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View Full Version : Why Obama is Sending Troops To Africa.....



MMC
10-31-2011, 07:03 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/why-obama-sending-troops-africa-closer-look-173400327.html
Christian Science Monitor – 17 hrs ago.....

Earlier this month, President Obama sent a letter to Congress explaining why he had approved sending 100 US military advisers to fight a shadowy rebel group in central Africa.

The reason, President Obama wrote, is that the Lord’s Resistance Army – a brutal rebel group with a mixture of Christian fundamentalist and African traditional beliefs – is a threat to regional security in central Africa, and thus a threat to the interests of the US government and its strategic partners.
Noting that Congress had passed the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act in 2009, Mr. Obama wrote, “I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped US forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.”

While tracking down unhinged African warlords may be the stuff of bad Hollywood movies, it generally has not been a plank in US foreign policy. But with the advent of the US military’s relatively new Africa Command (AFRICOM), headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, America’s military is working closer with its African partners to ensure regional security.

Viewed with suspicion by some African leaders as part of a larger “neo-colonial” foothold on the African continent, it is seen as a boon by other US partner nations such as Uganda, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, who work closely with the US military on common issues such as counterterrorism and insurgencies.

The US soldiers will not be “hunting” Mr. Kony, the diplomat adds, and “they will not take part in combat.”

“They will be helping the [Ugandan military] refine [its] operations by sharing tactics and procedures we have learned in 10 years of low intensity conflict while helping them look at the 'problem set' through fresh eyes. The [Ugandan military] is a professional force with a lot of combat experience, [and] embedded advisors will help them leverage their strengths.”

Noah Gottschalk, a senior humanitarian policy advisor for Oxfam America, says that a military operation is just one of many potential tools for combating the LRA, and one that could put countless thousands of civilians in harm’s way.

In the long run, the solution may be the boring work of development, Gottschalk says.

“The LRA goes to places where there is little development, they don’t go to places where there are big roads," he says. "So if you start to squeeze that area, building roads, bringing in infrastructure, you’re not only bringing development to the most neglected corners of Africa, you’re also reducing the territory that the LRA can operate in.”.....snip~


Hear Obama's lame ass excuse to put American Troops on the ground in Africa. That Kony is a threat to the Regional Security and therefor a threat to US Interests??? WTF is that.....what Interests? Because Uganda, Nigeria and Ethiopia will work with our people. That they are to be considered allies? That their buisness becomes our buisness. What is wrong with this policy? I will bet that all those other African Warlords are taking notice that a Country can just say hey. Your swcrewing with our interests so we are coming after you. How is this a danger to the US Security? What Constutuional Reason can be cited for putting American Personell in Africa? http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/rulez.gif

That we will run operations out of Stuttgart Germany For All Activity on the African Continent. What the hell is that about? How are you going to run shit and be thousands of miles away and not even on the Same Continent. Generical Ham is in Charge of the Relatively New AFRICOM. Which was created with the Start of Libya. If the Libyan Conflict is over then why are we keeping that fleet with Marines attached in the Mediterrianian Sea? Why is that we are spending this money to keep our Largest Aircraft Carrier and Fleet in that region? >:(

Moreover we have already been sending drones into Somalia and they are not happy bout it at all. Somalian Pirates are tied in with different Warlords. Tanzania is against any US troops on the ground. They were going to march to help Gadhafi. Even the Ugandans held demonstrations about NATO sending in troops to Libya. They attacked the French and Italian Embassies, and Brits in Uganda and we evacuated ours!!!!! http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/facepalm.gif >:(

MMC
10-31-2011, 07:52 AM
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1290919479234&id=97f7fd05c8018f0c752f970090cfad53&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.gettingaround.net%2fimages%2f map-djibouti.jpg http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1294098109016&id=118f5fab5f605506d3407a34631186d6&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww8.garmin.com%2fgraphics%2fblue chart%2fmaw451s_v8.gif

Take a look at these Maps.....across from the African Continent is the Arabian Pennisula. Bahrain is home to the 5th Fleet. Allegedly All the Sunni are Allies. Oman and Yeman. Right directly across from Yeman is Djibouti. Right at the narrow point into the Red Sea.

http://ts3.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1336984805090&id=2321b6a5f406185b08441ad325e5c999&url=http%3a%2f%2fmappery.com%2fmaps%2fDjibouti-Africa-Map.mediumthumb.gif

Allow me to Elaborate.....Djibouti is Home to Special Forces Operations for the US. All of them! Meaning All US Special Forces. Here is some background for ya's. If any are into some of that coincidincy stuff. Well here is some more.....

