Tag: Africa

What The Hell Is State Doing?

First of all the 20th of April cam and went and the predicted declaration of martial law did not materialize…..I am not saying it will not just not on the day all seem to think for obvious reasons.

By State I mean the department of state, our diplomatic portion of any government….they are suppose to support American citizens and further the pursuit of democracy and human rights…..

It appears the Trump Administration in its dislike of brown people is remaking the the direction of the US in the continent of Africa.

That Magic Sharpie is ready for action….

A preliminary version of a White House executive order outlines sweeping changes to the State Department, including the near-total removal of its operations in Africa and the closure of numerous embassies and consulates throughout the continent.

The proposal also recommends eliminating departments within the State Department’s main offices that focus on climate change – an area where Trump’s change of the law could have ‘seismic impacts’ – refugee matters and the promotion of democracy and human rights and comes amid a tense global trade environment after Trump’s tariffs, which have caused friction with China.

The purpose of the order – which could be signed by President Trump later this week – is to undertake “a disciplined reorganization” of the State Department in an attempt to “streamline mission delivery.” As reported by The New York Times, the 16-page document aims to cut “waste, fraud and abuse” and is due to be enacted by October 1. Trump was also branded the ‘dumbest president ever’ following a shocking 6-word geography comment.

The proposed executive order seeks to abolish the foreign service entrance exam for prospective diplomats and introduces a revised set of qualifications for recruitment. Any new employees would have to have an “alignment with the president’s foreign policy vision.”

According to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the plans, the signing of the executive order would be followed by a push to dismiss both foreign service officers—who serve as career diplomats—and civil service staff, typically based at the department’s Washington headquarters. They noted that the process would involve placing many employees on paid administrative leave and issuing termination notices.

The draft suggests changes to the department, including “policy development and review” and “operational planning,” as well as embracing artificial intelligence technology. However, the New York Times reports that elements of the draft could change before President Trump signs it into effect.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/us-state-department-trump-rubio-1103570

Not to worry the Little Donny and his butt licking lackey and SecState are going a bit further with the rest of the world….

  • Canada: A new North American affairs office would oversee operations in Canada, and the embassy in Ottawa would become much smaller. A “significantly reduced team” would run the North American office, which would be supervised by the secretary of state.
  • Issues: Bureaus handling democracy and human rights, and refugees and migration would be eliminated. There would no longer be a special envoy for climate or undersecretary of public diplomacy and public affairs.
  • Staff cuts: Buyouts would be offered to foreign service and civil service officers. Layoffs would begin, as well, and a large number of employees would be placed on paid leave.
  • Hiring: The State Department would drop its foreign service exam. New criteria for recruiting would include “alignment with the president’s foreign policy vision.”

Diplomats who have read the draft said they don’t see the logic behind it, per Politico. One said, “There’s a lot that could be reformed, but you could give infinite monkeys infinite typewriters, and they would come up with something better than that.”

I like the ‘monkeys’ thing.

In other words replace experienced diplomats and academics with amateurs that will blindly do as they are told.

Seriously?

Is writing off an entire continent really a good idea or alienating the rest of the world a goods idea?

Would this not open the continent for China/Russia to move in and take command of this region?

Amateurs and idiots!

These dumb asses are crapping on everything the United States has accomplished in 250 years.

Why do they hate the world so much?

How much further will these d/bags go?

Let’s not forget that Little Marco wants employees of State to pimp on anyone that illustrates anti-Christian bias (shades of East Germany’s Stasi)….as if any religious opinion should anything to do with their, employees, ability to do their job.

What the Hell is going on at State?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Africa–“We Are Here To Help”

The Great War on Terror!

The ‘Dark Continent’…..after 9/11 the US started go around the world make others line up for a great War on Terrorism…..another of those waste of money like that multi-generational waste known as the War on Drugs.

Africa was no different the US started throwing money and manpower at the countries in Africa….

Throwing money?

Yes to the tune of a trillion dollars…..The State Department provides nearly $280 million of funding for Africa counterterrorism efforts each year. Additionally, the Department of Defense spends at least $500 million a year for counterterrorism efforts in the area.

What was the result of our money spent on this War on Terror?

I wrote about the situation in Africa a couple of months ago….

Is Africa A Failure?

But if you are too busy or lazy to check it out I will go on….

Deaths from terrorism in Africa have skyrocketed more than 100,000 percent during the U.S. war on terror according to a new study by Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Pentagon research institution. These findings contradict claims by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) that it is thwarting terrorist threats on the continent and promoting security and stability.

