While the entire world was watching the deployment and actions of the United States in the middle East and Afghanistan, the Americans quietly and quietly increased their military presence in Africa, and for almost 20 years their armed forces have been conducting operations in different parts of the continent. For these actions, the Americans need military infrastructure, and it is actively being built and improved, and the Pentagon regularly finances it.

AFRICOM plans

In December 2019, US defense Secretary mark Esper announced plans to reduce or even completely withdraw the us military from West Africa. Some publications regarded this statement as the withdrawal of the United States from the “black continent”. However, this is not true: the South African publication Mail&Guardian, referring to the documents received by the us armed forces African command (AFRICOM), told about an ambitious long-term project to deploy a network of military bases and strong points throughout Africa. For example, between 2021 and 2025, $ 300 million is planned to be spent on the construction and equipping of the camp Lemonnier military base in Djibouti.

The us military itself is also talking about maintaining and expanding its presence. At a special briefing on February 20, dedicated to the summit of the African land forces, the commander of the us army in Africa, major General Roger clothier, said that the us withdrawal from Africa is not planned. On the contrary: in 2020, more than 300 joint activities with the armed forces of African countries are planned — and their number is only growing every year. In the same vein, the head of the special operations forces command in Africa, Brigadier General Dagwin Anderson, said that the presence on the continent is necessary to deter China and Russia.

Active military bazes in Africa

Formally, the US has only one major military base in Africa — camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, which the us armed forces have used since 2001. This even allows individuals to claim a small American presence on the continent.

In fact, half of Africa is covered by American bases and strong points. Some of them are operated continuously and are so-called “forward operating bases”, while others are used as transfer points and “jump bases”. There are up to 7,000 American soldiers on the continent, most of them concentrated in West Africa and the horn of Africa region.

USA MILITARY BASES IN THE HORN OF AFRICA

NEW USA MILITARY DOCTRINE-CONTINUOUS OMNIPRESENCE

In Somalia, the Americans have strongholds throughout the country, including in the Autonomous entities of Puntland in the North and Jubaland in the South. The objects are used, for the most part, by special operations forces. In 2018, six us military bases were planned to be built in Somalia.

The United States also has facilities in neighboring Kenya, including the camp Simba base near Manda Bay, which is used in conjunction with Kenyan security forces. It was attacked by al-Shabab militants on January 23, killing three American soldiers and civilian workers, as well as destroying several aircraft.

We should also mention Uganda, a country that does not border on Somalia. The capital, Entebbe, is home to several turboprop spy planes used for espionage missions.

West and North Africa

BATTLE FOR AFRICA: WHY DID THE WEST KILL GADDAFI??

In West Africa-traditionally considered a French zone of influence-the Americans have advanced operating bases and transshipment points in almost all countries. There are two American facilities in Niger, and while the air base in the capital Niamey is operated jointly with a number of countries, the base in Agadez, which was commissioned in 2019, was paid for and built only by Americans. It cost $ 100 million, and UAVs based on it are involved in operations against al-Qaeda and ISIL militants in the Greater Sahara. Facilities in Niger are also used by the US special operations command, which operates in the country: there is a known case of a clash with ISIL militants in 2017, the victims of which were four American “green berets”.

There are American facilities in neighboring Chad. In the area of the capital n’djamena, there is a strong point where up to several hundred soldiers are stationed. Their tasks include training the Chadian security forces.

In other countries of the region — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, and Ghana-small contingents are based, providing the work of reconnaissance aircraft and UAVS. These same transfer points and “bounce bases” are used as secret prisons by the CIA and local security agencies. A typical example is the base near the Cameroonian town of Salak, where more than 60 people were held and tortured. According to human rights organizations, despite the lack of direct evidence of the involvement of American personnel in torture, at least it seems strange that this regularly happens at American facilities in Africa.

