africom related-news clips 21 oct 2011

8/3/2019 AFRICOM Related-News Clips 21 Oct 2011

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U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Office +49(0)711-729-2687 [email protected]

United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office21 October 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please find attached news clips related to U.S. Africa Command andAfrica, along with upcoming events of interest for October 21, 2011.

Of interest in todays clips:

International reporting focused on the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Qadhafi.Stories include accounts of his death, the use of drones in the air strikes that led to his

capture and death, and the fleeing of 400 Qadhafi loyalists to northern Mali, which coulddestabilize the region.

Mail and Guardian reports that the Botswana government gave the United States thegreen light to explore the possibility of establishing a U.S. Africa Command base in thecountry when the issue was raised four years ago, according to American diplomaticcables published by WikiLeaks.

In Uganda/Kenya: U.S. politicians continue the discussion on U.S. support to counterLRA operations in Uganda and other neighboring countries.

Provided in text format for remote reading. Links work more effectively when thismessage is viewed as in HTML format.

U.S. Africa Command Public AffairsPlease send questions or comments to:[email protected] (+49-711-729-2687)

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Top News related to U.S. Africa Command and Africa

Remarks by the President on the Death of Muammar Qaddafi (White House)http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafi20 October 2011The White HouseOffice of the Press Secretary
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafimailto:[email protected]


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President Barack Obama comments on the death of Muammar Qaddafi, stating that "thismarks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya, who now have theopportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic Libya."

President Obama points to value of collective action in Libya (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.html21 October 2011By Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoungLike the U.S. military manhunt for Saddam Hussein, the search for the fugitive dictatorMoammar Gaddafi took seven months. He finally popped up, like his Iraqi counterpart,from an inglorious hiding place and is now dead. The similarities end there.

Libya's Gaddafi caught hiding like a "rat" (Reuters)http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020

20 October 2011By Tim Gaynor and Taha ZargounMuammar Gaddafi called the rebels who rose up against his 42-years of one-man rule"rats," but in the end it was he who was captured cowering in a drainage pipe full ofrubbish and filth.

Another Victory for a New Approach to War (NYT)http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.html20 October 2011By Mark Landler and David LeonhardtThe final end to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafis rule is the latest victory for a new Americanapproach to war: few if any troops on the ground, the heavy use of air power, includingdrones, and, at least in the case of Libya, a reliance on allies.

Mideast Looks to Libya for Lessons (WSJ)http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204485304576643371814830648.html21 October 2011By Nour MalasMoammar Gadhafi's death in Libya is likely to harden the battle lines in coming daysbetween protesters and embattled leaders of Syria and Yemen, analysts said. Butultimately, they expect the event will be polarizingproviding some Arab protesters witha model of a successful overthrow of a brutal dictator, while giving others a soberingreminder of its costs.

US drones bombed Libya more than Pakistan (Russia Times)http://rt.com/usa/news/us-libya-pakistan-drone-325/20 October 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.htmlhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204485304576643371814830648.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204485304576643371814830648.htmlhttp://rt.com/usa/news/us-libya-pakistan-drone-325/http://rt.com/usa/news/us-libya-pakistan-drone-325/http://rt.com/usa/news/us-libya-pakistan-drone-325/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204485304576643371814830648.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.htmlhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.html


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While Obama insists that the hostilities that have erupted between Gaddafis regimeand rebels necessitated US response with weapons of war in conjunction with NATObut is by no means a warAmerican drones have come down hard in Libya.

Libya ex-fighters gather in north Mali-sources (Reuters)

http://af.reuters.com/article/maliNews/idAFL5E7LK2JU2011102020 October 2011About 400 pro-Gaddafi fighters have left Libya to seek refuge in Mali, government andsecurity sources said, stoking fears that the armed Tuaregs nomads could destabilise theSahara desert region.

Botswana was open to US base (Mail & Guardian)http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/21 October 2011The Botswana government gave the United States the green light to explore the

possibility of establishing an Africa Command (Africom) base in the country when theissue was raised four years ago, American diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaksshow.

Kenya, Uganda snared in Battle for Africa (UPI)http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/20 October 2011Five years after Ethiopia invaded Somalia, with U.S. backing, Kenya has sent its troopsand tanks into its lawless neighbor with a similar objective: setting up a border bufferzone to block Somalia's jihadists.

Lawmaker says Libya success supports decision to send US troops to aid Africaanti-insurgency (Associated Press)http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.html20 October 2011A senator said Thursday that Moammar Gadhafis death and the promise of a new Libyanregime are arguments for the measured U.S. military response in central Africa where theU.S. has sent roughly 100 troops as advisers in the battle against a guerrilla groupaccused of widespread atrocities.

Marines bypassed on LRA mission in Africa (Marine Corps Times)http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/20 October 2011By Dan Lamothe and Tony LombardoA 130-man team of Force Reconnaissance Marines deploying to Africa this month will
http://af.reuters.com/article/maliNews/idAFL5E7LK2JU20111020http://af.reuters.com/article/maliNews/idAFL5E7LK2JU20111020http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.htmlhttp://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/http://af.reuters.com/article/maliNews/idAFL5E7LK2JU20111020


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not be involved in a high-profile mission to advise Ugandan troops as they push to stampout the violent Lords Resistance Army.

Michele Bachmann questions U.S. role in Uganda (LA Times)http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-

20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rssBy Maeve Reston19 October 2011Making a quick trip to California after Tuesday nights debate in Nevada, Republicanpresidential candidate Michele Bachmann sought to broaden the conversation to nationalsecuritychiding President Obama for leading from behind and accusing him ofoverstretching the nations military resources.

In Crumbling Sudan: Dodging Bombers with the Rebels of Blue Nile (TIME)http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.html20 October 2011

By Krista Mahr / KurmukThe sound of a plane is hard to pick out in the thick, empty landscape of dry grass andblue sky in the Sudanese state of Blue Nile. But once it grows closer, the low whine of anengine is unmistakeable. The fighters have been looking up, sensing a problem. They seeit, what they are certain is an Antonov bomber sent by their enemy.

Air Force merges two command and control units in Germany (Stars & Stripes)http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.15826720 October 2011By Jennifer SvanThe Air Force has merged two command and control units at Ramstein Air Base, with thenew combined unit overseeing all U.S. air operations in Europe and Africa. But plans fora similar consolidation in the United States were abandoned, following intense politicalpressure by Congressmembers who argued keeping both U.S. facilities open would sparehundreds of jobs in Florida and Arizona.

Computer virus did not target US drone fleet: general (AFP)http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibnkghZpxT2sjoUPSlVMrmP5Ufqg?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.4b118 October 2011WASHINGTONA computer virus that affected the US military's drone fleet lastmonth was not "specifically" aimed at the unmanned aircraft's network, the head of USStrategic Command said Tuesday.

