H13013
Headlines : InternationalAfrica still trying to raise Somalia force
At the opening of the summit on Monday, AU commission chief Alpha Oumar Konare urged the leaders to raise more troops, saying hardly 4,000 had been pledged so far and warning of chaos if the force was not deployed.
But despite extensive discussions at the summit, the number firmly committed appears not to have increased, although pledges of logistical support have been made.
[Posted By Agustina]Republished from Reuters
ADDIS ABABA, Jan 31 (Reuters) – An African summit ended on Wednesday with a proposed peacekeeping force for Somalia still lacking firm commitments for thousands of troops, despite fears the country could plunge back into anarchy.
Much of the second day of the African Union (AU) summit was dominated by discussions on the need to urgently raise 8,000 troops for Somalia.
The force is required to fill a vacuum when Ethiopian troops pull out soon, after ousting Islamists who ruled much of the Horn of Africa country for six months.
But Ghana’s President John Kufuor, the new AU chairman, told a late-night final news conference after Tuesday’s session that the number of troops firmly pledged so far was only 4,000, with other countries still mulling contributions.
Posted by Agustina
Sun Tzu says among many things that sending troops out of one’s country leaves it weakened to enemies from within … many fear coups.
What they really don’t want to do is give the impression that they’re a US proxy. On top of that? Africa is exhausted by the resource wars fomented by predatory capitalist adventurism.
OPEN QUOTE
South Africa is one of the prime candidates for contributing to a peacekeeping force. But President Thabo Mbeki has publicly expressed his concern about the US air raids on southern Somalia. The attacks, he pointed out, had claimed the lives of innocent civilians and would provide no solution for the tribal and political conflicts in the region. Somalis, he said, believed that the US bombing was in revenge for the deaths of 18 US soldiers in the Black Hawk Down incident in 1993.
Mbeki insisted that African countries must provide peacekeeping troops, but when Kenyan Foreign Minister Raphael Tuju approached South Africa for help, Mbeki initially prevaricated. It was left to Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad to say that South Africa would not send troops to Somalia. An anonymous South African official told the Mail and Guardian that the government was unwilling to send troops because it did not want to be seen as fighting the war on terror on behalf of the US.
END OF QUOTE
Clearly the Bush Administration has figured this out.
Africa to Get Its Own US Military Command (Jim Lobe @ antiwar.com)
Particularly given their failure to subject the Middle East. Latin America has too much limelight. Africa’s next on the list for Plunder Thunder.
Here’s a nice map, granted circa 2000, of Africa. The yellow parts are chronic malnutrition (I’m telling you this because it’s a French map) the red cross hatching is famine, the red stars are conflict zones of the 90s and the green circles indicate large refugee populations.
And here’s an incredibly fabulous map of Africa’s resources and where the US and France currently have military installations. The little yellow squares are all the places the MIC has pulled their “Al Qaida” gig.
If you go to Reuters to read the piece, don’t miss the photos of MEND and their Philippine hostages. Speaking of coups. Nigeria’s sending troops. Given that the US and Europe are such important patrons.
We’re rooting for you guys.
Here’s Condi, a little over a year ago, talking about where she’s going to get the troops — or not, as the case may be.