Djibouti has been cooperating in the US-led war against terrorism, and several hundred American troops have been stationed at Le Monier barracks since April 2002. On 19 September 2002 US military officials said 800 special-operations troops have been moved to Djibouti, where they could be used to hunt for al-Qaida terrorists in nearby Yemen. Military Police personnel are also known to be deployed in Djibouti, although Pentagon officials stress police deployments are routine for security purposes during foreign deployments. Dispatching the troops to Djbouti, and also sending a ship to the region with two-thousand Marines, US officials said they had no specific intelligence on any al-Qaida terrorists in Yemen or anywhere else in the region.

Djibouti is France's largest foreign military base. Djibouti is host to several thousand French military personnel, including the 13e Démi-Brigade de la Légion Étrangère (13e DBLE - 13th Half-Brigade of the Foreign Legion).

US naval vessels and aircraft use Djibouti's facilities, and the two countries perform joint military exercises. US military and economic aid was $7 million in 2000. This included $2.7 million in emergency food aid, $2 million to start a humanitarian demining program, and $100,000 for self-help, democracy and human rights. The country retains close relations with France and other Western nations as well as with Islamic states.

The Republic of Djibouti is a small country (8,250 square miles - about the size of Massachusetts), located at the juncture of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Since independence from France in 1977, Djibouti has pursued a moderate foreign policy. Djibouti's population of approximately 600,000 is predominantly Muslim and mainly of Somali or Afar origin. The main languages are French and Somali, and little English is spoken. There is a small but influential Arab population, mainly from Yemen, and a European community of approximately 10,000, primarily French.

Lacking natural resources, Djibouti's economy is service-based, with the country's seaport and a railroad linking it to Addis Ababa accounting for the bulk of economic activity. Djibouti has a coastline of 314 km and the Red Sea is known to be very rich in fish. Traditional fishing is still used and provides jobs for up to 1,000 Djiboutians. A new fishing port, inaugurated in 1999, is designed to boost this sector and attract more extensive and modern fishing techniques.

According to a late November VOA news report, about 450 Army troops plus 50 civilian defense workers were reportedly operating a forward staging base for soldiers and military equipment heading to Kuwait in support of Operation "Desert Spring". This task had previously been carried out in Kuwait, but Djibouti had become the site of choice, as a result of the training opportunities it provides to the Army's combat service support personnel and in moving troops and equipment into potential battle zones using both naval and aerial routes. According to the news report, an estimated two brigades worth of equipment and troops had moved through Djibouti, with half of it transiting to Kuwait and the other half transiting back to the United States.

http://www.afrol.com/articles/10789

This is when Bush had 1800 there. It is an African Source Newspaper.



http://www.somalicenter.com/news2/2011/jun/tackling_terrorism_from_us_east_africa_base.aspx
Monday, June 13, 2011

The US base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti is a key operational asset in a troubled region, with al-Qaeda active in nearby Somalia and Yemen. Some 3,000 US troops, as well as armour, fighters and drones are based there. But the US is also experimenting with a different kind of military mission - soft power through soldiers as aid workers, in an effort to deny militant extremists support among Africa's poor. The BBC World Service's Dan Damon has been given rare access to the US operation.

Capt Sanders' Civil Affairs team is part of a counterinsurgency mission with a difference.

Instead of sending in fighting troops once trouble has started in a poor country, the US is getting its soldiers to work on projects that, it is hoped, will build enough stability and opportunity to encourage the people of East Africa to hold onto peace and not fight over scarce resources.

