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Africa
US Military Expansion and Intervention
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US Military Expansion and Intervention
Critics Target US Military Command (June 2, 2008)
The US could use a military command in Africa (AFRICOM) to counter Chinese control of oil resources on the continent, according to Inter Press Service. The US will establish the command center in October 2008, claiming that AFRICOM can combine military assistance with humanitarian efforts in Africa. However former US allies, Ghana and Nigeria, reject hosting the AFRICOM headquarters and remain skeptical of the humanitarian nature of the military center. The article states that the US will use AFRICOM to intervene in African nations, increase US military presence, and protect supplies of oil.US Africa Command Trims Its Aspirations (June 1, 2008)
The US will run its Africa Command (AFRICOM) from Stuttgart, Germany due to a skeptical and hostile reaction from African nations and NGOs. African countries were not consulted by the US about the location of the military bases, and view AFRICOM as an “extension of US counterterrorism policy.” Also, NGOs remain concerned that the US military would interfere with their development work. Even US Senators believe the concept to be a bit “neocolonialist.” (Washington Post)Rwanda and the War on Terrorism (February 21, 2008)
This article argues that the Bush administration fuels conflict in the Central African Great Lakes Region so that US companies can access coltan, an ore used in computers. Though the US claims to facilitate peace talks between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has also provided the Rwandan army with US$7.2 million in arms and training. This military aid prolongs Rwanda’s involvement in the DRC conflict and secures US material interests. (Foreign Policy in Focus)Congo-Kinshasa: CIA Had Plan to Assassinate Lumumba (June 27, 2007)
Declassified CIA documents reveal that the US plotted to assassinate first DR Congo President Patrice Lumumba in 1965. The democratically elected leader advocated economic independence and opposed politics based on tribal divisions, which “colonialists had effectively used to divide and rule Africa.” Investigations have indicated that the US and Belgium, unhappy with Lumumba’s denouncement of colonialism, ordered and facilitated his assassination. (Rwanda News Agency)US Interventions in Somalia: A Chequered History (January 9, 2007)
This Agence France Presse article discusses US interventions in Somalia, beginning with the 1992 “humanitarian” intervention, “Operation Restore Hope.” Less than a year later, the US botched a UN-led operation, in which hundreds of Somalis, 24 Pakistani UN troops, and 18 US soldiers died. In 2002, the US again turned its attention to Somalia as part of its effort to “hunt down” Al-Qaeda, and it set up a base in Djibouti, just outside of Somalia. A few years later, the US worked first with an alliance of warlords and then with Ethiopia to counter the Islamic movement in Somalia.The Angolan Civil War and US Foreign Policy (April 13, 2002)
Mainstream media have depicted the civil war in Angola as a tribal conflict, and US involvement in the war as the unfortunate result of Cold War tensions. However, documents show that US intervention in support of Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA faction predated any Soviet part in the conflict, provoking a “reluctant” Soviet response. The article also discusses the role of US oil companies and the relationship of a corrupt arms dealer to the Bush family, Richard Cheney and Halliburton. (World Socialist Web Site)
