Warship Watch. Canada deploys two warships to West Africa

By TONY SEED

Canada has deployed two warships, HMCS Kingston and HMCS Shawinigan, to West Africa  – “to work with partners & allies to enhance maritime security + stability” in the Gulf of Guinea,” in the words of Vice Admiral Ron Lloyd. Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) stated the aim of “#OpPROJECTION West Africa today, is to work with African nations to build partner capacity, promote maritime security, and foster relationships in the region.” None of this has to do with the defence of Canada.

Vast network of US bases in Africa

U.S. MILITARY SAYS IT HAS A “LIGHT FOOTPRINT” IN AFRICA. THESE DOCUMENTS SHOW A VAST NETWORK OF BASES. | NICK TURSE

(December 1) – THE U.S. MILITARY has long insisted that it maintains a “light footprint” in Africa, and there have been reports of proposed drawdowns in special operations forces and closures of outposts on the continent, due to a 2017 ambush in Niger and an increasing focus on rivals like China and Russia. But through it all, U.S. Africa Command has fallen short of providing concrete information about its bases on the continent, leaving in question the true scope of the American presence there.

Hail African Liberation Day! No to foreign intervention in Africa

(First posted on this blog in 2014. Canada recently announced its military intervention in French-occupied Mali under the pretext of “peacekeeping.”)

May 25, Africa Liberation Day, is celebrated, as it has been since its inception in 1958, by the peoples of Africa, the African diaspora and all progressive people to mark the victories achieved in, as well as the continuing struggles for, the complete liberation and independence of the African continent. The African continent and its peoples have made many advances in the past half a century and recent years have seen the mighty struggles of the people of Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa, Nigeria and elsewhere for their empowerment. But the imperialist system of states, headed by the governments of Britain and the other big powers, continue to thwart the aspirations of the peoples of Africa for total liberation. – TS

New scramble for Africa: Foreign military bases in Africa

United States

U.S. military bases, outposts, port facilities, and other areas of access in Africa, 2002-2015 | Nick Turse/TomDispatch, 2015 (Click to enlarge)

In 2015 the United States publicly disclosed that it has 46 U.S. bases of different types in Africa, after claiming for years it only had one. Previously secret documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed what has long been known which is that the U.S. operates various levels of outposts across Africa. The documents divide the bases into three categories: forward operating sites, cooperative security locations and contingency locations.

The US military moves deeper into Africa

America’s war-fighting footprint in Africa: Secret U.S. military documents reveal a constellation of American military bases across that continent | NICK TURSE*

General Thomas Waldhauser sounded a little uneasy.  “I would just say, they are on the ground.  They are trying to influence the action,” commented the chief of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) at a Pentagon press briefing in March, when asked about Russian military personnel operating in North Africa.  “We watch what they do with great concern.” 

Germany and the militarization of West Africa

BERLIN/N’DJAMENA/BAMAKO (October 14) – Berlin is using today’s visit of Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, to enhance its rapidly growing military influence in West Africa. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s trip to Africa early this week has already revealed Germany’s growing military importance on the African continent. According to reports, a “change” can already be noted, particularly in Mali. Traditionally within France’s exclusive sphere of influence, the EU, “fundamentally under German leadership,” is now increasingly determining that country’s development. The German government is also expanding the Bundeswehr’s activities and the supply of military hardware to Niger and Chad, along with the construction of a military base in Niger’s capital Niamey. Berlin is also seeking to obtain influence in the war against Boko Haram in Nigeria. The first agreements on support measures had already been reached with Nigeria last year. Germany is enhancing its network of influence in West Africa by increasing the deployment of expeditionary troops, the establishment of military bases and by supplying military aid. This could possibly reduce France’s traditional political and military predominance in its former colonies.

Canada prowling for a military role in Africa

It is being widely reported that Canada is looking for a new “peace operation” to join or possibly lead in Africa.

From August 10-16, Canada’s Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan carried out a “fact-finding” trip to Africa, which is part of the preparations for a new role for Canada in Africa.

From Africa to Syria, Liberal ‘peace operations’ are war operations and imperialist divide and rule

The need to establish an Anti-War Government and end Imperialist Divide and Rule in the name of peace | ENVER VILLAMIZAR

Demonstration in Ottawa, March 19, 2016 marked 13th anniversary of U.S. invasion of Iraq.

