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Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. - Foreign Affairs - Nairaland

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Battle Field Discussion (picture/video) Of African Military . / Photo Of Syrian Boy Protecting His Little Sister From Air Strike / Syrian Rebels Used Sarin Nerve Gas, Not Assad’s Regime: U.N. Official (2) (3) (4)

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Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by RICHIEBOI1(m): 1:58am On Sep 07, 2013
Can some pls send dis video to John kerry or President Obama. This video shows Syrian rebels firing sarin gas and not the syrian govt.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b36_1378498297
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Brimmie(m): 2:04am On Sep 07, 2013
For you to have this clip, e go don get to White House tey-tey
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by seanet02: 2:04am On Sep 07, 2013
We have always known this

1 Like

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Bluewater2001: 2:55am On Sep 07, 2013
So correct[img]http:///m5l7obu[/img]
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by captainbraide: 3:11am On Sep 07, 2013
America taught they can easily run over syria within 1 or 2 months,but what they expected was not what they got.So they had to come up with this "PLAN B",they did it so that they would get support to get themselves involved physically in flushing out the government forces.Its a pity
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by mascot87(m): 4:35am On Sep 07, 2013
It's quite unreasonable to believe those guys are rebels.How about if this video was staged?What makes you believe that the blue container fired contains sarin gases?Have you checked the content of the gas or are u a geochemist to make you believe that the blue cylinder fired is neurotoxin?How about if it's a bomb? Do you really think that an improvised chemical
warhead loaded with Sarin can be handled
without protection?That video is baseless and has no merit.John Kerry would laugh at this video

6 Likes

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Burger01(m): 4:35am On Sep 07, 2013
Don't worry. I've sent the video to GEJ. He is capable.. undecided
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by mascot87(m): 4:37am On Sep 07, 2013
Burger01: Don't worry. I've sent the video to GEJ. He is capable.. undecided
angry undecided
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by BlackBaron: 5:46am On Sep 07, 2013
That's an improvised rebel artillery piece with the typical hybrid gas cylinder payload/warhead called the 'Hell Canon'.

Besides the timeline of the Ghoutta attacks was put at between 1 - 3 am local time. You'd have to pull an houdini act to convince me that video was shot in the am.

Lots of heavy propaganda on Liveleaks from both sides mate. Learn to separate facts from fiction.
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by honeric01(m): 6:35am On Sep 07, 2013
mascot87:
It's quite unreasonable to believe those guys are rebels.How about if this video was staged?What makes you believe that the blue container fired contains sarin gases?Have you checked the content of the gas or are u a geochemist to make you believe that the blue cylinder fired is neurotoxin?How about if it's a bomb? Do you really think that an improvised chemical
warhead loaded with Sarin can be handled
without protection?That video is baseless and has no merit.John Kerry would laugh at this video

Then show us the one obama and his warmongers watched and believed before ranting all over the media about how Assad used chemical weapons and how they intend to stop his govt by bombing the country of the same people they claim to be saving just like in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan.

5 Likes

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Osgilliat(m): 6:51am On Sep 07, 2013
These internet freak should better stop playing with war game...
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by mascot87(m): 7:17am On Sep 07, 2013
honeric01:

Then show us the one obama and his warmongers watched and believed before ranting all over the media about how Assad used chemical weapons and how they intend to stop his govt by bombing the country of the same people they claim to be saving just like in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan.
You are not getting it dude.I am not here to prove if it's either Assad or the rebels that gased the people, I am just arguing on the credibility of the said leaked video being claimed to be rebels firing sarin gas. If you need a prove to believe that Assad gased it's own people,I am not the right person to direct that question to,you should direct that question to white house in Washington D.C where the full details of the prove they have will be delivered to you firsthand

2 Likes

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Naijalastborn(m): 8:15am On Sep 07, 2013
That's not a Sarin Gas Missile I don't know why you people don't see what Obama is trying to do. Using Chemical is not a thing people should joke with, Imagine Alqaeda using Chemical weapons in every attack they strike and Boko haram also get their hands on this mass destruction weapon..

