Africa

AFRICOM Special Operations Forces-trained Congolese Commando Battalion among units accused of rape

May 10, 2013

Source: Stars and Stripes For U.S. diplomats and military officials who were involved in training a Congolese army unit, a troubling question loomed: Would the 391st Commando Battalion serve as protectors of the population or would they revert to acts of sexual violence once on the battlefield? A United Nations report released this week indicates [...]

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Major U.S. military operations/actions to protect oil

May 8, 2013

Source: By Kevin Wang and David Kashi -Oil Change America’s role in protecting oil: The U.S. military has used force or the threat of force to protect its energy interests around the world, primarily in the Middle East, for more than five decades, safeguarding foreign oil sources and the sea lanes through which they pass. According to Roger Stern, [...]

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U.S. Security Strategy in South Sudan – an Anti-China Strategy?

May 3, 2013

Source: All Africa The cornerstone of an academic debate which took shape over the last twelve years among Marxist scholars – since the publication of Empire (2000) – focuses on what can be considered the mother of all questions for scientists of international politics: what is the structure of the current geopolitical world order we [...]

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Pentagon deploys small number of troops to war-torn Mali

April 30, 2013

Source: WP The Pentagon has deployed a small number of troops to Mali to support allied forces fighting there, despite repeated pledgesby the Obama administration not to put “boots on the ground” in the war-torn African country. About 10 U.S. military personnel are in Mali to provide “liaison support” to French and African troops but [...]

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Deutschland Bundeswehr soldiers ‘for hire as mercenaries’

April 30, 2013

Source: Local DE German soldiers are moonlighting illegally at private security firms while off-duty, a newspaper revealed on Monday. Working as heavily armed guards on freighters or in war-zones, some do it for the cash and others for the adrenaline kick. As members of the German army, Bundeswehr, soldiers are not allowed to work as mercenaries [...]

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US & France Intervene in Mali To Protect Land & Resource Grabs, Not Because of Al Qaeda

April 29, 2013

Source: Black Agenda Report US & France Intervene in Mali To Protect Land & Resource Grabs, Not Because of Al Qaeda The US has boots on the ground and manned & unmanned aircraft in the skies of Mali, to answer supposed threats to US national security poised by Al Qeda. If you believe that, you [...]

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War in Mali: Geopolitics, France, China, Economic Conflicts,Terrorism, Energy Security, Elites and Sea Lines of Communication

April 16, 2013

Source: JTW The Republic of Mali witnessed a number of military and security developments, with the onset of 2013. French Army launched military operations into Northern Mali, where the fundamentalist groups took ground, so that it could render help to the African forces. In fact, social unrest in this region has historical roots in the demands [...]

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Libyan arms controlled by non-state actors

April 15, 2013

Editor’s Note: Part of the CIA Syria Operation? US and Europe in ‘major airlift of arms to Syrian rebels through Zagreb’, Libya transporting weapons and fighters to Syria: Americans, Moroccans, Libyans, Egyptians, Bosnians fighting alongside rebel forces and Largest Shipload of Libyan Weapons Heading to Armed Groups in Syria Source: Ahram The proliferation of weapons from [...]

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France Needs to Support Mali to the Full: President Hollande and Shadows of Al-Qaeda

April 12, 2013

Source: MTT The nation of Mali needs France to maintain its full support towards this nation because in Afghanistan and Somalia, and in other nations, the forces of al-Qaeda (and other Islamist factions) have often disappeared under heavy pressure and then re-entered at a later date. President Hollande was widely celebrated by the people of [...]

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Mercenaries Next Payday: Commando Logistics for Africa Shadow Wars

April 12, 2013

Source: Wired Here’s how serious the U.S. is about its African war on terror. The Pentagon is preparing to spend millions to create a privatized flying taxi service to fly its commandos everywhere from Libya to Congo. That’s according to details in a recent solicitation notice for a Defense Department contract worth up to $50 million, [...]

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Pentagon approves Marine crisis response force for North Africa

April 2, 2013

Source: CNN The Pentagon has approved a Marine crisis response force for North Africa with air transport and combat capabilities, Defense Department officials said, a response to criticism the military was unable to get any forces to the scene of last September’s deadly terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The plan [...]

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U.N. aims to approve Congo “search and destroy” brigades

March 28, 2013

Source: Reuters The U.N. Security Council aims to approve on Thursday the creation of a special force that would carry out “targeted offensive operations” to wipe out armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, council diplomats said. The 15-member Security Council was still negotiating on Wednesday a draft resolution to establish the so-called intervention [...]

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Marine Corps rapid-response team ordered to Africa to thwart another Benghazi attack

March 8, 2013

Source: Washington Times U.S. Africa Command will get a new Marine Corps rapid response force as part of a plan to beef up its crisis response capabilities. More Leathernecks will be at the ready after the military was unable to get timely aid to Benghazi, Libya last year, during a terror attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and members of his [...]

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EU Battlegroups should take the lead for Africa’s security

March 5, 2013

Source: Gulf News The European Union already faces considerable risks concerning its structure, uncertain economic recovery, north-south imbalances, and British ambivalence about membership. Exposure to bad outcomes in Africa, with its myriad security problems, increases those risks. Much of Africa north of the equator continues to be violent and potentially explosive. The showers of the [...]

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U.S. Boosts War Role in Africa (and Targeting Kurdish Separatist Fighters Along Turkey/Iraq Border)

March 4, 2013

Editor’s Note: Check out the last two paragraphs of the article. Current and former intelligence officials compared the cooperation in Mali to the way the U.S. helps Turkey target Kurdish separatist fighters along Turkey’s border with Iraq. There, video feeds and other intelligence collected by U.S.-piloted Predator drones are relayed to a joint intelligence [...]