During the 2015 federal election, the Liberals’ campaign tried to create the impression in the minds of Canadians that electing the Liberals meant that in international affairs, Canada would play a role for peace, rather than for war. However, since being elected, the Liberals have stepped up participation in U.S.-led war-making and war preparations.

US empire of African bases

Does eleven plus one equal sixty? AFRICOM’s new math, the U.S. base bonanza, and “scarier” times ahead in Africa | NICK TURSE 

U.S. military outposts, port facilities, and other areas of access in Africa, 2002-2015 (Nick Turse/TomDispatch, 2015)

Africa Liberation Day at 53: Pentagon and CIA continue to destabilize continent

Today the African Union faces formidable development and security challenges.May 25, 2016 marks the 53rd anniversary of the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now known as the African Union (AU) since 2002.| ABAYOMI AZIKIWE

Ebola: To Cuba, a medical crisis; to the US, an opportunity for a military campaign

By DAVE LINDORFF

How’s this for a juxtaposition on how nations respond to a global health catastrophe. Check out these two headlines from yesterday’s news:

‘Cuba sends doctors to Ebola areas’

‘U.S. to deploy 3,000 troops as Ebola crisis worsens’

Under the cover of humanitarian aid: The US military is all over Africa

AFRICOM stretches far wider than the public is being told, and it’s only going to get bigger in the years to come. NICK TURSE

In the shadows of what was once called the “dark continent,” a scramble has come and gone. If you heard nothing about it, that was by design. But look hard enough and — north to south, east to west — you’ll find the fruits of that effort: a network of bases, compounds, and other sites whose sum total exceeds the number of nations on the continent. For a military that has stumbled from Iraq to Afghanistan and suffered setbacks from Libya to Syria, it’s a rare can-do triumph. In remote locales, behind fences and beyond the gaze of prying eyes, the U.S. military has built an extensive archipelago of African outposts, transforming the continent, experts say, into a laboratory for a new kind of war.

US AFRICOM command calls for ‘huge’ military campaign in West Africa

Let us take a look at some of the points mentioned on this map of Africa by the United States Africa Command. AFRICOM being a military organisation, one should presume they want to solve these issues militarily.

Recolonizing Africa: Confronting Russia, global NATO eyes Africa

“NATO Alliance Stands Firm, Adapts to Challenges” – Jim Garamone, U.S. Department of Defense release

WASHINGTON (May 22) – The NATO alliance is standing firm and adapting to the challenges on its eastern and southern flanks, military officials said during a press conference following the alliance’s Military Committee meeting here.

Recolonization of Africa: AFRICOM’s imperialist culture and violence against Africans

For years, as U.S. military personnel moved into Africa in ever-increasing numbers, AFRICOM has effectively downplayed, disguised, or covered-up almost every aspect of its operations, from the locations of its troop deployments to those of its expanding string of outposts. NICK TURSE*

Six people lay lifeless in the filthy brown water.

It was 5:09 a.m. when their Toyota Land Cruiser plunged off a bridge in the West African country of Mali.  For about two seconds, the SUV sailed through the air, pirouetting 180 degrees as it plunged 70 feet, crashing into the Niger River.

Three of the dead were American commandos.  The driver, a captain nicknamed “Whiskey Dan,” was the leader of a shadowy team of operatives never profiled in the media and rarely mentioned even in government publications.

Recolonization of Africa: US military missions reach record levels after Pentagon inks deal to remain in Africa for decades

2044 or Bust –The U.S. military’s battlefield of tomorrow. In 2014, the U.S. carried out 674 military activities across Africa, nearly two missions per day, an almost 300 per cent jump in the number of annual operations, exercises, and military-to-military training activities since U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) was established in 2008. The number of security cooperation activities skyrocketed from 481 in 2013 to 595 last year. NICK TURSE,* TomDispatch.com

US ‘perception management,’ Libya and use of human rights impostors to spawn NATO’s war of aggression

Anti-War Protestors at Halifax’s Spring Garden Library during federal election, March 26, 2011

The names change but the methods remain the same. In Iraq the imperial war facilitator was Ahmed Chalabi. In Libya he went by the name of Soliman Bouchuiguir, a shadowy figure whose baseless allegations against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi were endorsed by the UN system and its affiliated “human rights” agencies without the slightest verification. The warmongering chorus included one Nazanin Afshin-Jam, the sole Canadian signatory, a Harper appointee to the board of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and an advocate of aggression against Iran; she married Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who despatched Canadian warplanes to bomb Libya.