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UN News Service Africa Briefs
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rsshttp://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rsshttp://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rsshttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.htmlhttp://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.158267http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.158267http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.158267http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibnkghZpxT2sjoUPSlVMrmP5Ufqg?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.4b1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibnkghZpxT2sjoUPSlVMrmP5Ufqg?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.4b1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibnkghZpxT2sjoUPSlVMrmP5Ufqg?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.4b1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibnkghZpxT2sjoUPSlVMrmP5Ufqg?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.4b1http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibnkghZpxT2sjoUPSlVMrmP5Ufqg?docId=CNG.ea2d83b634da8ac0dda3193eefc51267.4b1http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.158267http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.158267http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.htmlhttp://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rsshttp://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rss


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http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA

Libyans must come together and reconcile after Qadhafis reported death Ban20 OctoberSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on all sides in Libya to laydown their arms and work together peacefully to rebuild the North African nation amid

reports that Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi has been killed.

Horn of Africa: More resources needed to maintain relief effortUN20 OctoberThe massive humanitarian response to the food crisis in the Horn of Africahas eased the suffering of thousands of people, but more resources are needed to save thelives of hundreds of thousands of children in famine-hit areas of Somalia, the UnitedNations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) said today in a progress report on the crisis.

UN supports training for DR Congo police ahead of elections20 OctoberMore than 700 police officers are being trained by the United Nations andthe Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to provide better policing in the countrys

province of South Kivu during next months elections.(Full Articles on UN Website)

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Upcoming Events of Interest:

NSTR

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New onwww.africom.mil

U.S. and Rwandan Forces Share Expertise on Force Protection during

Humanitarian OpsBy Staff Sergeant Stefanie Torres17th Air Force Public AffairsKIGALI, Rwanda - Members of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and National Policegathered in Kigali, October 10-14, 2011 to exchange ideas on airfield security anddelivering humanitarian assistance. During a team building exercise developed by U.S.Air Forces Africa (17th Air Force), security forces members discussed issues such as howto protect refugees and how to safely deliver humanitarian assistance supplies to affectedareas.

Newest Battalion with Djiboutian Armed Forces Takes Part in ACOTA Training

Program
http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICAhttp://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://www.africom.mil/http://www.un.org/apps/news/region.asp?Region=AFRICA


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Office of Security Cooperation, U.S. Embassy DjiboutiALI OUNEY CAMP, Djibouti - The Office of Security Cooperation (OSC) of the U.S.Embassy in Djibouti began a nine-week training program, October 9, 2011, for thenewest battalion of the Djiboutian Armed Forces (FAD). This recently created 850 trooppeacekeeping unit will deploy in the coming months as part of the African Union Mission

in Somalia (AMISOM).

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FULL TEXT

Remarks by the President on the Death of Muammar Qaddafi (White House)http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafi20 October 2011

The White HouseOffice of the Press Secretary

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Today, the government of Libyaannounced the death of Muammar Qaddafi. This marks the end of a long and painfulchapter for the people of Libya, who now have the opportunity to determine their owndestiny in a new and democratic Libya.

For four decades, the Qaddafi regime ruled the Libyan people with an iron fist. Basichuman rights were denied. Innocent civilians were detained, beaten and killed. AndLibyas wealth was squandered. The enormous potential of the Libyan people was heldback, and terror was used as a political weapon.

Today, we can definitively say that the Qaddafi regime has come to an end. The lastmajor regime strongholds have fallen. The new government is consolidating the controlover the country. And one of the worlds longest-serving dictators is no more.

One year ago, the notion of a free Libya seemed impossible. But then the Libyan peoplerose up and demanded their rights. And when Qaddafi and his forces started going city tocity, town by town, to brutalize men, women and children, the world refused to stand idlyby.

Faced with the potential of mass atrocities -- and a call for help from the Libyan people --the United States and our friends and allies stopped Qaddafis forces in their tracks. Acoalition that included the United States, NATO and Arab nations persevered through thesummer to protect Libyan civilians. And meanwhile, the courageous Libyan peoplefought for their own future and broke the back of the regime.

So this is a momentous day in the history of Libya. The dark shadow of tyranny has beenlifted. And with this enormous promise, the Libyan people now have a great
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafihttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/20/remarks-president-death-muammar-qaddafi


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responsibility -- to build an inclusive and tolerant and democratic Libya that stands as theultimate rebuke to Qaddafis dictatorship. We look forward to the announcement of thecountrys liberation, the quick formation of an interim government, and a stable transitionto Libyas first free and fair elections. And we call on our Libyan friends to continue towork with the international community to secure dangerous materials, and to respect the

human rights of all Libyans- including those who have been detained.

Were under no illusions -- Libya will travel a long and winding road to full democracy.There will be difficult days ahead. But the United States, together with the internationalcommunity, is committed to the Libyan people. You have won your revolution. And now,we will be a partner as you forge a future that provides dignity, freedom and opportunity.

For the region, todays events prove once more that the rule of an iron fist inevitablycomes to an end. Across the Arab world, citizens have stood up to claim their rights.Youth are delivering a powerful rebuke to dictatorship. And those leaders who try todeny their human dignity will not succeed.

For us here in the United States, we are reminded today of all those Americans that welost at the hands of Qaddafis terror. Their families and friends are in our thoughts and inour prayers. We recall their bright smiles, their extraordinary lives, and their tragicdeaths. We know that nothing can close the wound of their loss, but we stand together asone nation by their side.

For nearly eight months, many Americans have provided extraordinary service in supportof our efforts to protect the Libyan people, and to provide them with a chance todetermine their own destiny. Our skilled diplomats have helped to lead an unprecedentedglobal response. Our brave pilots have flown in Libyas skies, our sailors have providedsupport off Libyas shores, and our leadership at NATO has helped guide our coalition.Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives,and our NATO mission will soon come to an end.

This comes at a time when we see the strength of American leadership across the world.Weve taken out al Qaeda leaders, and weve put them on the path to defeat. Werewinding down the war in Iraq and have begun a transition in Afghanistan. And now,working in Libya with friends and allies, weve demonstrated what collective action canachieve in the 21st century.

Of course, above all, today belongs to the people of Libya. This is a moment for them toremember all those who suffered and were lost under Qaddafi, and look forward to thepromise of a new day. And I know the American people wish the people of Libya thevery best in what will be a challenging but hopeful days, weeks, months and years ahead.

Thank you, very much.

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President Obama points to value of collective action in Libya http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-points-to-value-of-collective-action/2011/10/20/gIQAvP5l1L_story.html21 October 2011By Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung

Like the U.S. military manhunt for Saddam Hussein, the search for the fugitive dictatorMoammar Gaddafi took seven months. He finally popped up, like his Iraqi counterpart,from an inglorious hiding place and is now dead.

The similarities end there.

Both approaches resulted in the removal of longtime U.S. nemeses who had enjoyed afew years in Washingtons favor.

But Bushs invasion cost nearly $1 trillion and more than 4,400 American lives, while

Obamas more limited intervention highlighted a national security strategy thatemphasizes global burden-sharing, and secretive tactics and technologies whose legalityhas been questioned. The NATO airstrikes on Gaddafis convoy Thursday included amissile launched from a U.S. drone aircraft.

Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground, we achieved ourobjectives, Obama said Thursday in a brief Rose Garden appearance.

Obamas technocratic approach to governing has served him far better in foreign policy,where facts, expert appraisal and intelligence often trump ideology, than it has indomestic politics. At a time of economic uncertainty at home, the achievements abroad,including the killing of Osama bin Laden in May, have not translated into politicalpopularity.

