africom related news clips 29 march 2011

8/7/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips 29 March 2011

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United States Africa CommandPublic Affairs Office29 March 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

Libya: AFRICOM's Combat Christening(ISN)(Libya) The current intervention underway in Libya is the inaugural combat mission forthe US military's AFRICOM. While the Command's professed primary objective hasbeen to strengthen security cooperation with African countries, many in sub-Saharan

Africa see a more ominous agenda at work.

Obama Defends Libya Fight (Wall Street Journal)(Libya) President Barack Obama made his case for military intervention in Libya in aspeech to the nation on Monday, saying the action he directed was in U.S. interests andhad already succeeded in preventing a massacre of "horrific scale.''

Obama Libya Speech: Striking For What Was Unsaid As Much As Said (NPR)(Libya) President Obama's Monday night speech on Libya was probably as striking forwhat he didn't say as much as what he did say.

2nd UPDATE: Obama's Speech Draws Praise, Questions, Criticism In Congress (WallStreet Journal)(Libya) U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the nation about the rationale for anintervention in Libya drew an array of reactions at the U.S. Capitol, mixing pride withunease and reflecting the lack of a coherent position among either party over themilitary action.

U.S. Gives Its Air Power Expansive Role in Libya (NYT)(Libya) Even as President Obama on Monday described a narrower role for the UnitedStates in a NATO-led operation in Libya, the American military has been carrying out

an expansive and increasingly potent air campaign to compel the Libyan Army to turnagainst Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

US: Allied Airstrikes Help Libyan Rebels Indirectly (VOA)(Libya) The U.S. military says coalition air strikes in Libya, under the United NationsSecurity Council mandate, have helped the rebels advance toward the capital, Tripoli,


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and that the attacks continue to hamper the Libyan army's ability to control, deploy andsupply its forces.

Libyan rebels push toward Gaddafis home town (Washington Post)(Libya) Libyan rebels came under heavy fire as they pushed toward Moammar

Gaddafis home town on the Mediterranean coast Monday, setting up a potentiallycrucial battle in the six-week-old uprising.

Rebels Facing Tough Fight for Sirte (IPS)(Libya) Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are resisting an advance by Libyan rebelstowards the embattled Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte in the fiercest clashes sincethe start of a sweeping offensive that has brought a string of coastal towns underopposition control.

Libyan Rebels Aim to Revive Oil Exports (NYT)

(Libya) After seizing control of critical oil fields and terminals in eastern Libya over theweekend, Libyan rebels are now trying to sell oil in international markets, potentiallyraising hundreds of millions of dollars to buy weapons and supplies.

Why Libya's unrest could threaten the Sahel region (Christian Science Monitor)(Libya) African leaders in the Sahel the coast-to-coast belt of countries just south ofLibya are afraid that Libya's unrest will disrupt the region's balance of power and putarms in the hands of rebel militias.

U.S. Gives Its Air Power Expansive Role in Libya(NYT)

(Libya) Even as President Obama on Monday described a narrower role for the UnitedStates in a NATO-led operation in Libya, the American military has been carrying out

an expansive and increasingly potent air campaign to compel the Libyan Army to turn

against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Battle Erupts For Key Ivory Coast Town (VOA)(Ivory Coast) Intense fighting has erupted in western Ivory Coast, where fighters loyalto two rival presidents are battling for control of Duekoue, a strategic town.

South Sudan: Will Freedom Just Lead to Civil War? (Time)

(Sudan) Fears of a bloody birth for the world's newest country, South Sudan, arebecoming ever more real after weeks of battles between its autonomous governmentand their opponents. Hundreds have died in fighting between South Sudan authoritiesand rebel militias. Now five rebel groups in four of the country's ten states appear tohave united under one name, the Southern Sudan Democratic Movement, and onecommander, George Athor. "There is a need for the world to know who we are," Athor


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told TIME via satellite phone from an undisclosed location. "Our manifesto will comeout very soon."

Africa: Last Frontier for Business Increasingly Abandoned by the U.S. Department of

Commerce (AllAfrica)

(Pan Africa) Less than two years ago, President Barack Obama and First Lady MichelleObama made headlines as they landed in Accra, Ghana. The July 2009 visit was historic,coming only months after Obama was sworn in as our first African-American president.For some Americans, media coverage of the trip was a wake-up call that showed Africaas a coveted partner for businesses from South America, Europe, the Middle East, Indiaand, especially, China.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey Fresh clashes break out in key Ivorian town, UN mission reportsy Senior UNICEF official urges Southern Sudan to prioritize childrens issuesy Joint UN-African team finds North Darfur villages deserted after earlier clashesy Resource-rich Africa well placed to transition to green economy UN officialy UN anti-crime chief highlights Kenyas role in tackling regional security threats

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, April 7, 2011; 9:30am; Dirksen Senate Office BuildingRoom SD-106WHAT: Armed Services: Testimony on AFRICOM

WHO: Full Committee; General Carter F. Ham to testifyInfo: http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=5073----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Libya: AFRICOM's Combat Christening(ISN)By John CK DalyMarch 28, 2011After World War II, the US military carved up the globe outside its borders into a seriesof Unified Combatant Commands (UCC) to project military power and safeguardinterests abroad. The UCC "areas of responsibility" include United States PacificCommand (PACOM, founded 1947 in the wake of the Pacific War), United StatesEuropean Command (EUCOM, founded the same year), United States SouthernCommand (SOCOM, founded in 1963 in the wake of deteriorating relations with Cuba)and United States Central Command (CENTCOM, 1983), covering most of Eurasia.

In 2008 they were joined by a fifth UCC when the United States Africa Command(AFRICOM) became operational. Except for Egypt, which remains under CENTCOM


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administration, AFRICOM is responsible for overseeing US military operations andrelations across the whole African continent and the island nations of Cape Verde, SoTom and Prncipe, the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Prior tothe establishment of AFRICOM, responsibility for continental Africa was dividedbetween EUCOM and CENTCOM, while PACOM had responsibility for Madagascar,

the Comoros and Mauritius.

AFRICOM was established with the stated intention of strengthening "securitycooperation with Africa and creating opportunities to bolster the capabilities of ourpartners in Africa. Africa Command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and securityto the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health,education, democracy, and economic growth in Africa."

The Libya conflict marks AFRICOM's inaugural military combat operation. The AfricaCommand joins CENTCOM military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as the third

major US combat operation in the Muslim world in the last decade.

Promoting security - or a scramble for resources?

Some analysts have pointed to the creation of a specific Africa Command as testimonyto the growing strategic importance of Africa to US interests. Terrorism has rankedamong Washington's chief security concerns on the continent in recent decades, drivenprimarily by the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania andNairobi, Kenya and the post-9/11 global "war on terror". Following 9/11, the USmilitary undertook anti-terrorist operations in the Sahel (the east-to-west belt between

the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south) and established amilitary presence in Djibouti. US troops have also helped train anti-terrorism forces inAlgeria, Chad, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda amongother countries.

AFRICOM detractors have remained skeptical about the Command's true intentions,arguing that furthering access to Africa's vast natural resources, particularly oil, andoffsetting China's expansive investment in the continent over the last decade are amongthe US' chief strategic interests there. Indeed, Africa contains tremendous mineralwealth, huge hydro-electrical power reserves and significantly underdevelopedoffshore resources. The majority of the world's diamonds, gold and chromium areproduced in countries at the southern end of the continent. Africa's mineral richesinclude copper, bauxite, phosphate, uranium, tin, iron ore, cobalt and titanium.

