Edited and translated by People's Daily Online
According to a report by Kenya's newspaper on Oct. 23, U.S. special envoy to Kenya Scott Gration said on the same day that the United States has offered technical support to Kenya's military operations in Somalia.
Gration said that the United States has not dispatched troops to Somalia, yet it will try its best to help Kenyan military to complete their tasks. Furthermore, the United States is also mulling over providing Kenya with medium and long-term support. According to a report by East African newspaper on Oct. 23, the United States has used unmanned aircraft to directly attack Al-Shabab.
U.S. Special Forces to deploy in three central African countries
U.S. President Barack Obama announced a plan on Oct. 14 to send about 100 Special Forces to central Africa to help the army of Uganda to fight the Lord's Resistance Army. The first batch of the troops arrived in Uganda on Oct. 12. An African newspaper said on Oct. 21 that this would be the biggest military deployment of the United States in the region in recent years.
"Deploying these U.S. armed forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy," Obama said.
It is generally believed that in addition to combating terrorism and securing a new foothold in Africa, the United States also aims to grab more African resources through the mission in Uganda. Obama failed to mention how long the U.S. troops will stay in Central Africa, but according to the U.S. military, it will be a long-term deployment, and the U.S. troops will not leave until they make sure the government forces in the region are able to independently protect themselves.
Africa opposes outside military intervention
Many African media outlets have expressed their worries about the active role of U.S. troops on the continent. In fact, most African countries are opposed to foreign military intervention in their internal affairs. For example, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has made it clear that the U.S. troops should not directly fire on the LRA.
In recent years, Africa's status in the United States' global strategy rose once again. On the one hand, the United States' anti-terrorism operations have driven some terrorists to some weak African countries and the United States is afraid that these terrorists may unite with local anti-government forces to form terrorist organizations like the Al-Qaeda, leading to turbulences in the Africa and making the anti-terrorism situation of the United States more difficult.
On the other hand, the Lord's Resistance Army and the Somali Youth Party may severely threaten such countries as the South Sudan, Angola and Somalia, and therefore the United States could infiltrate into these countries in the name of safeguarding the security and stability of the region so that it could strengthen its influence and protest its interests.
Corporate climbers don't work out enough
Sina Microblog
Tencent Microblog
Feedback
RSS