Moreover, his foreign policy approach has made him critics on the right, who say hisone-of-the-gang approach has diminished Americas stature in the world; and on the left,who view his embrace of drone strikes as a violation of his pledge to restore the rule oflaw to national security.

A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discussinternal thinking, described Obamas strategy as one that uses U.S. military power in amore focused way with smaller footprints, leveraging our very unique capabilities.

When we took office, you had an approach of very large U.S. military footprints in Iraqand Afghanistan, the official said. Weve moved toward a far more targeted approachthat leverages U.S. military capabilities rather than large forces overseas.

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Obama has demonstrated a calculated ruthlessness inwaging war against al-Qaeda, killing bin Laden, U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and numerous other foot soldiers through special operations and drone strikes.
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He has expanded that often-unseen war, improvising at times to explain the legalrationale behind the operations or, at other times, declining to acknowledge the U.S. roleat all.

After months of Republican criticism that his leadership has been limp and late in Libyaand in the other uprisings of the Arab Spring, Obama asserted Thursday that Gaddafisdemise comes at a time when we see the strength of American leadership across theworld.

Weve taken out al-Qaeda leaders, and weve put them on the path to defeat, he said.Were winding down the war in Iraq and have begun a transition in Afghanistan. Andnow, working in Libya with friends and allies, weve demonstrated what collective actioncan achieve in the 21st century.

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Libya's Gaddafi caught hiding like a "rat" (Reuters)http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-gaddafi-finalhours-idUSTRE79J5Q720111020By Tim Gaynor and Taha Zargoun20 October 2011SIRTE, Libya - Muammar Gaddafi called the rebels who rose up against his 42-years ofone-man rule "rats," but in the end it was he who was captured cowering in a drainagepipe full of rubbish and filth.

"He called us rats, but look where we found him," said Ahmed Al Sahati, a 27-year-oldgovernment fighter, standing next to two stinking drainage pipes under a six-lanehighway.

Government fighters, video evidence and the scenes of sheer carnage nearby told thestory of the dictator's final hours.

Shortly before dawn prayers on Thursday, Gaddafi surrounded by a few dozen loyalbodyguards and accompanied by the head of his now non-existent army Abu BakrYounis Jabr broke out of the two-month siege of Sirte and made a break for the west.

But they did not get far.

NATO said its aircraft struck military vehicles belonging to pro-Gaddafi forces near Sirteat about 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on Thursday, but the alliance said it was unsure whetherthe strikes had killed Gaddafi.

Fifteen pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns lay burned out, smashed andsmoldering next to an electricity sub station some 20 meters from the main road, abouttwo miles west of Sirte.
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They had clearly been hit by a force far beyond anything the motley army the formerrebels have assembled during eight months of revolt to overthrow the once feared leader.

But there was no bomb crater, indicating the strike may have been carried out by a

helicopter gunship, or had been strafed by a fighter jet.

Inside the trucks still in their seats sat the charred skeletal remains of drivers andpassengers killed instantly by the strike. Other bodies lay mutilated and contorted strewnin the grass. Some 50 bodies in all.

Gaddafi himself and a handful of his men escaped death and appeared to have ranthrough a stand of trees toward the main road and hid in the two drainage pipes.

But a group of government fighters were on their tail.

"At first we fired at them with anti-aircraft guns, but it was no use," said Salem Bakeer,while being feted by his comrades near the road. "Then we went in on foot.

"One of Gaddafi's men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting surrender, but assoon as he saw my face he started shooting at me," he told Reuters.

"Then I think Gaddafi must have told them to stop. 'My master is here, my master ishere', he said, 'Muammar Gaddafi is here and he is wounded'," said Bakeer.

"We went in and brought Gaddafi out. He was saying 'what's wrong? What's wrong?What's going on?'. Then we took him and put him in the car," Bakeer said.

At the time of capture, Gaddafi was already wounded with gunshots to his leg and to hisback, Bakeer said.

Other government fighters who said they took part in Gaddafi's capture, separatelyconfirmed Bakeer's version of events, though one said the man who ruled Libya for 42years was shot and wounded at the last minute by one of his own men.

"One of Muammar Gaddafi's guards shot him in the chest," said Omran Jouma Shawan.

Army chief Jabr was also captured alive, Bakeer said. NTC officials later announced hewas dead.

Fallen electricity cables partially covered the entrance to the pipes and the bodies of threemen, apparently Gaddafi bodyguards lay at the entrance to one end, one in shortsprobably due to a bandaged wound on his leg.


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Four more bodies lay at the other end of the pipes. All black men, one had his brainsblown out, another man had been decapitated, his dreadlocked head lying beside historso.

Joyous government fighters fired their weapons in the air, shouted "Allahu Akbar" and

posed for pictures. Others wrote graffiti on the concrete parapets of the highway.

"Gaddafi was captured here," said one simply.

From there Gaddafi was taken to the nearby city of Sirte where he and his dwindlingband of die-hard supporters had made a last stand under a rain of missile and artillery firein a desperate two-month siege.

Video footage showed Gaddafi, dazed and wounded, but still clearly alive and gesturingwith his hands as he was dragged from a pick-up truck by a crowd of angry jostling groupof government soldiers who hit him and pulled his hair.

He then appeared to fall to the ground and was enveloped by the crowd. NTC officialslater announced Gaddafi had died of his wounds after capture.

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Another Victory for a New Approach to War (NY Times)http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/world/africa/qaddafis-death-is-latest-victory-for-new-us-approach-to-war.html20 October 2011By Mark Landler and David Leonhardt

WASHINGTONThe final end to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafis rule is the latest victoryfor a new American approach to war: few if any troops on the ground, the heavy use ofair power, including drones, and, at least in the case of Libya, a reliance on allies.

Only a few months ago, the approach had few fans: not the hawks in Congress whocalled for boots on the ground, not the doves who demanded a pullout and not the manyexperts who warned of a quagmire. Most pointedly, critics mocked President Obama forleading from behind, a much-repeated phrase that came from an unnamedadministration official in an article in The New Yorker.

But the last six months have brought a string of successes. In May, American commandoskilled Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. In August, Tripoli fell, and Colonel Qaddafi fled. InSeptember, an American drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a top Qaeda operative andpropagandist, in Yemen. And on Thursday, people were digesting images of the bloodiedbody of Colonel Qaddafi, an oppressive strongman who spent decades flaunting hispariah status.
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This comes at a time when we steer the strength of American leadership across theworld, Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden, noting that ColonelQaddafis death came after the killing of Bin Laden and other leaders of Al Qaeda.Along with our friends and allies, weve demonstrated what collective action canachieve in the 21st century. Earlier Thursday, Republican lawmakers congratulated the

administration.

Its a great day, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said on CNN. I thinkthe administration deserves great credit. Obviously, I had different ideas on the tacticalside, but the world is a better place.

Senator Mark Steven Kirk, Republican of Illinois, added, in a statement, referring toSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, The administration, especially SecretaryClinton, deserve our congratulations.

For all the recent success, though, two large caveats remain.

One, it is not clear where the new model for war goes from here, beyond the continuedtargeting of senior figures from Al Qaeda. Syria, the latest center of democratic protests,remains an unlikely target for military intervention, given that it is larger and militarilystronger than Libya, less internationally isolated and situated in a more strategicallysensitive neighborhood.

