Tag: North Africa

Libya In The Rear View Mirror

I have been per-occupied with the politics in the US and have let my international stuff take a backseat…..(I feel so used)…..

When Libya was the headline I said then that Qaddafi was what held the nation together and I was right as we have seen since his death…….civil war has been all the people have known…..

And the country has been in the news in-between the “Report” silliness…..https://lobotero.com/2019/04/11/libya-on-my-mind/

In the UN the US and Russia have chosen the same side (for a change),,,,,

Britain’s push for a UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Libya has been derailed, with both the United States and Russia declining to support the measure.

A closed door meeting on Thursday ended with no agreement on a draft resolution. Britain’s text heavily criticized Khalifa Hafter, and blamed him fully for the fighting. Russia objected to that portion of the text.

The US opposition is a lot less clear, as they gave no public reason for why they objected to the resolution. They also declined comment to the media after the closed-door meeting.

Though the US isn’t publicly backing Hafter, several key regional allies, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, are. Hafter also has a history of working for the CIA, and some reports have suggested the US was keen on enhancing his power as a way to resolve the current fighting.

Now ask yourself who gains by the lack of a ceasefire?

But how did this situation spiral out of control?

The Libya tragedy that Barack Obama’s administration unleashed with a U.S.-led NATO military intervention in 2011 has entered yet another violent phase. Forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a one-time CIA asset that Washington now opposes, are waging an offensive against the so-called Government of National Accord (GNA), based in Tripoli. Both the United Nations Security Council and the European Union support the GNA and have passed resolutions demanding that Haftar’s troops cease their advance and adhere to the cease fire and plan for nation-wide elections that French President Emmanuel Macron negotiated last year. It is highly uncertain whether Haftar or his adversaries will heed such calls. More than 120 people have perished already in the new conflict, and fierce fighting continues, especially in and around Tripoli.

https://www.cato.org/blog/new-installment-libya-tragedy

The Trump Boyz have decided to come out of the closet and admit their support for this warlord, Haftar……

Whether you think of Khalifa Hafter as a former Gadhafi-era general, a long-standing CIA asset, or the leader of multiple failed coups d’etats who is now the self-described “Field Marshal” of his own self-described “Libyan National Army” (LNA), he is a bit unseemly for most nations to openly back. The big exception to this is the Egyptian junta, which seems to view him as an ideological ally.

The Trump Administration is also surprisingly comfortable with its support for him as well, with the White House announcing that Trump had phoned Hafter on Monday to talk about joint counter-terrorism efforts.

This is a particularly odd time for the US to be acknowledging direct coordination, as it comes amid Hafter’s latest coup attempt, with his LNA attacking the capital city of Tripoli and trying to oust the Libyan government of national unity who the US had been recognizing as Libya’s legitimate government up until the past week or so. Pompeo was still sharply criticizing Hafter last week, even if indications were this didn’t extend to UN Security Council calls for a ceasefire.

Now, the White House statement says Trump “recognized Field Marshal Hafter’s significant role in fighting terrorism, and securing Libya’s oil resources,” and that they discussed a “shared vision” for the future of Libya.

Now, of course, the White House presented the future of Libya as a “stable, democratic political system,” but it isn’t a secret that Hafter has tried to oust every democratically elected parliament Libya has had since Gadhafi. Nor is it a secret that the US favored the Egyptian coup for bringing “stability” over the democratically elected Morsi government. Democratic, in this region, just means the US starts calling the junta head a “president” as soon as he’s finished seizing power and violently purging his opponents.

Hafter’s “anti-terror” efforts in Libya have largely involved attacking parliaments that he felt were too Islamist, while his securing of oil resources has mostly involved attacking valuable oil facilities along the coast. While his previous failed coups ended with him still scheming, and at times giving himself field promotions, this latest push seems to have left him anointed as part of the US vision.

(antiwar.com)

Since the beginning of this situation it has been a cluster f*ck…..and the Trump approach will help NO one but Haftar…..the Libyan people continue to be screwed by the international community.

Libya On My Mind

The magic land of Libya in North Africa has been a continuing sad story since the death of Qaddafi……and it seldom gets any better than all out war.

Recently the warlord of the East, Haftar has decided he will try for total control of the country…..