Of these myriad resources, however, nothing has captured foreign interests as much asoil. By 2013, African oil production is projected to rise to 10.7-11.4 million barrels perday (bpd), and by 2018 to 12.4-14.5 million bpd. The US is currently Nigeria's biggest oil


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importer, and the National Intelligence Council predicts that imports from the Gulf ofGuinea will increase to more than 25 percent of all US imports by 2015.

The US, however, is in increasing competition with China for access to Africa's vastnatural resource holdings. In fact, China has overtaken the US to become Africa's

largest trading partner, particularly in oil, accounting for 73 percent of African exports.In 1995, Chinese imports from Africa were worth $1.4 billion; 11 years later, their valuehad soared to $28.7 billion, a 2,000 percent increase.

Regional perceptions

From its founding, African perceptions about AFRICOM's ultimate intentions weremixed, and opinion was largely bifurcated - like the continent itself - by the Saharadesert. The Arabic Maghreb, bordering the southern shore of the Mediterranean, cameout largely in support of AFRICOM; detractors were mostly from black Africa to the

south. African governments, along with many observers in the West, expressed theirconcerns that AFRICOM was actually a stealth operation to extend US military controlacross the continent with an eye toward dominating its resources and keeping a closereye on key competitors like China.

A 2007 US Congressional Research Service report on the creation of AFRICOM laid barethe concerns of many African governments:

There has been considerable apprehension over US motivations for creating AFRICOM,and some Africans worry that the move represents a neocolonial effort to dominate the

region militarily. US military efforts on the continent have been seen as episodic,leading some to question a more sustained focus from DOD [the US Department ofDefense] now. Reports of US air strikes in Somalia in recent years and US support forEthiopia's military intervention there have added to those concerns. Many view UScounter-terrorism efforts in Africa with skepticism, and there appears to be awidespread belief that the new command's primary goals will be to hunt terrorists andto secure US access to African oil. US foreign policy analysts have focused increasedattention on China's role in Africa in recent years, and such attention has led some toquestion whether an Africa Command might be part of a new contest for influence onthe continent.

In the intervening years, not much seems to have changed: In the "frequently askedquestions" section of its website, AFRICOM is almost too quick to ask and answerinquries about an alleged agenda to control Africa's resources, replying to queries like,"Is this [AFRICOM] an effort by the United States to gain access to natural resources(e.g. petroleum)? Is this [AFRICOM] in response to Chinese activities in Africa?" with asimple "No." But African countries apparently remain unconvinced: Liberia is the only


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one of the 53 countries covered by AFRICOM's mandate to publicly offer to host theCommand - until now, its headquarters have been in Stuttgart, Germany.

The ongoing operation in Libya only seems to be reinforcing the notion that AFRICOMis intent on promoting US strategic interests - not bringing "peace and security to the

people of Africa" as per its mission statement.

The Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia pointed to what he viewed as thecapriciousness of the Libyan mission: "The contradictions between principle andnational interest ... have enabled the international community to impose a no-fly zoneover Libya ostensibly to protect innocent civilians from slaughter, but to watchseemingly helplessly (in Ivory Coast) as ...men, women and children are slaughtered inequally, even if less egregious, violence."

South African President Jacob Zuma stated firmly that his country said "no to the killing

of civilians, no to the regime-change doctrine and no to the foreign occupation of Libyaor any other sovereign state." This, even as his country, one of the non-permanentmembers of the UN Security Council, voted for the resolution to impose a no-fly zoneover Libya.

It appears, then, that AFRICOM's inaugural mission - to help establish a no-fly zoneover Libya - has not only failed to convince sub-Saharan Africa of its stated intentions tohelp promote peace and stability across the region, but may actually serve to enhanceresistance to US military presence on the continent.------------------------

Obama Defends Libya Fight (Wall Street Journal)By LAURA MECKLER and ADAM ENTOUSMarch 29, 2011President Barack Obama made his case for military intervention in Libya in a speech to

the nation on Monday, saying the action he directed was in U.S. interests and hadalready succeeded in preventing a massacre of "horrific scale.''

He said the U.S. would work to remove Col. Moammar Gadhafi from power, but madeclear that he would rely on political, financial and other pressuresnot military forceto drive him out. That left open the central question of how Col. Gadhafi's removalwould be accomplished, and how the U.S. would deal with Libya should he remain.

More broadly, Mr. Obama set out the most detailed explanation to date of a new modelfor how the U.S. will approach international crises, laying what may be seen as anObama doctrine in which the U.S. acts as a coalition-builder, spreading the costs andburdens among nations.


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"The burden of action should not be America's alone," he said. "Our task is instead tomobilize the international community for collective action, because, contrary to theclaims of some, American leadership is not simply a matter of going it alone."

Mr. Obama's speech seemed designed to parry criticisms from some Republicans that

the military action in Libya was not speedy or forceful enough, and from liberals andsome conservatives that the U.S. should not have intervened militarily.

After Mr. Obama spoke, some Republicans said he still had not laid out a clearbenchmark for success in Libya, and that he was wrong to exclude regime change fromthe military mission.

"If I were Gadhafi, I might feel a little better tonight," said Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.),Mr. Obama's GOP opponent in the 2008 election.

"The president should have acted weeks before he did, and done so using much clearerguiding principles and with a more clearly defined strategy,'' said Sen. Roy Blunt (R.,Mo.), in a statement.

Jerry Seib and Alan Murray analyze President Obama's speech on Libya, including hisarguments for American military intervention and the possible leadership scenarios inLibya that could result from it..Mr. Obama, in his first major address on the military operation in Libya, sought toreassure war-weary Americans that the action in Libya was succeeding and, 10 daysafter the first strikes, U.S. involvement already was ratcheting down.

Mr. Obama said the alliance took action as the Libyan leader threatened to conduct a"massacre'' in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi "that would have reverberated acrossthe region and stained the conscience of the world. ... And tonight, I can report that wehave stopped Gadhafi's deadly advance."

Mr. Obama drew an explicit contrast with the U.S. experience in Iraq: The U.S. wantsGadhafi gone, but it will not repeat its experience in Iraq, in which the U.S. led the wayin inserting a large ground force.

That regime change "took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, andnearly a trillion dollars. That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya," he said.

The alliance against Col. Gadhafi has made significant gains in the days since the U.S.and its allies first launched military strikes.


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Still, the forces loyal to the Libyan leader have maintained a grip on Tripoliwhereexplosions could be heard late Monday nightand other coastal cities in the country'swest.

The next major conflict was likely to take place in Col. Gadhafi's hometown stronghold

of Sirte, where a rebel victory could open a pathway to Tripoli.

While the U.S. led the initial military strikes in Libya, Mr. Obama emphasized thatcommand was now shifting to NATO.

He said the U.S. would now play a supporting role, providing the coalition withintelligence, logistical support and assistance with search and rescue operations.

He said this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition will "significantly" reducethe risk and cost of the continued operation to the U.S. military and taxpayer.

Mr. Obama's 27-minute speech, delivered at the National Defense University inWashington, were his most extensive remarks on Libya since the bombing campaignbegan.