Two, Mr. Obama seems unlikely to get much of a political lift from the rebels victory inLibya. His poll numbers spiked after Bin Ladens death a far bigger event for mostAmericans than Colonel Qaddafis death but soon began falling again, as fears aboutthe sagging economy resurged. In the most recent New York Times/CBS News poll, inmid-September, 43 percent of respondents approved of his performance, with 50 percentdisapprovingthe lowest rating since he took office.

Mr. Obama may even face politically difficult tensions with the military in the comingmonths. Leon E. Panetta, the defense secretary, has said that the Pentagon cannot reduceits budget a penny beyond the $450 billion in cuts already in a recent deficit-reductiondeal, but most analysts expect further cuts to be part of any plan from a specialCongressional committee now trying to find $1.2 trillion in additional budget reductions.If the committee fails, additional military cuts will take effect automatically.

Still, White House aides have said that they expected that the recent run of events wouldinoculate Mr. Obama from the common charge that Democrats are soft on defense. WhenTripoli fell in August, a senior administration official said, It helps lock in and solidifythe idea that hes the guy who keeps us safe. The official added, Reagan targetedQaddafi; George W. Bush targeted Bin Laden; Obama has done both.

Politics aside, the recent approach to war reflects the lessons that both administrationofficials and military leaders have taken from the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


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Disillusioned by huge costs and uncertain outcomes in those two countries, the Obamaadministration has embraced the drone, along with small-scale lightning raids like the onethat killed Bin Laden, as the future of the fight against terrorist networks.

The lessons of the big wars are obvious, said Micah Zenko, a fellow at the Council on

Foreign Relations, said after Mr. Awlakis killing in September. The cost in blood andtreasure is immense, and the outcome is unforeseeable. Public support at home isdeclining toward rock bottom. And the people youve come to liberate come to resentyour presence.

The improvement in the technical capabilities of dronesboth their weapons and theirvideo capabilityplays a role in the shift. So does the large federal budget deficit,which is exacerbated by the deployment of large forces overseas, at an annual cost ofroughly $1 million per soldier. One of them tracked Mr. Awlaki with live video onYemeni tribal turf, where it is too dangerous for American troops to go.

In the case of Libyaunlike in the case of the raids against Bin Laden and Mr. Awlakithe United States made a clear effort to let other countries take a leading role. Indeed,Mr. Obama and his defense secretary at the time, Robert M. Gates, were initiallyreluctant to intervene and were lobbied to do so by, among others, the French.

The biggest question now, though, may not be whether the new approach will become amodel for other wars or whether it will help Mr. Obama politically. Instead, it is simplythis: What will happen in Libya, the other countries that have been part of the ArabSpring and even in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which continue to be the sites of Americandrone attacks?

If they do not become more stable and peaceful places, the victories of the new approachmay end up seeming quite fleeting.

Thom Shanker and Scott Shane contributed reporting.

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Mideast Looks to Libya for Lessons (WSJ)http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204485304576643371814830648.html21 October 2011By Nour Malas

Moammar Gadhafi's death in Libya is likely to harden the battle lines in coming daysbetween protesters and embattled leaders of Syria and Yemen, analysts said. Butultimately, they expect the event will be polarizingproviding some Arab protesters witha model of a successful overthrow of a brutal dictator, while giving others a soberingreminder of its costs.
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For Syria, more than seven months into a stalemate between protesters and PresidentBashar al-Assad's regime, Gadhafi's death shows one outcome of a militaryinterventionwhich Syrian protesters and the international community have until nowboth eyed warily for that country at the region's center.

Gadhafi's death comes amid preparations for Sunday's elections in Tunisia, where thisyear's regionwide protests first brought down an Arab leader. Unlike in Libya's bloodybattle, protesters in Tunisia quickly ousted the president with little bloodshed. In Egypt,bouts of violence continue to threaten the transition from military rule. The threecountries' paths to democratic rule will provide early blueprints for political change in theregion.

The conflict in Libya has gripped Arabs across the region.

On Thursday, some people said images described as showing Gadhafi's final moments,broadcast by Arab satellite channels, were startling and alarming. For thousands of

protesters facing violence on the streets of Syria and Yemen, the television shotsincluding one in which Gadhafi appears to be kicked aroundshowed the fragility ofwhat they long saw as their region's unshakable strongmen.

"Three dictators down in 10 months in North Africa, with the promise of perhaps twomore in the regionit's extraordinary," said Salman Shaikh, director of the BrookingsDoha Center, a think tank in Qatar. "It's now getting to the proportions of 1989 inEurope."

Online in the region, activists circulated a cartoon bearing the images of five regionalleaders, with red X's marked through the portraits of toppled heads of Tunisia, Egypt andnow Libya. The cartoon depicted a painter dragging his brush toward the watchfulcaricatures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Yemeni President Ali AbdullahSaleh.

"It's Ali's turn," protesters chanted in San'a, Yemen's capital. Demonstrators in Syriachanted "Zenga zenga, dar dar, your turn is next Bashar"playing on a phrase Gadafhiused in a speech vowing to root out Libyan protesters.

In Syria, where elements of the opposition have lately grown more violent, Gadhafi'soverthrow is only likely to spur larger protests and a harsher official crackdown, analystssaid.

But in the longer term, they said, some protesters will push to topple Mr. Assad bywhatever means, with more already calling for an international no-fly zone, and askingwhy they shouldn't take up arms. But others are likely to grow more wary of change asLibya emerges unsteadily from its bloody conflict.

Analysts drew two parallels between Syria and Libya, which they say will be closelywatched in coming weeks. Much as Libyans based their rebel movement in the eastern


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city of Benghazi, a growing movement of defected Syrian army officers have appealedfor international help to create a safe zone, either along the border with Turkey or withLebanon, that could turn into a base for defectors and the broader opposition. Thoseborder areas have seen some of the fiercest fighting between army and defectors, andcould potentially be guarded by regional powers.

Meanwhile, the apparent success of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Libyacampaign has set a precedent for international coordination, through the so-called LibyaContact Group, that could be copied to move forward discussions between the U.S.,Europe, Turkey, and Arab states on how to protect civilians in Syria.

It is also likely to intensify the debate, internationally and domestically, on the risks thatany international intervention in Syria would arouse an increasingly hostile responsefrom Mr. Assad's government, which blames the unrest on a foreign conspiracy. Anyarmed conflict in Syria also risks fueling a broader regional conflict, neighboring statesand Western diplomats worry.

To date, foreign capitals have shown little appetite for intervention in Syria.

But Najib Ghadbian, a U.S.-based member of the Syrian National Council, an oppositionumbrella group, said Gadhafi's ouster could help dampen concerns over internationalintervention. "Those criticisms that were launched against NATO that it moved beyondcivilian protection, and of how the operation was handled, will be less relevant now withthis outcome," said Mr. Ghadbian, who visited Tripoli this week as part of a delegationfrom the Council.

Libya's National Transition Councilthe kind of alternate government that the SyrianCouncil hopes it will evolve intolast week offered the SNC the first recognition oflegitimacy as an alternative to the government in Damascus, bolstering activists.