After years of sabre-rattling, eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops on Thursday to march on the capital Tripoli, escalating a conflict with the internationally recognised government.

Seeking to encircle the capital his forces approached from south and west, seizing one town south of the city before stopping for the night some 60 km (37 miles) south of Tripoli, eastern officials said.

The offensive marked a dramatic escalation of a power struggle that has dragged on in Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-security/eastern-libyan-commander-orders-forces-to-move-on-tripoli-idUKKCN1RG0S9

The incident and the likely of all out war has prompted the US to remove our people…..

The United States has temporarily withdrawn some of its forces from Libya due to “security conditions on the ground,” a top military official said Sunday as a Libyan commander’s forces advanced toward the capital of Tripoli and clashed with rival militias. A small contingent of American troops has been in Libya in recent years, helping local forces combat Islamic State and al-Qaeda militants, as well as protecting diplomatic facilities, per the AP. “The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable,” said Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the head of US Africa Command. “Even with an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in support of existing US strategy.” He didn’t provide details on the number of US troops that have been withdrawn or how many remain in the country.

The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, launched a surprise offensive against the capital last week, a move that could potentially drag the country back into civil war. Libya has been gripped by unrest since the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. In recent years, the country has been governed by rival authorities in the east and in Tripoli, in the west, each backed by various armed groups. Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the government in Tripoli, accused Haftar of “betraying” him. Haftar is seeking to capture the capital and seize military control of the whole country before UN-sponsored talks due to start next week; those talks were designed to set a time frame for possible elections in the oil-rich country. The two sides reported at least 35 people, including civilians, had been killed since Thursday.

The US is putting all its apples in one basket…..the basket of CIA asset Gen. Hafter.

Libyan National Army (LNA) head Khalifa Hafter, who is in the process of attacking the capital city of Tripoli for at least the third time since 2014, is reportedly being pushed by the US government for a bigger role in official Libyan affairs. This could include making him the head of the actual Libyan military, instead of just the one he pieced together himself.

Hafter has a long history in Libya, participating in the 1969 Gadhafi coup, finding himself part of a CIA-funded rebel force in the 1980s, and has been positioning himself as a military strongman since Gadhafi’s 2011 ouster.

In 2014, Hafter ousted a parliament, and by year’s end was in the process of launching a coup of his own. In 2015 he became head of the LNA, the force loyal to the Tobruk parliament, and stopped referring to his old title of general, instead styling himself a “field marshal.” His forces have been trying to seize territory and consolidate power since, finding themselves once again moving against Tripoli, this time to remove the US and UN-backed unity government.

This latest action is ruining UN-planned conciliation talks, with officials saying no one wants to talk while Tripoli is under attack. The US sees the solution as just promoting Hafter, figuring he’ll stop attacking Tripoli if he’s part of the government that already controls it.

To be fair, Hafter’s promotion to the Tobruk parliament’s official military chief was also done at least in part to keep him from attacking their territory. That worked, as far as it goes, though Hafter has subsequently acquired substantial territory of his own, and still seems to have designs on ultimately being the military ruler of Libya, or at least as much of it as he can muster.

(antiwar.com)

Haftar has been on the payroll of the CIA since the 1980s……and now they want him to fulfill his contract with them from the days of trying to topple Qaddafi…..

Hopefully the Libyan people will decide if this asset will become supreme leader…..the CIA has done all they can to put their man in power ….now the people need to see it end.

History For A Sunday: Kasserine Pass

Another Sunday and I want to share a little personal stuff…..nothing to personal just a thought or two…..and a little history (is that an eye roll?)

First, how many know what Kasserine Pass is?

My favorite uncle was in the US Army in World War Two…..1st Army Division….he was there when America invaded North Africa and fought his way across Africa then onto Sicily and up the nation of Italy where he was wounded and taken prisoner at Casino…..

He use to tell me about the fighting as forces tried to enter the German stronghold in Tunisia….the worse fighting was for the Kasserine Pass in May of 1943……

It all went very wrong.

Beware a Desert Fox when he’s cornered.