USA MILITARY BASES IN WEST AND NORTH AFRICA

It is worth paying special attention to North Africa

According to the materials provided at the briefing by the scientific adviser of AFRICOM, Peter E. Teil, in 2018, there were two American facilities in Misrata and Tripoli on the territory of Libya. Both were located in territories controlled by the government of national accord (GNA) of Libya, known for its odious leaders, terrorist groups, and businesses based on migrants, smuggling, and drug trafficking. It is not known for sure whether they are operating at the moment, but the very fact of the location of American strongholds in these territories already raises certain questions.

Not only the bases

THE FOREIGN POLICY DOCTRINE OF THE UNITED STATES: CONTROL OVER RESOURCES

The activities of the US armed forces in Africa are not limited to special operations — joint exercises of the security forces of African countries and the us army are regularly held in the region. Military specialists participate in training activities for the personnel of the armies of African countries. The us military is also present in countries where the US does not have forward operating bases or transshipment points, working there as military advisers.

AFRICOM plans

In December 2019, US defense Secretary mark Esper announced plans to reduce or even completely withdraw the us military from West Africa. Some publications regarded this statement as the withdrawal of the United States from the “black continent”. However, this is not true: the South African publication Mail&Guardian, referring to the documents received by the us armed forces African command (AFRICOM), told about an ambitious long-term project to deploy a network of military bases and strong points throughout Africa. For example, between 2021 and 2025, $ 300 million is planned to be spent on the construction and equipping of the camp Lemonnier military base in Djibouti.

USA SPENDING ON MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE IN AFRICA FROM 2021 TO 2025

The us military itself is also talking about maintaining and expanding its presence. At a special briefing on February 20, dedicated to the summit of the African land forces, the commander of the us army in Africa, major General Roger clothier, said that the us withdrawal from Africa is not planned. On the contrary: in 2020, more than 300 joint activities with the armed forces of African countries are planned — and their number is only growing every year. In the same vein, the head of the special operations forces command in Africa, Brigadier General Dagwin Anderson, said that the presence on the continent is necessary to deter China and Russia.

Conclusion

Two important conclusions can be drawn from this. On the one hand, statements about the us withdrawal from Africa are strikingly similar to talk about the withdrawal of Americans from Syria or Iraq, when they try to present simple relocation and rotation as an escape from the region. US activity in the region is unlikely to come to naught in the near future: both politicians and military personnel talk about the need to confront China and (to a lesser extent) Of Russia.

AFRICAN COUNTRIES, WHICH ARE THE OBJECTS OF ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES

On the other hand, it is clearly visible that the US has an extensive network of forward operating bases and transshipment points in Africa, which allows the us army to maintain high armed activity on the continent.

The post HOW THE USА IS BUILDING MILITARY BASES ACROSS THE AFRICAN CONTINENT first appeared on Global Policy.

Scandalous bill allowing the government to expropriate land from white farmers in favor of black, South Africa’s Parliament approved last week. It is a “forced ransom”, and Pretoria believes that this is” the most important decision since the fall of apartheid”, which should”put an end to historical injustice”. President Jacob Zuma and the leadership of the ruling African national Congress (ANC) specifically stipulate that the process “should not lead to bloodshed”, as happened in neighboring Zimbabwe. But it is unlikely that the situation in South Africa has been heated over the past year, clashes between white and black youth have become a daily news background, and the government and the ANC do not stop internal strife.

Pay and repent

It’s time to say it clearly and distinctly: throughout the country there is terror against the white population, especially noticeable, by the way, in rural areas, as in large cities white fenced off from the hostile world around the blocks, surrounded by two-meter walls with barbed wire. One after another, there are trials against members of underground or semi-underground organizations of the “white resistance”. And such an explosive law, breaking the entire social and economic structure of the country, can be the last straw, and then it can happen terrible.