Syrians have increasingly taken inspiration from what they see as a costly but necessaryfight against Gadhafi, said Mr. Ghadbian. "You definitely see a new Libya throughout thecountry," he said of his latest travels through the country. "We do, in Syria, have adistrust of any foreign intervention, along the lines of Iraqnobody wants that. But somepeople who were skeptical about Libya will definitely be less so.

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US drones bombed Libya more than Pakistan (Russia Times)http://rt.com/usa/news/us-libya-pakistan-drone-325/20 October 2011

While Obama insists that the hostilities that have erupted between Gaddafis regimeand rebels necessitated US response with weapons of war in conjunction with NATObut is by no means a warAmerican drones have come down hard in Libya.
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President Obama will tell you that Americas involvement in the Libyan conflict does notconstitute an act of war. In the meantime, however, US drones have conducted nearlytriple the amount of airstrikes in Libya than they have in Pakistan, despite lackingcongressional approval.

Now with the reported death of Gaddafi, the numbers are coming in regarding how muchof a war Obamas non-war has become. Between April 21 and this morning, robotic,unmanned Predator drones have conducted 145 airstrikes in Libya, reveals Pentagonspokesman George Little.

In Pakistan, however, where drone surveillance and strikes have become practicallycommonplace and have caused concern not just from locals but concerned Americansupset over the massive civilian deaths caused by the crafts, the number of drone strikes isbut a fraction. This year the US has launched only 57 drone strikes in Pakistan, where theAmerican military aims to take down terrorists from neighboring Afghanistan who, likeformer al-Qaeda leader Osama bin laden, have taken refuge.

Even after Libyan rebels (read: the good guys) ousted Gaddafi in late August, USdrones dropped 52 additionally missiles on the capital city of Tripoli.

Yes, in the two months that rebels have had control of Tripoli, the US has dropped onlyfive missiles short of the number theyve launched on Pakistan in all of 2011 thus far.A March 2011 drone strike on Islamabad, Pakistan killed 26, over a dozen of whom wereinnocent civilians. Following the attack, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar orderedAmerica to vacate a base in Shamsi, Pakistan that it had been using to operate dronemissions from.

If the aftermath of the execution of bin Laden is any example, drones will continue to flyhigh over the skies of Tripoli in the months to come. As RT reported yesterday, USdrones conducted nearly 23,000 surveillance missions over Afghanistan in the first ninemonths of 2011. Last month a drone strike in Yemen killed two American citizensbelieved to have al-Qaeda ties and, meanwhile, the Pentagon is working to build dronebases n the Arabian Peninsula, Ethiopia and the Indian Ocean archipelago nation ofSeychelles.

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Libya ex-fighters gather in north Mali-sources (Reuters Africa)http://af.reuters.com/article/maliNews/idAFL5E7LK2JU2011102020 October 2011

BAMAKO Oct 20 - About 400 pro-Gaddafi fighters have left Libya to seek refuge inMali, government and security sources said, stoking fears that the armed Tuaregs nomadscould destabilise the Sahara desert region.
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Tuareg groups reportedly sided with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during theuprising against his rule. Hundreds of fighters have already fled Libya into Niger as anti-Gaddafi forces press south.

Tuareg nomads have launched repeated rebellions against the governments of Mali and

Niger since the early 1900s in an effort to carve out an independent homeland, with themost recent ending in 2009 under a Gadaffi-brokered peace deal.

Mali's government said late on Wednesday it had sent a delegation to meet the fightersgathered in the north of the country "to wish them a welcome in the name of the state andthe population" and to offer them assistance. The statement gave no further details.

A government official told Reuters on Thursday there were about 400 pro-GaddafiTuareg fighters in two groups. One group was located about 40 kilometers (25 miles)from the northern town of Kidal, equipped with about 50 four-by-four vehicles andweapons.

A second group was near Tinzawatene on the Algerian border and included menassociated with Tuareg leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, who was killed in August, the sourcesaid, asking not to be named.

A Mali security source had told Reuters earlier this week that between 400 and 500 well-armed Tuaregs who had fought for Gaddafi in Libya were in the area, and that concernswere mounting they could revive a rebellion.

Mali, a major African gold and cotton producer, is already struggling with a risingpresence of al Qaeda linked fighters and drugs and arms traffickers in its remote andlawless desert. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editingby Andrew Heavens)

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Botswana was open to US base (Mail & Guardian)http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-21-wikileaks-cables-provide-limited-vindication-for-malema/21 October 2011

The Botswana government gave the United States the green light to explore thepossibility of establishing an Africa Command (Africom) base in the country when theissue was raised four years ago, American diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaksshow.

The revelations could provide ammunition for the ANC Youth League in the disciplinaryhearing by the ANC of league leader Julius Malema and other league officials.
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Malema has been charged in connection with his call for regime change in Botswana. Healso described President Ian Khama as an imperialist puppet, in part in connection withclaims that Botswana was talking to the US about an Africom base.

Youth league spokesperson Floyd Shivambu said the league knew of secret talks between

Botswana's former minister of foreign affairs and now Deputy President MompatiSebogodi Merafhe and the US. "Merafhe also asked for arms from the US. Botswana is athreat to the continent and now we are being charged for saying that," Shivambu said.

However, the facts that the meeting between the US and Botswana took place four yearsago under former president Festus Mogae, not Khama, and that the US has not sinceestablished a base in the country, weakens the league's position.

Malema said in August that "we know that Botswana is in discussions to open a militarybase for the imperialists".

Nothing in the cables indicates that a military base is still under discussion.

Possible locationsAfricom is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany.

In addition, the diplomatic cables show that the US apparently never intended to housesoldiers at the base.

According to a cable sent by the American ambassador in Botswana, Katherine Canavan,to the US secretary of state in Washington in October 2007, Canavan and senior embassyofficials met Merafhe and discussed possible locations for elements of Africom on thecontinent.

Canavan said Botswana, along with other unidentified African countries, was beingconsidered for hosting some elements of Africom.

"Recalling the [government of Botswana's] earlier receptivity towards the Africomconcept, the ambassador sought to confirm Botswana's current sentiments and whetherthe country would be willing to receive a technical assessment team in the near future,"the cable said.

It said Merafhe "appeared genuinely interested" but that he wanted to brief Mogae beforecommitting to the American proposal.

Merafhe asked how many American troops would be based in Botswana but the US gavethe assurance that combat troops would not be based in African countries, which wouldonly host staff headquarters.

Five days later, according to the cables, Merafhe replied that, in principle, Botswana wasnot averse to the idea of hosting Africom and that Mogae was "favourably disposed".


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In 2007, Mogae declared that the Botswana government had not taken a final position onthe matter "because we don't know what the animal [Africom] will look like".

According to a 2007 report by US think-tank the Centre for Defence Information, underthe title "A big image problem down there: prospects of an African headquarters for

Africom", Botswana may have abandoned plans to host Africom under pressure from theSouthern African Development Community.

'Utter rubbish'This week Botswana government spokesperson Jeff Ramsay refused to answer the Mail& Guardian's questions. When the youth league made the allegations in August, Ramsaydismissed them as "utter rubbish".

US embassy spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said this week that the permanentheadquarters of Africom remained in Germany and that there was no plan to move it toGaborone or another African country.

"There were preliminary discussions with many countries on the continent about co-operation with US Africom. However, in 2008, then secretary of defence [Robert] Gatesstated that headquarters would remain in Stuttgart," said Trudeau.