It was North Africa, in the winter of 1943, and American soldiers were feeling cocky as they prepared for their first ground battle against the Germans in World War II. So far, it hadn’t been a bad war for the U.S. Army. The GIs were well fed, well paid and well equipped, especially compared to their threadbare and envious British allies. Even better, their baptism by fire had been to splash ashore in Algeria and Morocco in November 1942, where the defenders had been unmotivated Vichy French soldiers who soon capitulated.

Maybe defeating Hitler wouldn’t be so hard, after all.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/kasserine-pass-americas-most-humiliating-defeat-world-war-ii-19574

https://www.thoughtco.com/battle-of-kasserine-pass-2361495

Just what did the green troops learn from the battle for Kasserine Pass?

The February 1943 Battle of the Kasserine Pass marked the first serious confrontation between America’s amateur army and Germany’s professional Wehrmacht— specifically the elite Afrika Korps— so it should come as no surprise the Allies got beat. But what is surprising is that everybody from General Dwight Eisenhower down to platoon leaders made so many mistakes that defeat was inevitable.

Least guilty of incompetence were the draftees. As war correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote: “There is nothing wrong with the common American soldier.…The deeper he gets into a fight, the more of a fighting man he becomes.” Unfortunately, Maj. Gen. Lloyd Fredendall and his unit commanders stuck the American fighting man so deep into this scrap there was no way out.

https://www.historynet.com/learned-kasserine-pass.htm

My uncle would only talk to me after Vietnam about his time in North Africa and Italy…..we had some very similar experiences……

This battle is not one historians like to teach or even talk about because it was such a fiasco in the beginning.

That is it for me for the day……hope everyone is having a good weekend and I will be back in force tomorrow…..peace out!

What Of Libya?

Then there is Libya…..it has not made the headlines in the West for some time now…….and probably will not make much news in this new year…..but there is something that needs to be watched when it comes to Libya.

The conflict has not been abated and yet there is a situation where a warlord could be the permanent leader of Libya…..think Qaddafi and then think of a CIA thug, Haftar…….yes a CIA thug….Haftar has been a CIA asset since the 1980s and now he is in the cat bird seat……..

A Gadhafi-era general turned CIA asset with multiple failed coups d’etats under his belt, Gen. Khalifa Hafter is still around in northern Libya, securing oil-rich  parts of the nation and fighting various regional Islamist groups.

While this has often appeared to be fighting for fighting’s sake, or an attempt to get endorsements from different would-be governments, Gen. Hafter is quickly finding himself in favor internationally, as the world looks to stabilize Libya, and sees the aging warlord as a potential solution.

Western countries are all quick to insist Hafter is “indispensable,” and even the White House said they see a role for him “in any future of Libya,” though they did stop short of endorsing him as an outright military ruler, something he’s long sought.

Western support is fairly cynical, of course. European oil companies with assets in Libya all officially support the UN-backed government publicly, but since Hafter physically controls almost all of their assets, they can’t be too public in opposing him.

(antiwar.com)

But the Russians have another idea….and its name is Qaddafi.

Do not look for the spirit of warlord past…..it is Saif….the son of the deceased leader……

Russia has a new potential leader for Libya. His name is Qaddafi.

The former dictator’s son, Saif al-Islam, this month became the latest in a long line of Libyans to seek Moscow’s support as President Vladimir Putin steps up Russia’s role in the energy-rich North African state.

With the U.S. all but absent, the Kremlin sees an opening to become the key power broker in Libya, rudderless and divided since Muammar Qaddafi’s overthrow and death in 2011. Russia is likely to be emboldened in that aim by U.S. plans to pull out of Syria.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-20/russia-has-a-plan-for-libya-another-qaddafi

All this is setting the stage for a return to the 1980s….Qaddafi versus the CIA…..only violence and death can be the outcome.  Libya does not need any more of those …….it needs a peaceful existence for its war torn population.

Sadly that is not in the books as long as there is a return to the 1980s.

Fearless Leader Loses

It is the month of October and just a mere 7 years ago the death of a dictator was announced to the world……October 2011 during the Libyan Revolution the strongman Gaddafi lost his life to the rebels.

