are virtually deserted. Other than police and security guards standing watch in front of office towers, the only life stirring out there is a few people taking advantage of the nice weather to go jogging.
by Jason Keyser -
NATO: Chicago Locations20 May 2012 1431 GMTThe NATO summit will showcase many of Chicago’s most well-known landmarks and tourist attractions. They include:- McCormick Place: The convention center along Lake Michigan is where the official NATO summit meetings will be held. The facility was named in honor of Colonel Robert McCormick, the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune who helped spearhead the construction. It opened in 1960, five years after he died. A fire destroyed it n 1967 and city and state leaders worked to rebuild it, along with several new additions. The most recent was in 2007, which added 2.7 million square feet of space.- The Art Institute of Chicago: First lady Michelle Obama hosted a dinner at the museum on Michigan Avenue on Saturday. The museum, one of the premiere institutions in the country, added its Modern Wing in 2009, a light-filled space designed by architect Renzo Piano.- Willis Tower: At least one event for NATO leaders will be held at the nation’s tallest building. Formerly called the Sears Tower, the skyscraper is 1,450 feet tall and stands 110 stories high. Its Skydeck is among Chicago’s most popular tourist destinations.- Solider Field: The home of the Chicago Bears will be the site of a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama. The stadium opened along Lake Michigan in the 1920s and was used for decades as a venue for different sports. It was redesigned in 2003 incorporating the historic colonnades along with a modern bowl - made of steel and glass - that many Chicagoans have compared to a spaceship.by Sophia Tareen
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Quotable20 May 2012 1435 GMT"If anything else happens, the plan is to go in and get the people who create the violent acts, take them out of the crowd and arrest them. We're not going to charge the crowd wholesale — that's the bottom line."-Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, getting ready Saturday night for today's protests. -
The scene at McCormick Center20 May 2012 1437 GMTAP's Jonathan D. Resnick has run the gauntlet of security checks to get to the summit media center. He has this to report: "It's still a little sleepy." A few hundred reporters have checked into the area, where rows and rows of tables with lamps, Internet access and power plugs have been set up to accommodate about 1,500 reporters.by Barbara Whitaker
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20 May 2012 1439 GMTLeaders from around the world arrive in Chicago
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive at Chicago O’Hare
International airport. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez
Monsivais)
President
Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk with Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emanuel and his wife Amy Rule before boarding Marine One in Chicago on
Saturday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)1 / 8
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and British Prime Minister David Cameron arrive
at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Saturday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean
Kilpatrick)
Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard arrives at O'Hare Airport on Saturday.
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi di Sant Agata arrives at
Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Saturday. (AP Photo/Seth
Perlman)
Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy Brey arrives Saturday at Chicago O'Hare
International Airport. (AP Photo/Seth
Perlman)
Ivan Gasparovic, president of the Slovak Republic, arrives Saturday at O'Hare
Airport. (AP
Photo/Seth Perlman)
Sheik Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
United Arab Emirates, arrives Saturday at O'Hare Airport. (AP Photo/Seth
Perlman)PreviousNext1 of 8
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20 May 2012 1442 GMT
Afghan army on patrol
Afghanistan will be portrayed at the NATO summit as a war-ravaged nation which is on the path towards shouldering its own security. Yet there are still huge problems there and it faces a convergence of events that further threaten its stability. AP reporters are with Afghan National Army soldiers on foot patrol. In this video soldiers man a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kabul. -
Many NATO countries, one pays most the bills20 May 2012 1448 GMTAs the United States has struggled to recover from recession, the issue of who pays for what in NATO operations has becoming an increasing point of contention.
by Peter Prengaman on May 20, 2012 at 11:09 AM -
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The struggle to modernize NATO on a budget is a major issue this year. Most alliance members have weak economies that make any major new defense spending unappealing - or impossible.Defending on a budget20 May 2012 1454 GMT
But spending is a must. The alliance has outdated or incompatible equipment. It suffers major gaps in military capability that the better-equipped and better-funded U.S. military often has to fill.