"Since 9/11, the US government has gone through a profound shift in its philosophy behind how operations are conducted in the Horn of Africa," says Col William Hollingsworth, one of the longest serving members of the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, or CJTF-HOA, which is coordinating the humanitarian side of soldiering here.

"The 'bumper sticker' name for this is the 3D process," he says.

Defence, diplomacy and development are the 3 Ds, designed as a virtuous triangle of American power projected overseas.

This is Obama's Foreign Policy which runs aligned with the Neo-Cons. http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/detective.gif

Mister D
10-31-2011, 08:02 AM
Interesting. Thanks, MMC.

Conley
10-31-2011, 08:16 AM
Wow, thanks MMC. That is some good stuff...I am going to come back to this thread after the morning coffee so I can get a good read on it.

MMC
10-31-2011, 08:36 AM
Interesting. Thanks, MMC.


http://ts3.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1293681623770&id=85f95cffead7ff5901938b3d5bb39ed0&url=http%3a%2f%2fimg207.imageshack.us%2fimg207%2f7 541%2fanimal2h.jpg

I am on it my brutha.....we also have 23k troops in Kuwait. A Submarine base sitting in the Maldives. Now Obama isn't going to send All The Troops from Iraq home. Plus our Largest Fleet is sitting in the Mediterrianian.

The French.....filthy buggers. Did I not tell you a while ago about that French Foreign Legion. Their Largest Overseas Base! Not lets See the French and UK was backing the one side of the Sudan Conflict. The Brits are in the Congo. The French thru another UN Mandate ousted Gbagbo From the Ivory Coast. Which included SAS Troops from the Brits. Then the French and the US oust Gadhafi In Libya. Then the US helps oust Mubarak their friend and pal for the last 30 yrs. The French and US help push the New form of Humaniterrorism with Tunisia and Algeria. Plus the French has full influence with Morocco.

Then we are sending in the drones into Somalia. Patrolling for Somalian Pirates. While seeemingly starting to go after all Warlords and or Dictators in Africa. All Western Nation Governments Declaring War on the Bad-Guys.

Kinda like France, Britan, and Spain all declaring War on the Hatfields. With the US being the McCoys. Sure looks like Neo-Colonialism to me. What about you? Oh BTW, Clinton's fuck-up with Somalia is still one of those thorns twisting in our side. Know what I mean. Not to mention all of our SF troopers wouldnt mind a little pay back.....huh? Plus Ole Billy-boy is smarting too. Oh, and lookie.....the Sunni donate heavily to Bilbo's Global Initiative to help other governments.....now aint that a Coincidincy!

You dropped a bomb on me! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoaXWMlG5ZM#)

Oh, and.....we are already Dropping Bombs in Somalia. Gee What another Coincidincy!http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/burp.gif

Mister D
10-31-2011, 08:42 AM
It does sound like neo-colonialism but I'm not sure Africa wouldn't be better off. :-\

Conley
10-31-2011, 08:51 AM
I don't understand why a country would pursue colonialism in a region where there's nothing to export. The only strategic benefit I can see is more military surrounding the Middle East but there are already plenty of places closer. It's as if they created AFRICOM for Libya and don't want to let it go. Creating new conflicts out of nothing.

Mister D
10-31-2011, 09:02 AM
I don't understand why a country would pursue colonialism in a region where there's nothing to export. The only strategic benefit I can see is more military surrounding the Middle East but there are already plenty of places closer. It's as if they created AFRICOM for Libya and don't want to let it go. Creating new conflicts out of nothing.


The motivation for European colonialism wasn't always rational. That is, it wasn't always economically motivated. In the neocon case, I see them pushing their universalism (one world) and human rights ideologies. Sadly, this kind of crap has become a major element of our foreign policy.

