AFRICOM

US AFRICOM Blacklists Reporter Nick Turse As “Not A Legitimate Journalist”

January 17, 2018 Eddie Haywood, Wsws.org Educate! AFRICOM, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Journalism, militarism, Repression, US Imperialism

Journalist Nick Turse, who has reported extensively on US military operations in Africa, was recently told that he has been deemed “not a legitimate journalist” by AFRICOM, the US military command which oversees operations across the continent. The move is of a piece with the US government’s drive to silence critical reporting by alternative news outlets and comes amid the global effort to censor oppositional and alternative viewpoints on the Internet. Turse explained in an article published by the Intercept on Saturday that AFRICOM officials began stonewalling his queries after he authored an article in July which documented torture by US-trained Cameroonian forces at a US base in Salak, Cameroon. For several years, the Pentagon has been perturbed by Turse’s reporting, which has exposed the vast spectrum of United States military operations across Africa, most of which it wishes to keep shrouded in secrecy.

Putting The ‘War’ In The ‘War On Terror’

November 28, 2017 Tom Englehardt, www.tomdispatch.com Educate! Afghanistan, AFRICOM, Terrorism, Wars and Militarism

By Tom Englehardt for Tom Dispatch. Consider the latest news from America's war zones, still spreading across the Greater Middle East and Africa. The U.S. military is now reportedly building up its troop strength (mostly Special Operations forces) in Somalia. Their number has already doubled, reaching 500, while U.S. airstrikes are increasing against al-Shabab, the well-entrenched Islamist terror outfit in that country. We're talking about the largest concentration of American troops in Somalia since the infamous Black Hawk Down debacle of almost a quarter-century ago. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, U.S. troop numbers (now considered a “secret”) are rising into the 14,000-16,000 range with at least 3,000 new troops recently sent in by the Pentagon.

Newsletter – Racism, Propaganda And Wars

October 29, 2017 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Africa, AFRICOM, BDS, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Palestine, Peace, Racism, Wars and Militarism, White Supremacy

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. This week, the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which promoted giving Palestine to the Jewish people, will be celebrated in London. Around the world, there will be protests against it calling for Britain to apologize for the damage it inflicted. Students from the West Bank and Gaza will send letters to the British government describing the negative impacts that the Balfour Declaration, and the Nakba in 1948, continue to have on their lives today. As Dan Freeman-Maloy describes, the Balfour Declaration is also relevant today because of the propaganda co-existing with it that justified white supremacy, racism and empire. British imperialists believed that democracy only applied to "civilized and conquering peoples," and that "Africans, Asians, Indigenous peoples the world over – all were ... 'subject races,' unfit for self-government."

AFRICOM Is The Question

October 29, 2017 Margaret Kimberley, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! AFRICOM, Democrats, Libya, Wars and Militarism

By Margaret Kimberley for Black Agenda Report. The desire to be affirmed by American society has dangerous consequences for black people. This pernicious dynamic creates the inclination to worship any black face in a high place or to defend questionable activity. The death of special forces Sergeant La David Johnson in Niger is a case in point. Donald Trump’s racism and stupidity prevented him from performing the simple task of conveying appropriate condolences to Johnson’s widow. The ensuing brouhaha focuses on what Trump said in the phone call overheard by Congressional Black Caucus member Frederica Wilson. Almost no one is asking about the fact that American troops are stationed in Africa at all.

AFRICOM Spearheads Escalation Of US “Scramble For Africa”

March 17, 2017 Eddie Haywood, www.wsws.org Educate! Africa, AFRICOM, Imperialism, US Foreign Policy

By Eddie Haywood for WSWS - The chief of the US African Command (AFRICOM), General Thomas Waldhauser, warned last week in an annual report to Congress that resource constraints on his forces are threatening to undermine Washington’s influence over Africa. Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, AFRICOM was created with the mission of exerting greater military influence over Africa in order to maintain and facilitate Western capitalism’s exploitation of the continent’s vast economic resources and its working masses. In his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, General Waldhauser warned that AFRICOM’s “inadequate surveillance, poor supply chain networks...

US Special Operations Troop Deployments In Africa Surged In 2016

January 4, 2017 Eddie Haywood, www.wsws.org Educate! Africa, AFRICOM, US Foreign Policy, US military

By Eddie Haywood for WSWS - At the close of 2016, Africa saw a dramatic surge in the number of US Special Operation forces deployed across the continent. Since 2006, the US military has increased its operations in Africa from just 1 percent of overall global Special Operations to more than 17 percent. The rate at which troops have been surged on to the continent far surpasses that of any other region in the world, including Washington’s substantial military operations in the Middle East. There were 700 Special Operation commandos deployed across Africa in 2014; by 2016, the number had more than doubled, to 1,700.

Congo Implodes As Africom Expands

December 24, 2016 Dan Wright, www.shadowproof.com Educate! Africa, AFRICOM, Congo

By Dan Wright for Shadow Proof - The Democratic Republic of Congo has been thrown into another political crisis after Congo President Joseph Kabila refused to leave office after his second term expired on Tuesday. The country has never had a peaceful transition of power in its post-colonial history. Demonstrators protesting Kabila’s refusal to respect the constitutionally-mandated term limits and leave office have been killed and arrested. The current estimate is that security forces loyal to Kabila have killed at least 34 protesters, with hundreds believed to have been arrested (and likely facing mistreatment by authorities).

AFRICOM: Ready To Sabotage The Revolution

July 31, 2016 Mark P. Fancher, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Africa, AFRICOM, Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

By Mark P. Fancher for Black Agenda Report. Seay readily acknowledges Africans’ suspicions, noting: “The history of United States policy in Africa is largely its Cold War history, and for Africans in particular, memories of those engagements are not often happy ones. Whether propping up dictators in the name of containment or turning a blind eye to human rights abuses by anti-communist forces, the United States earned a reputation for meddling and causing problems for Africa and its people throughout the Cold War. For many observers, it is hard to see how AFRICOM could be anything other than simply the latest iteration of neo-imperialist engagement by yet another bunch of shady, secretive white men sporting khakis, polo shirts and crew cuts.”

AFRICOM: Protecting US Interests Disguised As ‘Military Partnerships’

February 27, 2016 Ebrahim Shabbir Deen, www.studies.aljazeera.net Educate! Africa, AFRICOM, Foreign Relations, US military

By Ebrahim Shabbir Deen for Aljazeera Center for Studies - The first part of the paper discusses the structure of the command, its developmental aspects and the resultant conflict between the US Departments of Defense and State. Part two delves beneath the surface and teases out what might be other, unstated reasons behind AFRICOM’s establishment, including the rise of China, the increasing importance of African oil and the US “war on terror.” Part three discusses the various activities that AFRICOM is involved in and has undertaken since its establishment, including the “state partnership program” which the command has used to penetrate into African military affairs...

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