Last month, General Carter Ham, commander of US Africa Command, also dismissedsuggestions that a base was planned for Botswana, saying it was a "practical decision" toleave the headquarters in Germany.

"Earlier on, there was some discussion of the possibility of establishing headquarters inAfrica, but doing so would require a great expense and the United States is in a periodwhere we have to be very careful about our expenses."

Last year Africom air commander Ronald Ladnier visited the military fraternity inGaborone.

Spokesperson for the opposition Botswana National Front Moeti Mohwasa said this weekthat the party's MPs had raised concerns about the country's alleged willingness to hostAfricom.

Mohwasa said that, because of the Botswana government's "secretive nature" and lawsthat prohibited the free flow of information, it had not been easy to establish thegovernment's attitude.

"The government has not publicly distanced itself from hosting Africom. They havedisplayed favourable disposition to hosting it," said Mohwasa.

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Kenya, Uganda snared in Battle for Africa (UPI)


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http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/10/20/Kenya-Uganda-snared-in-Battle-for-Africa/UPI-42601319121073/20 October 2011

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Five years after Ethiopia invaded Somalia, with U.S.

backing, Kenya has sent its troops and tanks into its lawless neighbor with a similarobjective: setting up a border buffer zone to block Somalia's jihadists.

The Kenyans no doubt had the blessings of the U.S. administration of President BarackObama as well, for helping the Pentagon fight global terror is the name of the game.

But so is securing the emerging energy boom in West and East Africa, along with otherminerals in what is becoming a strategic contest between the United States and China,widely seen as the Americans' paramount rival in the years ahead.

Africa's exports of oil to the United States, largely from Nigeria and the dictator state of

Equatorial Guinea, are roughly equal to those of the Middle East.

The Nairobi government's mini-invasion of southern Somalia is aimed in part at curbingthe anarchy there, which increasingly threatens to spread to Kenya and which has eludedthe combined efforts of the Western powers.

Kenya can now look forward to U.S. largesse by actively helping the Americans contain,if not crush, Somalia's jihadist al-Shabaab, linked to al-Qaida and deemed a direct threatto the United States by the administration.

In the meantime, Obama has sent a 100-man detachment of U.S. Special Forces toUganda, supposedly to help the Kampala government, which has played a key role inpropping up the shaky, Western-backed Transitional Federal Government installed inMogadishu by the Ethiopians in 2006.

Since then, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has contributed several thousand troopsto the heavily armed African Union "peacekeeping force" that keeps Somalia'scorruption-riddled TFG in place.

Sending elite troops to crush a brutal warlord, a murderous Christian crackpot namedJoseph Kony who heads the Lord's Resistance Army, which has plagued Museveni'sregime for a decade or more, may be an expression of the Pentagon's gratitude.

By all accounts, the LRA is on the ropes, so the justification for U.S. military supportseems rather odd.

But recent oil strikes in that land-locked Kenya may have had a lot more to do with thedecision to send in the forces, as would the creation of the Africa Command in 2007 tocoordinate U.S. military operations across the continent.
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A major oil strike was made around Lake Albert in western Uganda in 2006, andgeologists say it contains at least 2 billion barrels.

Only 25 percent of the region, which includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo, hasso far been explored, and some reports say there could be up to 6 billion barrels there.

Uganda expects to start producing an initial 200,000 barrels per day in early 2012.

"Among American interests are the increasing importance of Africa's untapped naturalresources, particularly energy resources and mounting concern over violent extremistactivities especially in the Horn of Africa, and other potential threats by revolutionaryparties and 'under-governed spaces' such as maritime piracy and the illicit trafficking ofdiamonds, gold and platinum," observed political scientist Professor Naimah AchimBucha of Kampala's Makerere University.

"In disguise, there is concern for Africa's many humanitarian crises, armed conflicts and

more general challenges, such as the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS.

"This one in particular is used as a cover for U.S. (non-governmental organizations) topenetrate Africa and gain access to the all-important information that can facilitate U.S.access to natural resources," Busha added.

"The truth is that Africom is there for the militarization of Africa and for the otherpurpose of elbowing out all U.S. competitors from the continent, China and Russiaincluded."

China is now Africa's largest economic partner. Trade in 2010 totaled $114 billion, upfrom $10 billion in 2000.

The African Development Bank Group estimates that Chinese companies accounted for40 percent of all corporate contracts in Africa signed in 2010. By comparison, U.S. firmsmanaged 2 percent.

In September 2010, Ghana signed loan agreements with China for infrastructure andother projects worth $15 billion -- just as the West African state began producing oil froma major new field.

In Angola, a key oil supplier for Beijing, Chinese banks extended loans and otherfinancing totaling around $9 billion in 2010, the African Development Bank says.

The Americans are belatedly trying to catch up but the Chinese are years ahead of them.

###

Lawmaker says Libya success supports decision to send US troops to aid Africa anti-insurgency (Associated Press)


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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/lawmaker-says-libya-success-supports-decision-to-send-us-troops-to-aid-africa-anti-insurgency/2011/10/20/gIQA0bsx0L_story.html20 October 2011

WASHINGTONA senator said Thursday that Moammar Gadhafis death and thepromise of a new Libyan regime are arguments for the measured U.S. military responsein central Africa where the U.S. has sent roughly 100 troops as advisers in the battleagainst a guerrilla group accused of widespread atrocities.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee that overseesAfrican affairs, told reporters that he backs President Barack Obamas decision todispatch U.S. forces against the Lords Resistance Army and help to hunt down its leader,Joseph Kony.

Coons said that since 2001, the Lords Resistance Army has been listed as a terrorist

organization. It has been a genuine scourge to an entire region, Coons said. He spokeshortly after officials from the State and Defense departments privately briefed membersof the Foreign Relations Committee about the operation.

Long considered one of Africas most brutal rebel groups, the Lords Resistance Armybegan its attacks in Uganda more than 20 years ago but has been pushing westward. TheObama administration and human rights groups say its atrocities have left thousands deadand have forced as many as 300,000 Africans to flee. They have charged the group withseizing children to bolster its ranks of soldiers and sometimes forcing them to become sexslaves.

Last Friday, Obama said he was sending U.S. troops to central Africa as advisers, a movethat drew strong bipartisan support in Congress. The president said they will not engagein combat except in self-defense.

Still, lawmakers expressed some concern about the United States ending up on a slipperyslope of military involvement. Coons said he was reassured that the administration willcontinue to consult with Congress on the operation. He said developments out of Libyashow that the United States can succeed in a limited role.

I think it is a good day to celebrate that we can use some of the unique strategic assets ofthe United States in measured, modest and responsible ways to advance the protections ofcivilians and to advance humanitarian goals in partnership with our allies, Coons said.

U.S. military forces have been part of the NATO operation enforcing a no-fly zone overLibya and protecting civilians.

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Marines bypassed on LRA mission in Africa (Marine Corps Times)
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http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/20 October 2011By Dan Lamothe and Tony Lombardo

A 130-man team of Force Reconnaissance Marines deploying to Africa this month willnot be involved in a high-profile mission to advise Ugandan troops as they push to stampout the violent Lords Resistance Army.