NATO has pushed the idea of “smart defense,” which seeks to pool resources and make use of each nation's strengths. The summit will showcase that plan. -
May 20 2012 1457 GMTSlow start to a big day
Journalists arriving to the summit face long waits as the day goes on, says the AP's Jonathan Resnick. To get into the media center, Resnick said journalists must drop off all bags and equipment so it can be searched by the Secret Service and then move to a separate area while it is checked.Journalists also pass through screening equipment much like that found at an airport. While Resnick arrived early to beat the crowd, many others who were covering the G-8 meeting in Washington on Saturday didn't have that luxury. The first sign of any leaders is not expected until late morning and so far there is little activity on the floor of the convention center.
by Barbara Whitaker
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20 May 2012 1458 GMTGet a pass, get close
A reporter's access is only as good as his or her press passes. Here are the ones that AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller will be sporting at the summit.by BFeller on May 20, 2012 at 10:29 AM via email -
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20 May 2012 1519Leisurely jogs, sightseeing and security
In some ways it looks like any other nice Sunday morning in Chicago with people walking around, people taking leisurely jogs and some tourists just seeing the sites. That's the normal part. There's also an overwhelming amount of security. Every building has a security person out front and Chicago police, state police and Secret Service are starting to gather at places downtown with hundreds of protesters starting to arrive.
- Ryan Foley, an AP reporter who is out on the streets of Chicago for today's coverage. -
History of military missions20 May 2012 1524 GMTNATO vows to remain in Afghanistan despite France's plans to pull troops. Here's a look at its military history:1995: Some 50,000 troops dispatched to Bosnia to support the peace agreement signed in Dayton, Ohio.1999: In Kosovo, NATO warplanes bomb Serbia for 78 days to stop strongman Slobodan Milosevic's attempt to kill Kosovo's mainly ethnic Albanian population.2001: NATO's biggest test began after 9/11 when it agreed to take over command of coalition force in Afghanistan. About 140,000 troops - two-thirds American - were based there at the height of the effort in 2011. The alliance plans to end the mission in 2014.2011: During the uprising in Libya, NATO warplanes flew 9,500 combat missions against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces. The war ended with his overthrow and death.
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Obama's back home, but busy20 May 2012 1537 GMTPresident Barack Obama may be back in Chicago, but he hasn't seen any of his hometown haunts. While the president still has his family house in the city, Obama and the U.S. delegation are staying at a downtown hotel. The president and first lady, who have been known to enjoy nights out at some of Chicago's finest restaurants, opted to stay in after arriving Saturday night. And with much of downtown blanketed with security, Obama also skipped his usual morning trip to his favorite gym in a high-rise apartment building.- by Julie Pace, AP reporter
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20 May 2010 1542 GMTLibyan convicted in Lockerbie bombing dies
NATO sent an air campaign to Libya last year amid the country's uprising against Col. Moammar Gadhafi, who masterminded the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 that killed 270 people. On Sunday, as world leaders gathered in Chicago, the Libyan man convicted in the bombing died in Tripoli. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was a central figure in both Libya's falling out with the West and then its re-emergence from the cold.
Al-Megrahi, 60, died of cancer-related complications nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison to the outrage of the relatives of the attack's victims. The Libyan intelligence officer was the only person ever convicted in the bombing.
Read more about al-Megrahi here. -
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A message from a powerful member of Taliban: End fighting20 May 2012 1551 GMTOne of the most powerful men on the Taliban council, Agha Jan Motasim has a message for participants at NATO.
The member of the so-called Quetta Shura nearly lost his life in a hail of bullets earlier this month for advocating a negotiated settlement that would bring a broad-based government to his beleaguered homeland. In an exclusive and rare interview, he told The AP a majority of Taliban wants a peace settlement and that there are only "a few" hard-liners in the movement.
To NATO participants, he says:
"The decisions of NATO should be for the good of Afghanistan and should not call for more violence. It should call for an end to the fighting, an end to the raids and killings ... Afghanistan is destroyed, the people are displaced, refugees, poor people are dying in their homes and also foreigners are dying here. It should end." -
Not just clowning around
20 May 2012 1600 GMTThe "Clown Bloc" has officially joined the party. About 30 protesters wearing face makeup, bushy wigs and multicolored pants are marching among Chicago's office towers and chanting against the city's "corporate clowns."
