Nobel Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama announces the cementing of U.S. military presence at Camp Lemonnier, home to AFRICOM and key foothold for the killer drone program.

Published on Monday, May 5, 2014 by Common Dreams

10 More Years: Obama Secures Foothold for Killer Drone War in Africa

President calls Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti 'critical'

- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

In a deal penned Monday, President Obama cemented the U.S. military's foothold in the drone war by signing a new long-term lease for Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. (Photo: U.S. Dept. of Defense/ Creative Commons /Flickr))
The United States has agreed to sign a long-term lease agreement with the government of Djibouti, President Obama announced Monday, cementing the U.S. military's presence at Camp Lemonnier, home to U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and key foothold for the killer drone program.
In a statement announcing the agreement with Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, Obama hailed Camp Lemonnier's "critical role as an operational headquarters for regional security," emphasizing "the importance the base plays in protecting Americans and Djiboutians alike from violent extremist individuals and organizations."
The only "official" U.S. base in Africa, Camp Lemonnier is known as the "busiest Predator drone base outside the Afghan war zone," according to The Washington Post, and is central to drone operations in Somalia and Yemen. The base primarily serves the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and currently houses more than 2,000 U.S. personnel.
Human rights groups have accused Djibouti of being a "knowing participant" in the CIA's rendition program and of housing CIA "black sites," where prisoners of the U.S. military have been held and tortured.
According to an administration official, the $63 million per year lease permits to U.S. to keep personnel and equipment at the camp for an additional 10 years with options to renew, the Associated Press reports.
According to recent reporting by Nick Turse, investigative journalist with TomDispatch, the U.S. military has been working towards establishing a "permanent footprint" in Djibouti, awarding over $320 million in construction projects in 2013, including a $220 million Special Operations compound at the base.
During the meeting, Guelleh thanked Obama for U.S.'s development assistance to the poverty-stricken nation and said the base agreement would "reinforce our partnership and our relationship."
Though largely undisclosed, the U.S. military's presence in Africa extends far beyond the "official" base Lemonnier. As TomDispatch investigations have revealed, U.S. forces "average far more than a mission a day on the continent, conducting operations with almost every African military force, in almost every African country, while building or building up camps, compounds, and 'contingency security locations.'"

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'We live little better than animals': Libyan minority displaced as country in chaos

 

Published on Dec 4, 2013

Amid the power struggle in Libya, tribal groups are largely being left to fend for themselves. Some are being targeted by militias, for allegedly supporting the slain Colonel Gaddafi. Paula Slier reports on the plight of one embattled minority.

RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air

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The U.S. government announced a terror alert and closed embassies in 22 countries last week after intercepting a conference call between al Qaeda leaders : “This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom,” said one U.S. intelligence officer

Business Insider

REPORT: Embassy Scare Came From A 'Legion Of Doom' Conference Call Of Al Qaeda Affiliates

Michael Kelley Aug. 7, 2013, 8:27 AM 5,153 22

The U.S. government announced a terror alert and closed embassies in 22 countries last week after intercepting a conference call between al Qaeda senior leadership in Pakistan and representatives more than 20 al Qaeda operatives throughout the region, three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence told Eli Lake and Josh Rogin of The Daily Beast.
“This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom,” one U.S. intelligence officer told the Beast, in reference referring to the coalition of villains featured in the cartoon Super Friends. “All you need to do is look at that list of places we shut down to get a sense of who was on the phone call.”

Fox News

Officials said that al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and various al Qaeda leaders — including representatives from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), AQ in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, and AQ in Uzbekistan — vaguely discussed plans for a pending attack and "mentioned that a team or teams were already in place for such an attack," according to the Beast.
On Tuesday Richard Engel of NBC News, citing sources, reported that the plot could have been in the “aspirational stages.”


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18 of 19 closed U.S. embassies, consulates to reopen

Updated 10:04 PM ET
WASHINGTON The State Department says that 18 of the 19 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa that have been closed due to a terrorist threat will reopen on Sunday.
Officials say the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, will remain closed.