They followed bipartisan criticism in Congress that he hadn't done enough to explainhis rationale for committing U.S. forces.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) laid out a series of questions about the missionin a letter to Mr. Obama last week, and on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch

McConnell, (R., Ky.), offered a similar list.

Some Republicans said afterward that they president had not provided enough clarity.

Rep. Tom Price (R., Ga.) said that the speech "did not provide a substantive plan for thefuture and in that it has not provided the type of clear, coherent leadership needed."

By contrast, Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) said in a statement that Mr. Obama "did the rightthing" by moving to stop Col. Gadhafi at Benghazi.

He also said Mr. Obama had "clearly explained how we're involved in a limitedcampaign" in the country.

Mr. Obama's approach in Libya reflects the experiences of some of his most seniorforeign policy advisers, who made their names in part by arguing that the West'sinaction during the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s made it morally complicit.


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The speech made clear what the White House has long said: that the U.S. would useforce to protect civilians, but that it would rely on political tools in its effort to dislodgeCol. Gadhafi from power.

But that risks a scenario in which a defiant Libyan leader manages to stay in power in

Tripoli.

U.S. intelligence agencies worry that Col. Gadhafi, who has extensive stockpiles ofmustard gas and high explosives at his disposal, could resort to acts of terrorism againstWestern targets, and become a long-term menace and international recluse.-------------------------------Obama Libya Speech: Striking For What Was Unsaid As Much As Said (NPR)By Frank JamesMarch 28, 2011, 09:59 pmPresident Obama's Monday night speech on Libya was probably as striking for what he

didn't say as much as what he did say.

For instance, he didn't offer details for how much longer the U.S. military will beactively involved in the effort.

It's not hard to see why he'd avoid that one. No one knows at this point how long it willtake for Moammar Gadhafi to fall, if he indeed does.Weeks, months, more, who knows?

And with the military option being handed off to NATO that means the U.S. essentiallyhanded the operation back to itself since it is the first among equals in the U.S.-

European military alliance.

He didn't promise to keep Congress or the American people informed with futureupdates.

Everyone knows the president and his aides would clearly rather be talking about theeconomy than the confused Libyan conflict. Gadhafi has already distracted from theirdomestic agenda any more than they've wanted.

He didn't appeal to history, the actions of past presidents, to make the case that hisdecisions were in the long tradition of U.S. foreign or military policy.

Of course, the track record of U.S. armed humanitarian interventions is uneven. True,Bosnia and Kosovo went relatively well for the U.S. Somalia, on the other hand, with its"Blackhawk Down" debacle, was viewed as a disaster.


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Placing his decisions in the context of what other presidents have done might have alsohelped him beat back accusations that he had exceeded his constitutional authority byordering the military to act without more congressional input.

But clearly, the president didn't feel compelled to do that.

For those reasons and more, the speech is unlikely to satisfy many of Obama's critics,some of whom wouldn't have been mollified even if he had accepted wholesale theirsuggestions for what to include.

What the president did say that may become the most analyzed part of his speech ishow he will approach the use of military force during his presidency.

Like virtually all his predecessors, he stated unequivocally that he would use themilitary unilaterally if it was necessary to defend the nation from a threat.

But during his presidency the U.S. will act militarily not just when its security or vitalnational interests are at risk but also when its "interests and values" are threatened,Obama said.

But in these cases, for instance to stop genocide, the U.S. won't act alone but withinternational partners to help rovide military personnel and money for such efforts.

Obama was putting the world on notice that protecting innocent civilian populations orthe democratic aspirations of a people weren't just the work of the American people but

of other nations that share its values.

Obama said:

In such cases, we should not be afraid to act but the burden of action should not beAmerica's alone. As we have in Libya, our task is instead to mobilize the internationalcommunity for collective action. Because contrary to the claims of some, Americanleadership is not simply a matter of going it alone and bearing all of the burdenourselves. Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up aswell; to work with allies and partners so that they bear their share of the burden andpay their share of the costs; and to see that the principles of justice and human dignityare upheld by all.

But Obama made sure to state that even when it was part of such an international effort,the U.S. would still pick its shots. That's because not every dire situation in the worldcan be made better through the limited means he was willing to use.


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It is true that America cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And giventhe costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against theneed for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what'sright. In this particular country Libya; at this particular moment, we were faced withthe prospect of violence on a horrific scale. We had a unique ability to stop that

violence: an international mandate for action, a broad coalition prepared to join us, thesupport of Arab countries, and a plea for help from the Libyan people themselves. Wealso had the ability to stop Gaddafi's forces in their tracks without putting Americantroops on the ground.

It was Obama's way of saying in such instances, Americans shouldn't let the perfect bethe enemy of the good.

On the other hand, he had a message for the hawks who want U.S. troops to kick inGadhafi's door or give the dictator the opportunity to die for his country. That would

come at too high a costs of American blood and treasure, Obama said.

It was one of those moments that was a reminder that in the Obama presidency is areaction to that of his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush.

Of course, there is no question that Libya and the world will be better off withGadhafi out of power. I, along with many other world leaders, have embraced that goal,and will actively pursue it through non-military means. But broadening our militarymission to include regime change would be a mistake.

The task that I assigned our forces to protect the Libyan people from immediatedanger, and to establish a No Fly Zone carries with it a UN mandate and internationalsupport. It is also what the Libyan opposition asked us to do. If we tried to overthrowGaddafi by force, our coalition would splinter. We would likely have to put U.S. troopson the ground, or risk killing many civilians from the air. The dangers faced by our menand women in uniform would be far greater. So would the costs, and our share of theresponsibility for what comes next.

To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq. Thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices ofour troops and the determination of our diplomats, we are hopeful about Iraq's future.But regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives, andnearly a trillion dollars. That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya.-------------------------2nd UPDATE: Obama's Speech Draws Praise, Questions, Criticism In Congress (WallStreet Journal)By Siobhan HughesMARCH 28, 2011, 9:30 P.M.


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WASHINGTON -U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the nation about therationale for an intervention in Libya drew an array of reactions at the U.S. Capitol,mixing pride with unease and reflecting the lack of a coherent position among eitherparty over the military action.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nev.) said that the U.S. had "stopped the deadlyadvance" of Col. Moammar Gadhafi towards Benghazi, the rebel capital, and wouldencourage "progress toward real change in Libya and throughout the Middle East."

House Republicans emphasized that Obama had not laid out the conditions underwhich the U.S. could deem its participation a success and end its involvementaltogether.

Within the Republican caucus came arguments from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.) andSen. John McCain (R, Ariz.) for a more muscular U.S. role in the Middle East, brushing

aside the tea party-conservative emphasis on controlling the U.S. budget deficit.

"I'm really tired of hearing people talking about it costs too much," Graham said onCNN. "Let me tell you what it would cost this country if Gadhafi comes back intopower: instability forever; incredible oil price spikes--our allies of France and Italydepend on Libyan oil," Graham said. "Young people throughout the Arab worldthinking we let them down when we could help them."

Many plaudits came with conditions. Sen. Ben Nelson (D, Fla.) said that Obama had"clearly explained how we're involved in a limited campaign"--a major talking point

among Democrats who appear to suggest there would be limits to their support for anexpanded U.S. role in the Middle East.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) drove home the point more forcefully,emphasizing that the U.S. is transferring the lead role to NATO and noting thatCongress planned to hold oversight hearings. But she repeated a line she offered lastweek about Obama's responsibility to check things out with lawmakers, saying that"U.S. actions in Libya will be strengthened by continued consultation with Congress."

