Originally Posted by Eeshaan (Post 242868)

IMHO BBC and Al-Jazeera are good, non-biased news sources on Africa, in addition to the usual newspapers like New York Times, Daily Telegraph etc.

Originally Posted by Dodger67 (Post 242841)

The articles on DefenceWeb are reports of excercises and operations involving Africom that actually have happened - are you alleging that they make stuff up?
The events they reported on were also reported by other news sources. I cited it as a source merely for convenience - all the reports on one page - few other sources exist that cover African defence news so comprehensively.

Originally Posted by DefenceWeb

Whalen says Liberia has publicly offered to host some part of the command. But in congressional testimony, she has said there are no plans to establish large, permanent military bases in Africa. Several other countries, including SA, have publicly rejected hosting Africom.

Originally Posted by AxisOfLogic

Behind AFRICOM

AFRICOM's spokesman, Ryan Henry, is the leader of the U.S. delegation to Africa to sell AFRICOM to Africa. He is the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. Of AFRICOM's mission he stated that "the main mission for the command would be to stabilize weak or poor countries by training local security forces and doling out humanitarian aid." After meeting with Morroccan officials, Henry stated, "It's mostly a headquarters and planning focus. AFRICOM doesn't mean that there would be additional U.S. forces put on the continent." The Washington Post adds, "Defense officials acknowledge that one reason they are paying more attention to Africa is because the continent provides an increasingly large share of the United States' supply of imported oil and natural gas."

In 2001, the U.S. created the "perfect war" for military domination anywhere in the world - the war that knows no temporal or geographic boundaries - the "war on terrorism". It assumes the right to attack with bombs, missiles, troops, economic sanctions or covert operations - anywhere it can dig up a "terrorist". In the last few weeks it uncovered a spurious "terrorist cell" to justify putting U.S. military in the nation of Guyana. The corporate media ramped up fear of a terrorist plan to blow up Kennedy Airport - providing support for this insertion of U.S. military in this sovereign nation on Venezuela's northeast border. In the case of AFRICOM, according to the Washington Post, the U.S. government has "touted the new command as a key part of their strategy for countering terrorism threats on the continent". The Post continues, "Al-Qaida-affiliated groups have experienced a resurgence in North and East Africa in recent years."

The People's Resistance

As in Latin America, the resistance to U.S. agression in Africa is first and foremost coming from "the people" - and not the regimes under which they live. Rachid Tlemcani is a professor of political science at the University of Algiers and also a scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (a Washington-based organization that also supports the wealthy, minority opposition in Venezuela). He indicated that the rejection of AFRICOM "was a reflection of public opposition to U.S. policies in the predominantly Muslim region". Tlemcani stated,

"People on the street assume their governments have already had too many dealings with the U.S. in the war on terror at the expense of the rule of law ... The regimes realize the whole idea is very unpopular."

The peoples of North Africa are students of history and their parents didn't rear fools, regardless of the racial stereotypes cultivated by western propaganda. They have learned from other U.S. occupations and regional dominations of the world including Latin America and the Middle East. The beast's smile has turned to a grin and baring its fangs in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, it is bleeding itself dry, both economically and militarily. Revealing its true nature, it has underestimated the intelligence of "the people" and opened the door for formidable world-wide rejection and even military resistance. One of the U.S. government's mouthpieces, the Washington Post, opens it's news report of Northern Africa's rejection of AFRICOM with the following line: "Nations in mostly Muslim region are reluctant to host military command". So according to the Post, the U.S. plan is rejected by Algerian and Lybian "Muslims" - not the peoples of North Africa. But the WP article also laments,

"Morocco, which has been mentioned as a possible site for the new command and is one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region, didn't roll out the welcome mat, either."

You bet the 4th World War is being played out, fought out in these post 9/11 years. It is a war between those in control of governments and the people who are realizing their own power. As responsible citizens of the United States we must do everything in our power to stop our government's international aggressions, not only for the sake of those being exploited and dominated in foreign lands, but also for the survival of our own civil rights, our economy and ironically for the survival of our own national sovereignty.