It is a good time to look back at the situation…..the revolution has been anything but a good thing for many Libyans……

The “triumph of the February 17th Revolution and the fall of the dictatorship” was initially greeted with euphoria, but this mood was not enough to prevent the country from falling apart. The victors, who had seized power with the support of NATO and an unlikely coalition of various armed groups, were unable to prevent the country’s descent into chaos.  That coalition split apart in 2014, and the country has effectively been split in two ever since. There are now two opposed “territories”, one headed by Tripoli in the west of Libya, the other headed by Tobruk, in the east. Each has its own government, parliament and armed forces.

What is more, the capital, Tripoli, is controlled by four main armed groups, which, together, prop up the Government of National Accord, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.  Their official role is to guarantee security, serve as a police force, and guard the airport, government organisations and prisons etc. According to many experts in the region, these armed groups have built up an unprecedented level of control over both public and private organisations. They are involved in business and a wide range of illegal schemes: these include various forms of smuggling, especially of oil.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/anniversary-of-gaddafis-death-and-the-current-situation-in-libya/5657452

The Western powers acting as the rebel Libyan Air Force has rained down death and destruction on the Libyan people and allowed the groups like AQ and ISIS find a foot hold in the country…..and yet another civil war because of something the US and its allies did.

Nothing about the end of the revolution (whenever that is) will be good for the Libyan people.  The US told the Western powers to involve themselves in Libya and now it is time for those same countries to heal what they broke.

As unpalatable as it may be, the United States should become more involved in one of the world’s most destabilizing conflicts.

We are talking about Libya. The North African country remains in turmoil with the effects of the conflict rippling through three continents, and no realistic prospect of a resolution soon. What is needed is a level of diplomatic engagement the U.S. alone can muster, and soon. Libya’s dysfunction will likely deepen the longer the conflict grinds on, and pose a serious threat to American interests in a critical, fragile region of the world.

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/412329-america-needs-to-stabilize-libya

Time for the US to do something good and right……help repair the country that we broke.

This Is Africa

Many Americans hold very little knowledge about the continent of Africa…..not because they may not care but because our media shows little interest in the region.

I try to be fair and write about all parts of the world and since I have some loyal visitors from Rwanda, Zambia, Cameroon, Tunisia and Kenya I try to write more often than not.

I have a few stories about both North Africa and the sub-Sahara….first Start with North Africa…..the US is slowly expanding its presence in Tunisia…..

U.S. Africa Command spokesperson confirmed in a Task & Purpose report that Marine Corps Raiders were involved in a fierce battle in 2017 in an unnamed North African country, where they fought beside partner forces against militants of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). AFRICOM acknowledged that two Marines received citations for valor but withheld certain details, such as the location—undisclosed due to “classification considerations, force protection, and diplomatic sensitivities.” The command also said the Marine Special Operations unit was engaged while on a three-day train, advise and assist operation. However, subsequent research and analysis strongly suggest U.S. involvement runs much deeper. In fact, the dramatic events described in the award citations obtained by Task & Purpose align with those that took place in Tunisia, which has been combatting a low-level insurgency in its western borderlands for the past seven years. Evidence indicates the battle occurred at Mount Semmama, a mountain range in the Kasserine governorate, near the Algerian border. There, the United States sustained its first casualty in action in Tunisia since World War II.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/america-quietly-expanding-its-war-tunisia-31492

Next stop is the West of the Continent….Nigeria….

Islamic State in Nigeria might kill healthcare workers it has held hostage since March within 24 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday, calling for mercy and urging Nigeria’s government to intervene.

Medical workers Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Alice Loksha were working in the town of Rann when they were kidnapped along with ICRC midwife Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, who was killed in September, the ICRC said in a statement.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security/islamic-state-in-nigeria-might-soon-kill-health-workers-schoolgirl-icrc-idUSKCN1MO0GA

Speaking of terrorist groups like Boko Haram….women have a role in this organization as well……

Women’s involvement in Boko Haram attacks in the Lake Chad Basin is well known. However their role in the activities of the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), operating across the Sahel, appears to be less direct. What makes these groups include or exclude women from their ranks and operations?

Since it was formed in March 2017, the JNIM, a merger of four terror groups in Mali – Ansar Dine, Katiba Macina, al-Mourabitoun and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) – has carried out numerous suicide attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The group claimed responsibility for the 14 April 2018 attack on the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali and the French operation Barkhane in the Timbuktu region. Following the attack, then Barkhane commander General Bruno Guibert mentioned the involvement of a woman suicide attacker in the operation.

