By Scott A Morgan
What a way for the Intelligence Shop (G-2) for AFRICOM to begin. The Concern and Scrutiny regarding the newest Mililtary Command of the United States may be overshadowed a tad by recent events off the coast of Somalia,
As the efforts to restore a functioning Centralized Government in Somalia continues to flounder there has been an increase in Piracy in one of the World’s busiest shipping regions. Several Nations including the United States have deployed both Naval and Special Forces Assets to the region in an effort to curtail the Criminal Activity.
One of the Vessels that was recently seized has several Intelligence Specialists concerned not only about the cargo but where the cargo was eventually headed to. After all this is one of the most violent regions in the whole world, The Faina is a container ship of Ukranian registry. It was captured within the last ten days. And part of its cargo was 33 T-72 Main Battle Tanks.
Now a guessing game has begun. The Pirates have demanded over $30 Million in Ransom. There are reports that the Tanks were headed to Mombasa, Kenya. The Kenyan Government has stated that they had purchased the Armor from Russia. There have been reports that the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) had acquired the weapons. US Intelligence believes that this is an effort to go around the Arms Embargo against Sudan.
Let us look at these three scenarios. First of all the Initial reaction regarding the Sudanese Government. This would not be the First Time the Russian Federation has attempted to break the Sanctions against Sudan. As a matter of fact the Russians have supported Sudan in the UN on more than one occasion. so this is plausible but i think that the Armor could have been unloaded at Port Sudan.
What about the claims of the Kenyan Government? Well the Armor was headed to a Kenyan Port. This could give the claims some form of legitimacy. There are still concerns regarding Abuse in the Mt. Elgon Region in the West of the Country but on the whole peace and stability are increasing in this country. Unless the Armor is meant to defend the Northern Border with Somalia and/or Ethiopia.
This brings us to the Government of Southern Sudan. This is an autonomous region of Sudan that fought a long protracted Insurgency against Khartoum. There is still a level of distrust towards Khartoum to this very day. Also in recent weeks there have been clashes with the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) which is a Ugandan Militia. The LRA was to have signed a Peace Deal with Kampala after GOSS negotiated a Peace Accord. When it came time to sign it the LRA did not show.
It is most likely that the Armor was most likely headed to either Nairobi or even Khartoum. But with the Armor being seized by the Pirates its possible that the Armor could end up being used in Somalia unless either the ransom is paid or the vessel is liberated by the Naval Elements that have the ship surrounded at this time.
Even though it does not have a forward deployment base or a permanent location this situation is still an interesting way for AFRICOM to start a new year. This is the US reacting to limit to spread of Piracy. Let us hope that AFRICOM is successful.
(The Author publishes Confused Eagle on the Internet. It can be found at morganrights.tripod.com)
4 thoughts on “First Test for AFRICOM: Who do the Tanks Belong Too?”
There are several grammatical errors at the end of this article.
Belongs to the Woyannie regime of Ethiopia – bought by the Americans and destined to puntland Somalia.
This is a good proof that western and eastern countries are always commited to impoverishing Africans forever, all the arms dealings with dictatorial regimes all over Africa is an open secret to us Africans who have seen it for decades, can you imagine how much money was paid to get these 30 expensive tanks, spare parts and ammunition? Who is paying for it and where does the money come from? These are the question we Africans should ask. The more weapons are sold to Africans the more children and adults die because of hunger, lack of medical care and sanitation. Imagine how much Woyanne has been spending on their mercenary military, imagine how much of that money was “donated” by “donors”, someone will pay for all that money, the western banks will call in the loans one day and the Ethiopian people will be left holding the bag. These events should outrage every African in the diaspora and lets start making noises in the western media and let the people in the west know what crimes are beign commited in Africa in their name.
All of the talk about arms destined for the Sudan comes from the pirates themselves who made the claim as a way to force payment of the ransom.
This claim by the pirates, never proven, was echoed by Andrew Mwnagura who has now been arrested for making false statements.
Before we start pointing the finger of blame on this issue, it would be wise to step back, take a deep breath and obtain some hard FACTS. Until we do, various groups will spin this story to their own political end. This is not what is needed now and does no one any good.
It is unfortunate that no one in the press has taken any effort to obtain accurate information. Who in the press has visited the Ukrainian arms company to obtain shipping documents? Who in the press has visited the Kenyan authorities to obtain bills of lading for the material? No one. It is easier for the press to sit on their rears in comfortable offices and spin stories without facts. The outcome of these press stories is an ever growing storm that provides the press even more to write about.
Shame on the press for keeping this story alive and feeding their own agendas. The victims in this lack of press responsibility for accurate reporting will be the people of Africa. A pox on their houses.