That's one choice I'd hate to have to make - the US or ECOMOG. Every Car Or Movable Object Gone.
Kirk McLoren wrote: > threatened by transnational terrorists. > > They are the bloody terrorists. > How much protection money will Africa have to pay? > > Kirk > > > */Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>/* wrote: > > Not to mention the oil. Nor, I suppose, the jatropha plantations. :-( > > ----- > > http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070430-124131-8532r.htm > - World - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper > U.S. force aims to secure Africa > > By Jason Motlagh > THE WASHINGTON TIMES > April 30, 2007 > > The United States hopes by year's end to establish an Africa Command > that will anchor military operations across a continent seen to be of > increasing strategic importance and threatened by transnational > terrorists. > The new force, known informally as AfriCom, will preside over all > countries on the continent except Egypt and is expected to be > operational by the fall, according to Pentagon officials. They say it > is needed to secure vast, lawless areas where terrorists have sought > safe haven to regroup and threaten U.S. interests. > "Part of the rationale behind the development of this command is > clearly the growing emergence of the strategic importance of Africa > from a global ... security and economic standpoint," Rear Adm. Robert > Moeller, head of the Africa Command Transition Team, said earlier > this month. "This allows us to work more closely with our African > partners to ... enhance the stability across the continent." > Plans for such a force were first disclosed in April 2004, but it > was not until February this year that Defense Secretary Robert M. > Gates laid out the scope of the new command. > AfriCom will initially operate as part of the Stuttgart, > Germany-based European Command before becoming independent at the end > of 2008. It will be a "unified combatant command" that includes > branches of the military along with civilians from the departments of > Defense, State and Agriculture, among others, according to Adm. > Moeller. > The force will deal with peacekeeping, humanitarian aid missions, > military training and support of African partner countries. A > headquarters location has yet to be determined. > The United States now maintains five military commands worldwide, > with Africa divided among three of them: EuCom covers 43 countries > across North and sub-Saharan Africa; Central Command oversees East > Africa, including the restive Horn of Africa; and Pacific Command > looks after Madagascar. > In 2001, CentCom established a task force in the Horn to track > down al Qaeda terrorists and monitor instability in Somalia. It has > since expanded to conduct humanitarian missions in the region. > EuCom directs a seven-year, $500 million counterterrorism > initiative that provides military and developmental aid to nine > Saharan countries deemed vulnerable to groups looking to establish > Afghanistan-style training grounds and carry out other illicit > activities. > The main target of U.S. Special Forces training African troops > has been the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Call and Combat. The > group withered after a crackdown by Algerian authorities and a > state-sponsored amnesty program, but a new al Qaeda-linked offshoot > claimed responsibility for the April 11 Algiers suicide bombings that > killed more than 30 people. > U.S. military officials say there is evidence that a quarter of > suicide bombers in Iraq are from North Africa. Other jihadists are > said to have traveled as far as Afghanistan to receive training > before returning home to Africa to sow trouble. > However, the initiative is not welcome in every African country. > Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, quoted in the Libyan daily Al-Fajr > Al-Jadid, said at a conference in Chad last week that such a force > was neither wanted nor needed. > "We told [the Americans] we do not need military aircraft flying > over, nor do we need military bases," he reportedly said. "We are in > need of economic elements and an economic support. If your support to > us is military intervention, then we do not need you, nor your help." > Some Western critics worry that a military-based policy on the > continent could breed radicalism where it scarcely exists by > sustaining despotic regimes that usurp funding and military hardware > to tighten their grip on power. > A 2005 report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based > think tank, said the Saharan region is "not a terrorist hotbed," and > warned that some governments try to elicit U.S. aid while using the > "war on terror" to justify human rights abuses. > U.S. officials insist the new AfriCom will not result in a > large-scale deployment of U.S. forces on the continent. Instead, they > want to place "a greater mix of diplomatic, developmental and > economic experts" on the ground. Current estimates are for about > 1,000 personnel, on par with other regional commands. > "The goal is for AfriCom not to be a U.S. leadership role on the > continent," said Ryan Henry, deputy undersecretary of defense for > policy, who spoke with reporters in Washington last week after > returning from a "fact-finding" trip to Africa. > "We would be looking to complement rather than compete with any > leadership efforts currently going on." > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Don't get soaked. Take a quick peak at the forecast > <http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/?fr=oni_on_mail&#news> > with theYahoo! Search weather shortcut. > <http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/?fr=oni_on_mail&#news> > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