Sen. John McCain (R, Ariz.), while saying that the first part of Obama's speech was"excellent," criticized Obama for saying that "broadening our military mission to includeregime change would be a mistake."

Speaking on CNN, McCain said that "Gadhafi must have been somewhat comforted"that Obama said the military mission did not include removing Gadhafi from power.

"The reason why we wage wars is to achieve the results of a policy that we state,"McCain said. "The president's policy is that Gadhafi must go. I think there's every


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in Arabic and English, telling Libyan soldiers and sailors to abandon their posts and goback to their homes and families, and to defy Colonel Qaddafis orders.

The Obama administration has been reluctant to call the operation an actual war, and ithas sought to emphasize the involvement of a dozen other countries, particularly Italy,

Britain and France. In his speech on Monday night, Mr. Obama, as he has in the past,portrayed the mission as a limited one, and described the United States role assupporting.

But interviews in recent days offer a fuller picture of American involvement, and showthat it is far deeper than discussed in public and more instrumental to the fight thanwas previously known.

From the air, the United States is supplying much more firepower than any othercountry, with American bombing missions increasing to 107 on Sunday, from 49 on

Thursday. Besides taking part in the airstrikes, the American military is taking the leadrole in gathering intelligence, intercepting Libyan radio transmissions, for instance, andusing the information to orchestrate attacks against the Libyan forces on the ground.And over the weekend the Air Force quietly sent three of its most fearsome weapons tothe operation.

The strategy for White House officials nervous that the Libya operation could drag onfor weeks or months, even under a NATO banner, is to hit Libyan forces hard enoughto force them to oust Colonel Qaddafi, a result that Mr. Obama has openly encouraged.

Certainly, the implied though not stated goal here is that the Libyan Army will decidetheyre fighting for a losing cause, said Gen. John P. Jumper, a retired Air Force chief ofstaff. Youre probably dealing with a force that may not be totally motivated tocontinue this for the long haul.

Ten days into the assault, the officials said that Libyas formidable integrated airdefense has been largely obliterated, and that the operation was shifting to a new phasedevised to put even more pressure on the countrys armored columns and groundtroops.

For the Americans, six tank-killing A-10 Warthogs that fire laser-guided Maverickmissiles or 30-millimeter cannons arrived on the scene this weekend. The United Statesalso deployed two B-1B bombers, as well as two AC-130 gunships, lumbering aircraftthat orbit over targets at roughly 15,000 feet, bristling with 40-millimeter and 105-millimeter cannons. The gunships weapons are so precise that they could operateagainst Libyan forces in cities, which so far have been off limits for fear of civiliancasualties.


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On Sunday, allied warships and submarines fired six Tomahawk cruise missiles at theheadquarters of the Libyan 32nd Brigade, based in Tripoli and commanded by one ofthe Libyan leaders sons, Khamis Qaddafi. Colonel Qaddafi has used the brigade in thepast for internal repression.

This is one of Qaddafis most loyal units and are also one of the most active in terms ofattacking innocent people, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, the director of the militarysjoint staff, told reporters on Monday.

Despite this increased pressure on Libyas elite forces, Admiral Gortney insisted thatthe military was not going beyond the mandate of the United Nations resolution.

I would definitely not say mission creep, he said.

The allies have fired nearly 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles since the campaign started

on March 19, all but 7 from the United States. The United States has flown about 370attack missions, and its allied partners have flown a similar number, but the Americanshave dropped 455 precision-guided munitions compared with 147 from other coalitionmembers.

Over all, commanders say they are trying to create havoc among the Libyan forces,cutting off their logistic pipeline, severing their communications back to headquartersin Tripoli, and stoking fear within the ranks with round-the-clock attacks.

You want to create confusion at the front, go in after command and control at the rear

and supply lines in between and ammunition facilities anywhere that we can findthem, Admiral Gortney said Monday, describing the overall effect the campaign istrying to achieve.

On Sunday, an EC-130J Commando Solo aircraft broadcast messages in English andArabic, to warn Libyan armed forces. Libyan sailors, leave your ship immediately, themessage warned. Leave your equipment and return to your family or your home. TheQaddadi regime forces are violating a United Nations resolution ordering the end ofhostilities in your country.

Air commanders provided an example of the role of American intelligence-gathering.Air Force eavesdropping planes intercept communications from Libyan troops andrelay that information to a Global Hawk drone flying high overhead. The Global Hawkzooms in on the location of armored forces and determines rough coordinates. In somecases, the drones are the first to detect moving targets. The Global Hawk sends thecoordinates to analysts at a ground station, who pass the data on to the commandcenter for targeting. The command center beams the coordinates to an E-3 Sentry Awacs


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command-and-control plane, which in turn directs F-16 and Harrier jets and otherwarplanes to their targets.

Our message to the regime troops is simple: Stop fighting, stop killing your ownpeople, stop obeying the orders of Colonel Qaddafi, Admiral Gortney said last week.

To the degree that you defy these demands, we will continue to hit you and make itmore difficult for you to keep going.-----------------------US: Allied Airstrikes Help Libyan Rebels Indirectly (VOA)By Al PessinMarch 28, 2011Washington - The U.S. military says coalition air strikes in Libya, under the UnitedNations Security Council mandate, have helped the rebels advance toward the capital,Tripoli, and that the attacks continue to hamper the Libyan army's ability to control,deploy and supply its forces.

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney says the international air campaign againstLibyan forces intensified over the weekend and that more of the flights were handledby other members of the coalition, particularly those that involved attacks groundtargets.

"From Friday to Sunday, there was an increase in strikes from 91 to 107," said AdmiralGortney. "But the majority each day were flown by our partner nation pilots. I know itseems as though I'm trying to hammer home a point here, and I guess I am. It's simplythis - U.S. military participation in this operation, as we have said all along, is changing

to one primarily of support."

The admiral, who is the operations chief for the senior U.S. military command, saysaircraft from five NATO member countries have participated in airstrikes on Libya inrecent days and that they were joined by aircraft from Qatar. He says aircraft from theUnited Arab Emirates will join the operation in the coming days and that U.S. flightsare focusing more on refueling, surveillance and electronic warfare.

Gortney says the attacks by allied aircraft and missiles are designed to weaken theforces of the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and prevent them from attacking Libyancivilians. He says U.S. forces have received no confirmed reports of civilian casualtiescaused by coalition airstrikes.

The admiral says the attacks are not coordinated with the Libyan opposition, but henotes that they have helped opposition forces advance westward toward Tripoli.

"We're not in direct support of the opposition," he said. "That's not part of our mandate,sir. And we're not coordinating with the opposition. Our strategy continues to be to


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pressure him [Moammar Gadhafi] where we think it's going to give us the best effect.We see that, given the events that you see on the battlefield."

Opposition rebels have advanced close to Mr. Gadhafi's hometown and stronghold,Sirte - a key town along the road to Tripoli. Admiral Gortney says coalition forces are

attacking Libyan government forces near the town, even though civilians are not underthreat there. He says the airstrikes are aimed at hurting the Libyan army's ability tosupport its forces elsewhere.

The admiral also says that opposition gains could be fragile, and that even now, weeksafter the Libyan rebellion began, the United States does not know very much about therebel leaders.