Throughout all of Africa, the State Department counted a total of just nine terrorist attacks in 2002 and 2003, resulting in a combined 23 casualties. At that time, the U.S. was just beginning a decades-long effort to provide billions of dollars in security assistance, train many thousands of African military personnel, set up dozens of outposts, dispatch its own commandos on a wide range of missions, create proxy forces, launch drone strikes, and even engage in ground combat with militants in Africa.

Most Americans, including members of Congress, are unaware of the extent of these operations — or how little they have done to protect African lives.

Last year, fatalities from militant Islamist violence in Africa rose by 20 percent — from 19,412 in 2022 to 23,322 — reaching “a record level of lethal violence,” according to the Africa Center. This represents almost a doubling in deaths since 2021 and a 101,300 percent jump since 2002-2003.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/africa-terrorism/

Someone tell me if that is money well spent?

Once again the US has made things worse trying to extend our hegemony over Africa….this is a reoccurring nightmare for most of the 3rd world…..’we are here to help’ seldom does anything near help.

Profits are killing Africans.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

All Eyes To Niger

In case you have not heard there has been a military coup in the African nation of Niger.

I bet you will ask….’why is that important?’ Right?

The United States has sunk $500 million over the last decade into training and equipping Niger’s armed forces, which have now overthrown the democratically-elected president of the country.

Nigerien armed forces declared that they removed President Mohamed Bazoum from power amid a coup that began last Wednesday, spearheaded by a general who studied at the Department of Defense-backed College of International Security Affairs, Reuters reported. The U.S. has spent $500 million on training and arming Nigerien soldiers and stationing more than 1,000 U.S. troops in the region, according to the U.S. Embassy in Niger.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said over the weekend that the U.S. partnership with Niger is in “clear jeopardy.”

https://dailycaller.com/2023/08/01/us-niger-coup-funding-military/

The military we trained just overthrew a west leaning government….go figure.

Does that tell you anything?

Here’s a hint ‘wasted money’.

Niger is not alone in this…..

Take a map of Africa, shade in the nations that have had military coups over the last few years, and you’ll see the pattern: It’s what Declan Walsh in the New York Times calls a “coup belt” stretching across the entire continent. It goes from Guinea on the west coast to Sudan on the east coast, with Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, and, most recently, Niger, filling in the belt. Coverage:

  • The Sahel: This six-nation band “has become the longest corridor of military rule on Earth,” writes Walsh. The line roughly corresponds with what’s known as the Sahel region of Africa, described by the AP as a “vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert”—and one that has become increasingly linked to extremist groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
  • One big worry: Terror groups have been gaining ground throughout the Sahel in recent years, particularly in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger, notes an analysis by Mohammed Yusuf at Voice of America. The democratically elected Mohamed Bazoum of Niger had been a US ally in fighting such groups, and his overthrow vastly complicates that effort—particularly if Western and UN troops are asked to leave Niger, as they have been elsewhere in the Sahel. The US currently has about 1,100 troops stationed at two bases in Niger, per Reuters. If the military coup holds—the situation is very much in flux—they would have to leave under US law.
  • Russia: The BBC notes another parallel within the band: Russian influence. One fear in the West is that a new military regime in Niger will embrace Vladimir Putin. “If it does, it would follow the path of two of its neighbors—Burkina Faso and Mali—which have both pivoted towards Moscow since recent military coups of their own,” writes Yusuf Akinpelu. There’s no evidence Russia has fomented the coups, but Moscow has positioned itself to take advantage of the movements.
  • Meltdown? The Sahel “has surpassed the Middle East and South Asia to become the global epicenter of jihadist violence,” writes Walsh, and that has analysts worried. “I’m very worried that Sahelian Africa is going to melt down,” says Paul Collier of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.

If more info is wanted then I suggest reading this article…..

Niger is the Fourth Country in the Sahel to Experience an Anti-Western Coup

Here we go again….I say that in response to Blinken’s words about the coup….

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed support for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after it threatened to use force against coup leaders in Niger if President Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated.

ECOWAS, a bloc of 15 West African nations, held an extraordinary summit to discuss the coup on Sunday. In a joint communique, ECOWAS leaders announced sanctions and said if Bazoum is not reinstated within a week, the bloc will “take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order” in Niger. “Such measures may include the use of force,” the leaders said.

Following the ECOWAS summit, Blinken released a statement backing the bloc. “The United States welcomes and commends the strong leadership of the [ECOWAS] Heads of State and Government to defend constitutional order in Niger,” Blinken said.

(antiwar.com)

Oh good another country for our weapons and cash to be used….as if we have not already wasted enough….(and the M-IC smiled)

Does this sound at all familiar?

