6 New Messages
Digest #4450
Messages
Thu Aug 2, 2012 5:55 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.stripes.com/news/nato-awarding-two-new-medals-for-counter-piracy-libya-missions-1.184678
Stars and Stripes
August 2, 2012
NATO awarding two new medals for counter-piracy, Libya missions
STUTTGART, Germany: Two NATO medals have been approved for wear by eligible U.S. troops and civilian personnel who took part in a series of alliance-supported operations in Africa, according to the Defense Department.
The alliance will award the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Africa for service in connection with Operation Allied Provider, Operation Allied Protector, Operation Ocean Shield, all counter-piracy related missions. The medal also will be awarded to participants in North Atlantic Council-approved NATO support activities connected to the African Union, DOD stated in a news release.
The alliance also will award the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Libya for service in support of Operation Unified Protector, the 2011 mission that sought to protect civilians through the enforcement of a no-fly zone and arms embargo.
Troops and civilian personnel should consult with their respective personnel offices for more information about eligibility, according to the DOD.
====================================================================
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
======================================================================
Stars and Stripes
August 2, 2012
NATO awarding two new medals for counter-piracy, Libya missions
STUTTGART, Germany: Two NATO medals have been approved for wear by eligible U.S. troops and civilian personnel who took part in a series of alliance-supported operations in Africa, according to the Defense Department.
The alliance will award the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Africa for service in connection with Operation Allied Provider, Operation Allied Protector, Operation Ocean Shield, all counter-piracy related missions. The medal also will be awarded to participants in North Atlantic Council-approved NATO support activities connected to the African Union, DOD stated in a news release.
The alliance also will award the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Libya for service in support of Operation Unified Protector, the 2011 mission that sought to protect civilians through the enforcement of a no-fly zone and arms embargo.
Troops and civilian personnel should consult with their respective personnel offices for more information about eligibility, according to the DOD.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:04 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_02/Is-humanitarian-catastrophe-in-Syria-provoked-from-outside/
Voice of Russia
August 2, 2012
Is humanitarian catastrophe in Syria provoked from outside?
Ilya Kharlamov
====
Units of the Free Syrian Army, an uncompromising radical force, are stationed in Turkey. Ankara is also trying to play the ‘Kurd card’. It has threatened to bring troops into the border areas of Syria if bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party appear there.
The first warning came from the Workers’ Party of Turkey which demanded deporting the US General Consul in the city of Adana from the country for ‘masterminding and leading the activities of Syrian terrorists’ who oppose al-Assad’s forces. One of the leaders of the party, Hasan Basri Ozbey has also urged the government to close the US Incirlik air force base in Adana and the camps of Syrian refugees where, he maintains, Americans train thousands of terrorists.
====
Russia will not support the draft resolution of the UN General Assembly on Syria submitted by several Arab countries and to be put to a vote on the 3 of August.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that this document revises the peace plan of special envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States Kofi Annan and puts all responsibility for the situation in the country on Syrian authorities. Thus, the document encourages the opposition’s uncompromising armed struggle against the Syrian government. In addition, the draft resolution contradicts the UN Charter.
While passions are seething in New York, three million Syrian citizens are in need of humanitarian aid and basic food. There is still no light at the end of the tunnel. On the contrary, the situation is developing according to the worst scenario which could result in an armed operation against Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
In this case Syria will face a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe which will affect the entire region. UN experts are expressing grave concern.
According to forecasts, the number of starving people in Syria will grow 1.5 times within six months. Another million people are in need of agricultural aid: they need seeds, fuel and livestock fodder. If Syrian agriculture is not supported, people’s chronic malnutrition and the spreading of infection will become the ‘norm’, which could have unpredictable results. The main aim today is to spare no effort to stop the hostilities, expert Irina Zviagelskaya from the Institute of Oriental Studies believes.
“There is no alternative for a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria if the hostilities continue. Syrian people have been living an abnormal life for a long time. The situation in the country has developed into a full-scale civil war. The opposition is supported from abroad bit it is not clear what the people who could capture power in the country would do and whether their policy would be balanced and taking into consideration specific features of the Syrian society. So far, no efforts of the international community have yielded any results. I believe that the only option is to persuade the conflicting sides to establish an interim government with the participation of both the ruling regime and the opposition, which would be supported by the majority of the population”.
As if to add to the humanitarian crisis inside Syria, the situation around the country is also alarming. The prospect of foreign interference in Syria’s affairs is gaining weight.
It seems that Washington and its allies in Ankara prefer this prospect to anything else. According to press reports, the US and Turkey are rendering all kinds of aid to the Syrian opposition, including financial support and arms deliveries.
