China will join with the US in having a military base in Djibouti

- The only permanent United States military based in Africa is Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti, a small country located on the horn of Africa. The Americans will soon have new neighbours as the Chinese will also build a base in Djibouti.

+ Add Image

The head of the U.S. Africa Command, General David Rodriguez, made the announcement. China intends to create a military presence in Africa along with an increasingly larger economic presence on the continent. Rodriguez said China had signed a 10-year contract to set up in Djibouti what will be the first Chinese military base in Africa. He noted China will use the base as a logistics hub "to extend their reach." Peter Barlerin, an official in the U.S. State Department's Africa bureau, said: "We are quite optimistic about our co-operation and our engagement with China in Africa." Some U.S. Congress members were not so sanguine about the base and in August had urged the Obama administration to dissuade the Eritrean government from allowing China to build the base.

Camp Lemmonier is a key U.S. base from which drone operations are carried out in nearby Yemen, on the Arabian peninsula, and also in Somalia on the continent. Predators and F-15s operate from the base, which has about 300 special operations personnel. At present, the Pentagon stations about 4,000 troops at the base. The base has recently been considerably enlarged — the Pentagon has spent $250 million on improving infrastructure at the base. The U.S. last year agreed to pay an annual lease fee of $70 million for the next 20 years.

China also has spent considerable sums in Djibouti that include a rail link to Ethiopia, an airport, and new port facilities. The Djibouti government of President Guelleh has good relations with both China and the U.S. He told reporters a Chinese military deployment in Djibouti would be welcome. China has contributed 800 troops to a UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan. African analyst J Peter Pham said it makes a great deal of sense for China to build a base in Djibouti. From the base, Chinese aircraft, which have a range of 2,500 miles, would be able to cover a large area of Africa, but also the Arabian Peninsula. No doubt this is why the U.S. sees its own base as quite strategic and valuable. Pham, based in Washington, noted the base would not be in the U.S. strategic interest.

Many Yemenis fleeing the civil war in Yemen have arrived as refugees in nearby Djibouti. UN aid to Yemen also operates out of Djibouti.

Iranian aid ship offloads Yemen aid in Djibouti while Iranian plane denied permission to land

An Iranian news agency said an Iranian Red Crescent plane carrying 20 tonnes of food for Yemen was denied permission to land in Djibouti the location of a UN food distribution hub.

+ Add Image

The IRNA, official Iranian news agency, quoted the Red Crescent official as saying: “Despite coordination with the United Nations and the World Food Programme, the plane was not granted permission to land in Djibouti." The plane is now in south-eastern Iran awaiting authorization of the foreign affairs ministry of Djibouti to land. Djibouti is the site of a key U.S. military base, the only permanent U.S. base in Africa. Drone missions are launched from the base as well as other flights.

An Iranian cargo ship, the Nejat, carrying 2,500 tonnes of aid to Yemen that had been heading for the port of Hodeida held by the rebel Houthis, changed course and docked in Djibouti after arriving late Friday night. The cargo was being handed over to the World Food Program (WFP) in Djibouti. The port authority chief, Abur Hadi, said: “The ship will be completely unloaded and reloaded onto other vessels, everything is transparent." WFP spokesperson, Abber Etefa, said Saturday: "The ship carries 2,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid and that includes mainly rice and wheat flour, as well as medicine, water, tents and blankets."

The ship diverted from its route to Hodeida after warnings from both the U.S. and the Saudi-led coalition who feared that the ship might be delivering arms to the Houthi rebels.

The U.N. could have monitored the unloading at Hodeida and assured a quicker delivery of the aid instead of having to divert to Djibouti. However, it is clear that the U.S. and Saudis simply do not want any deliveries to be made by Iran of any kind to Houthi-controlled areas. When the ship arrived in Djibouti, it was not just inspected but unloaded and the aid given over to the WFP. There is no guarantee that the aid will even go to Hodeida now.

General Ali Ahmadi, Secretary of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said:“We are coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver Iran’s humanitarian aid to the oppressed Yemeni people in Hudaydah port after making sure that the route is safe. The Nejat ship has been dispatched to Djibouti in order to assess the situation. We are sending humanitarian supplies to Yemen needed by its people and we do not want to face any problems in this regard,”There are a number of international journalists, doctors, and foreign anti-war activists aboard the ship.

