Text Fwd: Libya and the Imperial Re-Division of Africa

Libya and the Imperial Re-Division of Africa
The Imperialist Powers' Odyssey of “Return” into Africa
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24471

Global Research, April 26, 2011

Photos Fwd: [March 26] Stop Bombing Libya!

* Image source: Anti-War Peace Solidarity's March 26
protest rally poster 반전 평화 연대(클릭)
Part of the poster contents reads: "What the western countries aim are domination and oil in the middle east and Africa."
________________________________________
*All the below image source: Cho Sung-Bong, Tongil News, March 26, 20
11 통일 뉴스, 조성봉, 2011년 3월 26일(클릭)

About 200 people protested against the multi-nations' bombing on Libya, in the Boshingak, Seoul, 4pm, March 26, 2011. The protesters denouncing the bombings "not of humanitarian intervention but of another invasive war,' demanded to the western countries to immediately stop those.

Text Fwd: PSSP’s Position on the UN’s 2nd Resolution and the Coalition Forces’ Attack on Libya

People's Solidarity for Social Progress
http://www.pssp.org/eng/?p=218
PSSP’s Position on the UN’s 2nd Resolution and the Coalition Forces’ Attack on Libya
25 March 2011

-The Western power must cease their attack on Libya immediately!
-Libya’s liberation must be achieved by the Libyan people!

On 17 March 2011, the UN Security Council quickly adopted Resolution 1973, the second resolution imposing sanctions against Libya. Shortly thereafter, U.S., U.K. and France-dominated coalition forces began a military strike against Libya that has now gone on for several days without stop. The UN Security Councils speaks of the attack in humanitarian terms saying its goal is the protection of civilian life. We are certain, however, that the ultimate goal of the Resolution 1973 and the attack on Libya is to serve the imperialist goals of Western powers.

1. Libya’s anti-government forces and even the UN Security Council are not the ones who get to decide whether the attack will be limited to the goal of “protecting civilians” or not. It is the participating Western powers who decide the targets of military operations and the ultimate war aims. Libyan anti-government forces have no say whatsoever concerning the form, means or scope of military operations.

2. The Western powers are currently considering the next steps in their attack, including the possibility of sending in ground troops. It is true that Resolution 1973 does not allow for occupation of Libya. We only have to look a few years back, however, to know that this means little. With Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. said occupation was not the goal, but we all know what the result of the wars perpetrated on these countries were.

3. If the Iraq and Afghanistan experiences are repeated in Libya, then Libya’s future is dark regardless of whether it is the anti-government forces or the Western forces who ultimately depose Gaddaffi. The Western country’s power to make war is overwhelming, but their ability to bring peace, political security and economic prosperity to the countries that are the victims of their wars is sorrowfully weak. In addition, we can be sure that the elites the western governments help to bring to power will be the ones most beneficial to western oil companies, the ones most ready to deliver up Libya’s underground resources.

4. Contrary to what some claim, it has already been proven that western intervention is not the best means to prevent civilian casualties. The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 was disastrous, only serving to increase animosity and fear. In its wake the most horrible of racial cleansing campaigns occurred in Kosovo.

The ultimate goal of the Western power’s military action is to suppress the Arab people’s movement against western imperialism. We condemn the western power’s hypocritical talk of humanitarianism and call on the United States, the United Kingdom and France to end their attack on Libya immediately.

Video Fwd: HOW DO WE PAY FOR WAR IN LIBYA?

Organizing Notes Monday, March 28, 2011 HOW DO WE PAY FOR WAR IN LIBYA?
Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent and much more is committed to the military mission in Libya. United States president Barack Obama has said it is in the country's national interest to have intervened in the north African state. But the massive cost of yet another military campaign has had some questioning whether it's worth it. Al Jazeera's Kimberly Halkett reports from Washington.

Text & Video Fwd: NATO WAR MOVES ONTO AFRICAN CONTINENT

Organizing Notes
Monday, March 21, 2011
NATO WAR MOVES ONTO AFRICAN CONTINENT



More war for control of oil. NATO is the military arm of the U.S. imperial effort to control access to oil around the globe on behalf of corporate globalization.

A few members of Congress are saying that Obama violated the constitution by not going to Congress for permission to attack Libya. The Arab League, who supported the "No Fly Zone," says this attack is beyond defending the skies and is an illegal intervention.

As Daniel Ellsberg said in Washington this past weekend - Obama might have once been a "constitutional scholar" but he no longer is. He is now an international law violater just like George W. Bush. They both work for the CIA.

Text Fwd: "Operation Libya" and the Battle for Oil: Redrawing the Map of Africa

Global Research
"Operation Libya" and the Battle for Oil: Redrawing the Map of Africa
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
March 9, 2011

Part II

See Part I Insurrection and Military Intervention: The US NATO Attempted Coup d'Etat in Libya?