Marines and sailors with 4th Force Reconnaissance Company, out of Alameda, Calif.,will spend about six months training African militaries in the Trans-Sahara and Horn ofAfrica region, but are working on an unrelated mission, said Gunnery Sgt. William Price,a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Africa.

The LRA mission will instead belong to about 100 special operators, Pentagon sourcessaid. They wouldnt say which unit will be assigned to the mission, but a media report in

the Colorado Springs Gazette suggested its likely the 10th Special Forces Group, out ofFort Carson, Colo. It typically handles special operations in Europe and Africa.

President Obama announced the LRA mission on Oct. 14, saying in a letter tocongressional leaders that he had authorized a small number of combat-equipped U.S.forces to deploy to central Africa to work toward to removal of Joseph Kony, the LRAsleader. The group is accused of murder, rape and kidnapping tens of thousands of men,women and children in the region for more than two decades.

Ourforces will provide information, advice and assistance to select partner nationforces, Obama said. Subject to the approval of each respective host nation, elements ofthese U.S. forces will deploy into Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republicand the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The president did not say which unit would be tasked with the mission, but the timingraised some observers to question whether Marines would get it. Force Recon is notconsidered a special operations force, but is special operations capable, handling someassignments that otherwise could go to special operators.

The Force Recon deployment signals the beginning of increasing Marine involvement inAfrica. A new unit, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12, was establishedearly this month at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy. Marines with 4th Force Recon willtake some of its first missions, participating in Operation Enduring Freedom-Horn ofAfrica and OEF-Trans Sahara.

OEF-HOA is based primarily in northeastern African and has a strong presence inDjibouti, where U.S. troops are stationed at Camp Lemonier, a joint expeditionary basejust north of Somalia, an extremist hotbed. OEF-TS is concentrated in countries likeMali, Chad and Niger, and focuses on fighting terrorism in part by developing nativesecurity forces.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/10/marine-force-recon-africa-lords-resistance-army-102011/


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Michele Bachmann questions U.S. role in Uganda (LA Times)http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-bachmann-uganda-20111019,0,6173132.story?track=rssBy Maeve Reston

19 October 2011

Making a quick trip to California after Tuesday nights debate in Nevada, Republicanpresidential candidate Michele Bachmann sought to broaden the conversation to nationalsecuritychiding President Obama for leading from behind and accusing him ofoverstretching the nations military resources.

Lamenting the fact that Republican candidates have spent very little time debatingforeign policy, Bachmann told a group of "tea party" activists in Pasadena on Wednesdaythat the president was wrong to send armed advisors to Uganda and several surroundingcountries to target the militia known as the Lords Resistance Army, which has killed

thousands of people over the last two decades.

Uganda asked us to come in and be in four African nations and deal with a problemthats been going on for 20 years, Bachmann told about 150 activists who gathered for aTeaPAC meeting in downtown Pasadena. President Obama says theres an Americanvital national interest, but he hasnt said what that interest is.

She added that the U.S. should not have gotten involved in the Libyan conflict and saidshe would send a message to NATO to stand on your own two feet.

We cant borrow 43 cents on the dollar that were spending to pay for their defense.Those days are done, she said. I am a hawk. But I also believe that I will only commitAmericas bravest men and women in harms way only if there is truly an identifiablevital American national interest. And when I commit them, we will go in with full force.

While Bachmann delivered the well-honed points of her stump speech and took three pre-selected questions from the audience on debt, military budget cuts and immigration, shealso emphasized the importance of the tea party in changing the conversation inWashington.

She told those in the audience that they didnt need to settle for candidates who dontshare the goals of the tea party. I took a movements voice into the halls of Congress;now I want to take the movements voice into the White House, Bachmann said towhoops and cheers. I may not have been the most popular politician. Who cares? Its allabout standing up for what you believe.

Bachmann, who spent more than she raised during the last quarter and has struggled tokeep up with the fundraising leaders in the Republican field, also pleaded for campaigncontributions.
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I need your financial support with the most maxed-out, best gift that you can give to thiscampaign, because I am in. Im all in," she said.

The Minnesota congresswomans appearance at the TeaPAC event came in the midst of afundraising swing through California that included private meetings with donors and a

fundraiser in Malibu on Wednesday night. At the Pasadena event, Bachmann tookpictures with guests who contributed $100 to $150 to her campaign.

Though Bachmann has fallen in the polls since her energetic entrance into the race inJune, she is still the first choice of attendee Larry Papp, who said he was supporting herbecause she espouses Christian values and is totally genuine.

Papp, a Republican and retired market consultant from Arcadia, said he has ruled out MittRomney because he believes he is a political opportunist, and he will not support TexasGov. Rick Perry because of his record on illegal immigration.

His second choice is businessman Herman Cain, who is leading in some national polls.

While Mitt Romney was running around hobnobbing with the social people in Newport,Rhode Island, Herman Cain was washing cars and cleaning toilets, Papp said. Thatswhat I wantsomebody who has come up without having everything given to them.

Though Bachmann has a narrow window of time to catch up with her rivals in the polls,Papp said he was optimistic: A lot of things can happen as people start to get vetted."

###

In Crumbling Sudan: Dodging Bombers with the Rebels of Blue Nile (Time)http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.html20 October 2011By Krista Mahr / Kurmuk

The sound of a plane is hard to pick out in the thick, empty landscape of dry grass andblue sky in the Sudanese state of Blue Nile. But once it grows closer, the low whine of anengine is unmistakeable. The fighters have been looking up, sensing a problem. They seeit, what they are certain is an Antonov bomber sent by their enemy.

Quickly, the fatigue-clad rebels leap out of their camouflaged Land Cruisers and trucksand scramble down the banks of a dry creek. Sweat streaming down their cheeks, theycrouch under trees, listening to the plane circle overhead. At last, the bombs dropone,two, and threeperhaps in a faraway field, perhaps on a faraway family. The soldiersemerge from the brush and onto the sandy creek bed to take a drink from the stagnantpools of water. The worst part of their day has passed.

This is how the long, hot days are wonor at least not lostfor the rebel forcesbattling the Sudanese military for control of Blue Nile state, which used to be in central
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097121,00.html


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part of the enormity of old Sudan. Then, the oil-rich south of the country votedoverwhelmingly for independence and set itself up as the world's youngest nation. BlueNile is now on the southern frontier of what is left of Sudanwhich continues to bebeset by local separatisms, including that waged by the rebel soldiers in Blue Nile.

Conflict has spread across the new border region between the remainder of Sudan ruledby Khartoum and South Sudan, which has its capital in Juba, from Abyei to SouthKordofan and, since the beginning of September, Blue Nile. Though violence in Abyeihas subsided, ground skirmishes and reports of bombings continue to trickle out of SouthKordofan and Blue Nile, a conflict that observers worry will escalate into a fresh civilwar to further rend what is left of Sudan. "If [Khartoum] continues this vein ingovernance terms, they face the potential disintegration of the country," says RichardDownie, deputy director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic andInternational Studies.

For the moment, it's still a guerrilla-style rebellion being run from a modest grass hut.