I Await your thinking.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Yet Another Peace Plan

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has seen several peace proposals from countries around the globe….from Brazil, China, Turkey, et al and now a new proposal will be presented to both sides….this time African nations will do the presenting.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to host a delegation of African leaders to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict in Ukraine.

“My discussions with the two leaders demonstrated that they are both ready to receive the African leaders and to have discussion on how this conflict can be brought to an end,” Ramaphosa said, according to DW. “Whether that will succeed or not is going to depend on the discussions that will be held.”

On top of Ramaphosa, the leaders of Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, and Zambia also support the plan. Ramaphosa did not give a timeline on when the visits to Moscow and Kyiv might happen.

The news of the African-led peace push comes as China has dispatched a senior envoy to visit Ukraine, Russia, and other countries in the region in an effort to foster dialogue. Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs, was expected to arrive in Ukraine on Tuesday.

The US has not been happy with South Africa’s neutrality in the Ukraine conflict and recently accused Pretoria of aiding Russia. The US ambassador to South Africa claimed without evidence that a Russian ship that recently docked in the country was loaded with arms.

According to Ramaphosa, the US and Britain have expressed “cautious” support for the African-led peace push. The New York Times reported last week that US officials are “wary of any calls for an immediate ceasefire or peace talks.”

(antiwar.com)

The plan is supported by the leaders of South Africa, Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo, and Zambia.

Specifics are slim at this draft….but I will be watching and writing as soon as more info is available.

Somewhere sanity must prevail and a plan be formulated that will end the carnage in Ukraine.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–03Sep21

Some days you learn of some special person that is their part to protect the wildlife of this planet….this is one such report…..

The internet is awash with photos of wealthy holidaymakers and criminals posing alongside the heads of elephants and rhinos.

But US military veteran Kinessa Johnson spent years battling gangs of poachers in Africa, working as part of a team trying desperately to protect the world’s most endangered species.

Following her military career, she signed up to the Veterans Empowered to Protect African Wildlife (VETPAW) as an anti-poaching advisor.

She had previously worked as a weapons instructor and mechanic during a tour of Afghanistan.

https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-female-army-veteran-hunted-down-poachers-to-protect-endangered-species-20210826

A great vet…she has my vote for person of the year….it is great to see a vet getting involved in the protection of endangered species and hold poachers to task…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Thou Shall Not Deal With China

The war hawks are revving up their misinformation machine against China (the new enemy we must fear) and the nation has been expanding their influence around the world to include Africa…..and that expansion worries the US and plays into the hands of the war hawks.

The new SecState has issued a warning to Africa….

Secretary of State Antony cautioned Africa about China’s role in the continent in virtual talks with Nigeria and Kenya on Tuesday.

Responding to questions, Blinken said he hoped African countries would keep their “eyes wide open” when approaching relationships with other nations.

“We’re not asking anyone to choose between the United States or China, but I would encourage you to ask those tough questions, to dig beneath the surface, to demand transparency, and to make informed choices about what is best for you and your countries,” he said.

Beijing is involved in infrastructure projects across Africa, which the US views as a threat to American influence. President Biden has floated the idea of the US and its allies starting a global infrastructure project to rival China’s, which is known as the Belt and Road Initiative.

Biden has portrayed the US-China relationship as an ideological battle between “democracy” and “autocracy.” With this view in mind, it’s no wonder the US aims to compete with China in every theater it can.

China is also being used to justify domestic infrastructure projects. President Biden cited the need to compete with Beijing as the reason to pass his massive $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

(antiwar.com)

That sounded like a ‘veiled threat’ to me….a threat is a threat regardless of the wording.

Let me see China is offering to build roads and other infrastructure projects to help the economy of ma nation and the US offers up special ops soldiers and armament.

Looks like China is winning more friends than the US.

Here’s a thought…maybe the US should find an alternative to armed conflict…look beyond the profit margins of the M-IC and offer the other nations ways to benefit the people and not the dictators and autocrats that ‘run’ most of these countries.

I know I am one voice in the wilderness against the M-IC and its aims of destruction and profit…I have been since 1972 and will remain so until I am gone.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Good News From Trump?

Yes I know I have been a critic of Trump since he took office….but I have also stated that I approve of his attempts to end our endless wars……and now he has made another statement that I can support….( I shall qualify that shortly)…..

He is attempting to bring home the troops from Afghanistan and Iraq….and moving some out of Germany…..

Pres. Trump wants to bring our troops home from Somalia…..Somalia?  Think Blackhawk Down…..

