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AFRICOM </div>
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<a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/africom-us-military-africa/248552/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; font-size: 32px; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">The
US Military Is All Over Africa Despite Not Being at War in Africa </a></h1>
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<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">There are currently roughly 7,500 US military personnel, including 1,000 contractors, deployed in Africa. For comparison, that figure was only 6,000 just a year ago.</p>
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<article class="first-post category-highlights has-thumbnail status-publish category-world item-count-1 entry tag-africa tag-africom tag-united-states post-248552 type-post format-standard tag-us-military post has-post-thumbnail" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/CreativeWork" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 40px; padding: 50px 25px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
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<div class="addthis_inline_share_toolbox at-style-responsive social-icons-full" data-urldata-title="The US Military Is All Over Africa Despite Not Being at War in Africa" data-description="There are currently roughly 7,500 US military personnel, including 1,000 contractors, deployed in Africa. For comparison, that figure was only 6,000 just a year ago." data-media="https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/122013_Sudan_4x3.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 871.59375px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: gray; clear: both;">
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<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 64px; line-height: 50px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 6px; font-family: Times, serif, Georgia; font-weight: bold;" class="">A</span>round
200,000 US troops <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-personnel-deployments-by-country-2017-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">are
stationed</a> in 177 countries throughout the world. Those forces utilize several hundred military installations. Africa is no exemption. On August 2, Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier took command of US Army Africa, <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/us-army-africa-welcomes-new-commander-1.540689" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">promising</a> to
“hit the ground running.”</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">The US is not waging any wars in Africa but it has a significant presence on the continent. Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and other special ops are currently conducting <a href="https://news.vice.com/story/the-u-s-is-waging-a-massive-shadow-war-in-africa-exclusive-documents-reveal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">nearly
100 missions across 20 African countries</a> at any given time, waging <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/02/secret-war-africa-pentagon-664005" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">secret,
limited-scale</a> <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/02/secret-war-africa-pentagon-664005" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">operations</a>.
According to the magazine Vice, US troops are now conducting <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/ywn5yy/us-military-secret-missions-africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">3,500
exercises and military engagements</a> throughout Africa per year, an average of 10 per day — an astounding 1,900% increase since the command rolled out 10 years ago. Many activities described as “advise and assist” are actually <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/world/africa/green-berets-killed-niger.html?_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">indistinguishable
from combat</a> by any basic definition.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">There are currently roughly <a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/j5b3pb/us-military-presence-in-africa-grew-again-but-were-not-at-war-top-us-commander-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">7,500
US military personnel, including 1,000 contractors, deployed in Africa. For comparison, that</a><a href="https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/j5b3pb/us-military-presence-in-africa-grew-again-but-were-not-at-war-top-us-commander-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class=""> figure
was only 6,000 just a year ago. The troops are strung throughout the continent </a>spread across 53 countries. There are <a href="http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-in-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">54
countries</a> on the “Dark Continent.” More than 4,000 service members have converged on East Africa. The US <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/19/troops-somalia-military-buildup-247668" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">troop
count </a><a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/19/troops-somalia-military-buildup-247668" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">in
Somalia</a> doubled last year.</p>
<span id="add-5ca2150121330" class="ad" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/fighting-social-media-censorship" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class=""><img src="https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Fundraiser-Icon-400x2.jpg" align="center" data-lazy-loaded="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: -15px;" class=""></a></span>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class=""> </p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">When AFRICOM was created there were no plans to establish bases or put boots on the ground. Today, a network of small staging bases or stations have cropped up. <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-06-18-book-review-tomorrows-battlefield-us-proxy-wars-and-secret-ops-in-africa/#.Wog09ORG1PY" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">According
to</a> investigative journalist <a href="http://ymlpsend3.com/jeuwalaebwjbavamjhatabmws/click.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Nick
Turse</a>, “US military bases (including forward operating sites, cooperative security locations, and contingency locations) in Africa number around fifty, at least.” US troops in harm’s way in Algeria, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan Tunisia, and Uganda <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/Volume_07a.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">qualif</a><a href="http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/Volume_07a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">y</a><a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/Volume_07a.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class=""> for </a><a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/fmr/Volume_07a.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">extra
pay</a>.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">The US African Command (AFRICOM) runs drone surveillance programs, cross-border raids, and intelligence. AFRICOM <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/why-is-the-u-s-military-occupying-bases-across-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">has
claimed responsibility</a> for development, public health, professional and security training, and other humanitarian tasks. Officials from the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Energy, Commerce, and Justice, among other agencies, <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/why-is-the-u-s-military-occupying-bases-across-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">are
involved</a> in AFRICOM activities. Military attachés <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43904826?mag=why-is-the-u-s-military-occupying-bases-across-africa&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">outnumber</a> diplomats
at many embassies across Africa.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">Last October, four US soldiers <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2018/04/26/in-niger-attack-risk-taking-culture-and-complacency-led-to-deadly-ambush/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">lost
their lives</a> in Niger. The vast majority of Americans probably had no idea that the US even had troops participating in combat missions in Africa before the incident took place. One serviceman was reported dead in Somalia in June. The Defense Department
is <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/08/02/report-africom-looks-to-cut-special-ops-missions-pull-out-hundreds-of-troops-from-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">mulling
plans</a> to “right-size” <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/02/23/special-operations-command-asks-for-more-troops-biggest-budget-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">special
operations missions </a>in Africa and reassign troops to other regions, aligning the efforts with the security priorities defined by the 2018 National Defense Strategy. That document prioritizes <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2018/01/19/national-defense-strategy-released-with-clear-priority-stay-ahead-of-russia-and-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">great
power competition</a> over defeating terrorist groups in remote corners of the globe. Roughly 1,200 special ops troops on missions in Africa are looking at a drawdown. But it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/world/africa/us-withdraw-troops-africa.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">has
nothing to do</a> with leaving or significantly cutting back. And the right to unilaterally return will be reserved. The infrastructure is being expanded enough to make it capable of accommodating substantial reinforcements. The construction work is in progress.