The geopolitical and economic implications of a US-NATO led military intervention directed against Libya are far-reaching.

Libya is among the World's largest oil economies with approximately 3.5% of global oil reserves, more than twice those of the US.

"Operation Libya" is part of the broader military agenda in the Middle East and Central Asia which consists in gaining control and corporate ownership over more than sixty percent of the world's reserves of oil and natural gas, including oil and gas pipeline routes.

"Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, possess between 66.2 and 75.9 percent of total oil reserves, depending on the source and methodology of the estimate." (See Michel Chossudovsky, The "Demonization" of Muslims and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, January 4, 2007) .

With 46.5 billion barrels of proven reserves, (10 times those of Egypt), Libya is the largest oil economy in the African continent followed by Nigeria and Algeria (Oil and Gas Journal). In contrast, US proven oil reserves are of the order of 20.6 billion barrels (December 2008) according to the Energy Information Administration. U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Reserves)

READ MORE

Text Fwd: After Ivory Coast, AFRICOM Readies ASF For Central African Role

Stop NATO
U.S. Africa Command
U.S. Army Africa
February 24, 2011


Exercise Kwanza Review in Kinshasa Focuses on African Standby Force
U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs


-[T]he Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- an organization
like ECCAS -- diplomatically responded recently -- and could militarily respond
-- to the electoral crisis in the West African country of Cote d'Ivoire. The
ECCAS could respond to a crisis in its area of responsibility composed of
Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central
African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe and Chad.


KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo: In his "Commander's Intent 2011"
message, one of U.S. Army General William E. "Kip" Ward's key approaches was
that, "??[U.S. Africa Command] will continue to support the African Union (AU)
to include strengthening the capabilities and interoperability of the African
Standby Force (ASF) and its sub-regional elements."

To forward that goal, Major George K. Allen Jr. of U.S. Army Africa and
Lieutenant Jonathan Goerk of U.S. Naval Forces Africa traveled to Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of the Congo in October 2010, to participate in the
Conference Bilan et Retour d'experience de L'exercice Kwanza 2010 or Exercise
Kwanza After Action Review (AAR).

Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) held the exercise in order
to validate Central African Multinational Force (CAMF) to AU standards. The
force is one of five brigade-size elements that make up the AU's ASF--created to
respond to crises on the African continent.

Allen and Goerk sat alongside their ECCAS counterparts to gain a better
understanding of how CAMF performed during Exercise Kwanza in Cabo Ledo, Angola,
from May 22 to June 5, 2010. The observers' participation in the Exercise Kwanza
AAR follows their observation of the exercise this summer.
....
According to Allen, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) -- an
organization like ECCAS -- diplomatically responded recently -- and could
militarily respond -- to the electoral crisis in the West African country of
Cote d'Ivorie. The ECCAS could respond to a crisis in its area of responsibility
composed of Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial
Guinea, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and
Principe and Chad.

"ECCAS and CAMF are professional and ready to go," Goerk said. "Exercise Kwanza
proved that as an armed force, CAMF can work with diplomats, gendarmerie, and
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on the both the sea and ground."
....
"In working with CAMF and the other regional standby forces, AFRICOM and USARAF
could easily incorporate civilians and NGOs into our military exercise play and
operations," Allen said. "Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and
Multinational (JIIM) personnel are already part of their formations. It is a
win-win proposition."

Text Fwd: West Africa: U.S. Warship Continues Africa Partnership Station Visit

Stop NATO
Navy NewsStand
February 23, 2011
Robert G. Bradley Arrives in Gabon for APS West Mission
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Darryl Wood, Commander, U.S. Naval
Forces Europe-Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa/ Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet
Public Affairs


LIBREVILLE, Gabon: USS Robert G. Bradley (FFG 49) arrived in Libreville, Gabon,
for port visit as part of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) West mission,
Feb. 23.

Building on the Chief of Naval Operations' Maritime Strategy, APS seeks to
enhance regional and maritime safety and security in Africa by developing
partnering capabilities and relationships.

While the Navy has conducted training during routine deployments in West Africa
for years, the focus of APS is increasing African maritime capabilities and
capacity....

"Robert G. Bradley is looking forward to its second theater security cooperation
engagement in Libreville, Gabon, fresh off a highly successful Togo visit," said
Cmdr. Darryl Brown, commanding officer of Robert G. Bradley.
....
"Robert G. Bradley hopes to strengthen U.S. relations with Gabon," said Brown.

APS is an international security cooperation initiative, facilitated by
Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, aimed at strengthening global
maritime partnerships....