MMC
10-31-2011, 09:06 AM
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1339968794428&id=d71450bd92f3b00a4db06fcc4e3036df&url=http%3a%2f%2fi34.tinypic.com%2foqg8hz.png

Lie to me Barry-O.....You may have fooled Congress and the Sheep. But you need to step up that game to bring me some bullshit like this Barry-O. Cmon now Barry-O.....LIE to me some more. You can quit that Elite Liberal bullshit and stop trying to think for others Barry-O. Can we have a little bit of the truth. I mean just a sliver. Like a blink of an eye's worth Barry-O. Who do you think your foolin?

Cmon Democrats, Liberal Elites, and Utopians alike.....LIE!

http://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/assets_c/2011/08/ListeningTour2WebCR-8_16_11-thumb-700xauto-344.jpg

No Wonder you can't Hear anybody Barry-O!!!!! >:(

MMC
10-31-2011, 09:25 AM
Nice try.....so lets me get this right. The President sends a letter to Congress explaining why he has to send a 100 and some SF Operations Military Advisors to Uganda the Central Republic and Ethiopia. Yet We have a Special Forces Base in Djibouti. With 3000 US Personell there the majority of them SF TROOPS. Uhm, er, uh, but, ahem, cough cough.....well. http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/geez.gif

This mofo must think all Americans are like Homer and Bart Simpson or somethin. http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/f_doh.gif Again from 2009 they have been sitting there even tho that act was passed back then??? Uhm, besides Americans. Who's paying for this? http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/f_whistle.gif

Where are the Occupiers? Looks Like Obama your Peace President is about to show ya, what True Occupation is all about! >:(

Conley
10-31-2011, 09:27 AM
I don't understand why a country would pursue colonialism in a region where there's nothing to export. The only strategic benefit I can see is more military surrounding the Middle East but there are already plenty of places closer. It's as if they created AFRICOM for Libya and don't want to let it go. Creating new conflicts out of nothing.


The motivation for European colonialism wasn't always rational. That is, it wasn't always economically motivated. In the neocon case, I see them pushing their universalism (one world) and human rights ideologies. Sadly, this kind of crap has become a major element of our foreign policy.


Ugh, we're back to the New World Order and spreading democracy? That does seem to be the most likely reason. What will it take for them to realize it doesn't work.

MMC
10-31-2011, 09:44 AM
I don't understand why a country would pursue colonialism in a region where there's nothing to export. The only strategic benefit I can see is more military surrounding the Middle East but there are already plenty of places closer. It's as if they created AFRICOM for Libya and don't want to let it go. Creating new conflicts out of nothing.


The motivation for European colonialism wasn't always rational. That is, it wasn't always economically motivated. In the neocon case, I see them pushing their universalism (one world) and human rights ideologies. Sadly, this kind of crap has become a major element of our foreign policy.


Ugh, we're back to the New World Order and spreading democracy? That does seem to be the most likely reason. What will it take for them to realize it doesn't work.


http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/dontknow.gif.....maybe an Asteroid the size of a small planet hitting the Earth. Then there will be only enough time to think about saving one's own azz. http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/f_run.gif

Conley
10-31-2011, 09:47 AM
That would probably be a better way of saving the planet. Rather than trying to convert the world through military action, how about getting a defense system up for space debris and asteroids / meteors? The dinosaurs could've used that. :o ;) Better yet let's not spend money we don't have.

Mister D
10-31-2011, 10:29 AM
The thing is so much of the global elite is on board it's tough to derail. I've only been beginning to see just how pervasive this ideology is not just in the halls of power but in our daily lives.

MMC
10-31-2011, 10:41 AM
The thing is so much of the global elite is on board it's tough to derail. I've only been beginning to see just how pervasive this ideology is not just in the halls of power but in our daily lives.


Yeah.....Soros and Monsanto fingerprints all the way. Diplomacy(Conning) Development(nation-building & infrastructure) If that don't work.....we Drug them. Democracy in Action! http://politirant.com/Smileys/oldrant/flag.gif

Mister D
10-31-2011, 01:15 PM
I don't understand why a country would pursue colonialism in a region where there's nothing to export. The only strategic benefit I can see is more military surrounding the Middle East but there are already plenty of places closer. It's as if they created AFRICOM for Libya and don't want to let it go. Creating new conflicts out of nothing.


