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NATO ups military presence amid Russian threat

By JUERGEN BAETZ and JOHN-THOR DAHLBURGApril 16, 2014 7:49 PM

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BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO is strengthening its military footprint along its eastern border immediately in response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine, the alliance's chief said Wednesday.

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Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO's air policing aircraft will fly more sorties over the Baltic region west of Ukraine, far from the tensions in the eastern part of the country. He said allied warships will also deploy to the Baltic Sea, the eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere if needed.

NATO's supreme commander in Europe told reporters that ground forces could also be involved at some point, but gave no details.

NATO members Poland and the Baltic countries Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have been wary following Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula, demanding a more robust military posture to counter neighboring Russia.

Rasmussen said the new NATO deployments are about "deterrence and de-escalation" in the face of Russia's aggressive behavior in Ukraine, which is not a member of the 28-nation alliance.

The move was supported by the White House.

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Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators march hold flares and make their way to the trade union building, in Ode …

"We fully endorse the actions the alliance has taken to reassure NATO members and to bolster NATO's presence in the Baltic nations," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

NATO estimates Russia has amassed some 40,000 troops on Ukraine's eastern border and could invade if it wished. Fogh Rasmussen again urged Russia to pull those troops back.

The NATO chief did not mention naval deployments to the Black Sea — which Russia would likely see as a direct aggression even though NATO members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey also border the sea.

But he insisted that "more will follow if needed."

Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove said multiple nations have approached him with offers of ground forces that will be included in a plan of operations he will give to NATO later Wednesday or Thursday.

Breedlove said the package of new military moves is designed to remain in place through Dec. 31.

"These measures are not a threat to Russia but they are designed to send a clear message that NATO will protect every ally and is ready to defend against any threat to our fundamental security," Breedlove said.

He said he tried — but failed — to reach the Russian chief of general staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, to make that point.

NATO has already suspended most cooperation and talks with Russia.

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AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

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Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

http://news.yahoo.com/nato-ups-military-presence-amid-russian-threat-111923074.html

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Bill O'Reilly: "Putin Is Out To DESTROY Obama"

Toddler critically burned during SWAT raid

ATLANTA (WSB-TV) — The mother of the toddler told Channel 2 Action News Friday morning that the boy remains in a medically-induced coma.

“He is in a medically induced coma and he is paralyzed. I hope he’s not going to remember this. I know his sisters, his mommy and his daddy will never forget this," the boy's mother, Alecia Phonesavanh, said. "Our kids have been through enough this year. This is just more trauma that they didn’t need, and I just wish there was something better I could do to make it better for him. Wrong place, wrong time. There’s nothing I can do about it."

The family's home in Wisconsin recently burned down, prompting their trop to Atlanta to visit family.

“There’s nothing we can do to change the situation, my husband and I would gladly both give up our lives just to see him not like this. He’s such a happy little boy, and to see him like this laying there, not moving, it’s heartbreaking. We just want to hold him and we can’t," Phonesavanh said.

A family says a SWAT team raided their home in the middle of the night and seriously injured a 19-month-old boy with a stun grenade.

Alecia Phonesavanh told Channel 2’s Ryan Young her child is at the Grady Memorial Hospital burn unit, and is in a medically induced coma.

Phonesavanh said she was at her sister-in-law’s home in Habersham County early Wednesday when police raided the house.

"It's my baby. He's only a baby. He didn't deserve any of this," Phonesavanh said.

Phonesavanh told Young the grenade landed in the child’s crib; she showed him a photo of a charred portable crib.

"It landed in his playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face," Phonesavanh said.

She also showed Young pictures of her child in the Grady burn unit. Channel 2 has decided not to share most of the photos because of the graphic nature of the child’s injuries.

"He's in the burn unit. We go up to see him and his whole face is ripped open. He has a big cut on his chest," Phonesavanh said. "He's only 19 months old. He didn't do anything."
Cornelia police Chief Rick Darby confirmed that the raid took place at the home just before 3 a.m. He said a multijurisdictional drug unit issued a warrant and organized the SWAT operation.

Deputies said they bought drugs from the house, and came back with a no-knock warrant to arrest a man known to have drugs and weapons.

“There was no clothes, no toys, nothing to indicate that there was children present in the home. If there had been then we'd have done something different,” Darby said.

"Everyone's sleeping. There's a loud bang and a bright light," Phonesavanh said. "The cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face."

They arrested Wanis Thometheva, 30, during the raid.

Darby told Channel 2's Wendy Corona that the entire unit is very broken up about the incident.

“You're trying to minimize anything that could go wrong and in this case the greatest thing went wrong,” Darby said. “Is it going to make us be more careful in the next one? Yes ma'am, it is. It's gonna make us double question.”

The Phonesavanh family told Young they have no insurance and have set up a fund to pay for medical expenses.

http://www.conservativeoutfitters.com/blogs/news/14304765-video-toddler-in-medically-induced-coma-after-george-police-toss-flashbang-into-crib-during-no-knock-raid