LAGOS (AFP) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will not allow his country to be used as a base for the proposed US African military command AFRICOM, officials said.

"The president restated the position of Nigeria not permitting a US base in our country or sub-region but to work towards the establishment of an African standby force," Governor Bukola Saraki of the north central state of Kwara told reporters after Yar'adua met with top past and present Nigerian leaders.

Peter Egom, a senior research fellow at the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, says the United States is primarily expanding its military presence in Africa to protect its interest in the region's oil resource. "America does not have to come to Africa to defend her interest. American needs to have willing partners, co-operative partners, to defend American interests in Africa," said Egom.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Nigeria last week to outline his country's plan to set up AFRICOM, saying it was in line with US defence policy. "It's not unusual for the US to have regional military commands. We have regional military commands in various parts of the world," Negroponte told reporters at the end of his visit.

Say No to Africom!

Danny Glover & Nicole C. Lee

With little scrutiny from Democrats in Congress and nary a whimper of protest from the liberal establishment, the United States will soon establish permanent military bases in sub-Saharan Africa. An alarming step forward in the militarization of the African continent, the US Africa Command (Africom) will oversee all US military and security interests throughout the region, excluding Egypt. Africom is set to launch by September 2008 and the Senate recently confirmed Gen. William "Kip" Ward as its first commander.

General Ward told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Africom would first seek "African solutions to African problems." His testimony made Africom sound like a magnanimous effort for the good of the African people.

In truth Africom is a dangerous continuation of US military expansion around the globe. Such foreign-policy priorities, as well as the use of weapons of war to combat terrorist threats on the African continent, will not achieve national security. Africom will only inflame threats against the United States, make Africa even more dependent on external powers and delay responsible African solutions to continental security issues.

The US militarization of Africa is further rationalized by George W. Bush's claims that Africom "will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa" and promote the "goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic growth." Yet the Bush Administration fails to mention that securing and controlling African wealth and natural resources is key to US trade interests, which face growing competition from China. Transnational corporations rely on Africa for petroleum, uranium and diamonds--to name some of the continent's bounty. West Africa currently provides 15 percent of crude oil imports to the United States, and that figure is expected to rise to 25 percent by 2015.

KEEP ON MAKING THE CALLS TO THE OFFICIALS NUMBERS ON THE SECOND PAGE OF THIS ARTICLE!

This article from: TransAfrica forum

Tell the Senate Armed Services Committee to Reject Military Command on the Continent of Africa

TransAfrica Denounces Confirmation Hearings for General William Ward

On the morning of Thursday, September 27 the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services will convene confirmation hearings that will include the nomination of Army General William E. Ward as chief officer of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM).

TransAfrica Forum, the nation’s premier African-American foreign policy organization, states its opposition to the formation of AFRICOM, and thus the confirmation of General Ward. AFRICOM is the Bush Administration’s latest effort to militarize foreign policy and aid. AFRICOM is the proposed permanent command structure that will be located on the African continent to launch global military campaigns and “oversee” the distribution of aid.

Promoting human rights, fair trade, and self-determination of African peoples must be the cornerstone of U.S. policy towards Africa, not the building of yet another military authority. AFRICOM will prove detrimental to African sovereignty and the development African solutions for African problems. AFRICOM is an example of military expansion in the name of the War on Terrorism, when it is in fact designed to secure Africa’s resources and ensure American interests on the continent. AFRICOM represents a policy of U.S. military-driven expansionism that will only enhance political instability, conflict, and the deterioration of state security. continued...

Source: BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7026197.stm

US Africa Command - a unit designed to run all of America's military operations in Africa - opened for business this month.

Africom takes over the work currently done by three different command centres, all of them based outside Africa. While it is stationed in Germany for now, there has been a hostile reaction from many African countries to the idea of such a major US military installation moving onto African soil.

Many crucial details about how it is meant to work are still unclear. It has not yet been revealed, for example, where its headquarters will be.

And the fact that so much is still under wraps is fuelling the suspicion about what it is intended for.

Militarised society?
The Bush administration insists there's nothing sinister about the Africom initiative.
According to US Under-Secretary of Defence Ryan Henry, it amounts merely to the redeployment of a few hundred personnel.

Liberia's president Sirleaf has given her backing to Africom
"Today we have the European Command, the Central Command and the Pacific Command, that deal with Africa," he says.

Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday, an amazing thing happened. After the Senate's shameful vote, and after President Bush called MoveOn "disgusting,"1 our email started to fill up with messages like this one:

I'm currently in Iraq. I do not agree with this war, and if I did support this war, it would not matter. You have the RIGHT to speak the truth. We KNOW that you support us. Thank you for speaking out for being our voice. We do not have a voice. We are overshooted by those who say that we soldiers do not support organizations like MoveOn. WE DO.

YOU ARE OUR voice.

Africa doesn't need any boots, we don't need anything blood related, we have enough blood sucking mosquitoes already. What we need is free trade. Yes, the problem weighing Africa down is the very unfree trade and the Nations working against our progress by promoting this, which promotes all forms of child exploitation and labour. According to a recent study, the impostion of un-free trade on Africa by the west in exchange for paltry aid, forces Africa to open its markets and results in poor Africans loosing a staggering 272 billion dollars! http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_050621trade.shtml

Those Nations who stand between us getting the real value for our produce but continue promoting our underpayment, must be seriously condemned and halted.