Robert G. Bradley, an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, is homeported out of
Mayport, Fla., and is on a scheduled APS deployment to the West Coast of Africa.
_____________________________

Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
Stop NATO website and articles

Video Fwd: The Ojays Ship Ahoy

Organizing Notes
Saturday, February 12, 2011
SUNDAY SONG

Video Fwd: People & Power – Egypt: Seeds of change

DMZ Hawai'i
People & Power – Egypt: Seeds of change
February 13, 2011 by kyle

Al Jazeera produced this excellent documentary about the April 6 Movement, the youth organization behind the revolution in Egypt. The small group of disciplined and sophisticated leaders were the spark. Getting training from the Serbian nonviolent youth movement, they applied classic nonviolence organizing principles with new technological tools. The rest is history.

Text Fwd: Ivory Coast: Testing Ground For U.S.-Backed African Standby Force

* Image source: same as the link

Stop NATO blog
January 23, 2011
Ivory Coast: Testing Ground For U.S.-Backed African Standby Force
Rick Rozoff


The announcements of presidential election results last month in West Africa and Eastern Europe have served as the pretext for the United States and its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union to again embark on the warpath of sanctions, embargoes, travel bans, "regime change" plots and even the threat of military force.

The reelection of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on December 19 has been followed by the U.S. State Department supporting EU sanctions against him and other leaders of the nation. On January 20 the European Parliament adopted a resolution demanding the European Council "impose a ban on visas and freeze any EU bank accounts of senior government officials and members of the judiciary and security agencies responsible for rigging the elections and persecuting the opposition." The EU's 27 foreign ministers will formalize that decision at their first meeting of the year on January 31.

State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley confirmed American backing for the actions, about which, he added, "we are consulting closely with our counterparts in the European Union.

"We are very much aware and supportive of steps that the EU is taking, and we are also, in light of our concerns, prepared to take additional steps to restore sanctions that have previously been lifted." [1]

On December 2 the opposition-controlled Independent Electoral Commission in Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) released provisional results showing that presidential challenger Alassane Ouattara had defeated incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo in the November 28 runoff election. The following day the nation's Constitutional Council declared the Electoral Commission's results invalid and proclaimed Gbagbo the winner.

Former colonial master France, the U.S. and the European Union backed the result which best suited their interests - an Ouattara victory - and secured support from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Security Council.

Both Gbagbo and Ouattara were sworn in as president and in the interim the drumbeats of military intervention to depose Gbagbo have steadily risen in intensity.

Whatever the respective merits of the two candidates' contentions, that the U.S. has entered the fray on behalf of the one declared the loser by the nation's top court exactly a decade after the 2000 U.S. presidential election was decided by the Supreme Court would prove embarrassing to any country other than the world's sole military superpower.

ECOWAS has suspended Ivory Coast's membership in the fifteen-nation group (Niger was suspended in 2009) and pressure is being put on ECOWAS to activate the West African Standby Force brigade under its control for an invasion of Ivory Coast.

The African Standby Force, under the nominal direction of the African Union but trained by U.S. Africa Command and NATO, was to have been activated last year and to have provided brigades of an estimated 3,000-4,000 troops each for five regions in Africa: East, west, north, south and central. The West African brigade is to grow to 6,500 troops.

Previous ECOWAS military deployments in Liberia in 1990, Sierra Leone in 1997, Guinea-Bissau in 1999 and Sierra Leone again in the same year were conducted under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) multinational armed force and the 2003 deployment to Liberia under the ECOWAS Mission in Liberia (ECOMIL), but the proposed intervention in Ivory Coast will be the first to employ the West African (ECOWAS) Standby Force brigade with troops from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

READ MORE

Text Fwd: S. Korean Commandos Prove "Toughness" By Killing Eight In Horn Of Africa

* Image source: Yonhap News, Jan. 21, 2011
Yonhap News, Jan. 21, 2011

* Image and caption: Yonhap News, Jan. 21, 2011
Lt. Gen. Lee Seong-ho speaks to reporters during a press conference in Seoul on Jan. 21. (Yonhap)

* Image & caption source: same as the above link
'South Korean special forces on the deck of the Samho Jewelry during a rescue operation on Jan. 21. (Yonhap) '
______________________________________________

* Text sent from Rick Rozoff on Jan. 22, 2011

Agence France-Presse
January 21, 2011
S. Korea Navy Kills Somali Pirates, Saves Crew
By PARK CHAN-KYONG

SEOUL: South Korean navy commandos on Jan. 21 stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing all the 21 crew and killing eight pirates, military officials said.

The SEAL special forces boarded the South Korean ship before dawn, freeing all the hostages and killing the pirates in cabin-to-cabin battles, they said.

"This operation demonstrated our government's strong will that we won't tolerate illegal activities by pirates any more," Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-Ho of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a news briefing.
....
The rescue about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) off northeast Somalia was seen as a major morale boost for the South's military. It has faced strong domestic criticism for a perceived weak response to North Korea's shelling of a border island last November.