Just imagine!
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by abes(m): 8:45am On Sep 07, 2013
mascot87:
It's quite unreasonable to believe those guys are rebels.How about if this video was staged?What makes you believe that the blue container fired contains sarin gases?Have you checked the content of the gas or are u a geochemist to make you believe that the blue cylinder fired is neurotoxin?How about if it's a bomb? Do you really think that an improvised chemical
warhead loaded with Sarin can be handled
without protection?That video is baseless and has no merit.John Kerry would laugh at this video

But the rebels used chemical weapon in May, did CNN tell you that? Check this link from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22424188

3 Likes

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by wasak(m): 8:52am On Sep 07, 2013
diaz Nothing any1 can do about ds wars... they are manifestation of the end times



http:///15KQiAX
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by khattab02: 9:21am On Sep 07, 2013
US shouldn't just take things in their hands, has the UN comfired it was syrian government who used it? Why not wait for their comfirmation? We all know of Iraq been accused and at the end there was no weapon of mass destruction found.
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by mascot87(m): 10:10am On Sep 07, 2013
abes:

But the rebels used chemical weapon in May, did CNN tell you that? Check this link from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22424188
I think I have addressed this issue in my second comment above.Cheers
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by gabriel212: 10:39am On Sep 07, 2013
I strongly against the credibility of the video base on
1. U can not handle such gas carelessly as depicted in the video
2. If it is a sarin gas, y were they not properly dress in protective equipment to prevent themselve against the gas touching their skin bcoz of skin cancer?
3. non of them has an oxygen gas with him to guide agaisnt inhailing the gas?
Inaddition, we had a plane was used to spray the gas n not wat we saw in d video. Moreover, the incident happen in the midnight when people were sleeping and d video is either afternoon or morning. in conclusion, such a dangerous gas can not be store in rubber bcoz it will react but will be store in glass bottle.
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Nobody: 10:43am On Sep 07, 2013
RICHIE BOI: Can some pls send dis video to John kerry or President Obama. This video shows Syrian rebels firing sarin gas and not the syrian govt.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b36_1378498297

[size=18pt]Obama is a bloody liar. There is ample evidence to show that the rebels with the aid of American covet operatives deployed the nerve gas.[/size]

1 Like

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Naijalastborn(m): 11:42am On Sep 07, 2013
Pvt_Parts:

[size=18pt]Obama is a bloody liar. There is ample evidence to show that the rebels with the aid of American covet operatives deployed the nerve gas.[/size]

numskul where is your evidence that the rebels deployed the Sarin Gas? If you don't know what to say just off your phone instead of wasting your Bandwidth
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by AkinDavid2: 11:42am On Sep 07, 2013
Took time to watch it and looks like it was staged...

1 Like

Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Nobody: 11:47am On Sep 07, 2013
Naija_lastborn: numskul where is your evidence that the rebels deployed the Sarin Gas? If you don't know what to say just off your phone instead of wasting your Bandwidth

you are a f000l.

keep getting subliminal crap bombarding your feeble skull.

keep believing the lie.

wake up1 gaddamit!
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Naijalastborn(m): 11:48am On Sep 07, 2013
abes:

But the rebels used chemical weapon in May, did CNN tell you that? Check this link from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22424188
Mr. Putin I don't think you read the report at all "carla Del Ponte told Swiss TV that there were "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof".

Please read report careful before you conclude
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Naijalastborn(m): 11:52am On Sep 07, 2013
Pvt_Parts:

you are a f000l.

keep getting subliminal crap bombarding your feeble skull.

keep believing the lie.

wake up1 gaddamit!
you just have to wake up not me, if you don't have better words to offer I will advice to goto bed and have a sweet dream
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by abes(m): 11:56am On Sep 07, 2013
Naija_lastborn: Mr. Putin I don't think you read the report at all "carla Del Ponte told Swiss TV that there were "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof".