Units of the Free Syrian Army, an uncompromising radical force, are stationed in Turkey. Ankara is also trying to play the ‘Kurd card’. It has threatened to bring troops into the border areas of Syria if bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party appear there. This party is banned in Turkey.
However, al-Assad’s enemies among the Turkish political elite are probably in for an unpleasant surprise. Turkish society could give a cool reception to the country’s leadership’s plans concerning Damascus. The first warning came from the Workers’ Party of Turkey which demanded deporting the US General Consul in the city of Adana from the country for ‘masterminding and leading the activities of Syrian terrorists’ who oppose al-Assad’s forces. One of the leaders of the party, Hasan Basri Ozbey has also urged the government to close the US Incirlik air force base in Adana and the camps of Syrian refugees where, he maintains, Americans train thousands of terrorists.
These protests have been voiced at a difficult moment for Turkey, political scientist Stanislav Tarasov says.
“Several days ago, the ruling tandem of the president and prime minister disintegrated. Notwithstanding his initial plans, the prime minister has declared that he would run for the presidency. This means a split in the country. Turkey is facing a serious political and maybe even a geopolitical crisis. Hence, the demand of deporting the consul from Adana and taking a tougher attitude toward the US policy in the region, as well as realising that Turkey has become an instrument in a very serious geopolitical struggle The situation is complicated and it is clear that the country has entered the period of destabilization.”
We cannot rule out that the opinion of one of the main Turkish opposition parties which has taken a firm stand of non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs will get a positive response from the majority of Turkish people and will become another serious headache for the country’s current leadership.
====================================================================
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
======================================================================
Voice of Russia
August 2, 2012
Is humanitarian catastrophe in Syria provoked from outside?
Ilya Kharlamov
====
Units of the Free Syrian Army, an uncompromising radical force, are stationed in Turkey. Ankara is also trying to play the ‘Kurd card’. It has threatened to bring troops into the border areas of Syria if bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party appear there.
The first warning came from the Workers’ Party of Turkey which demanded deporting the US General Consul in the city of Adana from the country for ‘masterminding and leading the activities of Syrian terrorists’ who oppose al-Assad’s forces. One of the leaders of the party, Hasan Basri Ozbey has also urged the government to close the US Incirlik air force base in Adana and the camps of Syrian refugees where, he maintains, Americans train thousands of terrorists.
====
Russia will not support the draft resolution of the UN General Assembly on Syria submitted by several Arab countries and to be put to a vote on the 3 of August.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that this document revises the peace plan of special envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States Kofi Annan and puts all responsibility for the situation in the country on Syrian authorities. Thus, the document encourages the opposition’s uncompromising armed struggle against the Syrian government. In addition, the draft resolution contradicts the UN Charter.
While passions are seething in New York, three million Syrian citizens are in need of humanitarian aid and basic food. There is still no light at the end of the tunnel. On the contrary, the situation is developing according to the worst scenario which could result in an armed operation against Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
In this case Syria will face a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe which will affect the entire region. UN experts are expressing grave concern.
According to forecasts, the number of starving people in Syria will grow 1.5 times within six months. Another million people are in need of agricultural aid: they need seeds, fuel and livestock fodder. If Syrian agriculture is not supported, people’s chronic malnutrition and the spreading of infection will become the ‘norm’, which could have unpredictable results. The main aim today is to spare no effort to stop the hostilities, expert Irina Zviagelskaya from the Institute of Oriental Studies believes.
“There is no alternative for a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria if the hostilities continue. Syrian people have been living an abnormal life for a long time. The situation in the country has developed into a full-scale civil war. The opposition is supported from abroad bit it is not clear what the people who could capture power in the country would do and whether their policy would be balanced and taking into consideration specific features of the Syrian society. So far, no efforts of the international community have yielded any results. I believe that the only option is to persuade the conflicting sides to establish an interim government with the participation of both the ruling regime and the opposition, which would be supported by the majority of the population”.
As if to add to the humanitarian crisis inside Syria, the situation around the country is also alarming. The prospect of foreign interference in Syria’s affairs is gaining weight.
It seems that Washington and its allies in Ankara prefer this prospect to anything else. According to press reports, the US and Turkey are rendering all kinds of aid to the Syrian opposition, including financial support and arms deliveries.
Units of the Free Syrian Army, an uncompromising radical force, are stationed in Turkey. Ankara is also trying to play the ‘Kurd card’. It has threatened to bring troops into the border areas of Syria if bases of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party appear there. This party is banned in Turkey.