The United states that claims it intends to protect Africa by installing this AFRICOM, in adition to being one of the obstructions we have to liberation and free trade, were the only Nation which blocked a United Nations proposed embargo on gun trade indiscriminately across Africa. Read this here- http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0622-08.htm

Now, that is our problem, the guns in the hands of every willing and un willing hungry desperate militia. And it doesn't take more guns to get guns off the street, you musn't kill 35,000/month as is currently in Iraq to save us, what it takes is our ending the hypocrisy now! Ending the US big lobbyists gun trade which the US economy enjoys and promoting free trade. Bele full no dey cause for trouble.

http://www.cpms.osd.mil/africom/positions.aspx?sort=title

Even though Africa rejects it, US seems to be going ahead to fill job spots for AFRICOM, in the words of the US principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, - Ryan Henry (above link), it's a counter-terrorism move. Well maybe it's for a pseudo-Africa. You know with all this technology, they may have a pseudo-Africa in hollywood where these AFRICOM agents will be employed. NOT here...

Terrorism killed 5,000+, Counterterrorism has killed 1 million Iraqis and displaced more. Africa wants, needs and invites neither!

What say you...

The Federal Government has begun moves to frustrate the plan by the United States to establish a military base in the Gulf of Guinea. The oil-rich gulf is bordered by Nigeria, Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe US has been desperately wooing some countries in the West Africa sub-region to allow her establish a military base to protect the strategic gulf for sometime now.

The move, according to US, is to protect the area from alleged external aggressions but with America now looking in the direction of Africa for her energy needs given the instability in the Middle-east, many analysts say the move is to protect her oil interests.
Defence sources, however, told THISDAY last night in Abuja that the Federal Government was already discussing with heads of government of the African Union and leaders of the sub-regional body, the Economic Community of West African State, on how to block any move by US to establish a base in the gulf.

"Nigeria is not taking the issue lightly at all and the government is not going to allow the US establish any military base anywhere in the ECOWAS region. The interest of the US government in the Gulf of Guinea has reinforced the commitment of the government to intensify its efforts at providing the needed security in the sub-region," the source said.

It was learnt that the Federal Government was worried by the terror alert raised by the US authorities last week and saw it as a ploy to label Nigeria and countries in the sub region as unsafe in order to get the opportunity to create a military base in the region.
As a first step to checkmate that plan, the FG has vowed to frustrate the campaign by the US to establish a base in the gulf.
"The government of this country is not ready for any blackmail. What they cannot get through the back doors they want to get through blackmail. We are not going to succumb to that game,” the source said. THISDAY also learnt that the Defence Headquarters has concluded plans to visit Pentagon, in Washington, to further discuss the issue with the US government.
"In a few weeks from now, some top military personnel will be in the US to present papers on the plans by the African Union to establish an African Command, which will be charged with the responsibility of providing the needed security in the continent.

"We really want to let the US and other countries of the world know that we are capable of protecting the resources within our continent. Nigeria is one country that will continue to move against any plans by the US government to establish a military base in our sub-region. We cannot afford to allow them do that, otherwise we will be finished as military,” he said.

There is broad consensus among African countries that foreign forces - specifically in the form of the United States' new African Command - would not be welcomed to establish themselves on the continent.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota expressed this sentiment Wednesday, during a briefing on the implementation of government's programme of action by Cabinet's International Relations, Peace and Security cluster.


The minister indicated a hesitance on the part of African countries to host the US's new dedicated command for the continent.

"The Africom [the US Africa Command] initiative has raised a lot of interest and attracted a lot of attention because ... Africa has to avoid the presence of foreign forces on her soil," Mr Lekota told reporters on Wednesday.

"If there was to be an influx of armed forces into one or other of the African countries, that might effect the relations between the sister countries and [would] not encourage an atmosphere and a sense of security," he added.

As a start, the 14-country Southern African Development Community had taken a decision that none of its members would be willing to host US forces, he said.

Mr Lekota said that the SADC had adopted the position that it would be better for the US not "to come and make a presence and create uncertainty here", the Defence Minister added.

"At the interstate defence and security committee meeting held in Dar es Salaam, the SADC defence and security ministers took the position and recommended that sister countries of the region should not agree to host Africom - in particular, to host [US] armed forces," he said.

complement the strengthening of the African Union peace force

US, West interests in Nigeria risk "terror attack"

This is a reason for concern. Nigeria and larger Africa absolutely do not need any part of the negative effects of this terror debacle.
Story--
U.S. and other Western interests in Nigeria are at risk of "terrorist attack", the United States embassy in Africa's top oil producer said on Thursday. The official warning, in a message for U.S. citizens in Nigeria, gave few details, but said potential targets include official and commercial installations in the capital Abuja and the commercial city of Lagos.
"The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has received information that U.S. and other Western interests in Nigeria are currently at risk for terrorist attack," the statement said.
The threat information advised U.S. citizens to play an active role in their personal safety by reviewing their security practices.
Militant attacks on multi-billion dollars Western oil facilities in the Niger Delta are common, but there has never been any large scale terrorist attack on Western targets outside Africa's oil heartland.
Nigeria's Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe berated foreign diplomats on Wednesday over what he said were excessive concerns voiced by their countries about insecurity in the oil-producing southern delta region.

Source:

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL06796061.html