Please read report careful before you conclude

Mr Obama, view the video in the article, then take your time to read this report (below), I'll give you more links when you're done with this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10039672/UN-accuses-Syrian-rebels-of-chemical-weapons-use.html
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Naijalastborn(m): 12:05pm On Sep 07, 2013
abes:

Mr Obama, view the video in the article, then take your time to read this report (below), I'll give you more links when you're done with this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10039672/UN-accuses-Syrian-rebels-of-chemical-weapons-use.html
Mr.Putin I have seen the video, its just a assumption not concrete prove. How is Russia today? Mr. Putin
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by nora544: 12:22pm On Sep 07, 2013
America need this war in syria, because in the next month obama has to speak about the dedit america has, so the focus is not to the debit america has, it is on the war and it will be easier for obama.

Only one country in Europa want the war and went with america that is france but all the other countries don't want it.We want first that the UNO should tell if it was assad or the rebels, but I know america will not wait, because they have fear that the UNO find out that the rebels make this, than america cannot go into this war.

I know what happen with Iraq, what did america say about sadam hussain what he has and he has nothing, they only destroy a good economic country.

Americans have the saudis on there side because the syrian muslim belong to an other group than the saudi muslim.

I fear that Iran will send something to israel.

America like to make war because they have the war not in there own country, when did they have a war in there own country but it is easy to destroy an other country.
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by RICHIEBOI1(m): 1:58pm On Sep 07, 2013
Naija_lastborn: Mr.Putin I have seen the video, its just a assumption not concrete prove. How is Russia today? Mr. Putin
grin
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Nobody: 9:49pm On Sep 07, 2013
The USA should back off Syria. if you are supporting the US in their illegal jobs, do remember that today is Syria, tomorrow it might be Nigeria.
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Underground: 10:39pm On Sep 07, 2013
gboss4sure: The USA should back off Syria. if you are supporting the US in their illegal jobs, do remember that today is Syria, tomorrow it might be Nigeria.

It is apt that you should say that gboss4sure. Read this article.. I wonder what all these military expansion is all for. Keeping the Chinese in check perhaps??

[size=24pt]Nick Turse: The Pivot to Africa[/size]

September 6, 2013

On the startling size, scope, and growth of U.S. military operations on the African continent.



Image from Flickr via United States Marine Corps Official Page

By Nick Turse
By arrangement with TomDispatch

They’re involved in Algeria and Angola, Benin and Botswana, Burkina Faso and Burundi, Cameroon and the Cape Verde Islands. And that’s just the ABCs of the situation. Skip to the end of the alphabet and the story remains the same: Senegal and the Seychelles, Togo and Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. From north to south, east to west, the Horn of Africa to the Sahel, the heart of the continent to the islands off its coasts, the U.S. military is at work. Base construction, security cooperation engagements, training exercises, advisory deployments, special operations missions, and a growing logistics network, all undeniable evidence of expansion—except at U.S. Africa Command.

To hear AFRICOM tell it, U.S. military involvement on the continent ranges from the miniscule to the microscopic. The command is adamant that it has only a single “military base” in all of Africa: Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. The head of the command insists that the U.S. military maintains a “small footprint” on the continent. AFRICOM’s chief spokesman has consistently minimized the scope of its operations and the number of facilities it maintains or shares with host nations, asserting that only “a small presence of personnel who conduct short-duration engagements” are operating from “several locations” on the continent at any given time.

Each mission, as AFRICOM insists, may be relatively limited and each footprint might be “small” on its own, but taken as a whole, U.S. military operations are sweeping and expansive.

