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Any More U.S. “Stabilization” and Africa Will Collapse
History is just one of those hard things to ignore, especially in South Sudan. In 2011, the U.S. midwifed the creation of a new nation, South Sudan. Though at the time Obama invoked the words of Dr. Martin Luther King speaking about Ghana (“I knew about all of the struggles, and all of the pain, and all of the agony that these people had gone through for this moment”) in officially recognizing the country, many were more focused on the underlying U.S. motives, isolating the rest of Sudan as part of the war on terror, and securing the oil reserves in the south for the U.S. The State Department rushed to open an embassy in South Sudan, and U.S. money poured in to pay for the new government. Like his counterparts from Iraq and Afghanistan when the U.S. was still in charge of those places, the new South Sudan president was brought to the White House for photos, all blithely pushed out to the world via the Voice of America. The two leaders were said to have discussed “the importance of maintaining transparency and the rule of law.”
In 2012 then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the nation as part of an extended effort at creating B-roll footage for her 2016 campaign, and Obama publicly applauded a deal brokered between Sudan and South Sudan on oil pipeline fees that the White House claimed would “help stem the ongoing violence in the region.”
However, like in Iraq, Afghanistan and so many other places that fell apart while being democratized and stabilized by the U.S. (one also thinks of Libya, itself part of the African continent), the rush to mediagenic proclamations without addressing the underlying fundamentals led only to catastrophe. A scant few years later, South Sudan is at the brink of civil war and societal collapse, the U.S. is evacuating another embassy and indeed one variety or another of “rebels” are shooting at U.S. military aircraft arriving in their country in violation of their national sovereignty. Those who believe that the U.S. efforts in South Sudan do not involve special forces on the ground and drones overhead no doubt will have a nice Christmas waiting up to catch a glimpse of Santa.
Obama, apparently unwilling to remember how he stood aside while an elected government recently fell apart in Egypt, went on to double-down on hypocrisy by stating in regards to South Sudan, “Any effort to seize power through the use of military force will result in the end of long-standing support from the United States and the international community.”
The Militarization of Africa
If the U.S. efforts in South Sudan were isolated, that would be tragedy enough. However, the U.S. militarization of Africa paints such a sad, similar picture that it bears a recapping here. The always on-track Nick Turse reported:
— In recent years, the US has trained and outfitted soldiers from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya, among other nations. They have also served as a proxy force for the US in Somalia, part of the African Union Mission (Amisom) protecting the U.S.-supported government in that country’s capital, Mogadishu.
— Since 2007, the State Department has given about $650-million in logistics support, equipment and training for Amisom troops. The Pentagon has given an extra $100 million since 2011.
— The U.S. also continues to fund African armies through the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership and its Pentagon analogue, now known as Operation Juniper Shield, with increased support flowing to Mauritania and Niger in the wake of Mali’s collapse. In 2012, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development poured approximately $52 million into the programs and the Pentagon chipped in another $46 million.
— In the Obama years, U.S. Africa Command has also built a sophisticated logistics system, officially known as the Africom Surface Distribution Network, but colloquially referred to as “the new spice route”. Its central nodes are in Manda Bay, Garissa and Mombasa in Kenya; Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda; Bangui and Djema in the Central African Republic; Nzara in South Sudan; Dire Dawa in Ethiopia; and the Pentagon’s showpiece African base, Camp Lemonnier.
— In addition, the Pentagon has run a regional air campaign using drones and manned aircraft out of airports and bases around the continent including Camp Lemonnier, Arba Minch airport in Ethiopia, Niamey in Niger and the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, while private contractor-operated surveillance aircraft have flown missions out of Entebbe. Recently, Foreign Policy reported on the existence of a possible drone base in Lamu, Kenya.
— Another critical location is Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, home to a Joint Special Operations Air Detachment and the Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support Initiative that, according to military documents, supports “high-risk activities” carried out by elite forces from Joint Special Operations Task Force — Trans-Sahara.
The Failure of the Militarization of Africa
Libya is in flames, Benghazi the only point of attention for Americans while chaos consumes a once-stable country. Egypt, again on the continent though perhaps not of it, saw its brief bit of democracy stamped out by a military coup. The governments of Mauritania and Niger fell to their militaries. Chad experienced a coup, albeit unsuccessful. Fighting continues in Mali and the Central African Republic. In October 2011 the U.S. invaded, albeit in a small way, the Central African Republic In December 2012, the U.S. evacuated its diplomats and civilians. 2011 also saw a U.S.-backed Kenyan invasion of Somalia. U.S. troops are hunting humans in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Like ghosts from the 18th century, pirates haunt the waters off East Africa. The U.S. admits to having 5,000 troops in ten African countries when once there were none.
And So, Why?
