Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:59:14 +0200
America’s Conquest of Africa: The Penetration of AFRICOM on the Continent
TomDispatch tracks where the Pentagon is moving in Africa
By <http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/abayomi-azikiwe> Abayomi Azikiwe
Global Research, September 10, 2013
africom
A recent study conducted by Nick Turse of TomDispatch.com on the increasing
role of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) illustrates why this
issue should become a major focus of the peace, anti-war and
anti-imperialist movements in the West. With the withdrawal of Pentagon
ground forces from Iraq and the scaling-down of U.S. and NATO troops in
Afghanistan, there has been very little attention paid to developments
involving interventions by the imperialist states in the oppressed nations.
Although there have been significant demonstrations around the U.S. against
the war threats aimed at Syria, these latest machinations by the White House
and the French government of Francois Hollande should not be the sole focus
of the anti-war movement. The degree to which the Pentagon and the Central
Intelligence Agency(CIA) has engaged in acts of subversion and military
intrigue in Africa must at some point force the movement to break out of its
myopic preoccupation with events that grab the headlines within the
corporate media outlets.
If these trends in Africa are presented in an organized and cohesive
fashion, there could be an upsurge in interests related to events on the
continent. A panel discussion put together by the United National Antiwar
Coalition (UNAC) at the Left Forum in New York City in early June, attracted
a standing-room-only audience.
Issues related to the Obama administration and its allies’ interventions in
Africa should have been the subject of a plenary session at the Left Forum.
The panel entitled “The War on Africa” and its success illustrates that
there is growing interests in these aspects of imperialism and its strategic
outlook for areas outside the so-called Middle East.
Even though President Obama is of African descent, his policies toward the
continent have continued and even intensified Western efforts to dominate
the continent which has been subjected to nearly six centuries of slavery,
colonialism and neo-colonialism. With the People’s Republic of China playing
a greater role in Africa through trade relations and strategic partnerships,
the ruling class within the U.S. is scrambling to edge out Beijing by
increasing its military and intelligence presence.
The bombing of Libya by the Pentagon and NATO for seven straight months in
2011, demonstrated clearly the extent to which imperialism is willing to go
in order to overthrow and remake states. Since the fall of the Gaddafi
government and the Jamahiriya system, Libya has been plunged into economic
distress and political chaos.
Drone stations are being constructed throughout the Horn of Africa and in
Niger while the U.S. subsidizes the maintenance of a 17,500-person military
force in Somalia. Somalia is now the focus of oil exploration and
exploitation along with other states along the coast of East Africa.
TomDispatch’s Findings
Nick Turse begins his review of the Pentagon’s increasing intervention in
Africa saying “They’re involved in Algeria and Angola, Benin and Botswana,
Burkina Faso and Burundi, Cameroon and the Cape Verde Islands. And that’s
just the ABCs of the situation.”
He goes on to stress that all you need to do is “Skip to the end of the
alphabet and the story remains the same: Senegal and the Seychelles, Togo
and Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. From north to south, east to west, the Horn
of Africa to the Sahel, the heart of the continent to the islands off its
coasts, the U.S. military is at work.”
Turse goes on to track the activities of the Pentagon through its joint
military exercises with various African states, the construction of military
bases within these states, the so-called training exercises carried out by
the U.S. defense department involving African militaries, the construction
and expansion of the Camp Lemonier base in the Horn of Africa nation of
Djibouti and the utilization of drone technology to both monitor events as
well as engage in offensive strikes against targeted individuals and
organizations.
Another important aspect of the escalating Pentagon presence in Africa is
the existence of AFRICOM-related bases of operation outside the continent.
Located mainly in European countries and islands under their control, the
presence of these facilities should also be of concern to Left and anti-war
forces on that continent which was the forerunner of intervention prior to
the birth of its offspring in North America.
Turse notes that “When considering the scope and rapid expansion of U.S.
military activities in Africa, it’s important to keep in mind that certain
key ‘African’ bases are actually located off the continent. Keeping a
semblance of a ‘light footprint’ there, AFRICOM’s headquarters is located at
Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart-Moehringen, Germany.”
He goes on saying “In June, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the base in
Stuttgart and the U.S. Air Force’s Air Operations Center in Ramstein were
both integral to drone operations in Africa. Key logistics support hubs for
AFRICOM are located in Rota, Spain; Aruba in the Lesser Antilles; and Souda
Bay, Greece, as well as at Ramstein. The command also maintains a forward
operating site on Britain’s Ascension Island, located about 1,000 miles off
the coast of Africa in the South Atlantic, but refused requests for further
information about its role in operations.”
The Need for a Response by the Anti-Imperialist Forces
These findings should provide the basis for a more concentrated effort
related to the growing Pentagon as well as CIA presence in Africa. The
organization of a clear anti-imperialist response to these developments
would serve to encourage and motivate revolutionary organizations and
movements in Africa that could lead to alliances between progressive forces
in the West and those on the continent.
There should be the establishment of study groups to review the history and
current events related to imperialist militarism. Task forces need to be set
up where military training facilities and corporations directly involved in
these events in Africa could be targeted for protests and boycotts.
Positions papers, pamphlets, books and web pages should be developed to
provide concrete information about these trends. These resources can serve
as the basis for reaching greater numbers of people both in the imperialist
states and those in Africa and other regions of the world.
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Articles by: <http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/abayomi-azikiwe> Abayomi
Azikiwe
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