With the war in Iraq over and the conflict in Afghanistan winding down, the U.S. military is deploying its forces far beyond declared combat zones. In recent years, for example, Washington has very publicly proclaimed a “pivot to Asia,” a “rebalancing” of its military resources eastward, without actually carrying out wholesale policy changes. Elsewhere, however, from the Middle East to South America, the Pentagon is increasingly engaged in shadowy operations whose details emerge piecemeal and are rarely examined in a comprehensive way. Nowhere is this truer than in Africa. To the media and the American people, officials insist the U.S. military is engaged in small-scale, innocuous operations there. Out of public earshot, officers running America’s secret wars say: “Africa is the battlefield of tomorrow, today.”

The proof is in the details—a seemingly ceaseless string of projects, operations, and engagements. Each mission, as AFRICOM insists, may be relatively limited and each footprint might be “small” on its own, but taken as a whole, U.S. military operations are sweeping and expansive. Evidence of an American pivot to Africa is almost everywhere on the continent. Few, however, have paid much notice.


The U.S. Military’s Pivot to Africa, 2012-2013 (key below article) ©2013 TomDispatch ©Google

If the proverbial picture is worth a thousand words, then what’s a map worth? Take, for instance, the one created by TomDispatch that documents U.S. military outposts, construction, security cooperation, and deployments in Africa. It looks like a field of mushrooms after a monsoon. U.S. Africa Command recognizes 54 countries on the continent, but refuses to say in which ones (or even in how many) it now conducts operations. An investigation by TomDispatch has found recent U.S. military involvement with no fewer than 49 African nations.

In some, the U.S. maintains bases, even if under other names. In others, it trains local partners and proxies to battle militants ranging from Somalia’s al-Shabab and Nigeria’s Boko Haram to members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Elsewhere, it is building facilities for its allies or infrastructure for locals. Many African nations are home to multiple U.S. military projects. Despite what AFRICOM officials say, a careful reading of internal briefings, contracts, and other official documents, as well as open source information, including the command’s own press releases and news items, reveals that military operations in Africa are already vast and will be expanding for the foreseeable future.

A Base by Any Other Name…

What does the U.S. military footprint in Africa look like? Colonel Tom Davis, AFRICOM’s Director of Public Affairs, is unequivocal: “Other than our base at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, we do not have military bases in Africa, nor do we have plans to establish any.” He admits only that the U.S. has “temporary facilities elsewhere… that support much smaller numbers of personnel, usually for a specific activity.”

AFRICOM’s chief of media engagement Benjamin Benson echoes this, telling me that it’s almost impossible to offer a list of forward operating bases. “Places that [U.S. forces] might be, the range of possible locations can get really big, but can provide a really skewed image of where we are… versus other places where we have ongoing operations. So, in terms of providing a number, I’d be at a loss of how to quantify this.”

A briefing prepared last year by Captain Rick Cook, the chief of AFRICOM’s Engineering Division, tells a different story, making reference to forward operating sites or FOSes (long-term locations), cooperative security locations or CSLs (which troops periodically rotate in and out of), and contingency locations or CLs (which are used only during ongoing operations). A separate briefing prepared last year by Lieutenant Colonel David Knellinger references seven cooperative security locations across Africa whose whereabouts are classified. A third briefing, produced in July of 2012 by U.S. Army Africa, identifies one of the CSL sites as Entebbe, Uganda, a location from which U.S. contractors have flown secret surveillance missions using innocuous-looking, white Pilatus PC-12 turboprop airplanes, according to an investigation by the Washington Post.

Recently, the New York Times noted that what began as the deployment of one Predator drone to Niger had expanded to encompass daily flights by one of two larger, more advanced Reaper remotely piloted aircraft

The 2012 U.S. Army Africa briefing materials obtained by TomDispatch reference plans to build six new gates to the Entebbe compound, 11 new “containerized housing units,” new guard stations, new perimeter and security fencing, enhanced security lighting and new concrete access ramps, among other improvements. Satellite photos indicate that many, if not all, of these upgrades have, indeed, taken place.