The possibility of expropriating white land is provided for in the new Constitution, but there was no procedure before. “We confirm that the land will be returned to our people,” Zuma warned, speaking at the celebration on the occasion of the next anniversary of the APK. Just a month before, the President had happily escaped impeachment: South Africa’s constitutional court had accused Zuma of” disrespect for the Constitution, ” but Parliament had voted against his removal from power. In particular, Zuma was blamed for the consumption of a fabulous budget amounts for the reconstruction of the “kraal Nkanta” – his ancestral village in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, which the President has turned into a personal luxury residence. Freed from the threat of impeachment, Zuma began to strip potential opponents in the ANC, removing from office, for example, the Prime Minister of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, Senzo Mchunu, who apparently knows too much (formally, this removal was framed as a decision of the Central Committee of the ANC, but voiced personally by the President).

Against this background, student unrest has not subsided in the country for six months. Particularly strong the situation escalated in February, when black students burned down a building at northwestern University in Mafikeng, demanding to stop teaching in the Afrikaans language. In Mafiqeng teaching is multilingual, but English is known to all three, because the teaching was supposed to be translated into tswan and Zulu – Yes, in these languages it is very problematic to teach, for example, physics and English literature, but it would immediately cut off from the education of white students-drills. At the same time, the” rebels for justice “destroyed the famous gallery of works of art and monuments of” apartheid”, located on the same campus.

This is now in fashion: here and there black students spoil and break monuments to historical figures-the founders or former curators of universities, starting with a huge statue of Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape town. At the University of Stellenbosch a few days poured red paint on the statue of Jaap Mare-a long-term sponsor of the University and the famous politician, who began a simple militia during the Anglo-Boer war, and at the end of life demanded from the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair to apologize for the atrocities of the time. And while black students paint the Lily, a girl from the Boers as methodically this paint washed. It ended with a massacre on campus, and the white girl was literally harassed by activists of the “struggle for civil rights”.

Further-more. Universities started to expel professors who gave lectures in Afrikaans, good tone began fighting with students Boers. The culmination came during a Rugby match (the dominant sport in South Africa) on the Field of the University of the Free Orange State in Bloemfontein, when the fight between black and white completely out of control. The government had to temporarily close three major universities away from sin.

In such a situation, President Zuma pushed through the ANC-controlled Parliament the law on the confiscation of” white ” land. Strictly speaking, this is not exactly a law, but an amendment to the already existing “Law on restitution of land rights”, which was adopted in the 1990s and limited the filing of applications in 1998. For 18 years, the topic was gone, but the adopted amendment extends until the summer of 2019. That is, a formal heir to the earth should come to court and argue that his ancestors owned some land, and then came the evil white people and the land appropriated. However, the applicant may waive the right of ownership of land and to be satisfied with monetary compensation, which he will be required to pay the white farmers.

Until 1998, about 80,000 applications were submitted, and the vast majority asked for money, not land. Now it is expected about five times more, and the biggest bomb under the country is going to put extravagant king Zulu Goodwill Zvelitini. His application includes not only the historical province of KwaZulu-Natal, but also goes beyond it – in the Eastern Cape, Kara, Free Orange Republic and Mpumalanga (Nelspruit). The king is ready to show generosity and not to expel farmers from their land – if, of course, he is paid. “Where restitution is not possible, an alternative should be sought in the form of financial compensation,” said his lawyer Jerome Ngwenya.

Great grinding

MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is a country with a harsh climate and salty soils, and no more than 15% of the land is suitable for agricultural use. But these 15% were used wisely. Africa are prone to soil erosion, and the Afrikaners brought the protection of the soil to perfection, as are methods of farming. As a result, South Africa not only fully meets its food needs with a rapidly growing population due to the influx of migrants, but also exports 140 types of fruit to Europe, China and America. All this is kept on traditional family farms drills, the size of which is sometimes really impressive-so it happened historically. The very history of their formation is such that the “land restitution” named after Zuma can finally undermine the foundations of the already problematic state and unleash an open civil war.

People outside South Africa and Zimbabwe, to put it mildly, have a distorted view of the history of local land, territorial and race relations. Including the Russians, the capable part of which grew up on the Soviet propaganda cliches about apartheid, racism and the national liberation movement. Description of the history of the distant and few interesting country was as follows: evil Europeans, on the basis of selfish and capitalist considerations, landed on the southern tip of Africa, by force of arms subdued peaceful black people and took away the land on which peaceful peoples have lived since ancient times and the fruits of which were used.

