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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| African Port May Become U.S. Base |
| 2002-11-19 |
| One of the largest ports on the Red Sea stands eerily idle, its huge cranes motionless in the oppressive heat. Yet this sleepy town on the southern tip of Eritrea could become a base for U.S. troops in the war on terrorism and Saddam Hussein. A nice empty port facility, how handy. Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, or CentCom, visited Eritrea in March, and the then defense minister, Sehat Ephrem, said his government would happily host a U.S. base. And on Oct. 29 Franks said the United States has ``security relationships or engagement opportunities'' in many Horn of Africa countries, including Eritrea. Assab -- before the war a busy port that served Ethiopia -- would doubtless be useful to the United States as it increases its military presence in an unstable region cited as a possible terrorist haven. Unstable is a understatement. More than 1,500 U.S. Marines have been exercising in neighboring Djibouti, and some 800 U.S. troops, including special forces, are based at Le Monier camp in Djibouti town as part of the task force for the Horn. The task force will be bolstered by some 300 troops, mainly Marines and Navy, when the Mount Whitney arrives, Maj. Mitchell said. But Djibouti authorities insist their country cannot be used for attacks in Yemen. Massachusetts-sized Djibouti is also a base for 2,850 French troops, and is reaching saturation point, the sources said. Another advantage for Eritrea, No French! |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 That is no joke, Jack. The US could buy the entire Persian Gulf. Buying the Afghan warlords was a pragmatic approach to speeding the resolution of that war. The judicious use of bribes is an art that US diplomats need to perfect. |
| Posted by: RB 2002-11-20 10:40:05 |
| #7 How coincidental. Woodward's book, US spending $70 million in bribes in Afghanistan, and now we have big smiles and lots of ports in the Horn. Wonder what the price would be to "buy" Iraq from Sammy? |
| Posted by: Jack 2002-11-20 04:57:01 |
| #6 What goes around comes around. Asmara, the Eritrean capitol formerly hosted a US military base called Kagnew Station, so they certainly know the value of the American $$. http://www.kagnewstation.com/ |
| Posted by: Mike M 2002-11-19 17:18:49 |
| #5 Take out a map of the area and draw a circle using the 1000 mile range, you geta clear idea why this is a great base. The eritrean governemnt has two choices, sell us a 99 year lease, or we throw them out and install our own government, who will then sell us a lease to the harbor. Dont think we'd do that? ask the folks in panama if can and will do just exactly that. just call it guantanamo east. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-11-19 16:23:35 |
| #4 More than money,Eritreans want U.S. to keep their former bosses the Ethiopians at arm's length.Eritrea and Ethiopia have continuous border disagreements (=Ethiopia thinks the border should be the Red Sea). |
| Posted by: El Id 2002-11-19 16:12:51 |
| #3 Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Eritrea a semi-democracy? That won't stop the kleptos from lining their pockets (exhibit 1A, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos), but I should think one could build in some safeguards for how the money is spent. Heck, make part of the bargin that the Corps of Engineerings has to do one improvement project for the country for every three projects they do for a new military base in Assab. That'll get things moving! |
| Posted by: Steve White 2002-11-19 14:21:30 |
| #2 Would be nice too if we made sure that the funds made their way to real improvements for the whole country (i.ee.: hospitals, schools, infrastructure) rather than lining some warlords' pocket. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2002-11-19 14:06:12 |
| #1 I imagine they would "happily host a U.S. base." They're talking big time bucks for that area of the world. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-11-19 11:50:17 |