The self-proclaimed "clown bloc," subset of the Occupy group, say they are protesting corporate clowns. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)by rray on May 20, 2012 at 11:33 AM via email
One held a sign reading: "Patriot taking my country back from greedy bastards."Many had makeup in the style of the Joker character from the "Batman" movies. As they marched, the group performed stunts, including forming a "tunnel" with their arms raised up for others to run underneath.
They taunted officers in police vans and squad cars trailing the group down the street. Three of the clowns stood in front of one of the police vans in an attempt to block it.
Some wore bandanas obscuring parts of their faces. But one essential piece of the clown wardrobe was missing: the big fumbling clown shoes. After all, protesters taunting Chicago police need to stay mobile. They went with more practical footwear.
By Robert Ray -
20 May 2012 1603 GMTInsurgent attack
The Taliban is claiming responsibility for an attack in Afghanistan that killed two NATO service members on Sunday. Separately, a suicide bomber struck a police checkpoint in the country's southern province of Uruzgan, causing civilian and NATO injuries. The latest violence comes as world leaders, weary of war, are to tackle Afghanistan's future in Chicago. Associated Press video journalists captured the aftermath of the attack in Uruzgan in the video below. -
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20 May 2012 1624 GMTSign of distress
Holding the flag is Delia Jurek, of Center City, Minn. She says the flag should never be displayed with stars down except in instances of dire distress and imminent danger to life and property. But, Jurek says, these are stressful times and America is in serious trouble. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)by efredrix edited by efredrix 12:37 PM -
Pakistan Tension20 May 2012 1632 GMTPakistan got a last-minute invitation to attend the summit after the country's foreign minister proposed reopening its Afghan border to U.S. and NATO military supplies. Pakistan closed the routes in November after U.S. airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani troops on the Afghan border.But tensions had been building for months. Here's what happened in 2011:January: A CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistanis in the eastern city of Lahore who he said were trying to rob him.May: A secret U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town. America didn't tell Pakistan it was coming. The operation was seen as a gross violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.November: A U.S. attack on two Afghan border posts killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The U.S. has said it was an accident, but the Pakistani army has claimed it was deliberate.
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Opening supply lines from Pakistan to Afghanistan: It's complicated20 May 2012 1641 GMTPakistan closed its Afghan border to NATO supplies in November after American air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. In this video, Pakistani political analyst Shamimur Rehman talks about the complicated nature of re-opening those routes. Stay tuned to hear what NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has to say about the situation.
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20 May 2012 1653 GMTThe view from Afghanistan
Here's the scene from Afghanistan today, while world leaders discuss how to handle NATO's withdrawal from the country.
An Afghan National Army soldier gestures as he mans a checkpoint in Logar
province, east Afghanistan, on Sunday. NATO is preparing for the eventual withdrawal of international forces and the
hand over of Afghanistan's security to the Afghan National Army. (AP Photo/Anja
Niedringhaus)
Afghan National Army soldiers tend plants and flowers at a checkpoint in
Logar province, east Afghanistan, on Sunday. (AP
Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Afghan national army soldiers walk in front of the of late Amanullah Khan's
Palace which was destroyed during the civil war in 1992 in Kabul, Afghanistan, on
Sunday. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
An Afghan National Army jeep approaches a checkpoint in Logar province, east
Afghanistan, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Anja
Niedringhaus)
An Afghan National Army soldier mans a checkpoint in Logar province, east
Afghanistan, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Anja
Niedringhaus)PreviousNext1 of 5
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20 May 2012 1658 GMTQuotableI do hope that we will see a reopening of the transit routes in the very near future. We have for quite some time had a dialogue with Pakistan. We have negotiated. These negotiations will continue. But I am hopeful that they will be concluded in a positive manner, so that we will see a reopening of the transit routes in the very near future.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
NATO Secretary-General
Will the matter get resolved at the summit? Rasmussen dodged the question when asked.
Check out our earlier item for video of oil tankers parked on the streets of Karachi. -
Quotable20 May 2012 1702 GMTI'll be walking all day and guiding all day, trying to keep tempers calm. Our goal, believe it or not, is to have a family friendly protest that is peaceful.- Sue Eleuterio, 59, of Highland, Ind., a longtime activist who plans to act as a "peace guide" by mediating problems between police and protesters. Read more on today's protests.By Ryan J. Foley and Nomaan Merchant
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