President Lee Myung-Bak, who authorized the operation, said the military carried out the raid perfectly under difficult circumstances.

"We will not tolerate any activities that threaten the safety and lives of our people," he said.

The pirates seized the 11,500-ton ship and 21 crew members - eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 from Myanmar - on Jan. 15 in the Arabian Sea when it was en route to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates.

Seoul ordered a destroyer on patrol in the Gulf of Aden to give chase, and Lee ordered "all possible measures" to save the crew.

General Lee said the commandos moved in after receiving information that the "mother ship" for the pirates was leaving a Somali port.
....
To distract the pirates' attention, the destroyer fired warning shots and maneuvered close to the hijacked vessel. A Lynx helicopter provided covering fire as the commandos stormed the ship.

The Koreans were assisted by a U.S. carrier, which also provided a helicopter to transfer the wounded Korean skipper.

The military said the Jan. 21 rescue followed a brief gunbattle Jan. 18, when the destroyer encountered pirates who had apparently left the South Korean freighter to try to seize a nearby Mongolian vessel.

The South Korean commandos aboard a speedboat and a Lynx helicopter were dispatched to rescue the Mongolian ship.

That firefight left several pirates missing and thought killed, although their bodies have not been found, a JCS spokesmen said. Three commandos were slightly hurt.

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan broke the news at a New Year's reception Jan. 21 for the heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Seoul, bringing applause and cheers from the ambassadors, a foreign ministry official said.

The captured five pirates could be brought to South Korea or third countries for punishment, he said.
....
In 2008 the French military became the first to respond militarily to piracy in the region, when marines raided the yacht Carre d'As and freed two hostages being held by seven Somali pirates. One pirate was killed and the other six captured.
....

____________________________________

* See also

Yonhap News

S. Korean Navy frees hijacked cargo ship, kills 8 Somali pirates

Jan. 21, 2011

Yonhap News
Lee praises Korean troops for 'perfect' raid on Somali pirates
2011/01/21 16:33 KST
By Lee Chi-dong

Yonhap News
Timeline of rescue operation on hijacked South Korean ship
2011/01/21 15:28 KST

Text Fwd: Tunisian Protests Move Hillary's Line on Democratic Reform

* Image source: same as the link

Protest outside Tunisian Embassy, January 14, 2011. (Photo: Collin David Anderson)

* Just Foreign Policy News, Jan. 17, 2011
Truth Out
Tunisian Protests Move Hillary's Line on Democratic Reform
Sunday 16 January 2011

Back in 1969, when Secretary of State Clinton was researching her senior thesis at Wellesley on Chicago community organizer Saul Alinsky, she likely come across this saying of Alinksy's, which you can find in his book"Rules for Radicals":

Revolution by the Have-Nots has a way of inducing a moral revelation among the Haves.

Thursday, Secretary Clinton delivered what the New York Times called a "scalding critique" to Arab leaders at a conference in Qatar."The region's foundations are sinking into the sand," Clinton said, calling for "political reforms that will create the space young people are demanding, to participate in public affairs and have a meaningful role in the decisions that shape their lives." Those who would "prey on desperation and poverty are already out there," Clinton warned, "appealing for allegiance and competing for influence."

As Secretary Clinton made her remarks, the Times noted, "unrest in Tunisia that threatened its government while serving to buttress her arguments" was among the events that "echoed loudly in the background."

Friday, Tunisian president Ben Ali reportedly fled the country, and the Tunisian prime minister says he is now in charge.

Popular protest can bring down the government in an Arab country. Who knew?

It's a whole new ball game, as they say in Chicago. You think Friday's events in Tunisia are going to affect conversations in Algeria and Egypt? Maybe even in Haiti? I think they will. So does AP:

The shakeup was certain to have repercussions in the Arab world and beyond - as a sign that even a leader as entrenched and powerful as Ben Ali could be brought down by massive public outrage.

Could Secretary of State Clinton's remarks in Qatar presage a shift in US policy? It's not impossible to imagine. After all, Clinton's senior thesis pointed to the idea that there's another path to reform besides revolution in the street. Leaders can anticipate. You don't have to wait until protesters are at the gate. You could take the long view.

Today, US policy in Haiti stands at a fork in the road.

READ MORE

_____________________________________________
See also
Reuters
Tunisia puts focus on West-Arab security ties
William Maclean, Reuters, Sun, Jan 16 2011

NPR
Tunisia Forms New Government Amid Protests
NPR, January 17, 2011

Washington Post
Clinton urges reforms by new Tunisian govt
Associated Press, Monday, January 17, 2011; 7:15 AM
__________________________________________

Text Fwd: CPD: Solidarity with the People of Tunisia!