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How Does the U.S. Mark Unidentified Men in Pakistan and Yemen as Drone Targets?

March 2, 2013

Editor’s Note: The answer to the question is simple. Boots on the ground. CIA, Special Operation Forces and Private Contrators Operating in Yemen and U.S. to establish military bases in Yemen Source: Pro Publica Earlier this week, we wrote about a significant but often overlooked aspect of the drone wars in Pakistan and Yemen: so-called signature strikes, in which [...]

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PlayStation Wars: The eastern Congo powder keg

March 1, 2013

Editor’s Note: PlayStation Wars for columbite-tantalite – Relevant Article: Congo’s $24 Trillion Mineral Wealth: Corporations vs M23 and Inside Africa’s PlayStation War Source: DW Eastern Congo is experiencing renewed fighting. More than 30 people died in Kitchanga in clashes between the army and rebels of the “Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo” (APCLS). According to the United Nations, [...]

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Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Ryan Henry, AFRICOM and Resource Wars: Somalia tops ‘resource nationalism risk’ list

February 27, 2013

Editor’s Note: The 3 myths of AFRICOM presented by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry have come to fruition. AFRICOM/Pentagon/NATO entities are conducting a global war on terror propaganda program to set in motion a steady destabilization of African nations, as well as in the Middle East-Syria. AFRICOM is establishing key strategic [...]

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War on terror is the West’s new religion

February 24, 2013

Source: Independent Mohamed al-Zawahiri, younger brother of Osama bin Laden’s successor, Ayman, made a particularly intriguing statement in Cairo last month. Talking to that wonderful French institution Le Journal du Dimanche about Mali, he asked the paper to warn France “and to call on reasonable French people and wise men not to fall into the [...]

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Global War on Terror, Military Interventions and Destabilizing Nations

February 22, 2013

Editors Notes: The war on terror is a myth to create conformity, manipulate public opinion and adjust the individual to government ideals. The war on terror is not the expression of experts, individuals or a small group of advocates. War on terror propaganda comes from actors, journalists and commentators that are directed by capital interests. The war on terror is a [...]

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AFRICOM: The Stealthy Militarisation of Africa

February 21, 2013

Source: SACSIS The US Africa Command (AFRICOM), assembled under the leadership of President George W. Bush’s hawk Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2007, now flexes it muscle across the continent in earnest. US military interests in Africa are not new. However, the concept of a unified African military command and associated presence to advance US [...]

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Council on Foreign Relations Calling for War In Niger?

February 17, 2013

Editors Notes: French military intervention occurred a few weeks ago with special operation forces providing security of corporate mining operations in Niger. Related Article :French special forces to protect uranium mining sites in Niger Source: Foreign Affairs [...] Meanwhile, in southern Niger, unguarded checkpoints along the border with Nigeria have allowed for an influx of [...]

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Global Energy and Resource Wars: Mali and Niger, the battlefield for Uranium

February 14, 2013

Editors Notes: Military missions into West Africa are to secure the free flow of natural resources out of Africa to the global markets. As soon as sovereign nations are in governmental/legislative staging plans of nationalizing sectors of their economy (resource nationalism)—– the potential of internal protests/riots increase ( influence by western clandestine operations), military interventions/airstrikes, coup d’états, [...]

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France’s stake in Sahel: India wants to hear from Hollande

February 13, 2013

Source: Two Circles When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sits with President Fracois Hollande here Thursday for a review of the strategic partnership, he would perhaps do well to seek a little more clarity on the situation in the Sahel which holds significant interest for India. A 1,000km-wide region between the Sahara desert in the North and [...]

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Investors start a new scramble for Africa

February 7, 2013

Source: FT t is the ultimate in risk versus return. Hunters of investment exotica are heading to Africa, where some of the world’s riskiest markets are enjoying big gains. After trailing behind more mainstream markets for the better part of a decade, so-called frontier markets as defined by index provider MSCI have climbed more than [...]

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Strategic Shift: Britain to announce closer military co-operation with Libya, Somalia and Burma

February 6, 2013

Editors Notes: Strategic shift analysis. Burma : Strategic maritime security of Indian Ocean and Strait of Malacca. Somalia: Horn of Africa, Strait of Hormuz/Suez Canal security/ offshore hydrocarbons and control of ocean bound oil tankers. Libya : Oil , future formation of Mediterranean Union eventually linked to European Union. Source: Guardian Britain will announce it [...]

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Pentagon providing intelligence support to Nigeria

February 5, 2013

Editors Notes: Do not have to rely on regional media reports to determine if DoD intelligence operatives are conducting missions in Nigeria. AFRICOM/Pentagon have been leaking information and details of military operations and cooperation in Nigeria over the last 2 years.Related Articles: U.S. expands its secret war in Africa, America’s ‘shadow wars’ in Africa, Pentagon [...]

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Mali and AFRICOM’s Africa Agenda: Target China – F. William Engdahl

January 31, 2013

Editors Notes: An additional piece worth reading straight from AFRICOM covering future military affairs/influence/operations and strategy for Africa-Role and Mission of AFRICOM: Africa’s Oil, Vital Resources, Countering China, Strategic Chokepoints, Maritime Security, Narcotics Source: Voltaire Part I: Africa’s New Thirty Years’ War? Mali at first glance seems a most unlikely place for the NATO powers, [...]

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Ya Think …Terrorism may be just excuse for Western powers in Africa

January 30, 2013

Source: Global Times Mali may continue to be the epicenter of combat, death and French preoccupation for a foreseeable future. This means risks to multinational businesses and foreigners, which could play out across North and West Africa. Perhaps it could spread southward to Central and East Africa, the core of Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-linked [...]

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