Entebbe Cooperative Security Location, Entebbe, Uganda, in 2009 and 2013 ©2013 Google ©2013 Digital Globe

A 2009 image (above left) shows a barebones compound of dirt and grass tucked away on a Ugandan air base with just a few aircraft surrounding it. A satellite photo of the compound from earlier this year (above right) shows a strikingly more built-up camp surrounded by a swarm of helicopters and white airplanes.

Initially, AFRICOM’s Benjamin Benson refused to comment on the construction or the number of aircraft, insisting that the command had no “public information” about it. Confronted with the 2013 satellite photo, Benson reviewed it and offered a reply that neither confirmed nor denied that the site was a U.S. facility, but cautioned me about using “uncorroborated data.” (Benson failed to respond to my request to corroborate the data through a site visit.) “I have no way of knowing where the photo was taken and how it was modified,” he told me. “Assuming the location is Entebbe, as you suggest, I would again argue that the aircraft could belong to anyone… It would be irresponsible of me to speculate on the missions, roles, or ownership of these aircraft.” He went on to suggest, however, that the aircraft might belong to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) which does have a presence at the Entebbe air base. A request for comment from MONUSCO went unanswered before this article went to press.

This buildup may only be the beginning for Entebbe CSL. Recent contracting documents examined by TomDispatch indicate that AFRICOM is considering an additional surge of air assets there—specifically hiring a private contractor to provide further “dedicated fixed-wing airlift services for movement of Department of Defense (DoD) personnel and cargo in the Central African Region.” This mercenary air force would keep as many as three planes in the air at the same time on any given day, logging a total of about 70 to 100 hours per week. If the military goes ahead with these plans, the aircraft would ferry troops, weapons, and other material within Uganda and to the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.

Another key, if little noticed, U.S. outpost in Africa is located in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. An airbase there serves as the home of a Joint Special Operations Air Detachment, as well as the Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support initiative. According to military documents, that “initiative” supports “high-risk activities” carried out by elite forces from Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara. Lieutenant Colonel Scott Rawlinson, a spokesman for Special Operations Command Africa, told me that it provides “emergency casualty evacuation support to small team engagements with partner nations throughout the Sahel,” although official documents note that such actions have historically accounted for only 10% of its monthly flight hours.

While Rawlinson demurred from discussing the scope of the program, citing operational security concerns, military documents again indicate that, whatever its goals, it is expanding rapidly. Between March and December 2012, for example, the initiative flew 233 sorties. In the first three months of this year, it carried out 193.

In July, Berry Aviation, a Texas-based longtime Pentagon contractor, was awarded a nearly $50 million contract to provide aircraft and personnel for “Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing services.” Under the terms of the deal, Berry will “perform casualty evacuation, personnel airlift, cargo airlift, as well as personnel and cargo aerial delivery services throughout the Trans-Sahara of Africa,” according to a statement from the company. Contracting documents indicate that Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia are the “most likely locations for missions.”
Re: Leaked Video Of Syrian Rebels Firing Sarin Gas. by Underground: 10:40pm On Sep 07, 2013
Special Ops in Africa

Ouagadougou is just one site for expanding U.S. air operations in Africa. Last year, the 435th Military Construction Flight (MCF)—a rapid-response mobile construction team—revitalized an airfield in South Sudan for Special Operations Command Africa, according to the unit’s commander, Air Force lieutenant Alexander Graboski. Before that, the team also “installed a runway lighting system to enable twenty-four-hour operations” at the outpost. Graboski states that the Air Force’s 435th MCF “has been called upon many times by Special Operations Command Africa to send small teams to perform work in austere locations.” This trend looks as if it will continue. According to a briefing prepared earlier this year by Hugh Denny of the Army Corps of Engineers, plans have been drawn up for Special Operations Command Africa “operations support” facilities to be situated in “multiple locations.”

