by WashingtonsBlog
January 12, 2013
from
WashingtonsBlog Website
America Sets Its Sights On Controlling African Resources
…And Reducing
Chinese Influence
The U.S. is sending troops to 35 African nations
under the guise of fighting Al Qaeda and related terrorists.
Democracy Now
notes:
U.S. Army teams will be deploying to as many
as 35 African countries early next year for training programs and other
operations as part of an increased Pentagon role in Africa.
The move would see small teams of U.S.
troops dispatched to countries with groups allegedly linked to al-Qaeda,
such as Libya, Sudan, Algeria and Niger.
The teams are from a U.S. brigade that has
the capability to use drones for military operations in Africa if
granted permission. The deployment could also potentially lay the
groundwork for future U.S. military intervention in Africa.
NPR
reports:
[A special American brigade] will be able to
take part in nearly 100 separate training and military exercises next
year, in nearly three dozen African countries
Glenn Ford
writes:
The 2nd Brigade is scheduled to hold more
than 100 military exercises in 35 countries,
most of which have no al-Qaida presence.
So, although there is no doubt that the U.S.
will be deeply involved in the impending military operation in Mali, the
2nd Brigade’s deployment is a much larger assignment,
aimed at making all of Africa a theater
of U.S. military operations.
The situation in Mali is simply a
convenient, after-the-fact rationale for a long-planned expansion of the
U.S. military footprint in Africa.
Timothy Alexander Guzman
argues:
AFRICOM’s [the U.S. military's Africa
command] goal is to eliminate China and other countries influence in the
region.
Africa’s natural resources is another
important element to consider because it includes oil, diamonds, copper,
gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, bauxite, silver, petroleum, certain woods
and tropical fruits.
In a must-watch interview, Dan Collins of
the China Money Report agrees that the purpose of the deployment is
to challenge China’s rising prominence in Africa:
(Indeed, the U.S. considers
economic rivalry to be a basis for war).
In reality - as we’ve repeatedly noted - the
U.S. sends in the military to fight “terrorists”
in any country which has resources we want (and
see this).
And the U.S. is not shy about
backing our “mortal enemies” to topple those standing between us and
resources we pine for.
Anthony Carlucci argues that
the overthrow of Gaddafi (largely through American
support of terrorists) was really the
opening salvo in the war for African resources: