Sunday, June 12, 2011

Africom

Camp Lemonnier, is a former French foreign legion base and it is now the only US military base in Africa. It is the de facto headquarters of the US African Command, (official site) which however remains officially headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. It seems that Africom has a vision for Africa which nobody else has.

The way I understand it, Africa is divided into 7 regions:
1) Southern Africa, headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana, which I previously posted about
2) West Africa (ECOWAS), headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria, previously posted
3) Central Africa, headquartered in Libreville, Gabon
4) East Africa, headquartered in Arusha, Tanzania
5) Arab Maghreb Union, headquartered in Rabat, Morocco
6) Horn of Africa/IGAD, including Kenya and Sudan, headquartered in Djibouti
7) Egypt, which is in a class of its own

Here is an alternative point of view: New Colonialism: Pentagon Carves Africa Into Military Zones. "The U.S. is not dragging almost every nation in Africa into its military network because of altruism or concerns for the security of the continent’s people. AFRICOM’s function is that of every predatory military power: The threat and use of armed violence to gain economic and geopolitical advantages."

Libya has been hostile to Africom and the US/NATO activities there could be an attempt to establish bases in Africa.

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Update: There is some Africom presence at Cap Draa, Morocco. Also at Camp Simba, Manda Bay, Kenya.

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