* Joanne Landy-Campaign for Peace & Democracy

We Support the Democratic Revolution in Tunisia
Statement by the Campaign for Peace and Democracy
January 16, 2011

We express our solidarity with the Tunisian people in their struggle against a repressive and corrupt regime.

Unemployed youth, students, trade unionists, lawyers, and the full range of opposition parties, in the cities and in the rural areas, have taken to the streets and – for the first time in the Arab world -- ousted a dictator.

Tunisia has always had just the façade of democracy. Its ruling party won every seat in the parliament in 1989, and every directly elected seat in the 1994, 1999, and 2004 elections. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had been in office since 1987, when he deposed the previous autocrat, Habib Bourguiba. Ben Ali abolished the position of “president for life,” but then ran unopposed for president in 1989 and 1994, and got 99.44 percent of the vote in 1999, 94.5 percent in 2004, and, running against three opponents, 89.6 percent in 2009.

“There were significant limitations on citizens' right to change their government. Local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that security forces tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees and arbitrarily arrested and detained individuals. Security forces acted with impunity, sanctioned by high-ranking officials. There were also reports of lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention. Government imposition of severe restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, and association worsened in the lead-up to the October [2009] elections. The government remained intolerant of public criticism, and there were widespread reports that it used intimidation, criminal investigations, the judicial system, arbitrary arrests, residential restrictions, and travel controls to discourage criticism.”

Tunisia ranked number 154 out of 173 countries in the 2009 Reporters Without Borders list of World Press Freedom rankings, down from 143 in the previous year. OpenNet Initiative found that the Tunisian government engaged in “pervasive” filtering of political and social internet sites, using U.S.-made software.

Corruption by the president and his inner circle was notorious. The U.S. Embassy reported, in a cable released by WikiLeaks, that “one Tunisian lamented that Tunisia was no longer a police state, it had become a state run by the mafia.” Commented the U.S. Ambassador in a secret cable: “Whether it's cash, services, land, property, or yes, even your yacht, President Ben Ali's family is rumored to covet it and reportedly gets what it wants.”

While political insiders have been living in luxury, life is hard for the vast majority of Tunisians. In 2005 46 percent of young college graduates did not have a job 18 months after graduation; nearly 50 percent of Masters graduates and graduates with advanced technician diplomas were unemployed. And in response to pressure from the IMF and the World Bank, government subsidies continue to be reduced or eliminated from food and gasoline, squeezing even those who have jobs.

Despite Tunisia’s record of repression, Washington has long had “very good relations” (in the words of the State Department’s Background notes) with the country. The two nations have “an active schedule of joint military exercises.” Tunisia is one of only five countries (the others being Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Colombia) that receive direct U.S. military aid. In fact, as recently as December 2010, when the uprising against Ben Ali was already building, Congress authorized $12 million in “security assistance” to the Ben Ali dictatorship.

On January 11 of this year, as demonstrations raged in the country and the regime responded with lethal repression, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that the United States “was not taking sides.” And the French foreign minister suggested that French police forces could help police in Tunisia "appease the situation through law enforcement techniques." Only after Ben Ali fled the country did the White House, on January 14, finally condemn the violence against peaceful demonstrators. Until then, support of the Tunisian government was justified on the grounds that it was a “partner against terrorism” and a “moderate” Arab voice that did not join the Arab consensus against Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

We call on Washington and Paris, the two major props of the regime, to keep their hands off Tunisia, allowing the Tunisian people to establish a society that provides full democratic rights and social justice. We demand that the Tunisian security forces end all acts of repression, and we oppose any sort of military takeover. There must be no interference with the right of Tunisians to create a new civilian government through free and fair elections involving all political parties. In addition, we call for an end to IMF/World Bank pressure on Tunisia to reduce food and gasoline subsidies. Such policies are typically characterized by the U.S. as “reforms,” but they only deepen the misery of the Tunisian people.

Whether the toppling of the dictator will lead to fundamental changes in Tunisia remains to be seen. But there is no doubt that U.S.-backed autocrats throughout the Middle East ought to be very worried. May this be an inspiration for people seeking real democracy everywhere, from Egypt to Jordan to Saudi Arabia … to the United States.

This statement will be posted on the Campaign for Peace and Democracy website this evening, January 16.

Campaign for Peace and Democracy
2790 Broadway, #12 New York, NY 10025

Text Fwd: [Rick Rozoff] Militarization Of Energy Policy: U.S. AFRICOM And Gulf Of Guinea

Rick Rozoff blog

Stop NATO
January 8, 2011
Militarization Of Energy Policy: U.S. Africa Command And Gulf Of Guinea
Rick Rozoff


At the beginning of the century, while the United States was still embroiled in military interventions in the Balkans and had launched what would become the longest war in its history in Afghanistan with the invasion of Iraq to follow, it was also laying the groundwork for subordinating the African continent to a new military command.