However, al-Assad’s enemies among the Turkish political elite are probably in for an unpleasant surprise. Turkish society could give a cool reception to the country’s leadership’s plans concerning Damascus. The first warning came from the Workers’ Party of Turkey which demanded deporting the US General Consul in the city of Adana from the country for ‘masterminding and leading the activities of Syrian terrorists’ who oppose al-Assad’s forces. One of the leaders of the party, Hasan Basri Ozbey has also urged the government to close the US Incirlik air force base in Adana and the camps of Syrian refugees where, he maintains, Americans train thousands of terrorists.
These protests have been voiced at a difficult moment for Turkey, political scientist Stanislav Tarasov says.
“Several days ago, the ruling tandem of the president and prime minister disintegrated. Notwithstanding his initial plans, the prime minister has declared that he would run for the presidency. This means a split in the country. Turkey is facing a serious political and maybe even a geopolitical crisis. Hence, the demand of deporting the consul from Adana and taking a tougher attitude toward the US policy in the region, as well as realising that Turkey has become an instrument in a very serious geopolitical struggle The situation is complicated and it is clear that the country has entered the period of destabilization.”
We cannot rule out that the opinion of one of the main Turkish opposition parties which has taken a firm stand of non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs will get a positive response from the majority of Turkish people and will become another serious headache for the country’s current leadership.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:04 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/08/02/2-isaf-soldiers-die-ied-blast
Pajhwok Afghan News
August 2, 2012
2 ISAF soldiers die in IED blast
KABUL: Two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing, the Taliban’s weapon of choice, in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the alliance said.
The deaths were announced in a brief statement from the NATO-led force that neither revealed the victims’ nationalities nor the exact location of the incident. But mostly, US, British and Canadian troops are stationed in the Taliban’s southern heartland.
So far during the current year, 266 international soldiers, including 205 Americans, have been killed across the country. Last year, 566 foreign troops were killed in Afghanistan.
====================================================================
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
======================================================================
Pajhwok Afghan News
August 2, 2012
2 ISAF soldiers die in IED blast
KABUL: Two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing, the Taliban’s weapon of choice, in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the alliance said.
The deaths were announced in a brief statement from the NATO-led force that neither revealed the victims’ nationalities nor the exact location of the incident. But mostly, US, British and Canadian troops are stationed in the Taliban’s southern heartland.
So far during the current year, 266 international soldiers, including 205 Americans, have been killed across the country. Last year, 566 foreign troops were killed in Afghanistan.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:15 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/us-considers-more-military-muscle-asia-pacific-5003461
Reuters
August 2, 2012
US considers more military muscle for Asia-Pacific
Pentagon planners will consider adding bombers and attack submarines as part of a growing US focus on security challenges in the Asia-Pacific, a senior Defense Department official said today.
"We will take another look" at sending more such muscle to the strategic hub of Guam in the western Pacific, now that this has been recommended by an independent review of US regional military plans, Robert Scher, deputy assistant secretary of defense for plans, told lawmakers.
US strategy calls for shifting military, diplomatic and economic resources toward the region after a decade of land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sparked by the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
...
Guam, a US territory about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines, played an active role during the Vietnam War as a way station for US bombers.
The Air Force operates from the island's Andersen Air Force Base, which hosts a rotational unit of B-52 bombers. The major US Navy presence includes a squadron of three attack submarines.
Independent assessment
The new assessment of the US military force posture in the region was carried out by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, a nonpartisan policy research group, subsequent to a congressional mandate.
It recommended in a report made public last week stationing one or more additional attack submarines in Guam to provide what it called a critical edge against "anti-access, area denial" - technologies being developed by China to keep the US military at bay.
CSIS listed as another option permanently relocating a B-52 squadron of 12 aircraft to Guam, rather than the current practice of rotating in from bases in the continental United States.
The central geostrategic uncertainty that the United States and its allies and partners face in the region "is how China's growing power and influence will impact order and stability in the years ahead," the CSIS review said.
It said US forces can help shape the peacetime environment by standing behind US security commitments - a move the review said would "dissuade Chinese coercion or North Korean aggression."
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced plans to "rebalance" US naval forces from a nearly 50-50 split between the Atlantic and the Pacific to a 60-40 mix in favor of the Asia-Pacific. The details of this shift have not been spelled out, although officials have said much of the buildup will involve new ships.
Sher, in joint written testimony to the panel with David Helvey, an acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region, said the Defense Department agreed with the CSIS assessment that "there are opportunities to move forward with Guam and send an important signal to the region."
Neither additional bombers nor additional attack submarines are in current US plans for the region but will be considered based on CSIS's "good work," Scher told Reuters after the hearing.