In this article originally published on October 17, 2011, MAHDI DARIUS NAZEMROAYA* in text and JULIEN TEIL in video shed light on a failed system of international law and justice, which made itself complicit in NATO’s war crimes in Libya.

The analysis has been borne out by the passage of time: the overthrow of Libya’s government by NATO and Gulf Arab powers, at the cost of over 30,000 deaths, has led to a complete collapse in human rights and social conditions. Benghazi is now the centre of a bloody tribal-based revolt against the NATO government. The Harper war government must be held to account.

ANALYSIS: US approaches Ebola with militarism, not medical intervention

The U.S. and Cuba take wildly different approaches to many issues. On Ebola and African development, the U.S. brings militarism to the table, while par for its revolutionary course, Cuba promotes education and health care.

US empire: The outpost that doesn’t exist in the country you can’t locate

A base camp, an authoritarian regime, and the future of US blowback in Africa. NICK TURSE*

Admit it. You don’t know where Chad is. You know it’s in Africa, of course. But beyond that? Maybe with a map of the continent and by some process of elimination you could come close. But you’d probably pick Sudan or maybe the Central African Republic. Here’s a tip. In the future, choose that vast, arid swath of land just below Libya.

Who does know where Chad is?  That answer is simpler: the U.S. military.  Recent contracting documents indicate that it’s building something there. Not a huge facility, not a mini-American town, but a small camp.

Libya then and now: An overview of NATO’s handiwork

In 2011, as the entire world watched the Arab Spring in amazement, the US and its allies, predominantly  working under the banner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), militarily overran the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,

The peaceful civilian protesters they claimed to be intervening to protect were not really what the US and its cohorts presented to the world. Many of these so-called “protesters” were armed and, when this became apparent, they eventually began to portray themselves as “rebel forces.”

Africa: Remember this war?

The fighting in Mali is yesterday’s passing news for much of the monopoly media. The Royal Canadian Air Force together with the US Air Force, which now has forces in over 30 African countries – Germany too was involved – has been continuously flying military supplies and other equipment to support the French military intervention.

That mission, although not officially wrapped up, has disappeared from view, reports the Ottawa Citizen’s military reporter, David Pugliese.

Not for the French though. Its forces bombed positions in northern Mali on the weekend, the BBC reported.

US expands base in Rota, Spain

UNDER the hoax of “protecting Europe from the threat of attack from Iran” and the cause of freedom and democracy, the United States has deployed four interceptor missile warships to Rota, Spain, thereby boosting the military strategic significance of Rota, the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa.

Behind unfolding events in Nigeria: White House escalates interventionist plans

Click to enlarge.

By ABAYOMI AZIKIWE

Pan-African News Wire (May 13) – A video purportedly released by the armed Boko Haram sect based in northeastern Nigeria showed what was said to be school girls who have been held by the group for a month. The Boko Haram leader said that the young women could be released in exchange for the prisoners belonging to their organization being held by the Nigerian government.

Graphic details. The US pivot to Africa

The U.S. Military’s Pivot to Africa, 2012-2013 (key below article) ©2013 TomDispatch ©Google

US’s back-to-the-future military policies in Africa

For the third time in the past year, the Harper War Government has deployed Special Forces to Africa, this time to Nigeria, under the guise of humanitarian intervention. Nick Turse* elaborates Obama’s new model for expeditionary warfare.

Lion Forward Teams? Echo Casemate? Juniper Micron? You could be forgiven if this jumble of words looks like nonsense to you. It isn’t. 

It’s the language of the U.S. military’s simmering African interventions; the patois that goes with a set of missions carried out in countries most Americans couldn’t locate on a map; the argot of conflicts now primarily fought by proxies and a former colonial power on a continent that the U.S. military views as a hotbed of instability and that hawkish pundits increasingly see as a growth area for future armed interventions.