It is not so. Where landed the first settlers (they were mostly Dutch and French-Huguenots, who later made up the nation of Africans, that is, the current Cape province and Kara), no one lived. Moving inland occurred simultaneously with the colonization of North America, but in much more difficult conditions Savannah and semi-desert. The Boers left in an organized way (this was called the” track”), on the famous covered carts pulled by oxen, and most importantly – not quite voluntarily, because they were squeezed out by the British, who gained control of the southern coast of the continent after the Napoleonic wars. And in the desert and Bush lived the Hottentots (aka Hoi-Hoi and Bushmen) – the nomadic tribes of the capoid race, still have no idea about private property. And they did not have any land which could be cynically to select and assign.

Africans differed exceptional Protestant diligence and no other occupation, except agriculture, did not know until the Second world war. They weren’t fluffy, but they were definitely white – just like the English. But the English expansion forced them to move deeper into the continent, and it all ended with a “Great track” – a mass Exodus of drills on their bloody carts away from the English colonial rule, on the plateau of the wild, where they first encountered the Bantu-speaking people of Zulu, who moved towards them. Zulu at that time was going through some kind of ethnic prosperity, which in history is called the very precise word “mfecane” – “grinding”. Driven by drought, they moved West and North of their historical range, destroying the clans they encountered on the road, including their relatives. Seizing the village, the Zulus killed all men and boys, but many knew of their approach in advance and left. The result was a “Domino effect”: the territory of modern KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, Zimbabwe was captured by the ruthless Zulu. And the survivors or huddled in the impassable mountains then (Lesotho), or fled to the North and completely wild in an unfamiliar climate. So far, no one has counted how many neighbors were destroyed during the MFI Zulu, but the bill goes to hundreds of thousands, some say two million. And this-not knowing firearms. Eyewitnesses (mostly Christian missionaries) testified to the thousands of dying of hunger small clans who fled from the Zulus as much as to the Great lakes. There, in the jungle and tropical climate, former Bush and weld residents died EN masse from colds and malaria.

Zulu on earth never worked, it was considered shameful occupation, worthy only slaves. All Zulu men were only trained to war, and the tribe leaders in the Chuck, and Dingiswayo Mzilikazi was a one big military camp. And now it is come the Boers with their wagons, Buffalo, guns, beards and the Bible. First, what did the Zulus, and killed and ate Afrikaner parliamentarians. A series of border clashes began, which resulted in a more or less clear border between the Zulu Empire and the two Boer republics-the Transvaal and the Orange Free Republic.

Thus, there can be no claims of “land grabbing by poor Negroes” to the Boers. Africans almost three hundred years generation after generation plowed almost unsuitable for agriculture Bush and Veld, planted grapes and fruit, and where there was at least some water, collected herds of Buffalo and ostriches. Then they caught up with the British, all accumulated had to throw – and go into the unknown. Of course, racism is not canceled, then he was the norm for all Europeans, but for many local tribes it was better to work on the farm at the drill than to fall under the ax Zulus.

This short period of peace ended when the British found the diamonds. After that, they were unstoppable. In 1879, they invaded the Zulu Empire and destroyed it in six months. The power of Queen Victoria spread throughout South Africa, except for the Boer republics, but they were conquered during the two Boer wars, in which the British demonstrated a rare cruelty. It was then that concentration camps were invented, mass shootings, total destruction of property and destruction of civil infrastructure became normal practice. The Boers in response used the tactics of guerrilla warfare, but the forces were not equal.

However, in some regions the British tried to negotiate with the tribal leaders of the Zulus on a private basis. For example, Cecil Rhodes officially bought from Lobengula-leader Ndebele (a Zulu-separated tribe living in present – day Zimbabwe and Zambia) – the right to develop his land. The equivalence of the transaction can be challenged from a high moral standpoint, but the fact that it was legal for both Contracting parties is beyond doubt. And in 1884 the leader of Dinuzulu, faced with a conspiracy, called on the neighbours, the Boers of the Transvaal, to deal with the rebels, promising help for this approximately 10 400 square kilometres of land, approximately one third of the whole of Zululand. And after the victory of the Boer mercenaries over the “opposition”, oddly enough, he fulfilled his promise by transferring the territory to the Transvaal. And the question arises how this deal is going to challenge the current king in court.