David Berteau, director of the CSIS International Security Program and a co-director of the review, said Guam cold absorb additional submarines without a huge amount of extra military construction costs, for instance for pier space or shore facilities.
The Defense Department also will continue to explore opportunities with the Philippines, a treaty ally, of deploying forces to unspecified "priority areas" to enhance maritime security, the Defense Department officials testified.
====================================================================
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
======================================================================
Reuters
August 2, 2012
US considers more military muscle for Asia-Pacific
Pentagon planners will consider adding bombers and attack submarines as part of a growing US focus on security challenges in the Asia-Pacific, a senior Defense Department official said today.
"We will take another look" at sending more such muscle to the strategic hub of Guam in the western Pacific, now that this has been recommended by an independent review of US regional military plans, Robert Scher, deputy assistant secretary of defense for plans, told lawmakers.
US strategy calls for shifting military, diplomatic and economic resources toward the region after a decade of land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sparked by the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
...
Guam, a US territory about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines, played an active role during the Vietnam War as a way station for US bombers.
The Air Force operates from the island's Andersen Air Force Base, which hosts a rotational unit of B-52 bombers. The major US Navy presence includes a squadron of three attack submarines.
Independent assessment
The new assessment of the US military force posture in the region was carried out by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, a nonpartisan policy research group, subsequent to a congressional mandate.
It recommended in a report made public last week stationing one or more additional attack submarines in Guam to provide what it called a critical edge against "anti-access, area denial" - technologies being developed by China to keep the US military at bay.
CSIS listed as another option permanently relocating a B-52 squadron of 12 aircraft to Guam, rather than the current practice of rotating in from bases in the continental United States.
The central geostrategic uncertainty that the United States and its allies and partners face in the region "is how China's growing power and influence will impact order and stability in the years ahead," the CSIS review said.
It said US forces can help shape the peacetime environment by standing behind US security commitments - a move the review said would "dissuade Chinese coercion or North Korean aggression."
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced plans to "rebalance" US naval forces from a nearly 50-50 split between the Atlantic and the Pacific to a 60-40 mix in favor of the Asia-Pacific. The details of this shift have not been spelled out, although officials have said much of the buildup will involve new ships.
Sher, in joint written testimony to the panel with David Helvey, an acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for the region, said the Defense Department agreed with the CSIS assessment that "there are opportunities to move forward with Guam and send an important signal to the region."
Neither additional bombers nor additional attack submarines are in current US plans for the region but will be considered based on CSIS's "good work," Scher told Reuters after the hearing.
David Berteau, director of the CSIS International Security Program and a co-director of the review, said Guam cold absorb additional submarines without a huge amount of extra military construction costs, for instance for pier space or shore facilities.
The Defense Department also will continue to explore opportunities with the Philippines, a treaty ally, of deploying forces to unspecified "priority areas" to enhance maritime security, the Defense Department officials testified.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:16 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/chinese-suspicious-of-military-move-20120801-23foy.html
Sydney Morning Herald
August 2, 2012
Chinese suspicious of military move
John Garnaut
An American naval base in Perth would confirm suspicions of an effort to contain or encircle China, say Chinese analysts.
Such a move would raise the temptation for China to use its enormous economic leverage to retaliate, they say.
''Of course it would damage the atmosphere,'' the director of
Tsinghua University's centre for China-US relations, Sun Zhe, said. ''It
would be interpreted within China as another move to encircle China.''
But they played down the likelihood of the Perth facility ever eventuating, saying Australia would take its economic interests into account and the US would be constrained by its own budget problems.
Advertisement
Chinese analysts view regional strategic issues through the prism of what US leaders call their ''pivot'' or ''rebalancing'' back towards Asia.
A series of senior civilian and military analysts have warned countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, against being used by the US to preserve its hegemonic power.
''Such a band of eager lackeys is exactly what the US needs for its strategic return to Asia,'' wrote the deputy chief captain with China Marine Surveillance, Xu Zhirong, in a recent magazine article.
Australia's role in America's ''return to Asia'' is the No. 1 question Chinese leaders have given to visiting Australian counterparts this year.
The editor of Naval and Merchant Ships magazine, Song Xiaojun, said Australia would be unlikely to proceed with the Perth proposal after it weighed any security against the resource exports it stood to lose.
''Do they think China one day will invade Australia and rob its iron ore? Mr Song said.
He said China would cut off trade with Australia if, for example, Australia joined the US in ''interfering'' in a sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea.
====================================================================
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/messages
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
======================================================================
Sydney Morning Herald
August 2, 2012
Chinese suspicious of military move
John Garnaut
An American naval base in Perth would confirm suspicions of an effort to contain or encircle China, say Chinese analysts.