Since 9/11, the U.S. military has been making inroads in Africa, building alliances, facilities, and a sophisticated logistics network.

Hands Off Africa! CTV, W5 and “Secret Warriors” should be widely denounced and condemned by everyone

1921 demonstration by steelworkers and the African community in Whitney Pier, Sydney, Cape Breton. Banner declares, “Africa for the Africans!” Courtesy Beaton Institute and Shunpiking Magazine’s Black History Supplement

By TONY SEED

(April 4) – CTV News is repeatedly promoting on a hourly basis an unabashedly racist and militaristic W5 special to be aired Saturday night, April 5.

The program is being billed as “a never before seen look” of ”Canada’s elite team of secret soldiers, the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR)” and their “training” in Niger in the Sahara in Western Arica, “where violent extremists are organized, well-funded, and well-armed violent extremists.” The “extremists” are depicted as Islamic and the segment is entitled “Secret Warriors.”

The promotions feature reporter Mercedes Stephenson, whom the Department of National Defence (DND)  selected to be embedded in Flintlock 2014, an annual U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) military exercise that includes NATO forces from the old colonial powers – Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. [1]

Flintlock military exercises involving participation of Canadian Forces have been held in different locations on the African continent since 2005. But no reason is given as precisely why it is at this time that the DND and the Harper government is bending over backwards to embed the media in its shadowy African adventure and manufacture this disinformation. CTV’s hype about its “a never before seen look” serves to hide the hand guiding this “look.”

Stephenson speaks not as a journalist but as a public relations flack whose profession is to lie. This sycophancy to the Harper government in and of itself is not unexpected but the depth of CTV’s political whoring is outrageous. This media is not only delighted that Canada boasts covert forces but it wants Africa bushed back to the “dark ages.”

Recolonization of Africa: US military averages more than a mission a day

U.S. documents reveal the feverish pace of Africom military exercises and operations in 2013 in 28 African countries, with more of the same for 2014, reports NICK TURSE* of TomDispatch.

In this framework,  we note:

(1) The Harper war government again participated in the recently completed Flintlock 2014 in Niger, an annual US African Command exercise, along with NATO forces from the old colonial powers – Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;

(2) In January 2013, it provided C-17 aircraft to France for its military intervention in Mali in January 2013, as did the UK, Belgium and Denmark; and

(3) The predatory interests of the Canadian mining monopolies are second to none in the scramble to exploit African resources and markets. In 2011 – the most recent year for which statistics are available – 155 Canadian mining companies were operating in 39 African countries. Their combined assets totalled more than $30.8 billion, up from $26.5 billion in 2010. “Expand the picture to take into account other country’s projects financed on Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the TSX Venture, and Canada’s role in mining around the world grows even more substantial.”

US-NATO’s drive into Asia

ASIAN NATO CONCEPT FLAG | Pnyxblog

A global military bloc | RICK ROZOFF

(January 29, 2009) – With the sixtieth anniversary summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to occur jointly in the French city of Strasbourg and and the German one of Kehl on April 3-4, the world should take note of how far from its original area of operations this, history’s first international military bloc has expanded in the interim since its creation in 1949.

The white man’s burden? The new scramble for Africa

A James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Hakim Adi, an internationally renowned scholar on Africa and Pan-Africanism.

7pm, Tuesday, March 20 • Room 303, Dalhousie Student Union Building • 6136 University Avenue • Halifax, NS

US bridgehead: Are the Canary Islands becoming the Miami of Africa?

A look at the world map shows the great significance of islands – from Newfoundland to Malaysia, from Cuba and Haiti to the Azores – in the geopolitics of empire as bastions over strategic straits, bridgeheads and “stepping stones” from one continent to another and one from one sea to another, as repositories of labour and centres for plundering the world ocean, and play-grounds for the idle rich of the metropole. Now, in the context of the aggression against Libya in North Africa and the feverish expansion of its new African Command (Africom), Washington has its sights set on making the Canary Islands a U.S. commerce, tourist and military outpost, from which to exploit Africa.