Arsonist and Firefighter All in One: Expert Exposes Washington's Problem-Reaction-Solution Game
14:16 GMT 29.03.2023 (Updated: 17:04 GMT 31.07.2023)
© AP Photo / Misper Apawu
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Last week, Congressman Matt Gaetz grilled General Michael Langley, who heads the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) about African soldiers who were trained by the US military and went on to pull off coups. Langley insisted only a minute number of Africans who were US trained later went on to conduct coups, claiming the programs focus on core values.
The fact that the United States helps create problems and then pretends to lend a hand in solving them is rather ironic, if not disgusting, Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, Texas, tells Sputnik.
The researcher's remarks come in the wake of the "very disturbing spectacle" of US military forces engaging earlier this month in military maneuvers off the Gulf of Guinea, which is "in the vicinity" of where, according to him, many coups have taken place with the participation of African soldiers that have previously received military training by Washington.
"Now, what's curious about these military maneuvers is that supposedly they're designed to repress religious insurgencies, as they are dubbed, particularly those spearheaded by those who are considered to be Muslims," Horne says. "But what's interesting about that is that we know that this particular strain of so-called Islamicism arose, not least because the United States was working hand in glove with these forces in Afghanistan, for example."
He claims that the US helped to pump up these extremist groups into further influence in Libya in 2011 after the overthrow of the North African country's former leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who had opposed these forces.
"And so you see this rather ironic, if not disgusting, spectacle of the United States helping to create problems and then supposedly helping to resolve problems," the historian states. "It's like the poacher who says that simultaneously he's the gamekeeper, or he is the arsonist and simultaneously the firefighter. This simply will not do."
And speaking of something that will not do, Dr. Horne assumes that the world is currently witnessing a "historic handoff" similar to the handoff from the British Empire to "US Imperialism" that took place in the immediate aftermath of World War II in 1945.
The author of "Negro Comrades of the Crown: African-Americans and the British Empire Fight the US Before Emancipation" believes that a "delayed handoff" seems to be taking place "from the French neo-colonial empire in Africa, which obviously is unraveling as we speak, as we see French forces ousted unceremoniously from Mali, amongst other places, and US imperialism seeking to take that French role."
28 March 2023, 16:22 GMT
The American historian pointed to the "steady stream of prominent US visitors" to the African continent, including Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen's 10-day trip to Senegal, Zambia and South Africa in January, First Lady Jill Biden's visit to Namibia and to Kenya in February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken's tour of Ethiopia and Niger in mid-March, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris's current trip to Ghana and Zambia. Horne jokes that lately Blinken has been in Africa "so often that he probably should rent a flat there."
"Now, speaking of creating problems, we know that many of Ghana's problems commenced in 1966 with the overthrow of Founding Father, Kwame Nkrumah, at the behest of US imperialism," the expert says. "Mr. Nkrumah was excoriated by the United States because he opened its doors to a steady stream of African-American exiles W.E.B. Dubois and his spouse, Shirley Graham Dubois, in the first instance, and also opened its doors to the prominent black American visitor, then known as Malcolm X."
To further his point, the history professor argues that US Vice President Harris's ongoing visit to Ghana is driven "not least by this hysteria" about the role of China and Russia in Africa, but has other undeclared goals given the fact that her next stop after Accra is the Zambian capital of Lusaka, recently visited by Treasury Secretary Yellen.
28 March 2023, 15:18 GMT
He believes Zambia will continue receiving significant attention from the Biden White House because of a number of reasons.
"And I don't think you can understand this attention to the Southern African nation without understanding its proximity to Zimbabwe, where the United States is opposed to the regime because it is perceived as being hostile to settler colonialism, not to mention the United States’ disgust with the current regime in Pretoria, South Africa, because of its association with Brazil, Russia, India and China and the so-called BRICS," Horne says.
Amongst other reason behind Washington's sudden focus on Zambia, is that the country is one of the world's major producers of copper, which is preeminent in terms of the rise of the green economy.
"And so you would be naive if you thought that Vice President Harris's trip to Africa was motivated by humanitarian concern or the like," Professor Horne says. "I'm afraid to say it has everything to do with imperialism, everything to do with power politics and everything to do with the perpetuation of neocolonialism."
On March 26, US Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a seven-day Africa tour, with Ghana being the first stop on her trip, which includes Zambia and Tanzania as well.
19 October 2022, 16:33 GMT
In October 2022, American media reported that since 2008, US-trained African military officers have attempted at least nine coups in five West African countries. Out of those, eight have been successful, and they reportedly occurred in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Mauritania in different years. Gambia was where the unsuccessful one took place in 2014.
According to the report, citing the US Africa Command, warlords who had previously participated in the Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) Flintlock exercises, which are claimed by the Pentagon to be intended to strengthen the ability of African nations to fight terrorism, have conducted a total of five coups since 2015.