AFRICOM spokesman Benjamin Benson refused to answer questions about SOCAFRICA facilities, and would not comment on the locations of missions by an elite, quick-response force known as Naval Special Warfare Unit 10 (NSWU 10). But according to Captain Robert Smith, the commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, NSWU 10 has been engaged “with strategic countries such as Uganda, Somalia, [and] Nigeria.”

Captain J. Dane Thorleifson, NSWU 10’s outgoing commander, recently mentioned deployments in six “austere locations” in Africa and “every other month contingency operations—Libya, Tunisia, [and] POTUS,” evidently a reference to President Obama’s three-nation trip to Africa in July. Thorleifson, who led the unit from July 2011 to July 2013, also said NSWU 10 had been involved in training “proxy” forces, specifically “building critical host nation security capacity; enabling, advising, and assisting our African CT [counterterror] partner forces so they can swiftly counter and destroy al-Shabab, AQIM [Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb], and Boko Haram.”

Nzara in South Sudan is one of a string of shadowy forward operating posts on the continent where U.S. Special Operations Forces have been stationed in recent years. Other sites include Obo and Djema in the Central Africa Republic and Dungu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Lieutenant Colonel Guillaume Beaurpere, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, “advisory assistance at forward outposts was directly responsible for the establishment of combined operations fusion centers where military commanders, local security officials, and a host of international and non-governmental organizations could share information about regional insurgent activity and coordinate military activities with civil authorities.”

Drone bases are also expanding. In February, the U.S. announced the establishment of a new drone facility in Niger. Later in the spring, AFRICOM spokesman Benjamin Benson confirmed to TomDispatch that U.S. air operations conducted from Base Aerienne 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger’s capital, were providing “support for intelligence collection with French forces conducting operations in Mali and with other partners in the region.” More recently, the New York Times noted that what began as the deployment of one Predator drone to Niger had expanded to encompass daily flights by one of two larger, more advanced Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, supported by 120 Air Force personnel. Additionally, the U.S. has flown drones out of the Seychelles Islands and Ethiopia’s Arba Minch Airport.

All told, the U.S. military now has twenty-nine agreements to use international airports in Africa as refueling centers.

When it comes to expanding U.S. outposts in Africa, the Navy has also been active. It maintains a forward operating location—manned mostly by Seabees, Civil Affairs personnel, and force-protection troops—known as Camp Gilbert in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Since 2004, U.S. troops have been stationed at a Kenyan naval base known as Camp Simba at Manda Bay. AFRICOM’s Benson portrayed operations there as relatively minor, typified by “short-term training and engagement activities.” The 60 or so “core” troops stationed there, he said, are also primarily Civil Affairs, Seabees, and security personnel who take part in “military-to-military engagements with Kenyan forces and humanitarian initiatives.”

An AFRICOM briefing earlier this year suggested, however, that the base is destined to be more than a backwater post. It called attention to improvements in water and power infrastructure and an extension of the runway at the airfield, as well as greater “surge capacity” for bringing in forces in the future. A second briefing, prepared by the Navy and obtained by TomDispatch, details nine key infrastructure upgrades that are on the drawing board, underway, or completed.

In addition to extending and improving that runway, they include providing more potable water storage, latrines, and lodgings to accommodate a future “surge” of troops, doubling the capacity of washer and dryer units, upgrading dining facilities, improving roadways and boat ramps, providing fuel storage, and installing a new generator to handle additional demands for power. In a March article in the National Journal, James Kitfield, who visited the base, shed additional light on expansion there. “Navy Seabee engineers,” he wrote, “…have been working round-the-clock shifts for months to finish a runway extension before the rainy season arrives. Once completed, it will allow larger aircraft like C-130s to land and supply Americans or African Union troops.”

AFRICOM’s Benson tells TomDispatch that the U.S. military also makes use of six buildings located on Kenyan military bases at the airport and seaport of Mombasa. In addition, he verified that it has used Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Senegal for refueling stops as well as the “transportation of teams participating in security cooperation activities” such as training missions. He confirmed a similar deal for the use of Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia.