The bases will remain operational and their numbers keep on rising.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">A large <a href="https://sputniknews.com/military/201804231063839386-us-building-huge-drone-base/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">drone
base</a> in Agadez, the largest city in central Niger, is reported to be <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/21/us-drone-base-niger-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">under
construction</a>. The facility will host armed MQ-9 Reaper drones which will finally take flight in 2019. The MQ-9 Reaper has a range of 1,150 miles, allowing it to provide strike support and intelligence-gathering capabilities across West and North Africa
from this new base outside of Agadez. It can carry GBU-12 Paveway II bombs. The aircraft features synthetic aperture radar for integrating GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The armament suite can include four Hellfire air-to-ground anti-armor and anti-personnel
missiles. There are an estimated <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/04/politics/us-forces-hostile-fire-niger/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">800
US troops</a> on the ground in Niger, along with <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/20/558757043/the-u-s-military-in-africa-a-discreet-presence-in-many-places" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">one
drone base</a> and the base in Agadez that is being built. The Hill called it “the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/africa/niger-agadez-smuggling-us-drone-base/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">largest</a> US
Air Force-led construction project of all time.”</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class=""><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-building-drone-base-in-niger-to-fight-extremism-in-africa-sahel-2018-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">According
to</a> Business Insider, “The US military presence here is the second largest in Africa behind the sole permanent US base on the continent, in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti.” Four thousand American servicemen are stationed at Camp Lemonnier (the
US base located near Djibouti City) — a critical strategic base for the American military because of its port and its proximity to the Middle East.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">Officially, the camp is the only US base on the continent or, as AFRICOM calls it, “a forward operating site,” — the others are “cooperative security locations” or “non-enduring
contingency locations.” Camp Lemonnier is the hub of a network of American drone bases in Africa that are used for aerial attacks against insurgents in Yemen, Nigeria, and Somalia, as well as for exercising control over the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. In 2014, the
US signed a new 20-year lease on the base with the Djiboutian government, and committed over $1.4 billion to modernize and expand the facility in the years to come.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">In March, the US and Ghana signed a <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-us-military-agreement-full-version.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">military
agreement</a> outlining the conditions of the US military presence in that nation, including its <a href="http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2018/mar/29/us-military-presence-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">construction
activities</a>. The news was met with <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/29/ghana-first-us-military-deal-leads-thousands-to-protest.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">protests</a> inside
the country.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">It should be noted that the drone attacks that are regularly launched in Africa are in violation of US law. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), adopted after Sept.
11, 2001, states that the president is authorized to use force against the planners of those attacks and those who harbor them. But that act does not apply to the rebel groups operating in Africa.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">It’s hard to believe that the US presence will be really diminished, and there is no way to know, as too many aspects of it are shrouded in secrecy with nothing but “leaks” emerging
from time to time. It should be noted that the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176272/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_the_u.s._military_moves_deeper_into_africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">documents</a> obtained
by TomDispatch under the United States Freedom of Information Act contradict AFRICOM’s official statements about the scale of US military bases around the world, including 36 AFRICOM bases in 24 African countries that have not been previously disclosed in
official reports.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">The US foothold in Africa is strong. It’s almost ubiquitous. Some large sites under construction will provide the US with the ability to host large aircraft and accommodate substantial
forces and their hardware. This all prompts the still-unanswered question — <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/where-does-the-u-s-have-troops-in-africa-and-why/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; color: rgb(240, 185, 32); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">“Where
does the US have troops in Africa, and why?”</a> One thing is certain — while waging an intensive drone war, the US is building a vast military infrastructure for a large-scale ground war on the continent.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 28px; padding: 0px;" class="">Top Photo | U.S. Air Force, soldiers of the East Africa Response Force (EARF) depart from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules in Juba, South Sudan, Dec. 21, 2013 (AP/U.S. Air Force,
Tech. Sgt. Micah Theurich)</p>
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