"Clearly, the opposition is not well organized and it is not a very robust organization,"said Admiral Gortney. "That's obvious. So any gain that they make is tenuous, based on

that. We're not talking with the opposition. We would like a much betterunderstanding of the opposition. We don't have it. So, yes, it does matter to us andwe're trying to fill in those knowledge gaps."

Gortney reports there were 195 coalition airstrikes in Libya on Saturday and Sunday -103 of them by non-U.S. forces. He says command of the air campaign and the sea-based arms embargo already has been transferred to NATO and that command of thehumanitarian operation will be transferred in the next few days.----------------Libyan rebels push toward Gaddafis home town (Washington Post)

By Tara Bahrampour and Greg JaffeMarch 28, 9:57 PMRAS LANUF, Libya Libyan rebels came under heavy fire as they pushed towardMoammar Gaddafis home town on the Mediterranean coast Monday, setting up apotentially crucial battle in the six-week-old uprising.

The rebels said they had captured the towns of Nawfaliyah and Harawah in theiradvance west, but Gaddafis birthplace of Sirte remained in government hands.Fighting continued throughout the day in Wadi al-Ahmar, a valley east of Sirte withterrain that may pose more challenges than the flat desert roads the rebels have seizedso far.

Along the coastal road, the oil terminals at Brega and Ras Lanuf were operating, afterrebel forces retook them over the weekend. Gaddafi forces had wrested the two townsfrom rebel control two and a half weeks ago.


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Rebels sped up the road bringing supplies to the front line or waited in long lines at gasstations. They were jubilant about their latest victories, which have come amid coalitionairstrikes against Gaddafi targets.

Were going to Sirte. Anyone who doesnt love Gaddafi, come along! yelled a young

man standing on the back of a pickup truck as it sped west.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, cried another one, flashing a victory sign. Amrika, Amrika,Amrika!

A senior U.S. military official told reporters that the coalitions sustained airstrikes hadforced Libyas ground troops to retreat and that opposition forces had moved to within80 miles of Sirte. We believe the regime is preparing to dig in at Sirte, setting up anumber of checkpoints and placing tanks throughout the city, said Vice Adm. WilliamGortney, director of the Pentagons Joint Staff.

There was also heavy fighting in the strategic city of Misurata, particularly near thecenter of the city.

Even as the rebels made gains, senior U.S. military officials cautioned that theopposition lacked the firepower of the Libyan government forces and could be quicklyoverrun if the airstrikes ceased. The opposition is not well organized, and it is not avery robust organization, Gortney said. Thats obvious. So any gain that they make istenuous based on that. Clearly, theyre achieving benefit from the actions that weretaking.

The U.S. and allied forces flew 107 strike sorties over the past 24 hours, an increase ofabout 20 over the previous day and a sign that the air campaign aimed at Gaddafisground forces continues to build.

Families that had fled Ras Lanuf in early March, when Gaddafis troops entered thecity, were trickling back Monday. Some had spent the past weeks in tents in the desert.

We were afraid of looting, so we came back, said Abdurabu el-Maghrabi, 32, standingin front of his home. Looking down his mostly empty street, he said he did not knowwhat had happened to most of his neighbors. Its really hard to know any news rightnow because everyone has left, he said.

A rebel soldier lying on a gurney with a bandaged leg said he had seen about 10 pickuptrucks full of government troops and a large number of rebel fighters in Wadi al-Ahmaron Monday. The two sides were evenly matched, he said, and were using machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades and antiaircraft missiles to battle for the valley.


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The soldier, Abdulatif Sagluf, a 29-year-old health and safety engineer from the rebelcapital of Benghazi, said he had been accidentally bayoneted that morning by a fellowrebel. He said the rebel forces were getting more organized day by day.

International response

In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameronsaid in a joint statement Monday that Gaddafi must go immediately, and they urgedhis supporters to drop him before it is too late.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western powers of exceeding thebounds of a March 17 U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized a no-fly zoneover Libya and the protection of civilians.

We consider that intervention by the coalition in what is essentially an internal civil

war is not sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council resolution, Lavrov told reporters.He cited reports of coalition strikes on columns of Gaddafis forces, reports aboutsupport for actions by the armed insurgents.

The Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar, meanwhile, became the first Arab country toformally recognize the rebels Transitional National Council as Libyas legitimategovernment. The move came a day after the council, based in Benghazi, announced acontract with Qatar Petroleum to market crude oil produced from eastern Libyan oilfields no longer under Gaddafis control.

Libyan state television condemned Qatars recognition, calling it a blatantinterference in Libyas affairs.-----------------------Rebels Facing Tough Fight for Sirte (IPS)By Unattributed Author28 March 2011Nawfaliya And Doha Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are resisting an advance byLibyan rebels towards the embattled Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte in the fiercestclashes since the start of a sweeping offensive that has brought a string of coastal townsunder opposition control.

The rebels, backed by international coalition air strikes, have advanced largelyunchecked since Friday but claims in Benghazi, the rebel's eastern stronghold, earlier onMonday that Sirte had also fallen were premature.

Opposition fighters are now engaged in clashes about 100km east of the city, with pro-Gaddafi forces shelling their front lines.


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Fighting is ongoing at Nawfaliya, about 180km east of Sirte, where opposition forcessay they have come upon a heavily mined road. Pro-Gaddafi forces have dug intopositions near the front line, and are shelling opposition fighters.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from the east of Nawfaliya, said: "I've not

been able to confirm that there has actually been an advance in the town itself [Sirte].They [rebels] managed to get really close to Sirte but they didn't get in."

"Sirte will not be easy to take," said General Hamdi Hassi, an opposition commanderfrom the city of Bin Jawad. "Now, because of NATO strikes on [the government's]heavy weapons, we're almost fighting with the same weapons."

'We're manoeuvring'

Fawzi Bukatif, the commander of the Martyr's Brigade, part of the forces battling

Gaddafi, told Al Jazeera: "We're manoeuvring ... we are starting ... we are checkingwhat kind of forces they have there but we are standing at Hagela now - almost 100kmfrom Sirte."

Bukatif said the rebels' progress has been hampered by a lack of weapons as they relyon "old Russian weapons".

"The ... problem we have is we have run out of weapons," he said.

"You know our weapons are traditional ones; the old ones; the Russian weapons. We

need ammunition. We need new weapons. We need anti-tanks; we do not have facilities[but] we have the soldiers left behind by Gaddafi ...

"If we do have weapons and ammunitions that we need at the moment, we can movestrongly and faster."

Fresh fighting continued further west in rebel-held Misurata, where rebels admittedthat Gaddafi forces had gained control of part of the town after days of heavy fightingand despite air strikes on Saturday by French and British forces.

"Part of the city is under rebel control and the other part is under the control of forcesloyal to Gaddafi," a spokesman told the Reuters news agency.

Rebels dismissed reports that a ceasefire had been declared by the Libyan foreignministry in Misurata and that anti- terrorism units there had stopped firing at rebelforces.


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Saddun al-Misrati, a member of the rebels' revolutionary committee, told Al Jazeera:"We rubbish this announcement ... Nothing that they say will make a difference on theground."

Nine people were killed overnight by snipers and shelling by pro-Gaddafi forces,

according to a doctor in Misurata, while a resident told Reuters that 24 people had beenwounded in mortar attacks by government forces.

A Libyan government spokesman claimed Misurata had been liberated.

