Djibouti Turns into Springboard for US Military Intervention in Africa and the Middle East
Thursday, October 27, 2016
By Andrei Akulo
Overview of Camp Lemonnier, Djbouti
The US is dramatically increasing the tempo of its military operations in MENA (the Middle East and North Africa), especially in the Horn of Africa.
Djibouti has an important role to play in the military planning.
The small republic guards the entrance to the Red Sea and Suez Canal to make it
a perfect springboard for launching military interventions in Africa and the
Middle East.
Housing 4,000 military and civilian personnel, Camp Lemonnier, the
US military base in the country, is the hub of a network of American drone
bases in Africa. It is used for aerial strikes at insurgents in Yemen, Nigeria
and Somalia, as well as exercising control over the Bab-el-Mandeb strait – a
strategic maritime waterway linking the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean
through the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. In 2014, America signed a new 20-year
lease on the base with the Djiboutian government, and committed over $1.4
billion to modernize and expand the facility in the years to come.
Ads
By Google
According to Stars and
Stripes, the US Air Force deployed F-16 fighters and KC-135 to Djibouti in
July. Until the publication, the information had been kept secret. The aircraft
remain on standby amid concerns over the situation in South Sudan, including
threats to the lives of American citizens there. In July, about 50
combat-equipped troops were sent to protect US diplomatic personnel amid
widespread violence and civil unrest in that country. The US has provided
assistance in form of training and equipping of the elite presidential guard; employment
of foreign instructors to teach army recruits; development of riverine forces;
training of commandos. This aid is rendered despite the fact that South Sudan
uses child soldiers.
Under Obama, this country receives waivers to the prohibition on
US security assistance under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA), despite
recent reports by UNICEF that children in the country are forcefully recruited
into the armed forces. The law prohibits the US government from furnishing
security assistance or selling arms to any government that has been identified
as recruiting children into its armed forces or armed groups that it supports.
In theory, the administration is to sanction such countries under the law,
which is circumvented with the help of waivers.
Djibouti is also situated close to Yemen, where the US has
recently got involved in the military conflict between the Saudi-Arabia – led
coalition and the Houthi rebels.
On October 13, the US military launched a series of cruise missile
strikes on three radar installations in Yemen. The attack became a response to
recent threats made on naval vessels in the Red Sea. This was the first time,
when the US has taken part in the Yemen conflict directly. Under the
circumstances, airpower would be more efficient than cruise missiles launched
from surface ships. F-16 jets are perfectly suited for carrying out such
missions as knocking out radar sites or other ground based assets in Yemen.
Providing air cover for US ships in the region is important, but the fact that tankers
are also based in Djibouti, the mission could envisage a scenario with
delivering air strikes at much greater distance.
The US plans could include Somalia. On October 16, The New York
Times reported that US special operators have been quietly escalating the war
on al-Shabab in Somalia carrying out more than a half-dozen raids per month.
The operations are a combination of ground raids and drone
strikes. The article states that «the Pentagon has acknowledged only a small
fraction of these operations but even the information released publicly shows a
marked increase this year».
Somalia’s government has recently requested an explanation from
the United States for an air raid that it says killed 22 soldiers and civilians
in the north of the country on September 28. The Somali army had confirmed that
Galmudug forces and civilians were killed in the raid, describing it as a case
of «friendly fire».
Whatever the plans are, the United States has significantly beefed
up the offensive potential in the region. It could be Yemen or Somalia, or
both, as well as some other country. We’ll have to wait and see. After all,
Djibouti hosts army-aviation-supported Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams.
With F-16s as air cover, they can deliver a powerful blow against a potential
enemy in any scenario. There is a great probability that the United States will
soon launch a military operation in the region.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
No comments :
Post a Comment