Pakistani security personnel are pictured outside the US consulate in Lahore on August 5, 2013. The United States said that 19 of its embassies and consulates in the Mideast and Africa would be closed through August 10 over terror fears.

/ Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

A statement issued Friday didn't cite a reason for resuming regular business operations at the 18 diplomatic missions.

Play Video

U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan evacuated due to terror threat

Nineteen outposts had been closed to the public since last Sunday. Most American employees at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen were ordered to leave the country on Tuesday because of threat information.
An intercepted message between al Qaeda officials about plans for a major terror attack triggered the closures.
A separate threat led to the closure Thursday of the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan. It remains closed.

Play Video

Terror alert shows evolution of al Qaeda

Late Friday, the State Dept. issued this statement:
"On Sunday, August 11, the Department of State will re-open 18 of the 19 embassies and consulates that were closed recently. Our embassy in Sanaa, Yemen will remain closed because of ongoing concerns about a threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks emanating from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Our consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, which closed yesterday due to a separate credible threat to that facility, will also remain closed."


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Sudan president leaves Nigeria despite genocide arrest warrant

NBCNEWS.com

Sunday Aghaeze / AP

President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan, left, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir right, shake hands before an African Union summit on health focusing on HIV and AIDS.

By Henry Austin, NBC News contributor

The president of Sudan has been allowed to leave a conference in Nigeria, despite the International Criminal Court calling for his "immediate arrest" on charges of genocide and war crimes, officials said Tuesday.
Omar al-Bashir is accused of five counts of crimes against humanity, two counts of war crimes and three counts of genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zagawa tribes in Darfur, where the U.N. estimates 200,000 people have been killed.
Two arrest warrants have been issued for the former army brigadier, who came to power in 1989 after leading a bloodless military coup.
But while many African countries - including South Africa, Kenya and Malawi - have threatened to act on the warrant, Nigeria allowed him to attend Monday's one-day African Union HIV/Aids summit.

This was in keeping with 2009 vote by African Union states not to cooperate with ICC indictments, a Nigerian official told Reuters.
African enthusiasm for the court has waned over the years, partly owing to a perception that prosecutors disproportionately target African leaders - an accusation the ICC denies. 



Read More Here

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Obama : “I want you all to know that as your ally, your friend and your brother, I will be there in every way I can.” He lied. America comes to exploit. At issue is controlling Africa’s rich resources.

Obama in Africa

By Stephen Lendman

Global Research, June 28, 2013

On June 26, it said Obama “arrived in Senegal, the first stop of a three-nation African trip, focused on supporting democratic progress, and increasing US trade and investment.”

It’s his second African trip. He visited earlier as a freshman Illinois senator. He told Kenyans, “I want you all to know that as your ally, your friend and your brother, I will be there in every way I can.”

He lied. America comes to exploit. At issue is controlling Africa’s rich resources.

Obama’s visiting Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. He’ll return July 3. Why these countries? More on this below.

Controversy accompanies Obama. His one-week trip costs an estimated $100 million. At the same time, force-fed austerity harms growing millions at home. Poverty, high unemployment, hunger, and homelessness go unaddressed.

Obamanomics enriches corporate favorites and wealthy elites. Popular needs go begging to do so. Obama demands sacrifice. It’s forced on America’s most disadvantaged, unwanted and uncared for.

Foreign travel costs plenty. Hundreds of secret service, staff and others accompany Obama. Travel, accommodations, security and other costs are enormous.

Military cargo planes brought 56 vehicles. They include 14 limousines and three trucks. They’re specially built for security.

Bulletproof glass will replace hotel windows where Obama and his family stay. Entire floors are needed to accommodate security and staff traveling with him.

US fighter jets provide round-the-clock air cover. In 2011, estimated White House expenses were around $1.4 billion. They include staff, housing, travel, entertainment and perks.

Expenses rise annually. They’ve increased exponentially during Obama’s tenure. Perhaps they’ll approach $2 billion this year. Estimates exclude classified amounts.

What’s spent on Air Force One is secret. So are many other security related categories. Perhaps real White House expenses are double or more estimated amounts.