Al Jazeera's James Bays has been following the rebel offensive, which has seen themclaim the towns of Ajdabiya, Brega, Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad.

Stretched lines

Speaking from Bin Jawad, Bays said it was uncertain where the frontline was. Peoplecoming along the coastal road from Sirte said Gaddafi forces were gathered around60km outside the city, positioned in trees, our correspondent said.

The speed of the rebel advance has stretched lines of communications and createdlogistical problems, said Bays. One problem is a lack of electricity, which means thatpetrol pumps do not work.

"At petrol stations they're using plastic bottles on strings down into the tank below thestation to pull up fuel," said Bays.

The rebels' advance along the coast has triggered exuberant celebrations in towns alongthe route such as Ajdabiya with rebel fighters firing their weapons in celebration.

But government forces appear to have been withdrawing their heavy armour, ratherthan engaging with the rebels.

There were reports on Sunday of a column of military vehicles, including truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns, seen leaving Sirte in the direction of Tripoli, accompaniedby dozens of civilian cars carrying families, according to a Reuters reporter in thevicinity.

The opposition's National Council has said it expects a major battle to occur in the areaaround Tripoli, as opposed to at Sirte.

NATO command


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Meanwhile, international air strikes continued on Monday with British Tornado aircraftattacking and destroying Libyan government ammunition bunkers in the Sabha area ofthe southern desert, the British defence ministry said.

"Storm Shadow missiles were launched against ammunition bunkers used to re-supply

Libyan government troops attacking civilians in the north of the country, includingMisurata," it said in a statement.

NATO on Sunday assumed full command of coalition air operations in Libya.

"We have directed NATO's top operational commander to begin executing thisoperation with immediate effect," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary general,said in a statement. "Our goal is to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas underthreat from the Gaddafi regime."

The operations will be led by Canadian General Charles Bouchard, NATO said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Rasmussen said that NATO was "impartial" and not pickingsides, and that its mandate was only to prevent violence against civilians.

Rasmussen said that NATO's taking authority over the military intervention wouldprovide "unity of command".

He also confirmed that several non-NATO countries would be contributing to themilitary effort, but said he would leave announcements up to individual governments.

James Spencer, a Middle East and North Africa defence analyst, told Al Jazeera thatremoving Gaddafi from power was "not within NATO's purview".

"If you listen very carefully, the Secretary-General of NATO has been very clear.[Intervention] is to protect civilians against Gaddafi attacks," he said.-------------------------------Libyan Rebels Aim to Revive Oil Exports (NYT)By CLIFFORD KRAUSSPublished: March 28, 2011HOUSTON After seizing control of critical oil fields and terminals in eastern Libyaover the weekend, Libyan rebels are now trying to sell oil in international markets,potentially raising hundreds of millions of dollars to buy weapons and supplies.

Oil industry officials, echoing claims made by a rebel leader, said Monday that theybelieved that Qatar had agreed to buy oil offered by the rebels and planned to ship it inleased tankers.


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The Qatari government has not commented on the oil sales, but on Monday, Qatarbecame the first Arab country to formally recognize the legitimacy of the rebels asrepresentatives of Libya. In addition, the recent military advances by the rebels weremade possible by allied air support as well as critical logistical commitments fromQatar.

There clearly appears to be some coordination, and money can buy you a lot, saidMichael A. Levi, a senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council onForeign Relations. My guess is this will be more consequential for the conflict than forthe oil markets.

Over the last few days, the rebels have seized several towns with important oilinstallations that they said would enable them to produce and export crude. Althoughthere is concern that the rebel advance may prove to be fleeting, oil traders respondedto their victories by pushing down the price of most world oil benchmarks, albeit

modestly.

On Monday, the price of the benchmark United States crude oil, West TexasIntermediate, fell by $1.48 a barrel, or 1.4 percent, to $103.92. The benchmark is 7.3percent higher than it was a month ago, and 30 percent higher than a year ago.

Although the Libyan government faces global economic sanctions and asset freezes, anofficial at the Treasury Department said that the United States would not seek to blockoil sales by the rebels if they could prove the money was not going to any Libyangovernment authority, the national oil company or the Qaddafi family.

Everything owned by or controlled by the government of Libya is subject tosanctions, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because noofficial determination had been made about the proposed oil sales. Anything that isnot is not governed by U.S. sanctions.

According to news reports, the rebels claimed they would be able to produce up to130,000 barrels of crude a day, less than a tenth of what Libya exported before turmoilerupted last month.

But they also have access to millions of barrels stored in coastal oil terminals, whichhave been effectively closed to tanker traffic during the conflict. The rebels now controlall five eastern oil export terminals, including Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina, roughlytwo-thirds of the countrys export capacity and a majority of its production and refiningcapacity, according to a research note by the Eurasia Group, a consultancy firm.

Francois Gauthier, the Algeria country manager for the Italian energy company Enel,estimated that there could be as many as two million barrels of oil stored in just one


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rebel-controlled oil port, Tobruk, that could be exported quickly. At an estimated saleprice of $100 a barrel, selling the oil in Tobruk could raise as much as $200 million,although the rebels would probably have to share the funds with Western oilcompanies that co-own the leases on the fields.

Its a lot of cash, but it wont solve all of their problems over the long run, Mr.Gauthier said.

Libyan oil is particularly valued on world markets because it is high quality, needs littlerefining and is particularly well suited for European diesel markets.

With allied planes and naval vessels patrolling the area, Col. Muammar el-Qaddaficould be powerless to stop tankers from sailing into and out of Tobruk and other rebel-held ports. However, forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi could still sabotage criticalpumping equipment needed to transport oil from the fields to the ports.

The rebels already have their own oil company, Agoco, which is based in rebel-heldBenghazi and broke away from the main national oil company early in the conflict.Agoco controls fields that represent 40 percent of the countrys 1.6 million barrels a dayof output and operates an oil terminal and refinery in Tobruk.

Aside from a few refinery storage tanks, little of Libyas oil infrastructure has beendamaged in the fighting so far. The pumps, hoses, metering, docks and storage tanks atthe ports are intact, and the oil fields are ready to be pumped by local oil workers,according to oil experts.

Its only a question of flipping switches, said Michael C. Lynch, president of StrategicEnergy and Economic Research, a consultancy firm.

Details of the dealings between the rebels and the Qataris remain unclear, but severaloil industry experts said the Qataris or the United Nations could place money from anyLibyan oil sales in an escrow fund that would later reimburse Italian, French, Spanishand American oil companies that have investments in the Libyan oil fields. Thosecompanies include Eni, Repsol, Total and Occidental Petroleum.

The companies attitude may be Dont worry, well settle up later, said Mr. Lynch,who has broad experience in international oil markets. This is a good way for thecompanies to get on the rebels good side.----------------------------Why Libya's unrest could threaten the Sahel region (Christian Science Monitor)By Alex de WaalMarch 28, 2011


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By ERIC SCHMITTMarch 28, 2011

Even as President Obama on Monday described a narrower role for the United States in

a NATO-led operation in Libya, the American military has been carrying out an

expansive and increasingly potent air campaign to compel the Libyan Army to turnagainst Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

When the mission was launched, it was largely seen as having a limited, humanitarian

agenda: to keep Colonel Qaddafi from attacking his own people. But the White House,

the Pentagon and their European allies have given it the most expansive possible

interpretation, amounting to an all-out assault on Libyas military.