The basic rule for any investment is what do you gain in return for risk? It applies to buying stocks as well as investing a nation’s blood, resources and prestige.
In the case of Africa, the U.S. investment has been a disaster. Chaos has replaced stability in many places, and terrorists have found homes in countries they may have once never imagined. The U.S., in sad echo of 19th century colonialism, has militarized another region of the world.
Every rebel and terrorist the U.S. kills creates more, radicalizes more, gives the bad guys another propaganda lede. The more we kill, the more there seem to be to kill. America needs fewer people saying they are victims of America. The Chinese are building cultural ties and signing deals all over Africa, and we’re just throwing up barbed wire. Why?
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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pitchfork said...
1quote”.. “the importance of maintaining transparency and the rule of law.”unquote
Transparency..and rule of law. (hanging head in utter disbelief)
Yes, the importance of maintaining. Only one problem..it doesn’t exist..therefore..fergitit.
Meanwhile, the Greatest Show on Earth continues it’s unending run of epic Empire building FAIL on the planet. And then you ask …why? I’ll give you a clue. However, be prepared to hold back a monumental wave of nauseousness …
http://www.lawfulpath.com/ref/sw4qw/index.shtml
Psychopaths defined.
If it weren’t for alcohol I’d be stark raving mad by now.
02/26/14 1:34 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
2In the meantime, in another Great Moment in Incredulous, Obla threatens to pack up and leave Afghanistan.
Make our fucking day ya goddamned war criminal.
02/26/14 1:47 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3“The Chinese are building cultural ties and signing deals all over Africa, and we’re just throwing up barbed wire. Why?”
What do you expect from the DUMBEST COUNTRY ON THE PLANET(tm) ?
PS: Pitch, that “Greatest Show” label is a poor imitation.
02/26/14 2:37 PM | Comment Link
Long Time Ago said...
4There seems to be a very strong correlation between the volume of the drug trade and the presence of US military training.
Well known recent example is Afganistan where there was “no” poppy production under the Taliban but which has boomed since the invasion. Previous examples abound in Lat Am.
Recently the drug trade in somce African countries – several of which you have noted in your article – has effectively turned them into narco states.
Could I be right or am I hallucinating?
02/26/14 3:45 PM | Comment Link
jo6pac said...
5Long Time Ago said…
Could I be right or am I hallucinating?
Yep your hallucinating, nothing to see here please move along or Oh look shiny object.
The cia travel drug trade show is always looking cheaper labor
02/26/14 7:24 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
6Rich said:
quote:’PS: Pitch, that “Greatest Show” label is a poor imitation.”unquote
Ok..how bout this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPr8osoy8I
Otherwise..what would you suggest Rich?
Look, the only way I can keep a rational mind through this final demise of ‘murican Empire fail is humor, irony, incredulous satire, and any other verbal outburst I can muster to diffuse my growing frustration with the lack of American citizen coalescence to confront these bastards on a level of human cognizance these psychopaths understand. NAMELY..an AK-15 at the temple of every goddamned psychopathic USG official who are contributing to the destruction of the Constitution and human rights on this planet.
02/26/14 11:09 PM | Comment Link
Kyzl Orda said...
7“Well known recent example is Afganistan where there was “no” poppy production under the Taliban but which has boomed since the invasion. Previous examples abound in Lat Am. ”
Actually, drug problems/addiction have long been a problem prior to our invasion of Afghanistan, with high addiction rates suffered in countries surrounding Afghanistan like Iran and Russia and the ‘stans.
The drug trade existed during the Taliban’s regime and just mushroomed since our invasion as you already mentioned. If the Taliban turned a blind eye, it’s probably because hands were being well-greased. It can happen that official means are used to pass laws ostensibly making something illegal yet the real purpose is to drive up street values and profits, with some officials willfully benefitting.
Smuggling products, whether narcotics or weaponry, is a huge problem and unfortunately always has been. In the ‘stans, people would fault the ‘Wahhabis’ and Afghanistan for the heroin scourge. In addition to heroin, other drugs are a problem too such as marijuana. There were huge fields of marijuana plants naturally growing outside Almaty, and along roadsides within villages
02/26/14 11:11 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
8“There seems to be a very strong correlation between the volume of the drug trade and the presence of US military training.
Well known recent example is Afganistan where there was “no” poppy production under the Taliban but which has boomed since the invasion. Previous examples abound in Lat Am.”
Really? Nawwww. Rewind about 6 months on this blog…..
“pitchfork said…
quote:”He’ll find ways to get his fix even if it means growing the poppies himself.”unquote
Growing the poppies himself. I love ironic metaphors.