Americans pay plenty for presidents who betray them. Imagine what presidential largese could buy. America’s hungry could be fed. The nation’s homeless could be sheltered. Needy families could get free healthcare. Students hungry for knowledge could be educated.

Obama’s trip might have cost more. Initial plans included a Tanzania safari. Counterassault team protection against wild animals doesn’t come cheap.

Other Obama trips were criticized. Conservative estimates for his Hawaii vacations exceed $20 million. Perhaps they cost double or triple that amount. Air Force One’s estimated hourly rate is about $180,000.

Obama’s African visit reflects America’s scramble for its resources. They’re vast. They’re some of the world’s largest and richest.

They include oil, gas, gold, silver, diamonds, uranium, iron, copper, tin, lead, nickel, coal, timber, cobalt, bauxite, wood, coltan, manganese, chromium, vanadium-bearing titanium, and much more.

Continental agricultural lands are valued. So is offshore fishing. Senegal’s strategically important. It’s a regional hub. It borders Mali.

Washington provides military aid. The Pentagon trains Senegalese armed forces. America has an economic presence. Senegal’s eligible for preferential trade benefits. The African Growth and Opportunity Act provides them.

US exports include vehicles, machinery, plastic, rice, and textile goods. Senegalese resources are extensive. They include oil, phosphate, gold, iron, copper, uranium, chromium, nickel, zircon, titanium, limestone, salts, barytine and fish.

South Africa’s one of five BRICS countries. Others include Brazil, Russia, India and China. They comprise a significant economic and political block. They account for over 20% of world GDP.

They’re on three continents. They cover more than one-fourth of the world’s land mass. Their population exceeds 2.8 billion. It’s 40% of the world total.

They have their own Joint Business Council. It encourages free trade and investment. China and Brazil agreed to a bilateral currency swap line. It involves trading up to $30 billion annually in their own currencies.

Doing so moves almost half their trade out of US dollars. Other BRICS partners may make similar moves. They endorsed plans to create a joint foreign exchange reserves pool. Initially it’ll include $100 billion. It’s called a self-managed contingent reserve arrangement (CRA).

They plan their own Development Bank. Initial capital will be substantial. Each country may contribute $10 billion for starters. It’s to fund infrastructure and other development projects.

It’ll operate separately from Western international lending agencies. It’ll challenge their global dominance. BRICS prioritize multipolarity. Achieving it perhaps can end Western debt bondage.

BRICS have more global trade than America. They’re too important to ignore. They challenge US dominance. They trade increasingly in their own currencies. They may eventually end dollar supremacy.

Read More Here

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Why Obama is making an African power-play against China

CBC NEWS

Three-country tour meant to entice African trading partners away from China

By Lucas Powers, CBC News

Posted: Jul 2, 2013 5:10 AM ET

Last Updated: Jul 2, 2013 12:39 PM ET

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a business leaders' forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday. (Reuters)

When U.S. President Barack Obama wraps up an African tour today, it will mark the end of what some international development experts say is an attempt to counter China’s growing influence throughout sub-Saharan Africa and assert American economic dominance on the continent.
China surpassed the U.S. in total trade in sub-Saharan Africa in 2009, but its increasingly strong economic ties took root in 2000, when then-Chinese president Hu Jintao hosted representatives from 44 African nations in Beijing to establish the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation.
That meeting "set a mandate for China to become Africa's largest trading partner," says Richard Poplak, a Johannesburg-based Canadian author and journalist writing a book about China’s growing role in Africa.


U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Cape Town on Sunday. (Reuters)
It was also an early sign that the Chinese viewed economic opportunity in Africa through a different lens than their American counterparts.
"What the Chinese did that no one else had done before was that they considered Africa as a market — a market for Chinese goods, institutions and services — when the rest of world viewed Africa as an economic basket case and a place for aid programs,' says Poplak.
While the U.S. focused on global security following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Chinese firms began shoring up major contracts throughout the continent that ensured access to Africa's vast resource wealth in exchange for the funding and construction of infrastructure projects like roads, railways and airports.
China also emphasized multilateral agreements with entire regions of sub-Saharan Africa — agreements the U.S. has largely avoided in the past, says Thomas Tieku, an assistant professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.

