...... Somalia's version of the Taliban
...Arabic for
students...
, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
hard boyz intensified attacks within Somalia and across the borders, particularly in Æthiopia, a country that had successfully tamed the Death Eaters.
Lt. Gen. Michael Langley was confirmed by the Senate as the successor of General Stephen Townsend, who has been in charge of the troops for the last three years. Lt. Gen. Michael Langley is the first Black four-star general in Marine Corps history.
Senators unanimously voted for the promotions earlier this week after the upper chamber’s Armed Services Committee praised the men for their "exceptional" qualifications at a confirmation hearing last month.
According to the Stripes, Langley will break a racial barrier that stood in the Marine Corps for 246 years. More than 70 white men rose to the Marine Corps’ top ranks during that time.
During his speech, Langley said during his confirmation hearing in late July that the global security environment was "the most challenging I’ve seen throughout my 37 years [of service]."
The son of an Air Force noncommissioned officer, Langley grew up on racially diverse bases. He said last year that he did not experience discrimination until his father retired in the early 1970s and moved the family to "cowboy country" in Texas.
"Yes, we had challenges at an early age, and I think that prepared me for leadership of all Marines, regardless of color, regardless of creed, religion, orientation," Langley said. "That experience at a young age prepared me to be a platoon commander years after that."
Langley was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1985. He has commanded at every level, from platoon to regiment, and served overseas in Afghanistan, Japan and Somalia.
He now leads Marine Forces Command and Marine Forces Northern Command and is the commander of Fleet Marine Force Atlantic in Norfolk, Va. Prior to that posting, Langley led U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...and Africa from Germany. He stepped into the role after his predecessor was removed for allegedly using a racial slur for Black Americans in front of troops, The Stripes added.
Langley called the move a "positive step" in a written response to a set of questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"A stable and prosperous African continent is increasingly important to the United States — politically, economically, and militarily — and will become even more so in the future," he wrote.
A fortnight ago, al-Shabaab hard boyz crossed over to Æthiopia, forcing security forces in the country to open fire which left 100 of them dead. On Thursday, reports indicated that a number of Æthiopian army generals visited Somalia for a series of security talks.
The hard boyz are keen to infiltrate Æthiopia, a country that is a major security partner of Somalia. Currently, there are about 4,000 Æthiopian soldiers serving in the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Æthiopia who have been instrumental in the al-Shabaab war.
Fundamentally, the changes come just months after the US redeployed over 500 soldiers to Somalia, a year after they were withdrawn. Somalia has been battling against