AFRICOM is More about Natural Resources than Fighting Terrorism

Lucrative trade in illicit goods, drugs, human trafficking, and more has continued to line the pockets of militant organizations in Africa and the very fact that they are continuing calls into question the efficacy of, and agenda behind, the US AFRICOM force.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
African Land Force Summit 2018

Amid the George HW Bush imperial death-orgy, the endless saga of Midtown Mussolini’s daily news cycle, the seemingly unprecedented political upsurge in France, and countless other show-stopping news stories, you likely missed three very sad, yet revealing, incidents out of the Sahel region of West-Central Africa. First, on November 18th, a

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China Offers African Nations $60 Billion in Development with ‘No Strings Attached’

In response to accusations of encouraging “debt trap” diplomacy in Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the announced aid package is not “a scheme to form an exclusive club or bloc against others. Rather it is about greater openness, sharing and mutual benefit.”

Emma Fiala
By Emma Fiala
An unidentfied Chinese national and a Zimbabwean man hug while welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping upon his arrival in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 1. 2015.(AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered a $60 billion aid package to African countries over the next three years, in response to the continent’s increasing debt distress -- with no strings attached. China’s investment plans include $5 billion in African exports, $10 billion for development, and $15 billion grants and interest-free loans. A $20

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War in the Horn of Africa May Be on the Horizon for the U.S.

In March of this year, the United States denied a visa application for the former Somali president, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was scheduled to deliver a lecture. Somalia falls under the Trump regime’s current travel ban.

MintPress News Desk
By MintPress News Desk
horn of africa

The United States tries to keep a tight lid on its official involvement in Africa — particularly the Horn where several nations have invested large sums of money and constructed bases in recent history. However, this build-up is getting hard to ignore. But what is Washington’s plan? Is a new war for resources on the horizon?   U.S.

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In Seeing African Corruption as Landlocked, George Clooney Misses the Boat

Any forensic examination of African corruption would reveal Western fingerprints everywhere, from the financing of a ruinous civil war and exploitation of oil and diamond reserves in Angola, to the pillaging of mineral resources in Zambia.

Jon Jeter
By Jon Jeter
Argentina's three-masted navy training tall ship ARA Libertad, which was seized on Oct. 2 as collateral for unpaid bonds dating from Argentina's economic crisis a decade ago, sits docked at the port in Tema, outside Accra, in Ghana Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. (AP/Gabriela Barnuevo)

TEMA, GHANA (Analysis) -- The Argentine naval vessel Libertad embarked on its maiden voyage in 1961 and remains, to this day, a maritime and mechanical marvel. At 340 feet, it is one of the longest, heaviest, and yet fastest ships afloat -- holding, at one time or another, several world speed records. With its classical windjammer design and

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Top General Issues Urgent Warning Over US, China Collision Course in Africa

The global hegemony of the United States is being challenged, and the contest is perfectly encapsulated in what’s happening now in the small African nation of Djibouti.

James Holbrooks
By James Holbrooks
China’s navy conducted its first joint maritime exercises with Djibouti in 2015. Its new outpost in Djibouti will be largely to support Chinese forces on missions such as antipiracy patrols off Somalia. (Photo: Chinese Navy)

China is the rising world power. This much is clear, but nowhere is that reality felt more than behind closed doors in Washington, D.C. The global hegemony of the United States is being challenged, and the contest is perfectly encapsulated in what’s happening now in the small African nation of Djibouti. Strategically located at the southern

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America’s Drug Wars in Africa: Missing Money, and a Phantom $500 Million

Both AFRICOM and CENTCOM seem intent on pouring money into Africa’s Drug War, an effort that had produced few successes.

Nick Turse
By Nick Turse
A U.S. Special Forces soldier trains troops from Senegal combat techniques in Kati, Mali, during a joint training exercise with units from several African armies. (AP/Alfred de Montesquiou)

2017 was a year of investigations for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).  There was the investigation of the two-star commander of U.S. Army Africa who allegedly sent racy texts to an enlisted man’s wife.  There was the investigation into the alleged killing of a Special Forces soldier by Navy SEALs in Mali. There was the inquiry into reports of

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