With 4.5 percent of the world's population, the U.S. accounts for approximately 30 percent of crude oil consumption. Although the world's third largest producer of crude, it imports over 60 percent of what it consumes (12.4 of 20.7 million barrels it uses daily). A decade ago 15 percent of those imports came from the Gulf of Guinea region on Africa's Atlantic Ocean coast, mainly from Nigeria, and it is projected that the proportion will increase to 25 percent in the next four years.

The National Energy Policy Report issued by the Office of Vice President Richard Cheney on May 16, 2001 stated: "West Africa is expected to be one of the fastest-growing sources of oil and gas for the American market. African oil tends to be of high quality and low in sulfur...giving it a growing market share for refining centers on the East Coast of the U.S."

The following year, the Washington, D.C.-based African Oil Policy Initiative Group conducted a symposium entitled “African Oil: A Priority for U. S. National Security and African Development,” with the participation of American legislators, policy advisers, the private sector and representatives of the State Department and Defense Department, at which Congressman William Jefferson said:

"African oil should be treated as a priority for U.S. national security post 9-11. I think that...post 9-11 it's occurred to all of us that our traditional sources of oil are not as secure as we thought they were."

As is customary in regards to American foreign policy objectives, the Pentagon was charged with taking responsibility. It immediately went to work on undertaking three initiatives to implement U.S. energy strategy in the Gulf of Guinea: U.S. Africa Command, the first overseas military command inaugurated since 1983. The U.S. Navy's Africa Partnership Station as what has developed into the major component of the Global Fleet Station, linked with worldwide maritime operations like the 1,000-ship navy and the Proliferation Security Initiative and piloted in the area of responsibility of U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Fourth Fleet reactivated in 2008: The Caribbean Sea and Central and South America. The NATO Response Force designed for rapid multi-service (army, air force, navy and marine) deployments outside of the bloc's North American-European area of responsibility.

In recent weeks Ghana joined the ranks of African oil producers, pumping crude oil for the first time from an offshore field in the Gulf of Guinea.

"The Jubilee oil field, discovered three years ago, holds an estimated 1.8 billion barrels of oil, and will begin producing around 55,000 barrels per day in the coming weeks. Oil production is expected, however, to rise to about 120,000 barrels over the next six months, making the country Africa's seventh largest oil producer." [1]

The Ghanaian oil exploitation is run by a consortium led by Tullow Oil plc, which is based in London and has 85 contracts in 22 countries.

READ MORE

Video & Text Fwd: OIL DIVISION INSIDE SUDAN

Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
OIL DIVISION INSIDE SUDAN


On January 9, 2011 the people of Southern Sudan will decide by referendum whether or not to separate from Sudan and form a new, independent nation.

Sudan's North and South have already fought 37 years of civil war that devastated the country and took the lives of 2.5 million Sudanese.

Differences of race, tribe and religion, as well as exploitation of the South's natural resources and unequal development are all major grievances driving Southerners to choose separation from their Northern brothers.

However the Sudanese are also deeply linked by culture, blood and geography, whether they acknowledge it or not.

Filmmaker May Ying Welsh journeyed down the Nile to try and understand the tensions that exist - not only between North and South - but also between the peoples of what may soon be Africa's newest country.

Watch as the Nile current sweeps a nation toward its destiny.

Video Fwd: CLIMATE CHANGE WATCH: FLOODS DEVASTATE BENIN 기후 변화 감시: 홍수는 아프리카 베닌을 황폐화시킴

Bruce Gagnon blog
Friday, October 29, 2010
CLIMATE CHANGE WATCH: FLOODS DEVASTATE BENIN



West Africa is reeling from severe flooding following heavy rain. Hundreds of people are known to have died. Worst affected is the tiny nation of Benin, where the receding waters are revealing the true extent of the damage. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull has our exclusive report.

Instead of increased global militarism we should be marshaling the world to deal with our real coming crisis - climate change.

Text Fw: Japan's First Overseas Base Aims At Expanding Military Boundaries

* Text informed by Stop NATO on April 29, 2010

Xinhua News Agency
April 28, 2010
Japan's first overseas base aimed at expanding military boundaries
Yu Zhixiao

BEIJING: Japan is building its first overseas military base in Africa's Djibouti
on the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to probe what waters its military can legally
reach farthest, analysts say.

In the name of better combating notorious Somali pirates, Japan is busy setting
up a 40-million-U.S.-dollar military base, which is expected to be completed
early next year.