Bloomberg published a story on Wednesday that cited anonymous sources who said President Trump is looking to withdraw hundreds of US troops from Somalia, a war the administration has significantly escalated since 2017.

The sources said the Pentagon has begun drafting plans for the president, and discussions have involved Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the US currently has 700 troops in Somalia. Mostly special forces who train Somalia’s army. Most of these troops were sent to the African country by President Trump, according to the Bloomberg story.

The US is engaged in Somalia as part of its war against the militant group al-Shabab. In 2017, President Trump loosened the rules of engagement for the drone war and his administration has dropped a record number of bombs on Somalia.

In 2019, the US conducted 63 airstrikes in Somalia, the most in a single year. The first seven months of 2020 saw more US airstrikes in Somalia than were conducted during both the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, combined.

The war in Somalia is extremely underreported, and it is tough to know how damaging it has been to the civilians on the ground. US Africa Command usually claims its airstrikes only kill militants and only occasionally have to admit to civilian deaths if there is enough outcry.

(antiwar.com)

Now is this just election posturing or is he serious?

He has made promises before an election that he has not carried forward once he was placed in the seat of power for the United States.

So I ask again….can we trust him to do what he says?

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Reparations? No Thanks!

Here in the US with all the protests for racial equality there have been some that are calling for reparations to be paid to black ancestors of slaves…..

Of course they use the fact that the US has paid reparations to Japanese-Americans for their treatment during World War Two….

But this post is about something other than US slavery…I know hard to believe that there is something more important than the events in the US….but amazingly there is……and it is the history of Africa and the region unknown in the day as German Southwest Africa.

German South-West Africa, or present-day Namibia, was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, when it was occupied by South African forces fighting on the side of Great Britain in World War I. The brief history of the colony was marked by a series of insurrections by the Khoekhoe and Hereros against German rule, insurrections that the authorities suppressed with extraordinary harshness. The German ambition was to populate the colony with large numbers of settlers from Germany, much as the British had done in other parts of Africa. By 1914 more than 9,000 German settlers were living in the colony, but the dry climate and lack of water was a limiting factor on further settlement and expansion. Theodor Rehbock was a noted German hydraulic engineer who was asked by a local syndicate to study the colony’s water resources and their potential use in irrigation projects. Rehbock visited German South-West Africa in 1896-97 and produced this analysis of its economics, geology, climatology, and hydrology. His work contains detailed maps, tables, and plans for water projects. It remains a valuable resource for the study of the history of Namibia.

A little more historical perspective…..

In 1884, German chancellor Otto von Bismarck convened a meeting of European powers known as the Berlin Conference. Though the conference determined the future of an entire continent, not a single black African was invited to participate. Bismarck declared South-West Africa a German colony suitable not only for trade but for European settlement. Belgium’s King Leopold, meanwhile seized the Congo, and France claimed control of West Africa.

The German flag soon became a beacon for thousands of colonists in southern Africa—and a symbol of fear for local tribes, who had lived there for millennia. Missionaries were followed by merchants, who were followed by soldiers. The settlers asserted their control by seizing watering holes, which were crucial in the parched desert. As colonists trickled inland, local wealth—in the form of minerals, cattle, and agriculture—trickled out

Indigenous people didn’t accept all this willingly. Some German merchants did trade peacefully with locals. But like Belgians in the Congo and the British in Australia, the official German policy was to seize territory that Europeans considered empty, when it most definitely was not. There were 13 tribes living in Namibia, of which two of the most powerful were the Nama and the Herero. (Kaunatjike is Herero.)

Germans were tolerated partly because they seemed willing to involve themselves as intermediaries between warring local tribes. But in practice, their treaties were dubious, and when self-interest benefitted the Germans, they stood by idly. The German colonial governor at the turn of the 20th century, Theodor Leutwein, was pleased as local leadership began to splinter. According to Dutch historian Jan-Bart Gewald, for instance, Leutwein gladly offered military support to controversial chiefs, because violence and land seizure among Africans worked to his advantage. These are all tactics familiar to students of United States history, where European colonists decimated and dispossessed indigenous populations.

(Smithsonian Magazine)

If you would like more info then this site may be of some assistance…..https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/namibia

Now that we have set the stage….Germany has offered reparations for the ills foisted upon the natives…..and Namibia has declined the offer……

Namibian President Hage Geingob on Tuesday turned down Germany’s offer of €10 million ($11.7 million) in reparations for the genocide committed by the German Empire at the start of the 20th century.