A growing armada of coalition warplanes, armed with more precise information about

the location and abilities of Libyan Army units than was known a week ago, have

effectively provided the air cover the ragtag opposition has needed to stave off certain

defeat in its de facto eastern capital, Benghazi.

Allied aircraft are not only dropping 500-pound bombs on Libyan troops, they are also

using psychological operations to try to break their will to fight, broadcasting messages

in Arabic and English, telling Libyan soldiers and sailors to abandon their posts and go

back to their homes and families, and to defy Colonel Qaddafis orders.

The Obama administration has been reluctant to call the operation an actual war, and it

has sought to emphasize the involvement of a dozen other countries, particularly Italy,

Britain and France. In his speech on Monday night, Mr. Obama, as he has in the past,

portrayed the mission as a limited one, and described the United States role as

supporting.

But interviews in recent days offer a fuller picture of American involvement, and show

that it is far deeper than discussed in public and more instrumental to the fight than

was previously known.

From the air, the United States is supplying much more firepower than any other

country. The allies have fired nearly 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles since the campaignstarted on March 19, all but 7 from the United States. The United States has flown about

370 attack missions, and its allied partners have flown a similar number, but the

Americans have dropped 455 precision-guided munitions compared with 147 from

other coalition members.


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Besides taking part in the airstrikes, the American military is taking the lead role in

gathering intelligence, intercepting Libyan radio transmissions, for instance, and using

the information to orchestrate attacks against the Libyan forces on the ground. And

over the weekend the Air Force quietly sent three of its most fearsome weapons to the

operation.

The strategy for White House officials nervous that the Libya operation could drag on

for weeks or months, even under a NATO banner, is to hit Libyan forces hard enough

to force them to oust Colonel Qaddafi, a result that Mr. Obama has openly encouraged.

Certainly, the implied though not stated goal here is that the Libyan Army will decide

theyre fighting for a losing cause, said Gen. John P. Jumper, a retired Air Force chief of

staff. Youre probably dealing with a force that may not be totally motivated to

continue this for the long haul.

Ten days into the assault, the officials said that Libyas formidable integrated air

defense has been largely obliterated, and that the operation was shifting to a new phase

devised to put even more pressure on the countrys armored columns and ground

troops.

For the Americans, six tank-killing A-10 Warthogs that fire laser-guided Maverick

missiles or 30-millimeter cannons arrived on the scene this weekend. The United States

also deployed two B-1B bombers, as well as two AC-130 gunships, lumbering aircraft

that orbit over targets at roughly 15,000 feet, bristling with 40-millimeter and 105-

millimeter cannons. The gunships weapons are so precise that they could operate

against Libyan forces in cities, which so far have been off limits for fear of civilian

casualties.

On Sunday, allied warships and submarines fired six Tomahawk cruise missiles at the

headquarters of the Libyan 32nd Brigade, based in Tripoli and commanded by one of

the Libyan leaders sons, Khamis Qaddafi. Colonel Qaddafi has used the brigade in the

past for internal repression.

This is one of Qaddafis most loyal units and are also one of the most active in terms of

attacking innocent people, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, the director of the militarys

joint staff, told reporters on Monday.

Despite this increased pressure on Libyas elite forces, Admiral Gortney insisted that

the military was not going beyond the mandate of the United Nations resolution.

I would definitely not say mission creep, he said.


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Over all, commanders say they are trying to create havoc among the Libyan forces,

cutting off their logistic pipeline, severing their communications back to headquarters

in Tripoli, and stoking fear within the ranks with round-the-clock attacks.

You want to create confusion at the front, go in after command and control at the rear

and supply lines in between and ammunition facilities anywhere that we can find

them, Admiral Gortney said Monday, describing the overall effect the campaign is

trying to achieve.

On Sunday, an EC-130J Commando Solo aircraft broadcast messages in English and

Arabic, to warn Libyan armed forces. Libyan sailors, leave your ship immediately, the

message warned. Leave your equipment and return to your family or your home. The

Qaddafi regime forces are violating a United Nations resolution ordering the end of

hostilities in your country.

Air commanders provided an example of the role of American intelligence-gathering.

Air Force eavesdropping planes intercept communications from Libyan troops and

relay that information to a Global Hawk drone flying high overhead. The Global Hawk

zooms in on the location of armored forces and determines rough coordinates. In some

cases, the drones are the first to detect moving targets. The Global Hawk sends the

coordinates to analysts at a ground station, who pass the data on to the command

center for targeting. The command center beams the coordinates to an E-3 Sentry Awacs

command-and-control plane, which in turn directs F-16 and Harrier jets and other

warplanes to their targets.

Our message to the regime troops is simple: Stop fighting, stop killing your own

people, stop obeying the orders of Colonel Qaddafi, Admiral Gortney said last week.

To the degree that you defy these demands, we will continue to hit you and make it

more difficult for you to keep going.

-----------------------Battle Erupts For Key Ivory Coast Town (VOA)By Unattributed AuthorMarch 28, 2011

Intense fighting has erupted in western Ivory Coast, where fighters loyal to two rivalpresidents are battling for control of Duekoue, a strategic town.

Residents of Duekoue reported hearing explosions and heavy weapons being fired onMonday.


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Witnesses say fighters backing internationally-recognized president Alassane Ouattaralaunched an attack to capture the town from forces of incumbent president LaurentGbagbo.

Pro-Ouattara rebels have been making gains in western Ivory Coast, seizing at least five

towns from pro-Gbagbo troops in recent weeks.

Gbagbo has defied intense international pressure to turn over power to Ouattara, whothe United Nations and African Union recognize as the winner of last November'spresidential election.

The town of Duekoue is located at a crossroads that leads to either Liberia in the west orGuinea in the north.

The U.N. refugee agency says up to one million people have fled their homes because of

post-election violence in Ivory Coast.

The United Nations says at least 462 people have been killed in violence since the crisisbegan in December.

The U.N. Security Council will take up a resolution this week that seeks sanctionsagainst Gbagbo and his closest advisors.-----------------------South Sudan: Will Freedom Just Lead to Civil War? (Time)By Alan Boswell

March 28, 2011Khartoum - Fears of a bloody birth for the world's newest country, South Sudan, arebecoming ever more real after weeks of battles between its autonomous governmentand their opponents. Hundreds have died in fighting between South Sudan authoritiesand rebel militias. Now five rebel groups in four of the country's ten states appear tohave united under one name, the Southern Sudan Democratic Movement, and onecommander, George Athor. "There is a need for the world to know who we are," Athortold TIME via satellite phone from an undisclosed location. "Our manifesto will comeout very soon."

Even without such a document, the aims and motivations of Athor and his men areclear. Athor is a former deputy chief of staff for the Sudan People's Liberation Army(SPLA), the armed wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which ledthe fight for independence and now runs the government. Athor took his men to thebush last year after an unsuccessful bid in the election for a state governorship. InFebruary, his forces killed more than 200 people, mostly civilians, in an attack on thevillage of Fangak in the northeast of South Sudan. Among his recruits are warlords whoin the past have hired out their services to the northern Sudanese government to repress


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the southern population and clear villagers away from oil fields. Their alliance is likelyas loose as all their previous fleeting allegiances, but the rebels clearly feel emboldened.