Speaking of the plumb bob of CIA Torturer’s and the architect or our current NSA Surveillance State, Poppy fixes notwithstanding, not many people I’ve talked too even know who he is..except a vague memory of him as one of those wunnerful military Generals who “defended our freedoms”. gak. If they only had a clue..
quote:”Hayden ran the NSA, and after 9/11 followed many Americans into the fever swamps of terror illogic, abandoning his once-held belief that the state should in some way be restricted from spying on its own citizens. The NSA under his direction started a domestic phone call database, helped Bush gut FISA, and helped establish the drone program that now stealthily murders its way across Afghanistan and countries we’re nominally not even at war with, like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. As director of the CIA from 2006 — imagine, he was already so bad on domestic spying at his point that the likes of Dianne Feinstein opposed him — he loved him some controlled near-drowning of alleged terrorists.”unquote
http://antiwar.com/blog/2011/06/15/michael-hayden-tortures-pr-man/
priceless..even pond scum Feinstein.. ahem..”opposed” him. That’s like a pile of shit calling foul on a Perineal Abscess while their both draining from the same asshole.
Irony at it’s finest. But guess what? speaking of poppys and fixs’..is it any wonder, as head of the CIA in 2006, the Poppy/Opium crop in Afghanistan exploded, even though.. ahem.. “eradication” efforts doubled..right. unhuh
quote:”Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world’s heroin, broke all records in “2006″, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, …”unquote
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101654.html
Fix’s indeed. BILLIONS. It doesn’t take a tinfoil hat to add 2+2..afterall, as one of his CIA predecessors, who..ironically appointed Hayden to the CIA,(geeee, whudda thunk?)… Mr. drug runner himself, daddy George ran the program in Central America to heights unseen since the Big Bang. All it took was a little ole CIA front company called Aero Services to mod B-26′s to haul the stash..and Olie North to run it..well then, by all means..let’s make some moola!
And then, thanks to DOJ’s monumental effort to steal the Promis software, and HUD’s little modification, once the CIA had it, now they could track the drugs into HUD housing programs. Amongst other things(like NSA) How sweet. Once Katherin Austin Fitt’s found out though..well, that’s another story.
Speaking of other stories..well, just connect the ATF dots…ie..their Fast and Furious program to let guns “walk” across the Mexican border..right into the hands of the Cartels. And then just have the FBI set up “sources” that they allowed to bring drugs in from Mexico by the ton..and even looked the other way when these sources murdered people..and on and on and on…
youbetcha..a BIG CLUB and we ain’t in it pal. But you can bet your sweet bippy..Michael Hayden is.
ok, sorry for the drift. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. 🙂
ps. All this shit is documented. You just have to search for it..that is..if you have the stomach.”unquote
fucking spare me. In the meantime..welcome to Peters pit of reality and truth.
02/26/14 11:17 PM | Comment Link
Kyzl Orda said...
9Dear Pitch, dig back further, too, to our first involvement in Afghanistan. Just for fun, try googling Gulbeddin Hekmatyr, CIA, drug trade. Some may remember Mr Hekmatyr, once one of our ‘allies’ as Mr-Throw-Acid-on-Stewardesses-Legs
02/27/14 2:35 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
10Kyzl, I’ve grown weary from digging. I mean, it’s tough enough keeping up with the present nightmare. In reality, I’ve spent the last 12 years of my life trying to discover the..ahem..”truth”.
Meanwhile, the “truth” was evolving, day by day, war by war, economy collapse after collapse, election after election, lie after lie. And now, all I can do is laugh at it’s monumental absurdity.
02/27/14 3:09 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
11speaking of keeping up with the present nightmare..
these psychopaths know no bounds..
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/gchq-nsa-webcam-images-internet-yahoo
There is absolutely no doubt now we have completely been bamboozled by the Ministry of Surveillance.
There is also absolutely no doubt now..who the real criminals are.
02/27/14 10:09 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
12OMG. We meant well…
http://www.google.com/webhp?nord=1
Happy Birthday Mr. Steinbeck. You are as relevant today as when my dad lived the Grapes of Wrath. This site is living proof..after all..look at the top of this page.
02/27/14 11:52 PM | Comment Link
Jhoover said...
13Wemeantwell, did you read this from the most wanted ware criminal in the world:
Henry Kissinger: “If You Can’t Hear the Drums of War You Must Be Deaf”
03/1/14 7:09 AM | Comment Link
Jhoover said...
14قوة عسكرية ليبية تحتجز طائرة قطرية محملة بأسلحة لتنظيم القاعدة بسيناء
أعلنت قوات ليبية تابعة للواء خليفة حفتر، سيطرتها بشكل كامل على مطار طرابلس الدولي
http://www.almasalah.com/ar/news/25539/%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%B2-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-
03/1/14 8:41 AM | Comment Link