• Obama declares a new era of U.S.-Africa relations

"The U.S., in many senses, miscalculated their approach to Africa. It has always been to focus on bilateral relationships— select a few countries and deal solely with them," says Tieku. "Now they're playing a catch-up game to try to establish equally strong relationships with multilateral institutions like the African Union."

A new approach

Obama’s three major announcements during the trip — a $7-billion project to increase electrical infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa; an investment in trade with the East African Community (EAC); and a meeting in Washington with leaders from throughout Africa next year, are signs of a shifting U.S. approach to business in Africa, says Tieku.
“One area where China cannot compete with the U.S. is soft power. Many Africans love American pop culture, and the best way to get a pro-American message to Africans is through televisions, radios and the internet.
“So the infrastructure investment will help Africans, but also the U.S. down the road.”

• Obama challenges young Africans to seize future

The agreement with the five EAC nations signals that the U.S. is willing to begin dealing on the regional level to increase intra-continental trade, which accounts for only 10 per cent of all trade in Africa, says Poplak.

'They're not doing this to counter the U.S., they are doing it because it fits into their vision of themselves as a major player. They need African resources, but moreso they need African support and diplomatic partnerships.'—Deborah Brautigam

Included in that deal is a commitment to renew and strengthen the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, a major initiative passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000 to help open sub-Saharan economies.
The act is largely considered a failure because the infrastructure was not in place to get African products to global markets, says Tieku.
“With new infrastructure coming into place, being built every day, it's possible AGOA will realize its potential.”

Read More Here

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BLOOMBERG

Obama Unveils Plan to Boost Electric Power in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Julianna Goldman & Margaret Talev - Jun 30, 2013 5:00 PM CT

President Barack Obama, putting his mark on U.S. aid to Africa, announced a plan to boost access to electric power in the sub-Sahara and said America stands to benefit if the continent reaches its full economic potential.
Obama unveiled the $7 billion initiative dubbed Power Africa at the University of Cape Town in a speech that his aides billed as the centerpiece of his three-country tour through Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania to promote trade and investment on the rapidly growing continent.

Enlarge image

U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledges the audience after delivering a speech at the University of Cape Town on June 30, 2013. Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The president’s goal is to double access to electricity across six countries that the White House has singled out for promoting good governance -- Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania.
“I’m calling for America to up our game when it comes to Africa,” he said. “There’s no question Africa’s on the move, but it’s not moving fast enough for the child still languishing in poverty in forgotten townships.”
American companies see growing opportunity in Africa. U.S. merchandise exports to the 49-country region were $21 billion in 2011, up 23 percent from 2010, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Imports from sub-Saharan Africa were worth $74 billion in 2011, up 14 percent from 2010. Most of that, about $60 billion, was crude oil.
Africa has 15 percent of the world’s population yet it accounts for only 3 percent of energy consumption, according to a 2011 report by the African Union and other organizations.

Mandela’s Health

With Nelson Mandela’s fragile health weighing heavily throughout the African trip, the U.S. president has invoked the anti-apartheid icon’s legacy to draw the connection between democratic values and economic growth.
Obama’s speech included a tribute to Mandela and he and his family toured the apartheid-era prison at Robben Island, finishing in a courtyard near Mandela’s former prison cell. He then visited a community center that provides HIV education and treatment run by Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s foundation.
While Africa is rising, progress is “fragile,” vulnerable to “the rot of corruption” and “the undertow of conflict,” Obama said in his speech.
He will travel today to Tanzania for the last stop of the three-nation tour. In the country’s fast-growing metropolis of Dar es Salaam, he’ll convene a roundtable of company executives and promote investments in electrification projects.
Recognizing Africa’s rapid growth -- as well as domestic budget constraints -- Obama said yesterday the U.S. is moving beyond the kind of direct financial assistance its provided in the past. Instead, he said he wanted to promote a new model that focuses on Africa’s “capacity to solve problems.”


Read More Here


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