When they voted overwhelmingly in a January referendum to secede from Sudan'snorthern, Arab government in Khartoum, most southern Sudanese hoped they were

turning a new page after decades of war. South Sudan's independence, scheduled forJuly, is the endgame of a 2005 U.S.-backed peace deal to stop a half century of north-south bloodshed in which more than 2 million people died. But the jubilee of Januarywas short-lived. The referendum instead signaled a new round of intra-south killings,as old warlords awoke from hibernation and new dissidents gathered strength.

The rebels are not just driven by opportunism. If the new southern government wantspeace, it will have to solve some fundamental divisions. First among them: thegovernment's domination by the south's largest tribe, the Dinka. Bapiny Monituel, abeefy, boyish-faced general who joined Athor earlier this month, says that after the 2005

peace deal, he joined the northern army rather than the SPLA because he is Nuer."Everything [in the south] is controlled by the Dinka. They don't want us to come topower."

Dinka leaders counter that Nuer hold deputy positions in both the SPLA and thesouthern government. Nevertheless, when the Dinka South Sudan President Salva Kiirnamed a constitutional review committee in February, 15 of the 24 members came fromhis tribe. Widespread official corruption and land grabbing only exacerbates theanimosity. Noting the lack of development in the south since 2005, despite hundreds of

millions of dollars in aid and billions more the government has received in oil revenues,Monituel grumbles: "The oil [money] is going to the Arabs in the north and the Dinka inthe south, but it is in our land." Says Jon Temin, Sudan program director at the U.S.Institute of Peace: "With the referendum complete, the old grievances and armedgroups have resurfaced."

The SPLA claims the rebels are proxies for the north. On March 12, SPLM secretary-general Pagan Amum suspended talks with the north on how to handle July'sseparation, accusing Khartoum of seeking to overthrow the southern government. Butwhen he produced documents allegedly proving that the north is backing Athor,independent experts dismissed them as unsophisticated forgeries. For its part, the northdoes not deny that in the past it worked to undermine the southern leadership. But Al-Dirdiri Mohammed Ahmed, a member of the ruling National Congress Party'snegotiation team, says that was no worse than the support offered by the south toDarfur's rebels in the west. "[We told SPLM:] 'We have to stop everything where it is,and let us now start a new page,'" he tells TIME.


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Whatever the sincerity of that statement, the key issue does appear to be intra-southdivisions rather than northern support for any dissident faction. Carol Berger, ananthropologist who studies the SPLA and militarization, says the number joining Athorand Co. is rising: "The violence spreading throughout many parts of the south is largelythe result of unfinished business within the SPLA itself."

Only a few months ago, the splitting of Sudan looked set to be a rare diplomatictriumph in Africa. Now, as July 9, the day of secession, draws closer, it seems morelikely that any celebrations will be muted. Sitting in his comfortable self-imposed exilein the northern capital Khartoum, rebel leader Monituel declares war: "Now that thereferendum has gone we are dealing with our problems."------------------------Africa: Last Frontier for Business Increasingly Abandoned by the U.S. Department of

Commerce (AllAfrica)By Stephen Hayes

28 March 2011Washington, DC Less than two years ago, President Barack Obama and First LadyMichelle Obama made headlines as they landed in Accra, Ghana. The July 2009 visitwas historic, coming only months after Obama was sworn in as our first African-American president. For some Americans, media coverage of the trip was a wake-upcall that showed Africa as a coveted partner for businesses from South America,Europe, the Middle East, India and, especially, China.

Responding to text messages submitted by Africans, the president recognized Africa'sstrategic and long-term commercial importance to American business. "I want to find

ways that we can further open up trade relationships between the United States andAfrican countries," he said.

Many had assumed that Obama as president would go first to Kenya, the home of hisfather. But Ghana was rewarded instead because it was a shining beacon of Africandemocracy and, with recent discoveries of offshore oil, an increasingly valuableeconomic partner to the United States.

Fast forward to March 2011: We learn that the U.S. Department of Commerce, with littlefanfare but apparent significant effort to camouflage its actions, has decided to close itsoffice in Ghana, citing budget cuts. With this action, Commerce proposes to close thedoors on America's commercial beachhead in one of Africa's most thriving economies.

"Incredibly shortsighted" was the reaction of one American businessman withsignificant interests in Ghana. So much for finding new trading relationships betweenthe United States and Africa.


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Commerce officials deny the finality of any decision about the Ghana office. I hope thisis true, although I trust the sources that tell me to the contrary. Juxtapose this ill-adviseddecision by Commerce with a projection made earlier this year by The Economistmagazine, which says that seven of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the worldfor 2011-2015 will be found in Africa. You guessed it: Ghana is among them.

At a time when businesses around the world are creating jobs in their home countriesand in Africa by more actively engaging with the continent, the U.S. government sendsa message that Africa doesn't matter.

Commerce is also closing its last office in Dakar, Senegal - the only such office inFrench-speaking Africa - and is indefinitely shelving plans to open an office in Angola,another of Africa's economic front-runners. Regardless of whether these cuts aredecided as a function of internal decisions at Commerce or by prevailing budget woeson Capitol Hill, this approach is one that serves neither the short-term nor long-term

interests of our country.

Africa is home to more than one billion people. Estimates vary, but according to VijayMahajan, author of the book "Africa Rising: How 900 Million African Consumers OfferMore Than You Think," 50-150 million Africans have spending power that is similar tothe middle classes in the West, while 350-500 million are in Africa's "aspirational classes from households with stable jobs that resemble counterparts in China and Indiabeing courted by Western firms. These Africa aspirants drink Coca-Cola, want mobilephones and yearn to own a car or motorcycle."

Combined with the fact that American brands are well recognized and regarded inAfrica, U.S. exports to Africa are well positioned to grow and could very well boom,with American firms reaping both immediate and long-term benefits as Africa'seconomies grow further. I have met countless American companies keenly interested inAfrica, but in need of the kind of instrumental support given by the Department ofCommerce's offices in Africa to make that first crucial step toward engagement.

As Commerce's offices close, so too closes the door on potential American business,along with other avenues to advance America's political and commercial interests onthe continent.------------------------------------UN News Service Africa BriefsFull Articles on UN Website

Fresh clashes break out in key Ivorian town, UN mission reports

28 March Fresh fighting erupted today in a strategic town in western Cte dIvoire,the United Nations peacekeeping operation reported, amid mounting internationalconcerns about the humanitarian situation in the West African country.


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Senior UNICEF official urges Southern Sudan to prioritize childrens issues28 March The deputy head of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) hasstressed the need for Southern Sudan, which is scheduled to become an independentnation in July, to prioritize issues such as birth registration and immunization and to

invest in programmes to ensure the progress and well-being of young people.

Joint UN-African team finds North Darfur villages deserted after earlier clashes28 March A joint United Nations-African Union fact-finding mission to severalvillages in North Darfur that saw fighting earlier this month between SudaneseGovernment forces and rebels has found them almost entirely deserted.

Resource-rich Africa well placed to transition to green economy UN official28 March Africa is well poised to take advantage of a host of opportunities on thecontinent for building a green economy, one that generates decent jobs in an

environmentally sustainable way, a senior United Nations official said today.

UN anti-crime chief highlights Kenyas role in tackling regional security threats28 March The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) todaymet with Kenyan officials in the capital, Nairobi, to discuss a number of issues such ascounter-piracy, police reform and illicit drug trafficking.

africom related news clips 29 march 2011

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