“One Boer – one bullet»

“Restoration of justice” in neighboring South Africa Zimbabwe ended sadly. Whites were practically expelled not only from the earth, but also from the country. Who did not agree-that killed. President Mugabe unofficially allowed the seizure of farmland not by the right of former ownership (such right simply did not exist), but simply without any compensation even for livestock and property. Priority was given to veterans of the national liberation struggle, former partisans who considered the land as a reward for their service, but they were not able to handle them and manage Buffalo. Hundreds of local goats were produced in the pasture. These goats tend to eat everything they see, with roots, and two seasons later the pastures turned into a desert. Buffalo and cows that were imported from South Africa, extinct.

Thus began a hunger. Eventually, the head of the National Bank appealed to President Mugabe to allow white farmers to return to rectify the situation. He responded to this request, which is characteristic, not the President and not even the Ministers of the economic bloc, but the head of the security service didimus Mutata, who explained to the banker that “our land is only for black people, it is ours forever, and we will not give it to anyone.” Nothing is known about the future of the banker. A person just vegetable wanted to correct.

The South African land restitution project is certainly not as cannibalistic as in Zimbabwe

But the country and so left about a million whites, but profits of up to 10 million migrants, who are much poorer than local regardless of origin. “Apartheid on the contrary” is now a common household phenomenon, despite the public-ostentatious multiculturalism. Rape does not fall on the pages of Newspapers, becoming statistics. White farmers are heavily armed.

Against this background, resumed underground activities of secret societies, including Broderbund. Of course, there is a small layer of liberal intelligentsia that continues to indulge African nationalism and revanchism. But one of her recent voices – the English – speaking Bur and Nobel laureate in literature John kutzee-suddenly wrote a poignant story “Dishonor”, which describes just the story of the death of the family farm with all the details – self-seizing, rape, painful feeling of destruction of the recently prosperous world. The head of the new white resistance in South Africa were the leaders of the youth, including the popular rockers, singing in Afrikaans (for example, Bok van blerck and Stephen Homer). The place of the killed leader of the Boer resistance Eugene Terblanche is also occupied by the young. He was killed, incidentally, on the farm, the hired seasonal workers (of course, black), but the white environment is widely discussed version of the assassination.

At first glance, it may seem that Jacob Zuma dragged such an explosive law solely to divert attention from his person – from corruption scandals, impeachment attempts and the economic crisis. But this is purely European logic. Zuma can decide to undermine one of the foundations of his country’s economy and unleash a civil war with unpredictable results for the sake of some “higher goals”. He’s actually a pagan and an official polygamist. The spirits of the ancestors may well demand the land back, even if it never belonged to them. And Yes,”one drill, one bullet.” This slogan was much more popular than the one – man-one-vote slogan adopted in Europe.

The post BLACK RACISM PUT SOUTH AFRICA ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR first appeared on Global Policy.

– No one even knows how many guest workers there are, – says the 62-year-old retired police captain Jeremy van Derain, who was engaged in the problems of illegal migration in 1999-2005. – The figures are only approximate – 3 million Zimbabweans, 3 million Congolese, one million Mozambicans and half a million Somalis. The police estimate the total number of illegal immigrants at 10-15 million (!) a person together with the refugees who have flooded our country, most of whom are members of organized gangs. This happened after the fall of the white minority (apartheid) regime in 1994: at the suggestion of the new democratic government, entry visas were abolished — out of “solidarity with the black brothers who helped us in the fight.” As a result, such a flow of migrants flooded South Africa that it became impossible to stop it — they worked for a Cup of rice or a piece of bread. Aliens immediately pressed all the empty seats of taxi drivers,waiters, guards: and they used to earn decent. When the economic crisis came in South Africa and the national currency fell twice before the dollar, it turned out that our people have nowhere to settle.

