The Americans Have Landed (Africa)

Esquire ^ | June 27, 2007 | Thomas P.M. Barnett

[RDTF]

A few years ago, with little fanfare, the United States opened a base in the horn of Africa to kill or capture Al Qaeda fighters. By 2012, the Pentagon will have two dozen such forts. The story of Africa Command, the American military's new frontier outpost.

The word came down suddenly in early January to the fifty or so U.S. troops stationed inside Camp Simba, a Kenyan naval base located on that country's sandy coast: Drop everything and pull everyone back inside the compound wire. Then they were instructed to immediately clear a couple acres of dense forest. Task Force 88, a very secret American special-operations unit, needed to land three CH-53 helicopters.

"We had everybody working nonstop," says Navy Lieutenant Commander Steve Eron, commander of Contingency Operating Location Manda Bay, a new American base in Kenya, including a dozen or so on-site KBR contractors. By the next day, every tree had been hauled off and the field graded and packed down using heavy machinery. The pad was completed in thirty-six hours.

Soon after, U.S. special operators flying out of Manda Bay were landing in southernmost Somalia, searching for survivors among the foreign fighters and Al Qaeda operatives just targeted in a furious bombardment by a U.S. gunship launched from a secret airstrip in eastern Ethiopia.

The 88's job was simple: Kill anyone still alive and leave no unidentified bodies behind.

A few weeks later, the president would announce the creation of a new regional command -- Africa Command -- that would commit U.S. military personnel to the continent on a permanent basis. The January operation would be, in effect, the first combat mission of Africa Command, and it would not go as planned.

-snip-

[Asclepius]

Task Force 88, a very secret American special-operations unit, needed to land three CH-53 helicopters.

Sssshhhhhh. Don't tell anyone, 'kay? It's a secret.

[finnman69]

http://local.live.com/?v=2&style=a&lvl=12&cp=-2.223202~40.967299&sp=aN.-2.223202_40.967299_%20Manda%20Bay%20-%20Kenya%20___

[RDTF]

NY Times leaks mentioned in article

[RDTF]

ping

[Edgerunner]

Typical liberal mindset: anything to thwart the Republicans, even if it endangers themselves. “Ve vill sacrifice ourselves to the cause!”

[SevenMinusOne]

Worth the read - Sans the BS between the lines -

[Frank_2001]

“Sssshhhhhh. Don’t tell anyone, ‘kay? It’s a secret.”

Don’t worry about it at all. This is Free Republic and we have very high standards!;)

[PsyOp]

The plan was to rinse and repeat "until no more bad guys," as one officer put it.

Sounds like a plan we should implement on a hemispheric scale.

[af_vet_rr]

Sssshhhhhh. Don't tell anyone, 'kay? It's a secret.

Chances are this was leaked deliberately by the military to see if they generate any unusual movement in that area. It's used a lot in Iraq - we'll "leak" (announce) that we are going to do something, when in fact we have all of the assets in place, and the "leak" will be released, in the hopes of putting the bad guys on the move to help us find them.

[flowerplough]

Kill two birds with one stone, or frag two lieutenants with one grenade? Perhaps the chance to serve inside Mother Africa will induce more blacks to volunteer...

[thegreatbeast]

Snarky but interesting.

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks for the ping on this one. Most interesting. I believe at this point, CENTCOM's establishment of the new structure within SOCOM has given it rather broad immunity from people from State.
Hopefully in future operations they will be able to perform their missions without having the DOS breathing down their backs.

[SunkenCiv]

‘Swede dead’ after US strike in Somalia
The Local | June 3 | James Savage
Posted on 06/04/2007 2:17:34 AM EDT by Bushwacker777
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1844366/posts
10 posted on 06/04/2007 2:35:57 AM EDT by Thinkin’ Gal
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1844366/posts?page=10#10

US preparing air-strikes against Al-Qaeda in Somalia: official
Turkish Press | June 12, 2007
Posted on 06/12/2007 3:48:18 PM EDT by Stoat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1849082/posts