While Benson refused additional comment, official documents indicate that the U.S. has similar agreements for the use of Nsimalen Airport and Douala International Airport in Cameroon, Amílcar Cabral International Airport and Praia International Airport in Cape Verde, N’Djamena International Airport in Chad, Cairo International Airport in Egypt, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Moi International Airport in Kenya, Kotoka International Airport in Ghana, ‎ Marrakech-Menara Airport in Morocco, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Nigeria, Seychelles International Airport in the Seychelles, Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Botswana, Bamako-Senou International Airport in Mali, and Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. All told, according to Sam Cooks, a liaison officer with the Defense Logistics Agency, the U.S. military now has twenty-nine agreements to use international airports in Africa as refueling centers.

In addition, U.S. Africa Command has built a sophisticated logistics system, officially known as the AFRICOM Surface Distribution Network, but colloquially referred to as the “new spice route.” It connects posts in Manda Bay, Garissa, and Mombasa in Kenya, Kampala and Entebbe in Uganda, Dire Dawa in Ethiopia, as well as crucial port facilities used by the Navy’s CTF-53 (“Commander, Task Force, Five Three”) in Djibouti, which are collectively referred to as “the port of Djibouti” by the military. Other key ports on the continent, according to Lieutenant Colonel Wade Lawrence of U.S. Transportation Command, include Ghana’s Tema and Senegal’s Dakar.

The U.S. maintains ten marine gas and oil bunker locations in eight African nations, according to the Defense Logistics Agency. AFRICOM’s Benjamin Benson refuses to name the countries, but recent military contracting documents list key fuel bunker locations in Douala, Cameroon; Mindelo, Cape Verde; Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire; Port Gentil, Gabon; Sekondi, Ghana; Mombasa, Kenya; Port Luis, Mauritius; Walvis Bay, Namibia; Lagos, Nigeria; Port Victoria, Seychelles; Durban, South Africa; and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

The U.S. also continues to maintain a long-time Naval Medical Research Unit, known as NAMRU-3, in Cairo, Egypt. Another little-noticed medical investigation component, the U.S. Army Research Unit – Kenya, operates from facilities in Kisumu and Kericho.

(In and) Out of Africa

When considering the scope and rapid expansion of U.S. military activities in Africa, it’s important to keep in mind that certain key “African” bases are actually located off the continent. Keeping a semblance of a “light footprint” there, AFRICOM’s headquarters is located at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart-Moehringen, Germany. In June, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the base in Stuttgart and the U.S. Air Force’s Air Operations Center in Ramstein were both integral to drone operations in Africa.

In addition to creating or maintaining bases and engaging in military construction across the continent, the U.S. is involved in near constant training and advisory missions.

Key logistics support hubs for AFRICOM are located in Rota, Spain; Aruba in the Lesser Antilles; and Souda Bay, Greece, as well as at Ramstein. The command also maintains a forward operating site on Britain’s Ascension Island, located about 1,000 miles off the coast of Africa in the South Atlantic, but refused requests for further information about its role in operations.

Another important logistics facility is located in Sigonella on the island of Sicily. Italy, it turns out, is an especially crucial component of U.S. operations in Africa. Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Africa, which provides teams of Marines and sailors for “small-footprint theater security cooperation engagements” across the continent, is based at Naval Air Station Sigonella. It has, according to AFRICOM’s Benjamin Benson, recently deployed personnel to Botswana, Liberia, Djibouti, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Tunisia, and Senegal.

In the future, U.S. Army Africa will be based at Caserma Del Din in northern Italy, adjacent to the recently completed home of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. A 2012 U.S. Army Africa briefing indicates that construction projects at the Caserma Del Din base will continue through 2018. The reported price-tag for the entire complex: $310 million.

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