In the “township” near the area of Gugulet near Cape town there are such nooks and crannies, where even during the day it is strongly recommended not to appear white — and foreigners, and residents of the Republic of South Africa. And black people are not too comfortable. Teenage groups of children between 12 and 14 years of age, armed with shivs and, in some places, firearms, are dominated by refugees from Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Hundreds of thousands of guest workers live in wild slums, in self-built houses built of slate, rags, cardboard. The smell around is unbearable — because there is no sewage, waste is dumped into ditches in homes, and during the division of water periodically breaks out stabbing. Creepy dirt, under the feet roll recessie leftovers.

Killing is not uncommon

Tell about cases when killed tourists from Sweden and the USA, naively wandered here with cameras to photograph “the African exotic”. “I recently had to leave Guguletu — sigh trucker Nicholas Kasumbu. — Just did not work, and every day turned into a amusement of survival. Even Kombi (share taxi. — Ed.) now lead the drivers of the immigrants. They are terribly reckless, drink beer right behind the wheel, but the employer is not confused, because they can pay a mere trifle. On the main street of Cape town (long street) refugees from the Congo become attached to me and demand money. The dollar does not satisfy them, they want ten. Having been refused, threaten. On the sidewalks of the city in the open air digging in garbage cans about 10 thousand homeless and homeless — are immigrants who came to South Africa from various disadvantaged countries in Africa and lost their jobs. To return home they, of course, do not want — that live alms, aggressively pestering passers-by.

BLACK RACISM PUT SOUTH AFRICA ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR

– Ten years ago, in may 2008, we had the biggest riots against guest workers in the history of South Africa, — explains journalist Elton Gang Mgame. – Migrants stabbed a teenager in a drunken brawl, local residents in response massively attacked their slums, set fire to the areas of residence of immigrants — in a mutual massacre killed 40 illegal immigrants and 20 citizens of the Republic. The President for the first time after the apartheid era was forced to bring the army to the street, the people with difficulty calmed down with the help of armored vehicles with machine guns. 100 of thousands of migrant workers have fled to their States, but the next year it came back… 200 thousand. It’s not just about visa-free travel. In many places, the border is simply not protected, it is easily crossed by entire tribes and the population of small towns, such as Mozambique. To us go from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burundi, Rwanda. According to opinion polls, South Africa ranks first in the world in terms of negative attitude to immigration, international organizations accuse us of “unprecedented xenophobia” and “lack of pity for the poor”. But how can you feel sorry for them when they take your family’s job?! People would be happy, take Britain and the United States to his all the refugees, but they somehow do not want. Newspapers shout about the crisis with immigrants in Europe, and about South Africa forgotten, although we are drowning in migrants.

From Edmund Kagame, a native of the indigenous peoples spit, has owned a tiny cramped shop near the “township” Guguletu: inside hard to miss a pair of buyers. Nothing special — chips, soda, chewing gum. Last year the stall was robbed four times, and the owner does not hold in cash cash: is that a piece of paper in 100 Rand (about 500 rubles), so the raiders did not kill him with annoyance. “It is useless to pay for the” roof ” surrounding gangs — shrugs Edmund. – Then come teenagers-Nigerians or Rwandans who do not care about our local mafia, and just kill me if I do not give money. Immediately after the collapse of apartheid, the government encouraged immigration: we would have more blacks and fewer whites, good working hands that could strengthen the economy after the departure of the white population, we would civilize them and live as one happy family. But nothing happened. Those who were poor in South Africa became even poorer because of migrants. Refugees keep coming and coming. Our people pay the sorcerers-they spray the boundaries of the area with the blood of a black cock and promise: there will not settle illegals. But that doesn’t help.”

Another (already tenth) homeless man for half an hour, to whom I refuse alms, shouts to me in the back of the curse: “I’m from Nigeria, damn white, at home I would have taught you respect!»

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