INTERNATIONAL

Out Of Africa

The start of the first U.S. strategic command marks a policy shift toward lighter military involvement on the continent.

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  • Posted By: Trooper101st @ 01/29/2009 9:06:20 AM

    Why not base it in Djibouti? We have troops there already, and the French do too. Africa's mineral wealth is becoming more and more important. There is not much reason to have combat brigades, armored divisions in Germany anymore, they should be moved east and south. The Germans won't fight for thier own country, why should we fight for it? Thier units in A-stan are a bunch of beer swilling FAT SLOBS. Thier KSK let a guy who bombed UK troops get away...they didn't even fire a shot. F-ck you Germany. Have another litre of DAB for me.

  • Posted By: nngoma @ 11/27/2008 2:51:32 PM

    Jones Onigbinde, you are correct to wonder whether I was quoted accurately. I was not. The text of my interview in respect to humanitarian organisations was not in response to AFRICOM but rather to the general need for the military to under take some humanitarian role in an environment clearly regarded as unsafe for civilian organisations. Lets avoid offensive remarks and concentrate on meaningful debate. Naison Ngoma

  • Posted By: MegaDeath @ 10/17/2008 10:53:07 AM

    2008 is only the begining of the "Prophecy of Doom". Nostradamus (1503-1566) was an French apothecary who was 96% accurate in his ability to fore see and predict the future(500 Years ahead of his time). In his last quatrain he predicted that between 2008-2012 would be the start of the end of civilization. He fore seen the down fall of Western countries through various events leading up to World War lll (A Nuclear War) by 2012, which will start in the Middle East. With the problems we are having in the current economic mess, this could be the first sign.

  • Posted By: linkjabbok @ 10/15/2008 12:56:47 AM

    if Naison Ngoma was correctly quoted,it is a gross display of naivety and intellectual bankruptcy to have summised that militarization of african continent by AFRICOM will provide necessary security for humanitarian aids workers to function effectively.where in the world has that happened .american interest far outweigh the humanitarian aids,aids is just a mean to an end,the ultimate end is american interest.
    posted by Jones ONIGBINDE

  • Posted By: swampcottage @ 10/13/2008 10:30:26 AM

    It's unfortunate that a senior figure at Africa's prestigious ISS think tank can be quoted so misleadingly.

    The idea that the aid groups "won't go into areas that aren't secure" is clearly wrong. Aid workers work in dangerous places all around the world and their organizations make daily decisions on operating in areas that are not fully secure.

    Their neutrality, impartiality and humanitarian intentions used to provide all the security they needed except in the most extreme situations.

    Now, however, there are increasing attacks on aid workers, which some argue is the result of mixing up life-saving neutral operations with "hearts and minds" security-related or political operations. Some armed groups increasingly regard aid workers as legitimate targets of killings and kidnapping.

    Ben Parker
    Editor-in-Chief
    IRIN - humanitarian news and analysis
    http://www.irinnews.org

  • Posted By: eddieflorida @ 10/11/2008 5:29:46 PM

    I disagree with Cani's comment for two reasons:

    1. NPR yesterday reported that the legislation enabling Mortgage Backed Securities and Credit Default Swaps was an item in one of the last bills signed into law in 2000 by Bill Clinton. Whether he expressly approved of them or simply gave up and signed the bill offered to him I cannot say. But these odd and ultimately destructive investment forms happened before Bush/Cheney.

    2. There are many place to point the finger for the meltdown, but as a realtor and manager of a brokerage, I have learned that banks who lent money to people with no credit and no down payment did so only for one reason: because they were going to sell them to Wall Street. If they had been required to hold them in their internal portfolio of loans they would never have made the loans. They were operating fast and loose, breaking alll their own rules, because they knew there was a market for the trash. So let the banks suffer from their own mistakes.

    And don't blame it on Bush and Cheney. And certainly not on John McCain.

  • Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 10/11/2008 6:30:21 AM

    I disagree. It pays to observe that in 2004,Bush placed an Amphibious Marine force in Liberia and stopped cold the coup in that country.[Clintons Rwanda failures are a matter of record]. Not all that he did or does is a failure. Then too,Bush becomes the only American president in American history since the advent of AIDS to send more money to Africa than any other president. In actuality,it is not about Bush anyway. What Johnson of NEWSWEAK is doing is to impart to Americans how or what the US role in Africa will be when we invade Sudan under a Obama presidency and get us slowly used to this fact. [which is why Johnson circles around the massively China-armed region without ever mentioning it,though this is supposed to be the location of the ''good war'']. Obviously,''regaining image''is a invention of those who have heretofore believed that America Is The Bad Place Under Bush.[how bad it was when we meddled in China in the 1920s-1940s ,Iran in the 1950s,Vietnam in the 1960s,Central America in the 1970s-1980s,is known well enough by the rage nations felt against America,but it appears that this is the first time,in the minds of some,that we have ever been in such a position. Then too,why would every single nation on this planet ''Look to America'' for the solving of this financial crisis]? Obviously,if ''Pakistan''is a ''central front'',then why was a US Embassy in Yemen bombed by al Qaeda over three thousand miles away just last month? If one would like to give me specific Obama/Biden platforms in dealing with or invading Pakistan to go after al-Qaeda,then by all means,present your scenarios as matched by your candidates. I have all day.

    • Posted By: KingJaja @ 10/11/2008 11:58:18 AM

      Point of correction: The Nigerian army stopped the coup in Liberia.

  • Posted By: cani77 @ 10/11/2008 9:21:59 AM

    In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
    I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
    Also, he perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
    is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
    The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
    The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
    the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything in the last 80 years.
    McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
    That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand exactly what is broken.
    It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use complex mathematical models very few people understand.
    Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
    Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
    Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
    No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He didnt realize that anything was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
    It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
    even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
    If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
    When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
    So why are the polls even close then ?
    Mccains team just said they no longer want to talk about the economy.Instead they would like to spend time talking about obama
    which means running the biggest smear campaign in history.
    They think they can just tell you lies and you wont be smart enough to see through it
    Let's teach him we are smarter than that .
    Elect Obama Biden 2008


    Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ

  • Posted By: cani77 @ 10/11/2008 9:21:49 AM

    In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
    I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
    Also, he perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
    is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
    The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
    The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
    the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything in the last 80 years.
    McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
    That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand exactly what is broken.
    It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use complex mathematical models very few people understand.
    Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
    Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
    Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
    No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He didnt realize that anything was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
    It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
    even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
    If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
    When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
    So why are the polls even close then ?
    Mccains team just said they no longer want to talk about the economy.Instead they would like to spend time talking about obama
    which means running the biggest smear campaign in history.
    They think they can just tell you lies and you wont be smart enough to see through it
    Let's teach him we are smarter than that .
    Elect Obama Biden 2008


    Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ

  • Posted By: Omnius @ 10/10/2008 11:12:48 AM

    Because some fools decided to invade Iraq to further political ambitions we now can't do anything in volatile Africa. Because some fools in the White House have trashed our standing around the world it's no wonder that no African nation wants to host our troops. Because some fools in the White House have trashed our military and overstretched it in Iraq we couldn't even put significant troops into Africa were some country willing to host them. Plus Afghanistan and Pakistan are going down the tubes because some fools in the White House took their beady little eyes off the true central front in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

    We need the sober wise leadership of Obama/Biden more than ever. Only they will be able to restore confidence in our country around the world.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 10/10/2008 11:37:54 AM

      There is a role for our forces in Africa, once we regain our image. I recieved a Humanitarian Service Medal for doing essential work in a destitute place. We have the skill sets, and the assets to do things no relief organization can.
      You are spot on in your comments about the failures we must resolve.
      For $.07/day we can cure malaria per person, for a few dollars more a day we can create wells with safe water, and fight cholera. With the micro-loans provided by relief agencies, we can create wealth for people and lift them up. The military should remain a tool in the kit.

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