Thread by @radicaltheory

jamila osman:

“in 2007, in a post-9/11 political and psychological landscape, president bush and donald rumsfeld, then secretary of defense, launched u.s. africa command (africom), which oversees all department of defense military operations on the continent in order[…]”

“to ‘monitor and disrupt violent extremist organizations and protect u.s. interests’ because of the continent’s growing strategic importance. initially based in stuttgart, germany, africom was formed without the input or support of any african leaders, many of whom decried its”

“formation and described it as an attempt to establish more u.s. military bases on the continent. in response, u.s. officials said africom was meant to provide humanitarian assistance and support peace and stability because ‘a safe, stable, and prosperous africa is an enduring”

“american interest.’ but critics pointed out that iraq and afghanistan, twin targets of the war on terror, serve as clear examples of the disastrous consequences of the u.s.’s militarized ‘humanitarian’ efforts. africom has not created the ‘safety and stability’ invoked[…]”

“by u.s. leaders, but it has expanded the u.s. military’s footprint. during the obama administration, africom quickly expanded its reach and influence on the continent through military-to-military trainings, joint counterterrorism operations, foreign aid, and other surreptitious”

“methods that created dependence on africom for the defense needs of african states. despite the fact that the u.s. is not at war with any african country, there are 46 u.s. military bases & outposts spanning the continent, with the greatest concentration in the horn of africa.”

“camp lemonnier, the u.s. base in djibouti, a small east african nation with a poverty rate of 79 percent, serves as the current home to africom in the horn. in 2014 the u.s. government secured a 20-year lease for $63,000,000 a year.”

“as africom’s presence across the continent grows, so does the terrorism it is meant to curb. the 2006 u.s.-backed overthrow of the union of islamic courts in somalia paved the way for a more militant group, al-shabab, to grow in rank and reach. this is just one example of how”

“power vacuums caused by u.s. military intervention fortify the political will & strength of terrorist groups.
in october 2017, in the one of the deadliest terror attacks in somalia’s history, a truck bombing in mogadishu killed over 500 civilians, injuring several hundred more.”

“in august 2022, a deadly siege and 30-hour standoff between al-shabab militants and the somali security forces at hotel hayat in the city center left dozens dead. these attacks point to the country’s fragile security apparatus despite persistent counterterrorism offensives[…]”

“and $243,309,000 in security assistance from the united states in 2022 alone. the u.s.’s decades-long presence has not led to a decrease in terrorist activity but has only caused increased instability in the region and enabled such violence to flourish.”

“a 2019 report released by the africa center for strategic studies found terrorist activity doubled from 2012 to 2018, and the number of countries experiencing attacks increased by 960 percent during that time period. moreover, there was a ten-fold increase in violent events[…]”

“jumping from 288 incidents in 2009 to 3,050 in 2018. from boko haram’s growth in nigeria, to al-shabab’s territorial advancements across somalia, to daesh’s reappearance in libya, by all metrics, the war on terror has been an abysmal failure in africa.”

“the african people, caught in the nexus of the catastrophic violence of terrorism and ensuing counterterrorism efforts, bear the weight of this failed war. while africom training has not helped african security forces curb terrorism, it has enabled them to repress civilian[…]”

“protests against reactionary african leaders who align with u.s. interests, as evidenced by the crackdown on #endsars protesters in nigeria in 2020. sars, the special anti-robbery squad, a notorious western-trained unit of the nigerian police, has a documented[…]”

“history of human rights abuses. the war on terror not only created the conditions that enabled the u.s. and its allies unfettered collaboration on security and surveillance through shared counterinsurgency tactics, but the development of a shared language and logic.”

“from lagos to minneapolis, the designation of terrorist is frequently deployed against individuals or group that challenge the u.s. imperial project or any of its puppet regimes. president joe biden’s national strategy for countering domestic terrorism is a domestic example of”

“how the state has used the war on terror to criminalize and prosecute protesters and activists. the one thing africom has dramatically succeeded at is boosting corporate profits associated with the lucrative counterterrorism industry that the war on terror has made possible.”

“a 2021 report from brown university’s cost of war project revealed that one-third to one-half of all pentagon contracts since 9/11 have gone to five transnational weapons corporations: lockheed martin, boeing, general dynamics, raytheon and northrop grumman.”

“from 2001 to 2020, these five companies earned $2.1 trillion from pentagon contracts. terrorism is a manufactured political crisis. unsurprisingly, it is global weapons manufacturers that are tasked with selling the solution.”

truthout.org/articles/afric…