“The current offer for reparations made by the German government remains an outstanding issue and is not acceptable to the Namibian government,” Geingob said in a statement after a briefing on the status of negotiations. He added that the government’s special envoy, Zed Ngavirue, would continue to negotiate for a “revised offer.”

Geingob also took exception to Germany’s use of the term “healing the wounds” in place of the word reparations, saying the terminology would be debated further.

No apology so far

The two countries began negotiating an agreement in 2015 that would see Germany give an official apology and development aid as compensation for the killing of tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people by German occupiers in 1904-1908.

https://www.dw.com/en/namibia-germany-reparations/a-54535589

Maybe an apology would make things go better…..

Just a thought.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Africa, The Land That Time Forgot

There is a line in the movie “Sahara” that perfectly describes the West’s view of Africa…..”It’s Africa….No one cares about Africa”…..

There is so much more going on in Africa that the news just glazes over if they mention it at all……Westerners do not realize how much we depend on Africa on so many levels…..oil…..minerals…..produce…..and yet we know very little about the countries or the people…..

I tried to help my readers out……https://lobotero.com/2019/01/11/africa-loves-china/

Few in the West knows just how much China is spending in Africa to control resources…….

A central element of palace diplomacy is lavishing African rulers with personal benefits, such as grand new workplaces that serve little purpose other than to curry favor with recipient governments. In a recently published report — which so irked the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that its spokesman attacked it during a press conference — I explain how I found that since 1966, Chinese companies have built or renovated at least 186 African government buildings, including 24 offices or residences of heads of state. Of the 70 buildings for which I found financing information, the Chinese government or a Chinese company financed all but three, and Beijing partially or fully subsidized the construction costs for at least 45 of the 70 buildings.

African rulers do business with Beijing not only out of self-interest, of course. The continent needs wise infrastructure development, and China is sometimes the only willing lender. Certain cheap Chinese products, particularly technology such as smart phones, are hugely popular with African consumers, and Chinese firms have built most of the continent’s 3G and 4G telecoms networks. There is also a sense of developing world solidarity and the attendant mistrust of the developed world that accounts for some of the warmth in the official China-Africa relationship.

China’s Palace Diplomacy in Africa

China is using their money and expertise as their foreign policies for Africa….as opposed to the US that thinks the military path will win them more friends…..https://lobotero.com/2020/01/24/us-troops-in-west-africa/

While China is building infrastructure the US is building a strong counter-terrorism programs….this in my opinion does little to make more friends….drones killing civilians has a way to turning the population off…..

But we keep doing the same things over and over….

This successful counterterrorism operation highlights the invaluable role that the United States currently plays in helping its allies in West Africa battle al-Qaeda and the Islamic State’s fierce terrorist campaign that last year alone killed over 4,000 civilians and soldiers.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/06/24/west_africa_and_us_strategy_115408.html

(This article is by a pro military and pro M-IC site)

I believe that our ingenuity would go further to win over hearts and minds than drone attacks.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What The Hell Is NATO Doing?

I have written many times that NATO is nothing more than an arm of a new form of imperialism……this organization is not needed any longer….but the news around it illustrates just how dangerous this organization has become…..

The US is trying to rid itself of the burden of Africa……and would use NATO to do its bidding….

NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has already been on the record stating that NATO allies would likely support joining France’s counterinsurgency effort, Operation Barkhane in the Sahel, which includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. The conflict, which started in 2014, has proved to be the bloodiest in recent French history. An existing EU counterinsurgency mission in the Sahel has already involved a number of NATO members, including the U.K., Spain, Denmark, and Estonia, and while the U.S. has long played a limited and supporting role to this operation, the death of four U.S. special forces soldiers in a gun battle in Niger in 2017 brought the issue to domestic attention.

Yet, this renewed interest is about more than just terrorism.

https://thedispatch.com/p/is-nato-preparing-for-a-new-mission

It appears the new front for NATO and the confrontation with Russia and China is the Arctic……but could any confrontations become more than a minor incident?

The FONOP in the Barents Sea represents the first time in 40 years that NATO warships have stepped into Russia’s front yard. It’s also the first time in 20 years that U.S. spy subs have been given a mission of this importance in the region, with the potential to start a shooting war should anything go wrong. Hopefully history will not repeat, and no ships or submarines will be lost in this head to head challenge. More importantly, if another tragedy should occur, we can only hope that it will not escalate into World War III.

https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/05/11/are-nato-warships-about-to-start-world-war-iii-in-the-arctic/

What started as a 20th century security institution has evolved into a major arms supplier and conflict instigator.

Time for NATO to go ahead and let something more in line with the 21st century take its place….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”