5 Places The U.S. Military Operates—You Might Be Surprised

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/world/5-places-us-military-operates-you-might-be-surprised



***SNIP

Jordan

The United States’ desire to see the Assad regime removed in Syria is no secret, nor is their support for several of the rebel groups working to oust the Syrian president. Friday’s letter to Congress served as a remind of just how much the U.S. is doing to bring this about, having left behind at the request of Jordan “a combat-equipped detachment of approximately 700 U.S. personnel remain in Jordan following participation in a training exercise that ended on June 20, 2013.” Among the equipment they are stationed along the Syrian border with includes “Patriot missile systems, fighter aircraft, and related support, command, control, and communications personnel and systems.” Their presence brings the total number of U.S. troops in Jordan to 1,500, among which are U.S. Special Forces of them are engaged in training Syrian rebels in tactics and providing military advice as needed.

Niger

“As indicated in my report of June 14, 2013, U.S. military personnel in Niger continue to provide support for intelligence collection and to facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali and with other partners in the region,” Obama wrote to Congressional leaders. According to the White House, there are currently approximately 200 personnel deployed there at the time. The Sahel became noted as a prime area for counter-terrorism operations following al-Qaeda affiliate group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) managed to takeover of most of northern Mali last year. In the aftermath of France’s intervention, the region has faded off the radar again, but the Washington Post in March of this year reported that the U.S. was establishing a drone base to conduct surveillance operations in West Africa.

Kosovo

Even though the intervention in Kosovo was more than a decade ago, the United States still has a sizable number of forces still in the former Serbian enclave. Once former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic capitulated, ending the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the region, NATO opted following combat operations to leave behind a force known as KFOR to help keep the peace. “The U.S. contribution to KFOR is approximately 670 U.S. military personnel out of the total strength of approximately 4,900 personnel,” Obama informed Congress.

Central Africa

Made infamous through the social media campaign #Kony2012, the Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony has been dubbed a primary target of the United States, leading to the deployment of military personnel to aid African nations in the hunt for him. First deployed in 2011, the U.S. contingency of approximately 120 personnel is spread across the Republic of South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Central African Republic in the hunt for Kony and other senior LRA leaders. “These forces, however, will not engage LRA forces except in self-defense,” Obama made clear in his letter.

[MADem]

1. We're pikers on the African continent compared to the Chinese.

Those guys are everywhere. A large number of Chinese military are in Africa under the UN imprimatur as well.

[solarhydrocan]

2. Kosovo - "A sizeable number of forces" and a base

Camp Bondsteel



Kosovo- the first PNAC war. A warmup for Iraq.

newamericancentury.org has finally been allowed to expire. But the wayback machine works

https://web.archive.org/web/20130921231007/http://www.newamericancentury.org/balkans.htm



John Pilger: Don't Forget Yugoslavia

The secrets of the crushing of Yugoslavia are emerging, telling us more about how the modern world is policed. The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, this year published her memoir The Hunt: Me and War Criminals. Largely ignored in Britain, the book reveals unpalatable truths about the west's intervention in Kosovo, which has echoes in the Caucasus.


The tribunal was set up and bankrolled principally by the United States. Del Ponte's role was to investigate the crimes committed as Yugoslavia was dismembered in the 1990s. She insisted that this include Nato's 78-day bombing of Serbia and Kosovo in 1999, which killed hundreds of people in hospitals, schools, churches, parks and tele vision studios, and destroyed economic infrastructure. "If I am not willing to [prosecute Nato personnel]," said Del Ponte, "I must give up my mission." It was a sham. Under pressure from Washington and London, an investigation into Nato war crimes was scrapped.


Readers will recall that the justification for the Nato bombing was that the Serbs were committing "genocide" in the secessionist province of Kosovo against ethnic Albanians. David Scheffer, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, announced that as many as "225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59" may have been murdered. Tony Blair invoked the Holocaust and "the spirit of the Second World War". The west's heroic allies were the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), whose murderous record was set aside. The British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, told them to call him any time on his mobile phone...more

http://johnpilger.com/articles/don-t-forget-yugoslavia

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3. +1