I expect that the Nejat will not be allowed to journey to Hodeida at all. The aid has already been offloaded. If the UN, the US, and Saudi coalition were going to allow the Nejat to dock in Hodeida, they would have simply inspected the cargo in Djibouti and sent it on its way with perhaps UN monitors to ensure it did not pick up weapons on the way. The process is transparent. The powers that count, the US and Saudis, ensured that the ship not only did not sail directly to Hodeida but will never go there and will not deliver the aid. The aid could very well end up in Aden to be given to areas controlled by Hadi loyalists. As Etefa from the WFP put it:“The cargo of the ship will be handed over to WFP in Djibouti and will be transferred to WFP-chartered vessels for shipment to the Yemeni ports of Hudaydah and/or (the southern port city of) Aden, It will be delivered to humanitarian partners on the ground for distribution."Saudi Arabia has already stopped an Iranian cargo plane from delivering aid from landing in Sanaa by bombing the runway, preventing any aid planes from landing no matter where they were from. Clearly the aim is not just to prevent arms from being provided by Iran but humanitarian aid to rebel-held areas as well. Some aid will still get in because the UN will need to show some concern for the humanitarian needs of those in rebel areas.

Reaper drone missions to quadruple by 2016

As the war in Afghanistan supposedly winds down the drone war and missions by special forces will ramp up. Wars with large contingents of troops on the ground are not only expensive but often politically damaging. Better to keep the empire expanding and supposedly safe using high tech weapons and elite forces often acting in secret.

With a growing and spreading use of drones and special forces no doubt the terrorist kill figure will rise but so will resentment in those areas where drone attacks occur as collateral damage to civilians is bound to rise as well.

The U.S. governments site for contractors is seeking: “industry input on how best to support Air Combat Command’s remotely piloted aircraft missions.” “Support will consist of aircraft, ground control station, and Predator Primary Satellite Link maintenance, weapons loading for both aircraft, [and] munitions build-up for MQ-9 aircraft,” This will be job creation for the military-industrial complex.. The contracts will support the work of the Reaper drone.

This drone has a 66-foot wingspan. It is able to carry a 500-pound laser guided bomb. By 2016 according to the notice the Reapers will be launched from 11 locations and will carry out 66 sorties per day or at least that is the plan. The Predator will be phased out and replaced by the bigger faster and more lethal Reaper.

The Air Force wants all the new drone bases located outside the continental U.S. The editor of the Long War journal suggests that new locations will be in Afghanistan, the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia or Oman--for attacks in Yemen. President Karzai has insisted that there be no drones launched from Afghanistan to attack foreign countries after 2014. However, Karzai could always change his mind or look the other way. There are also rumors of a base in the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The islands belong to Australia.. For more see the full article in Salon.

Djibouti crash kills 4 U.S. special operations soldiers

Last weekend four U.S. special operations soldier died when their plane crashed in Djibouti. The plane was apparently returning from a mission in Afghanistan.

The plane that crashed was a U-28 single prop plane often used by U.S. special forces. The crash was near Camp Lemonnier a U.S. military base in Djibouti in the horn of Africa.

The cause of the crash is still being investigated although there were no signs the plane was under attack. A statement from the U.S. Africa Command said the flight was routine. Those killed came from Colorado Springs Colorado, Newman Georgia, Bend Oregon, and Upper Marlboro Maryland. The pilot Ryan Hall was quite experienced having logged 1300 combat flight hours. For more see this article.

UN demands Eritrea pullback from Djibouti border.

This conflict no doubt is a minor irritant to the US and in this case France both of whom use the tiny country as a giant military base.
This is from antiwar.com.


UN demands Eritrea pullback from Dijbouti border
UN demands that Eritrea pull back troops from Djibouti border, near Red Sea shipping lanes
EDITH M. LEDERERAP News
Jan 14, 2009 16:43 EST
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously demanded that Eritrea quickly pull its troops back from the Djibouti border and acknowledge the dispute with its Horn of Africa neighbor in an important area overlooking critical Red Sea shipping lanes.

In June, the Security Council condemned Eritrea for launching an attack against the tiny port nation of Djibouti, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, which the U.S. said left 44 Djiboutian soldiers dead and many more missing.
The council had called for a cease-fire and urged the two countries to withdraw their forces from the border. Djibouti did, but Eritrea did not.
The council's resolution Wednesday expressed "deep concern" that Eritrea has not withdrawn its forces and has refused to engage in dialogue with Djibouti or accept the offers of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the African Union and others to help resolve the dispute.
The council demanded that Eritrea "comply immediately" with its order to pull back its troops and start talking to resolve the conflict. It gave Eritrea five weeks to take action.
Uncertainty over the Djibouti-Eritrea border also led to hostilities twice in the 1990s. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, and their border is also in dispute.
In October, Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh warned the council that Eritrea's occupation of Djibouti's territory could lead to war again. He urged the council "to do everything possible" to persuade Eritrea to leave the territory it has occupied since March.
Eritrea had accused the United States of instigating the conflict.
More than 1,200 U.S troops are stationed in Djibouti, which hosts the base for an anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa. France, which sponsored Wednesday's resolution, also has a base in Djibouti, its former colony.
In a letter to the council on Monday, Eritrea's U.N. Ambassador Araya Desta called the accusations against his country "unfounded."
"Eritrea has not occupied any land that belongs to Djibouti and it cannot accept a resolution that demands the `withdrawal of its forces' from its own territory," Desta said.