Such a move would raise the temptation for China to use its enormous economic leverage to retaliate, they say.
''Of course it would damage the atmosphere,'
But they played down the likelihood of the Perth facility ever eventuating, saying Australia would take its economic interests into account and the US would be constrained by its own budget problems.
Advertisement
Chinese analysts view regional strategic issues through the prism of what US leaders call their ''pivot'' or ''rebalancing'
A series of senior civilian and military analysts have warned countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, against being used by the US to preserve its hegemonic power.
''Such a band of eager lackeys is exactly what the US needs for its strategic return to Asia,'' wrote the deputy chief captain with China Marine Surveillance, Xu Zhirong, in a recent magazine article.
Australia's role in America's ''return to Asia'' is the No. 1 question Chinese leaders have given to visiting Australian counterparts this year.
The editor of Naval and Merchant Ships magazine, Song Xiaojun, said Australia would be unlikely to proceed with the Perth proposal after it weighed any security against the resource exports it stood to lose.
''Do they think China one day will invade Australia and rob its iron ore? Mr Song said.
He said China would cut off trade with Australia if, for example, Australia joined the US in ''interfering'
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Thu Aug 2, 2012 8:20 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://flcourier.com/2012/08/02/us-no-humanitarian-savior-in-africa/
Florida Courier
August 2, 2012
US no humanitarian savior in Africa
Glen Ford
A United Nations panel charged that Rwanda has been supporting a Tutsi tribal rebel group in Congo. Rwanda and another U.S. puppet regime, Uganda, have profited enormously from stealing the mineral resources of eastern Congo, in collaboration with U.S. and European mining companies. In 2011, 1.7 million Congolese remained homeless, largely because of Rwanda’s continued interference in Congolese affairs.
Bowing to criticism, Washington announced that it would cut military assistance to Rwanda – $200,000 out of $528 million. The gesture is an insult to the millions of Congolese who have been killed or displaced by the U.S. and its Rwandan and Ugandan mercenaries.
The United Nations Refugee Agency reports that the number of Somalis forced to leave their country is now one million. The U.S. dragged Somalia into hell in December 2006, when it funded and armed an Ethiopian invasion, killing thousands and robbing Somalia of a chance to build peace under a moderately Islamist government. Nearly two million people were forced from their homes.
In the ensuing five years, the United States methodically attempted to starve out Somali resistance forces.
When the worst drought in 60 years struck the region, mass deaths were inevitable. By now, the U.S. had ensnared most of Somalia’s neighbors in its war – Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti – in order to expand U.S. military influence in the region.
American policy in Africa is to create chaos, and then to present itself as the cure.
Economically, the U.S. offers nothing to Africa, except rigged deals and endless debt. China has eclipsed America as a trading partner, and now offers Africa more and better quality foreign aid than the Americans.
Unable to compete on a level playing field, Washington exports death to Africa, in the form of weapons systems and Green Berets. There is nothing good that the United States can do for Africa, but leave.
Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com.
Florida Courier
August 2, 2012
US no humanitarian savior in Africa
Glen Ford
A United Nations panel charged that Rwanda has been supporting a Tutsi tribal rebel group in Congo. Rwanda and another U.S. puppet regime, Uganda, have profited enormously from stealing the mineral resources of eastern Congo, in collaboration with U.S. and European mining companies. In 2011, 1.7 million Congolese remained homeless, largely because of Rwanda’s continued interference in Congolese affairs.
Bowing to criticism, Washington announced that it would cut military assistance to Rwanda – $200,000 out of $528 million. The gesture is an insult to the millions of Congolese who have been killed or displaced by the U.S. and its Rwandan and Ugandan mercenaries.
The United Nations Refugee Agency reports that the number of Somalis forced to leave their country is now one million. The U.S. dragged Somalia into hell in December 2006, when it funded and armed an Ethiopian invasion, killing thousands and robbing Somalia of a chance to build peace under a moderately Islamist government. Nearly two million people were forced from their homes.
In the ensuing five years, the United States methodically attempted to starve out Somali resistance forces.
When the worst drought in 60 years struck the region, mass deaths were inevitable. By now, the U.S. had ensnared most of Somalia’s neighbors in its war – Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti – in order to expand U.S. military influence in the region.
American policy in Africa is to create chaos, and then to present itself as the cure.
Economically, the U.S. offers nothing to Africa, except rigged deals and endless debt. China has eclipsed America as a trading partner, and now offers Africa more and better quality foreign aid than the Americans.
Unable to compete on a level playing field, Washington exports death to Africa, in the form of weapons systems and Green Berets. There is nothing good that the United States can do for Africa, but leave.
Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.
