Blogger Shines Light on U.S. Shadow War in East Africa
* By David Axe <
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/author/davidaxe/>
* Email Author <mailto:david_axe_at_hotmail.com>
* May 15, 2012 |
An innocuous-seeming U.S. Air Force press release. A serendipitous satellite
image in Google Earth. Snapshots from a photographer on assignment at a
Spanish air base. The crash of an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle
fighter-bomber in the United Arab Emirates. These are some of the fragments
of information that Italian aviation blogger David Cenciotti has assembled
to reveal the best picture yet of the Pentagon's secretive war in the
Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
In a series of blog posts over the past two weeks, Cenciotti has
<
http://theaviationist.com/2012/05/11/strike-eagle-djibouti/> described in
unprecedented detail the powerful aerial force helping wage Washington's
hush-hush campaign of air strikes, naval bombardments and commando raids
along the western edge of the Indian Ocean, including terror hot spots Yemen
and Somalia. Cenciotti outlined the deployment of eight F-15Es from their
home base in Idaho to the international air and naval outpost at Camp
Lemonnier in Djibouti, north of Somalia.
Over the years there have been hints of the F-15s' presence in East Africa,
but "their actual mission remains a (sort-of) mystery," Cenciotti writes.
Based on the evidence, he proposes that the twin-seat fighter-bombers - one
of the Air Force's mainstay weapon systems in Afghanistan - are dropping
bombs on al-Qaida-affiliated militants in Yemen. If true, that means the
U.S. intervention in the western Indian Ocean is far more forceful, and
risky, than previously suggested.
Ten years ago the Air Force openly acknowledged the initial F-15E rotation
in Djibouti, but since then the flying branch has released few details. New
official information on the Indian Ocean aerial armada has emerged only
after airplanes crashed. An accident involving an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper
drone in the Seychelles late last year forced the Pentagon to admit it was
<
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/new-drone-bases/> building a drone
base on the island nation. Reporters followed the Seychelles lead to uncover
additional Reaper bases in Yemen and Ethiopia. Armed drones operated by the
CIA and the military have killed scores of militants in Somalia and Yemen
under <
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/04/joe-schmoe-drones/> steadily
loosening rules of engagement.
Similarly, the deaths of four American airmen in a crash in Djibouti in
February confirmed the involvement of the
<
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/02/spy-plane-crash-africa/> secretive
U-28 spy plane in the escalating intervention.
The F-15Es carry more bombs and fly much faster than the Cessna-size,
propeller-driven Reapers. Where the long-endurance drones are persistent and
patient, the twin-engine Strike Eagles are fast-reacting and powerful. "When
you need to quickly reach a distant target and hit it with a considerable
payload, you might find a Strike Eagle a better platform," Cenciotti
explains. On the other hand, "air strikes with conventional planes are
considered less respectful of the local nation's sovereignty than drones'
attacks," he adds. "This could be the reason for keeping the eventual F-15E
involvement in the area a bit confidential."
Again, it was a crash that helped draw reporters' attention to the F-15s in
Djibouti. In early May a photographer friend of Cenciotti
<
http://theaviationist.com/2012/05/07/more-f15e-afghanistan/> photographed
several Strike Eagles passing through Spain's Moron air base en route to an
unspecified deployed location.
<
http://theaviationist.com/2012/05/03/f-15e-crash-uae/> One of the F-15s
crashed near its next layover in the United Arab Emirates. (The two crew
members ejected safely.) Cenciotti scrutinized the aircraft involved and
matched them up with a
<
http://www.hoa.africom.mil/getArticleFresh.asp?art=7885&lang=0> Pentagon
press release describing a change-of-command ceremony for a fighter squadron
in Djibouti.
An image from Google Maps showing six F-15s on the ground in Djibouti helped
confirm Cenciotti's theory that Strike Eagles are active in the Indian Ocean
region. Evidence the jets are bombing Yemen is more circumstantial:
Cenciotti notes that the pro-U.S. Yemeni air force was on strike at the time
of one widely reported air raid in the country, meaning another nation was
likely responsible for the hit.
The 37-year-old Cenciotti rivals ace Aviation Week reporter Bill Sweetman
for breaking news about military aircraft. But his strict focus on aviation
means he misses other compelling evidence of the U.S. shadow war in East
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
<
http://defense.aol.com/2012/01/10/does-us-navy-need-more-ships-to-counter-c
hina/> The Navy maintains around 30 warships in the Indian Ocean as part of
several international task forces. American destroyers have launched
missiles and
<
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/warships-gunships-spyplanes-somalia
/> fired guns at terrorists in Somalia and Yemen.
But arguably the most interesting vessels in the area are also the least
flashy. Lewis and Clark-class supply ships, normally used to carry fuel and
cargo, have also been used as
<
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/people/secnav/Mabus/Speech/Hamer%20Institute%2
0Naming%20of%20Medgar%20Evers%209%20Oct%2009%20Rel.pdf> Afloat Forward
Staging Bases - in essence, seaborne military camps for housing Special
Forces and launching helicopters and small boats. The ships can be
configured with makeshift jails for holding captured pirates and, in theory,
terror suspects.
<
http://www.hoa.africom.mil/getArticleFresh.asp?art=7901&lang=0> The Lewis
and Clark class ship Carl Brashear visited Djibouti in early May, according
to a military press release. Where the ship went next - and what exactly she
did there - is unclear. But if Cenciotti's investigation of the F-15s is any
indication, there could be a surprising truth beneath the layers of official
secrecy concealing America's underreported Indian Ocean shadow war.
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Received on Tue May 15 2012 - 23:42:24 EDT
