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U.S. to Expand Role in Africa
Wall Street Journal ^ | Updated January 29, 2013, 6:58 a.m. ET | ADAM ENTOUS and SIOBHAN GORMAN

Posted on 01/29/2013 6:44:52 AM PST by Pan_Yan

Military Pact With Niger Brings American Forces Closer to Conflict in Mali.

The U.S. signed an agreement Monday with the West African country of Niger that clears the way for a stepped-up American military presence on the edges of the conflict in neighboring Mali.

The U.S. and France are moving to create an intelligence hub in Niger that could include a base, near Mali's border, for American drones that could monitor al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali's vast desert north, U.S. officials said.

The moves show the extent to which the U.S. and France are girding for what could be an open-ended campaign against the militants in North and West Africa.

U.S. and French officials said they see Niger as a logical hub for intelligence-collection operations nearby in Mali, where France has deployed warplanes and ground troops to drive Islamist militants from cities and towns they have held for months. War planners say small air strips in Niger could be used as launching pads for spy missions and strikes.

...

The Pentagon has small numbers of personnel and equipment scattered across Africa. The largest concentration is at Camp Lemonnier, a French-U.S. base in Djibouti, used to launch drone strikes in Yemen. The base is the headquarters for a task force of 2,000 Americans.

In addition to the U.S. personnel now in Niger, about 100 were sent to the region last year to help in the hunt for the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel militia in central Africa. Africom is based in Germany, and has personnel on the continent at regional African organizations, such as the African Union.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: africa; africom; cowpeas; dronebase; drones; incrementalism; lra; mali; maliwar; niger; nigerdronebase; nigerflap; oil; protectiondoctrine; troopdeployments; troops; uranium; yellowcake
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To: USAF80
AFRICOM, Africa Command is based out of Florida. They were in the news a few weeks ago.

CENTCOM is out of McDill (Tampa, FL)....AFRICOM is out of Stuttgart, Germany....forward elements in Task Force HOA are in Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti IIRC. 2008-09 info though....no damn telling what Obummer has done.

21 posted on 01/29/2013 10:03:20 AM PST by DCBryan1 (Dear Congress Critter: Help create jobs and support RKBA by repealing 18 USC 922 (o).)
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Liberal Wag The Dog, part deux
22 posted on 01/29/2013 10:23:10 AM PST by llevrok (Unlike Obama, at least Nero could play a fiddle.)
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To: Ax

I used to travel a lot for business in the 70s & 80s, but that’s one continent I’ve never visited. I can’t even imagine.


23 posted on 01/29/2013 10:26:00 AM PST by Carriage Hill (AR-10s & AR-15s are the 21st Century's Muskets. The 2nd Amendment is the First Human Right.)
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To: GraceG

Indeed not one word from the bloody whining liberals.


24 posted on 01/29/2013 10:28:43 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: Pan_Yan

There isnt one square inch of that landmass that is worth even talking to. The lower 1/4th, 40 years ago, had potential, but now you can forget the whole place.


25 posted on 01/29/2013 10:57:47 AM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: DCBryan1

Correct, Africa was split between two commands and one was CENTCOM.


26 posted on 01/29/2013 11:01:20 AM PST by USAF80
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To: Pan_Yan

Mission creep. He gives away the ME and then wants to spend our blood and treasure in Africa?

The Chinese at least get paid.


27 posted on 01/29/2013 2:04:53 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: carriage_hill

There are some really great places in Africa - or at least there were. Top of my list is Rhodesia. I was there after they got independence, and we see how well Zimbabwe is doing. South Africa was great, as well. Today, not so much. All in all, it was a great adventure and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.


28 posted on 01/29/2013 4:10:54 PM PST by Ax
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To: Ax

One of m-y former employees’ husband was from S. Africa; his family is still there, but he came to US and got married. They were just back on family visit, and said it was still nice. I thought it had turned into a racial hellhole. They say not so where his family lives.


29 posted on 01/29/2013 5:03:39 PM PST by Carriage Hill (AR-10s & AR-15s are the 21st Century's Muskets. The 2nd Amendment is the First Human Right.)
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To: carriage_hill

I passed through Jo’burg and Pretoria a few times. There are some really nice parts to both cities. From the air, the plethora o’ swimming pools in Jo’burg was astounding.


30 posted on 01/29/2013 5:36:41 PM PST by Ax
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To: Pan_Yan

This is a racist article! They should be ashamed using the “N-word” like that!


31 posted on 01/29/2013 6:07:56 PM PST by Terry Mross (How long does America have?)
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To: Ax

Jo’burg is where the heavily-fortified 500ac family estate it.


32 posted on 01/29/2013 6:25:03 PM PST by Carriage Hill (AR-10s & AR-15s are the 21st Century's Muskets. The 2nd Amendment is the First Human Right.)
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To: carriage_hill

Nice work, if you can get it....


33 posted on 01/29/2013 6:40:36 PM PST by Ax
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To: Cindy

Niger becoming our new drone base amid a seething mass of al Qaeda forces across Africa is interesting given that we were assured so many years ago by former Ambassador to Gabon Joe Wilson that Niger was too secure to interest anyone, particularly Iraq or other yellowcake uranium-seeking folks.


34 posted on 02/16/2013 1:23:51 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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