The motivation for European colonialism wasn't always rational. That is, it wasn't always economically motivated. In the neocon case, I see them pushing their universalism (one world) and human rights ideologies. Sadly, this kind of crap has become a major element of our foreign policy.


Ugh, we're back to the New World Order and spreading democracy? That does seem to be the most likely reason. What will it take for them to realize it doesn't work.


I've been reading some material by New Right intellectuals and it's really added to my perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Right#France

We really are trying to make everyone in our own image. We are pushing this universalism on everyone including ourselves.

waltky
05-31-2016, 08:52 AM
Yea, uh-huh, dat's right - she got dat high an' fly look about her...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Ivory Coast ex-first lady goes on trial for war crimes
May 31, 2016 - Ivory Coast's former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, went on trial on Tuesday, accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes for her alleged role in a 2011 civil war.


The court case at home came after the government rejected her extradition to international court in The Hague. Her husband, ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, is already before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges linked to the brief conflict, which was sparked by his refusal to accept defeat to Alassane Ouattara in a run-off election in late 2010. Around 3,000 people died in the violence.

Flanked by policemen, Simone Gbagbo, a key figure in her husband's regime, greeted several dozen cheering supporters gathered at the entrance of the court in the commercial capital Abidjan with waves and smiles. The prosecution alleges she was part of an inner circle of her husband's key backers that planned violence against Ouattara's supporters as a means of maintaining Gbagbo in power. The trial opens just a day after Chad's president Hissene Habre was convicted by a special tribunal in Senegal for ordering the killing and torture of thousands of political opponents during his eight-year rule.


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/iuDdnXD7L8dmxXB7W.DvhA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NDUwO2g9MzAwO2lsPX BsYW5l/http://media.zenfs.com/en_ZA/News/Reuters/2016-05-31T121723Z_1007970001_LYNXNPEC4U0PL_RTROPTP_2_OZAT P-UK-IVORYCOAST-TRIAL.JPG.cf.jpg
Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo, who is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes for her alleged role in a 2011 civil war, arrives in a domestic court in Abidjan]

The success of that trial is likely to bolster African leaders, who have grown increasingly hostile towards the ICC and have called for the continent to take justice into its own hands. Having emerged as the victor of both the polls and the war, Ouattara, now president, has refused to honour an ICC warrant for Simone, claiming that the Ivorian justice system is now capable of judging her. In an earlier trial, she was convicted in March 2015 of offences against the state and given 20 years in prison, a sentence that was upheld on appeal this month.

However, despite the conviction, rights campaigners and observers criticised the trial for failing to provide evidence linking her and other political leaders to violence by their supporters. Human rights groups including the International Federation for Human Rights, which was representing victims in the domestic case against Simone Gbagbo, announced this week that it was withdrawing its participation in the war crimes trial. They claimed the prosecution's investigation had been rushed in order to respond to the ICC warrant and the trial would not give victims a full picture of the Gbagbo administration's orchestration of the post-election violence.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ivory-coast-ex-first-lady-goes-trial-war-121723523.html?ref=gs

Mac-7
05-31-2016, 10:31 AM
When are the obama daughters going to be old enough to enlist and go fight?

Mac-7
05-31-2016, 02:20 PM
Still wondering when the daughters of this chickenhawk are going to serve.

I mean other than Mau Mau canibals in Kenya when have members of obumer's family ever gone to war?

MMC
05-31-2016, 03:45 PM
Yea, uh-huh, dat's right - she got dat high an' fly look about her...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Ivory Coast ex-first lady goes on trial for war crimes
May 31, 2016 - Ivory Coast's former first lady, Simone Gbagbo, went on trial on Tuesday, accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes for her alleged role in a 2011 civil war.

Yep, and the French were the ones that filed with the UN and got that balling rolling against Gbagbo. Just another place they stuck their nose into yet couldn't handle things on their own.

Tahuyaman
05-31-2016, 06:29 PM
The liberal apologists like @maineman (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=1289), TrueBlue, @AZ Jim (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=1901) and the others are unusually silent in this thread.