Two weeks later JNIM published a communiqué to deny the allegation, stating that in its doctrinal approach, women do not participate in operations or in combat. The statement said Muslim nations still had enough men willing to take on combat roles.

https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-role-of-women-in-west-africas-violent-extremist-groups

I am ashamed of what the US and its leaders have done to Africa…..we come to help and end up doing just as much damage as the events were were there to prevent……like the recent visit of Mrs. Trump to Africa……

If Melania really wanted to warn Africans, she would have worn a pantsuit. Hawk Hillary has brought slavery back to Libya, and even was tacky enough to cackle about it on live television. Then there was that 100 million dollar donation to the Clinton Foundation, by Lundin for Africa. Um, is this charity? Lundin is an oil and mining company based in Canada. There was also a 20 million donation to the Foundation from Ethiopia’s repressive leader Meles Zenawi. And ties to businessman Gilbert Chagoury brought along shady land deals in Nigeria. Also of note is her State Department arming of child soldiers in southern Sudan. I mean this could go on and on. Between the Clinton Foundation and an ugly State Department reign, there appears to be pantsuit pollution in about every country in Africa. She’s a basket case of deplorable!

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/12/the-colonial-pantsuit-what-we-didnt-want-to-know-about-africa/

In closing I would like to thank all my visitors from the countries of Africa….I appreciate your loyalty….THANK YOU!

Western Sahara Update

I write about a country that few have ever heard of, Western Sahara, I do so because I visited there years ago when I was working in the region and fell in love with the people and the land….one of my posts from the past…..

https://lobotero.com/2015/11/10/western-sahara-and-the-sahrawi/

I am posting again because more news is coming out of the refugee camps in Algeria……

Set deep in the desert outside Tindouf, Algeria, the Sahrawi refugee camps are a remote yet lively political hub. The camps are home to 173,000 refugees of a forgotten conflict: an older generation who remember the war against Morocco from 1975 to 1991, and a younger generation born in the camps since the latter year’s ceasefire agreement. All are active in the struggle for a return to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, a 100,000-square-mile coastal stretch of desert now mostly controlled by Morocco. The camps resemble other Saharan settlements, with trucks threading through low sand-clad structures and herds of camels, goats and sheep grazing the desert bush. But their politics are unique: the Polisario Front, a military and political movement formed in the early 1970s to fight for independence for Western Sahara, controls them.

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/north-africa/western-sahara/youth-movement-sahrawi-refugee-camps

The biggest problem is the US has a major love fest with Morocco and their claim to the land of Western Sahara….they have stopped all chances for an independent Western Sahara and they are at it again….

The United States postponed a vote scheduled on Wednesday at the UN Security Council on preparing talks on Western Sahara to allow for more time for negotiations, diplomats said.

A draft resolution presented by the United States last week would press Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front to set their sights on a return to the negotiating table to seek a settlement to the decades-old conflict.

Diplomats said Russia and Ethiopia had proposed amendments to the text after complaining that it lacked balance, indicating that Morocco’s stance was given more prominence.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-postpones-un-vote-western-sahara-212430677.html

The US will always do what Morocco wants…..they should stop trying to convince the world that they are the champions of freedom, liberty and democracy…it is a lie.

This situation is far from over and I would like to hope that the people of Western Sahara will have their independence.

Why Libya?

Seven years ago all Hell broke loose in Libya…..Libya was one of the most prosperous nations in Africa and yet it had to be destroyed ….why?

I understand that some had a hard-on for Qaddafi over his “terrorist” past….but he had tried to make amends for some of the past “bad behavior”……it was not enough that he renounced terrorism, gave up his nukes aspirations and turned over any WMDs that he had to the UN for destruction…

I seemed that no matter what Libya did they were going to be chastised……

Beginning March of 2011 the systematic destruction of Libya began…..

For seven months the warplanes flew tens of thousands of sorties over Libya, at the time the most prosperous state in Africa. Nearly ten thousand bombs were reportedly dropped inside the country resulting in an estimated 50,000-100,000 dead, many more injuries and the dislocation of several million people.

On October 20, longtime Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, was driving in a convoy leaving his home area of Sirte when the vehicles were struck. Gaddafi was later captured and brutally executed by counter-revolutionary forces which were led, armed and financed by the U.S., NATO and its allies.