Malik Agar, the former governor of Blue Nile who was forced out of office last month,now leads the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army North (SPLM/A-N) from aremote patch near the town of Kurmuk. On Oct. 6, Agar, wearing fatigues, combat bootsand a neat salt-and-pepper beard, had a group of foreign journalists over to visit hismakeshift command center, delivering polished sound-bites while his men passed outsweet tea and Pepsi. "There are so many angry young men who have joined us," he saidto the cameras and microphones trained at him. Agar claims 74 civilians have been killedand over 100 injured in the Khartoum's bombing campaign, spurring greater civiliansupport for his movement and bringing rebel movements from Darfur and SouthKordofan to Blue Nile to work more closely together against Khartoum. Said Agar, "It'snot a misnomer that the enemy of your enemy is your friend."

The history of the enmity between Khartoum and the opposition groups here run deep,and the latest conflict stems in part from the very thing meant to end bloodshed in thispart of the world. Opposition forces that supported the South Sudan rebels during thedecades-long war say that Khartoum has not upheld its end of a 2005 peace agreement,which, among other things, guarantees greater democracy in Sudan and a greater voice tothe peopleand politiciansof Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Khartoum andthe oppostion have also not been able to agree on what to do with the soldiers who foughtunder the banner of the SPLM before the movement helped establish South Sudan as aseparate country. The peace agreement says those soldiers should either be demobilizedor deployed to the now officially independent south. Neither has happened. Like themovement, the rebel army in Sudanese territory, the SPLA, has pointedly added the word"North" to its name.

This spring, Khartoum sent its army in to flush the fighters out of the regiona movethat has instead devolved into a fight for control of the states. Now Agar and his party,which Khartoum has banned, are calling, among other things, for the internationalcommunity to pressure President Omar al-Bashir to stop bombing civilians, and for theremoval of al-Bashir himself from office. "This regime is deformed to an extent that you


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can't reform it," says Agar. Khartoum, for its part, said in an Oct. 3 paper that the SPLMhas "executed a plan to spread fear and instability in the state through targeting civiliansin repeated attacks... completely avoiding government army sites."

If Agar and his troops are itching for a long fight, residents in the southern part of Blue

Nile are not sticking around to see it. Along the red dirt roads of the rebel-controlledregion, small groups of women, children and elderly men walk with sticks resting overtheir shoulders, carrying pouches of whatever they could transport from home. Agarestimates about half the state's 1.2 million people are now on the move. (Without outsidemonitoring groups operating in the state, there is no way to verify that figure.) But in alittle over a month, more that 27,000 refugees have streamed over the border withEthiopia to escape the bombing and fighting, according to the United Nations HighCommand for Refugees (UNHCR), which is running camps along the border. The U.N.refugee agency opened a second camp in western Ethiopia this month to accommodatethe continuing influx. Others, like cattle herders who refuse to leave their animals, aresimply fleeing to places inside the state where they don't think the Antonov bombers will

spot them from far above, pitching tarp tents under trees and waiting for the storm toblow over.

The tempest isn't likely to abate, judging by the looks of Kurmuk, once a busy trade townon the border with Ethiopia. In the past six weeks, Kurmuk has become something of anoversized base for the rebellion. Trucks of soldiers tear around throughout the day.Soldiers go on training runs each morning, singing and shuffling in their boots throughthe littered dirt streets. In the market, most shops are shuttered and desolate; only a fewvendors sell cigarettes and tea to the soldiers, hoping to make some extra cash for theirfamilies who have already left. "My family comes to visit me here sometimes," says JahirJaro Mosa, an elderly man who runs a tea stall in what's left of the Kurmuk market."When they hear the Antonovs come, they go back across the border."

Nearby, the Kurmuk hospital, which has been treating soldiers from both sides of theconflict as well as the few remaining civilians in town, is now down to one doctor, asouth Sudanese man who has been working here since 1997. International aid groups, aswell as the handful of foreign private companies that were doing business here, havepulled out of the state, taking the many services they were providing with them. In a quietoperating theater, Dr. Evan Atar sutures the amputated arm of a Satdam Anima, 20, asoldier whose limb was blown apart by a piece of bomb shrapnel. Anima's eyes flutteropen as he begins to come out from under the anesthesia. They settle blankly on a cornerof the room. "The impact on civilians is maybe even worse than on the soldiersthemselves," says Atar. He says during the previous war, at least, life in Kurmuk was ableto carry on as normal. Now, everyone has had to leave. The hospital is running out ofsupplies and many across the region are facing a severe food shortage without being ableto cultivate their land during the conflict. "The civilians have lost everything in this war,"Atar says.

Touring the region, the convoy of soldiers and rebellion supporters is oddly exuberant,alternately cheering at people they see along the way and stopping to point out bomb


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craters off the side of the road. In the remote, bucolic village of Maiyas, six people werekilled in one bombing early this month, including a pregnant woman. Standing in front ofthe crater, residents turn pieces of twisted bomb shell over in their hands and tell thevisitors how the victims were mutilated by their impact. "I couldn't even bear to take thebodies to the graves," one recalls. The village chief, Khidir Abusita, said that most of

Maiyas' estimated 4,000 people have not left yet. How long they'll stay isn't clear. "Todayat noon there was another Antonov circling around," Abusita says. "We're scared." Whenthe soldiers start to pile back into their mud-smeared trucks, the men gathered around thebomb crater bid them farewell: "SPLA, oyee! SPLA, oyee!" Long live the SPLA!

###

Air Force merges two command and control units in Germany (Stars & Stripes)http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/air-force-merges-two-command-and-control-units-in-germany-1.15826720 October 2011

By Jennifer Svan

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, GermanyThe Air Force has merged two command andcontrol units at Ramstein Air Base, with the new combined unit overseeing all U.S. airoperations in Europe and Africa. But plans for a similar consolidation in the UnitedStates were abandoned, following intense political pressure by Congressmembers whoargued keeping both U.S. facilities open would spare hundreds of jobs in Florida andArizona.

In January, the Air Force announced it would combine four air operations centerstwoin Germany and two in the Statesas part of an Air Force-wide effort, directed by theDefense Department, to save billions of dollars.

At Ramstein, the mission of the 617th Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) wasfolded into the 603rd Air and Space Operations Center on Oct. 1. With the merger, the603rd will oversee all U.S. air operations in Europe and Africa.

Plans to merge air operations centers at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., which supportsNORAD and U.S. Northern Command, and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., whichsupports U.S. Southern Command, meanwhile, were abruptly halted in late August.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said he called everyone he knew to stress the importance ofkeeping the 601st Air and Space Operations Center at Tyndall intact, according to areport in Panama Citys News Herald.

I even called on my friend, the vice president, the newspaper quoted Nelson as saying.

An Aug. 30 press release on the website of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. said sheand her staff were gratified that the Air Force had dropped the consolidation plans,
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after they had lobbied the Pentagon, noting that Davis-Monthan stood to lose 255 jobs ifthe center were shifted to Tyndall.

The two-continent consolidation was part of an overall Air Force proposal to save $34billion over five years by consolidating staff, headquarters and infrastructure as part of

the Pentagons efficiencies initiative.

The service found a more effective solution for the command and control of our AOCsin the continental U.S., said Maj. Chad Steffey, an Air Force spokesman at thePentagon.

The Air Force has every confidence that we will meet DODs targeted savings byreviewing the shared resources, manpower and mission overlap throughout all of ourAOCs, rather than through a handful of consolidations,

africom related-news clips 21 oct 2011

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