Posted on 10/02/2020 7:27:50 PM PDT by BeauBo
Defense Secretary Mark Esper met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune today in the first visit of a Pentagon chief to the North African country since 2006.
It was also the highest-level US diplomatic meeting with the new Algerian president since longtime ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted amid popular protests last year.
The meeting came a day after Esper signed a 10-year road map for defense cooperation agreement with Tunisia's defense minister and one day before an expected stop in Morocco. The trip is the latest sign that the United States sees strategic opportunity in bolstering its partnerships in North Africa amid concerns in Washington over Russia's and China’s growing influence in the region.
“Today, our strategic competitors China and Russia continue to intimidate and coerce their neighbors while expanding their authoritarian influence worldwide, including on this continent,” Esper said during a ceremony in Carthage on Wednesday.
“At the same time, violent extremists continue to pose a threat not only to regional stability, but also to our homelands. The United States’ enduring partnership with like-minded countries — including here in North Africa — is key to addressing these challenges.”
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
I am guessing that this Defense agreement (arms sales, training) is part of a bigger regional deal, which includes Peace agreements/recognition of Israel, countering China/Russia/Islamic Extremists, and economic development.
Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco on this trip.
This should make the French happy. We can have our very own foreign legion! Oxy attempt to sell Algerian based assets to a French concern were nixed.
The long term dictator (Bouteflika) was overthrown in Algeria, and they seem to be moving in a better direction.
Lot’s of French citizens with Algerian roots, lots of Coastline directly across the Sea from France.
Also, a lot of border with Libya (and its oil - on and off-shore), which is up for grabs, with Turkey, Russia and remnants of ISIS all fighting there.
Algeria. France went through hell there. Now we have decided to be best buddies with another moslem money pit where we get nothing in return.
I heard on the radio today that Esper OK’d a deal where Hewlet Packard (offshore IT, china manufacture) will oversee US Nuclear systems. I haven’t found a news link but hearing it sickened me.
Whoa! That’s huge! Maybe he’s trying to get Carly Fiorina to run the programs! /s
One possibility alluded to, is that they (Algeria) might play a role in the conflict in Libya.
They have been heavy spenders on Military gear for a long time, and they have customers of Russia. US firms might get that business in the future.
Also, they could provide Intelligence assets and logistics basing to support counter-terrorism missions along their huge borders with Mali and Niger, as well as Libya.
Even just preventing them from becoming a Russian or Chinese asset has value.
Aren’t the youths that burn cars in Paris every year from Algeria?
In 1991 I went to AF school and there were stinky Algerian officers everywhere. The instructors had to kick them out of class because they would not bathe. How do you say “Soap and Water” in Algerian?
The war in Libya is retarded and we are on the wrong side. Libya is where we switched sides on GWOT and literally started flying top cover for black flag waving AQ. That Hillary operation lead to the CIA Benghazi operation where they were gathering weapons, shipping them to Turkey and providing them to Syrian rebels (AKA, ISIS..).
The hellscape of Libya lead to a flood of millions pouring into the EU.
If Algeria plays a role in the conflict, it will spread the battlefield to Algeria.
The grand neocon game has screwed up North Africa and Syria beyond belief. We don’t need to conquer more of Africa.
No American really cares about Algeria. And our record in North Africa is one of utter destruction and empowering the worst moslems in those places.
“There were stinky Algerian officers everywhere”
That’s just part of their tactics.
They call it The BO Maneuver.
Turkey is supporting the islamist side (GNA), and has committed their own troops and a lot of hardware, as well as paying for a bunch of International jihadi mercenaries. Turkey wants concessions from a Libyan puppet Government, for Libya's off-shore oil and gas.
Yet another great specter hangs over North Africa as well:
Algeria’s new government is reformist, anti-terrorist, and pro-Western. They have oil and gas and a need for investment and for technology and security assistance. We have what they need, and they have the resources to pay. So why not make a series of mutually beneficial deals?
Keeping China out would be good. But our Generals support the GNA. I don’t want us building alliances to support the GNA. Egypt is on the right side.
Bush got Khadaffy to give up WMDs voluntarily. This is a democrat disaster that we should not further by supporting the globalist GNA.
Because right now we would need around 24 trillion dollars just to say we were flat broke, we are in the middle of a color revolution, we have riots in the streets, we have several areas of the country that are completely outside rule of law and the political structure supports the street terrorists, AND play with a turd, get crap on your fingers.
Everywhere we form an alliance and jump into the local action, we soon get a mess of immigration from there. Think of Vietnam, Central America, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Ukraine, etc. I would rather not get treated to a wave of Algerians coming to America. The Vietnamese immigrants are the only ones who turned out to be worth a damn.
I get all that. But we got guns and drilling equipment, and they want them and have cash to pay. We hate terrorists, they hate terrorists. They want a superpower ally, and we are a superpower looking for allies to do our bidding. So what is not to like, assuming that they pay on time, do what we require, and behave themselves?
Yeah, imagine being stuck in an airplane with them for a long flight.
It seems to me that we are not supporting the GNA in Libya, but rather their opponents (LNA).
One good thing, is that we don’t have our own troops deployed there, taking casualties. However,that makes it less obvious, which way our guns are pointing.
The head of the LNA, Khalifa Haftar, lived in Northern Virginia, working for the CIA, for many years.
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