Currently, some 150 Japanese soldiers battling piracy are stationed in a U.S.
base in Djibouti, which is at the southern end of the Red Sea.

The Japanese authorities say some 2,000 Japanese vessels, accounting for 10
percent of the world total, sail through the Gulf of Aden each year. Some 90
percent of Japanese exports rely on the crucial sea lane, which has been overrun
by rampant piracy.

On occasion, Japanese vessels have been hijacked by pirates.

The Japanese base, undeniably, would add momentum to the country's anti-piracy
efforts in the region.

But observers say that by establishing the base, the Japanese government is also
exploring how far it can go in increasing its military clout in the world.

According to the Peace Constitution ratified in 1947 after World War II, Japan,
to abstain from waging war, couldn't have a standing army and its warships
couldn't operate overseas.

But in October 2001, soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Japanese
lawmakers approved the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law, which allowed the
dispatch of Japanese warships and soldiers overseas.

Moreover, in July 2009, Japanese lawmakers passed the Anti-Piracy Law, which
provided Japanese self-defense forces with more mobility to use military power.
It also stipulated that the Japanese prime minister could send troops overseas
to conduct "anti-piracy" operations without approval of the parliament.

The base in Djibouti is Japan's latest effort to increase its military influence
in the world, analysts say.

Many countries are watching closely, and hope the base can play a constructive
role in cracking down on Somali pirates and contribute to regional peace and
stability.
===========================
Stop NATO
Blog site

Text Fw: Statement of the Pan-Island Committee upon the Visit by the Defense Minister, ROK

* Below is the arbitrary translation of the linked article

김태영 국방부 장관의 강정방문 관련 제주군사기지범대위 성명

Statement of the Pan-Island Committee against the Jeju Military Base,
Related to the Visit to Gangjeong by
Kim Tae-Young, Minister of National Defense

Jeju Solidarity for Participatory Self-Government & Environmental Preservation
2010년 3월 22일
March 22, 2010

1. 김태영 국방부장관이 제주해군기지 건설과 관련, 지난 20일 강정을 방문하였다. 우선, 지난 과정에서 강정 주민들이 국방부 장관의 면담을 지속적으로 요구해 왔음에도, 기지건설 착공을 위한 행정절차가 모두 끝난 지금에서야 강정주민들과의 대화에 나선 것은 누가 봐도 기지건설의 정당성을 세우기 위한 명분 쌓기용에 지나지 않는다. 더구나 행정법원에 계류 중인 소송의 결론이 멀지 않은 시점에서 이의 의혹은 더욱 짙어진다.

1. Minister of National Defense, Kim Tae-Young, visited the Gangjeong village last 20th, related to the Jeju naval base construction. First of all, for anyone’s looking, it is nothing but for the cause to build the justification for the base construction that he only now entered the talks with the Gangjeong villagers, after all the administrative procedures to set up the naval base construction have been finished, even though the Gangjeong villagers had continuously demanded the talks with the Minister of National Defense during last processes. Furthermore, in the sense of timing that the conclusion of lawsuit that is being moored in the administrative court, would come in sooner or later, the suspicion [on his visit now] grows bigger.

2. 김태영 국방부 장관은 강정주민 대표들과의 면담 과정에서 해군기지 건설이 제주도에도 굉장히 많은 득이 된다면서 하와이 사례와 국내 평택, 동해, 부산등의 사례를 들어 제주에 부를 가져다 줄 것이라고 하였다.

2. Kim Tae-Young, Minister of National Defense, saying during his talks with the representatives of Gangjeong villagers, “The naval base construction would be the tremendous advantage in the Jeju Island, ” claimed that it would bring the prosperity to Jeju, taking examples of Hawaii, and Pyeongteak, Donghae, & Busan in the domestic.

그러나 이는 지난 2007년 국내 해군기지 조사 과정에서 국내 해군기지 소재지역의 경제상황이 어떤지 이미 드러난 바 있다. 당시, 제주도 당국의 공식 조사결과에 의해 밝혀진 자료에 따르면, 2007년 기준 과거 10년 동안의 해군기지 소재지역 경제지표는 한 마디로 해군기지 건설로 오히려 경제상황이 ‘나빠졌다’는 것이다. 하나 같이 부동산 가격이 하락하고, 거래가 줄어들고, 인구감소는 물론, 해군기지 직접 입지 지역은 날로 공동화가 심화되고 있는 것이 경제지표와 현장조사로서 이미 드러난 바 있다. 그럼에도 어떤 근거로 제주기지가 제주에 “굉장한 득”이 되는지 이해가 되지 않는다.

