I went to an amazing, scary lecture the other day by a Professor Brian Murphy Niagara University, New York.
Who is Ambushing Africa???

The American Panopticon in Africa: Communication, Clientilism and the Bush Doctrine

This seminar will detail Bush's little known new military/resource program for Africa designed to capture Africa's oil for the United States and promote a rapid military intervention force along with 10 African countries. Professor Murphy's research has been culled from secret CIA documentation and other obscure sources. The consequences of this new imperialism, based in Djibouti and Sao Tome are of enormous importance to the world community but are little appreciated or understood. The development, strategic and ecological results of the Bush Africa program may be both dangerous and destructive.

It was great... The guy was a good speaker, and seemed to know what he was talking about.

Basically he outlined a change in US military strategies and communications since the National Security Strategy (NSS) in 2002. The NSS included Africa, and gave the US the justification for the war in Iraq, using the justification of the US's right to prevent suspected threats.

Why Africa?

A certain Dr. Thomas Barnett is one of the US top military stategic thinkers. He divides the world into 'Core nations', those which are well integrated into Global capitalism, and 'Gap nations' which are not. Africa has the highest number of gap nations of any continent. He also identifies inportant 'seam nations' or gateways such as Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Morrocco and Algeria. The strategic aims of Barnett's ideas are to
(1) Increase core 'immunisation'
(2) work the seam states to create 'fire walls'
(3) patrol and shrink the 'gap'

Oil in West Africa, Angola is the only nation in Africa where US oil companies dominate. In the late 90s new offshore oil techniques were discovered (Exxon Mobil, has led this expolration). New coastal oil has been discovered in Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe (site of new Navy Base), Equatorial Guinea. By 2015, the US could get 25% of it's oil from West Africa.

But it's a risky and troublesome part of the world, 'incompetent repression, means that the oil is out of control. 'Piracy resistance in Nigeria loses big oil companies 100-300,000 barrels of oil a day, and companies need military security from the US.

The 'Israeli conection' is the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, a right wing thinktank, close to the Likud party based in Jerusalem and Washington. Their theory, which they have been lobbying for in Washington, is that West African oil could replace Middle Eastern oil for the US. This would take enormous influence and power away from Saudi Arabia, and leave israel to manage the Middle East.

so, Israel+big oil+state department= Africa in NSS

This is a Pentagon strategy, it has no diplomatic or development element. It is a military plan for the whole of Africa, with a strategy to deter, destroy, and disrupt.

There are three theatres of Action: West Africa- for the oil, The Sahara- where the emp[ty space and 'failed states' are a breeding ground for Terrorism, and the Horn of Africa/Somalia, for control of the Gulf. Central command will be here.

The first permanent US base in Africa has been set up in Djibouti with 2000 US military currently there, it is big and has hi tech communications and espionage instalations. These are to set up an intelegence, listening/intercepting station for Africa and manage the US fleet in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. Most sinister of all is the setting up of "P2OP" Proactive Preemptive Operations Group a new covert operations outfit, which neatly gets around US law banning the CIA from operations on US soil. Their objectives are to provoke terrorist activity, wage information warfare, create cover and deception for other operations, and assasination. They are currently 'experimenting' with these techniques in Somalia.

American communication/intelligence+client intervention=minimal deployment

Navy units from Mediterranean patrol West Africa. Future naval base in Sao Tome and Principe. Forward operating bases in Ghana Mali, Algeria, Morrocco and Uganda, with a capacity of 3-5000, and forward operation locations, lightly equiped for special forces. The US will also get involved in training national armies in counter terrorism and pre-emptive intervention.

The "Golden Spear" nations engaged in this are: Burundi, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda. They have also agreed 7 joint action agreements with: Morrocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad.

This is a plan of breathtaking ambition and evil. The US has not been deeply involved in Africa before, and is getting involved in a major way. Whether it will work remains to be seen. Brian Murphy was a good speaker, and will publish this stuff soon (he may die shortly afterwards). He also said that his first thought after the Madrid bombings was ... CIA.