France played an instrumental role in the destruction of Libya as a nation-state. The then President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the overthrow of the Jamahiriya political system and the execution of Gaddafi.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/another-reason-why-imperialism-wanted-libya-overthrown/5632870

The West destroyed Libya and nothing it attempts will fix the problem they have created…..while they search for an answer the killings, the violence and the destruction continue.

Kasserine Pass

It is that time again when the old professor gives up a history lesson for all to try and ignore.

The Winter of 1942 was when the US entered into the shooting part of the war.

My interest is because my uncle and my father were part of this historical event…..This is when the US came face to face with Rommel and his Afrika Corps…..and it was not very pretty…..

Beware a Desert Fox when he’s cornered.

It was North Africa, in the winter of 1943, and American soldiers were feeling cocky as they prepared for their first ground battle against the Germans in World War II. So far, it hadn’t been a bad war for the U.S. Army. The GIs were well fed, well paid and well equipped, especially compared to their threadbare and envious British allies. Even better, their baptism by fire had been to splash ashore in Algeria and Morocco in November 1942, where the defenders had been unmotivated Vichy French soldiers who soon capitulated.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/kasserine-pass-americas-most-humiliating-defeat-world-war-ii-19574

As I said it is a personal account for me…..my uncle and later my father were in North Africa…..my uncle was with the First Division and my father a little later with the Army Air Corps…..

This was the US first ass kicking of World War Two…..a learning experience and we know how the war turned out, right?

Djibouti (The “D” Is Silent)

Before I go into more detail about this post….my reader needs to get up to speed on the country known as Djibouti……

The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. Hassan Gouled APTIDON installed an authoritarian one-party state and proceeded to serve as president until 1999. Unrest among the Afar minority during the 1990s led to a civil war that ended in 2001 with a peace accord between Afar rebels and the Somali Issa-dominated government. In 1999, Djibouti’s first multiparty presidential election resulted in the election of Ismail Omar GUELLEH as president; he was reelected to a second term in 2005 and extended his tenure in office via a constitutional amendment, which allowed him to serve a third term in 2011 and begin a fourth term in 2016. Djibouti occupies a strategic geographic location at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and serves as an important shipping portal for goods entering and leaving the east African highlands and transshipments between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The government holds longstanding ties to France, which maintains a significant military presence in the country, and has strong ties with the US. Djibouti hosts several thousand members of US armed services at US-run Camp Lemonnier.

I give my reader this geography lesson because of the situation in Djibouti……it is home to more foreign military units than any other place in the world…..

The US has a single full-scale military base in all of Africa: It’s in Djibouti, and we have more than a few neighbors there. Politico takes a look at the small country in the Horn of Africa (it’s the size of New Hampshire) and the continually expanding military presence there. It hosts more foreign bases than anywhere else in world, a fact Politico attributes to its strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea, where it sees “a large percentage of the trade and energy flows between Europe and Asia.” France set up shop there first; Italy and Britain have a presence, per the New York Times; China and Japan have but one foreign base each, and it’s there. Saudi Arabia is coming, and there are whispers that Turkey, Russia, and India could, too. If we get to that point, Bruno Maçães writes that every big global power will have a presence there, and that raises some big questions for him.

Here’s one: What happens if two major players—say, China and India—go to war, and just happen to have bases near one another? Here’s another: Would a country ever decide to avoid full-scale war but launch an attack on a rival’s Djibouti base? As a member of Djibouti’s intelligence service tells Maçães, “World War III will start here.” Quartz also floats the idea that the situation could imperil Djibouti itself. It has increasingly welcomed foreign militaries under current President Ismael Omar Guelleh, who flung open the country’s doors post-9/11 in exchange for hefty fees (the US pays $63 million a year). But the head of a think tank that’s focused on the region warns that “the Horn of Africa and the Middle East are currently rough neighborhoods, and Djibouti may find itself making enemies, not through any action of its own, but as a consequence of the actions of its military guests.”

I have written about the expanding military in Djibouti before……

https://lobotero.com/2016/08/29/chinese-presence-in-africa-shows-global-ambition/

You have been warning that I am an opinionated SOB……nothing has changed.