However, the economic situations in the domestic naval base locations, have been revealed out , during the research process on the domestic naval bases, last 2007. According to the materials announced following the official results by the authority of the Jeju Island Self- Governing Island, the economic indexes in the naval base located regions were said to indicate that the economic situations had been in a word, rather ‘worse’, by the naval base construction. The facts such as- the real estate price became to go down; the trade became to be reduced; and not to mention the population decrement, the hollowness in the directly naval base located areas had been deepen- in every naval base located area, were proven out through the economic indexes
and site researches. Mentioning above facts, we cannot understand how the Jeju naval base could be the “tremendous advantage” to Jeju.

3. 또한, 김태영 장관은 해군기지가 결코 자연 파괴가 아니라면서, 오히려 ‘창조적 건설’임을 강조했다. 김태영 장관은 해군기지는 ‘자연과 어우러지는 인공적인 부분’임을 내세우면서, 이를 아프리카 밀림에 빗대어 표현했다. 즉, 아프리카는 밀림 자연만 있고, “무식하게 뛰어다니는 흑인만 있을 뿐” “그게 관광명소”냐는 발언을 서슴치 않았다.

3. Minister Kim Tae-Young, saying the naval base is never the destruction of the nature, emphasized that it is rather a “creative construction.” Minister Kim Tae-Young saying the naval base is “ the artificial part in harmony with nature,” expressed it in comparison to the African jungle. To say again, he did not bother to say, there is only jungle nature in Africa, and “only the black people who ignorantly run” and “Is it (*indicates ‘African jungle’) the tourism
sight?”

이는 매우 심각한 발언이다. 일국의 장관이 아프리카의 사람들을 ‘무식하게 뛰어다니는 흑인’인라는 표현으로 인종차별적 발언을 아무런 거리낌없이 했다는 것 자체도 심각하지만, 마치 제주의 대표경관인 강정이 천연의 아름다움 만으로는 아프리카의 그런 모습과 다르지 않다는 뉘앙스다. 그리고 해군기지가 이를 관광명소로 만드는 ‘자연과 어우러지는 인공물’이 된다는 식이다.

It is very seriously [problematic] remarks. Not only the fact that a minister in a nation has done such racial discrimination remarks without any hesitation is serious but also it is serous that his was with nuance that the Gangjeong, that is a representative sight of Jeju, was not different from those appearances of Africa, only with its natural beauty. And his is the way of thinking that the naval base would be the ‘artificial structure in harmony with nature’ that makes itself as the tourism sight.

이는 제주의 대표경관지이자 천혜의 생태계 지역인 강정마을과 주민들을 사실상 비하하는 것에 다름 아니다. 김태영 국방부 장관은 이에 대해, 분명한 해명과 더불어 도민 앞에 사과해야 할 것이다.

That is nothing but the remarks that, in fact, disparage the Gangjeong village, the Jeju’s representing sight and blessed ecology region, and Gangjeong villagers. Kim Tae Young, the Minister of National Defense should apologize to the Island people, with the clear explanation on his [remarks].

4. 마지막으로, 김태영 장관은 제주 해군기지 문제를 둘러싼 실상을 제대로 파악이나 하고 있는지 묻고 싶다. 강정 주민대표와의 대화 과정에서, 김장관은 “여러분들이 주민들을 잘못 오도하는 것이다”라고 하였다. 그러면서 “많은 강정주민들이 동의하는 걸로 알고 있다”고 하는 등 여전히 3년 동안의 강정주민들의 반대투쟁의 이유와 의지를 제대로 파악하지 못하는 듯 하다.

4. Finally, we want to ask whether Kim Tae-Young, the Minister of National Defense is rightly grasping the realities surrounding Jeju naval base issue. During the process of talks with the representatives of Gangjeong villagers, the Minister Kim said that, “ You are misleading the villagers.” Seeing his remarks following it, that, “I was informed that many Gangjeong villagers agree with [the naval base construction] ”, it seems that he is not still rightly grasping the
reason of why the villagers have opposed and struggled against the naval base, and of their will [to fight for it.]

김장관의 말대로, 많은 강정주민들이 동의한다면, 강정 주민대표들이 요구하는 주민투표를 수용하지 못할 이유가 어디 있는가? 오히려 당당히 주민투표 요구를 수용한다면, 훨씬 해군기지 건설의 정당성에 유리할 텐데, 많은 주민들이 동의한다고 하면서 정작 주민투표 요구는 받아들이지 못하는 장관의 태도는 결코 신뢰할 수 없는 것이다.

If the remarks of the Minister Kim that many Gangjeong villagers agree with it, [is fact], why doesn't he accept the villagers’ vote that the Gangjeong villagers’ representatives’ demand? If he rather accept the demand of the villagers’ vote, it should be much more propitious to the justification of the naval base construction. The attitude of Minister Kim that, while he is saying many villagers agree with the naval base, but does not embrace villagers’ demand for vote, can never be trusted.