Commentary by Russian military correspondent Rybar. Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics:
[ColonelCassad] In early March, Emmanuel Macron announced (https://t.me/rybar/44255) plans to reduce France's military activity in Africa and refocus on expanding economic ties.
However, at the same time, about six thousand French troops remain to this day on the territory of six African countries.
DJIBOUTI
Djibouti is home to the largest French military base in Africa.
The strategic location of the base in the Horn of Africa provides access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and enables the Fifth Republic to conduct operations in East Africa and the Middle East.
The French military base serves as a logistics hub for French military operations and the protection of French merchant ships along the economic corridor. The French military in Djibouti also supports US and UN military and humanitarian missions in Africa.
COUNTRIES OF THE SAHEL
There are four French military bases in the Sahel: in Senegal, Niger, Chad and Côte d'Ivoire.
The bases serve as centers of French military operations aimed at combating radical Islamist groups. Also, French military personnel act as instructors for the personnel of the armed forces of the host countries.
▪️The bases in Niger and Chad are the main locations of the armed forces involved in the French military operations in the Sahel.
In addition, the French base in Chad acts as a support center for opposition movements and terrorist groups in the Central African Republic, which are fighting against the central government of the country.
▪️The military base in Senegal serves as a hub for logistical support, intelligence gathering and monitoring of the situation in West Africa.
▪️The base in Côte d'Ivoire is the center for ensuring the security and interests of France in the Gulf of Guinea. From there, among other things, activities are coordinated to combat pirates and intercept contraband, some of which sometimes ends up ( https://t.me/rybar/43586 ) in Ukraine.
GABON
The military base in Gabon acts as a logistics hub for French forces involved in operations in Central Africa.
The remnants of the French military contingent, which left the CAR (https://t.me/rybar/42042) in December last year, are also based in Gabon.
PERSPECTIVES Based on the plans of the French government, the number of troops in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon should be greatly reduced, and in the future there will be no more than 300 troops per base.
The bases in West Africa will continue to function, but their role will be reduced to supporting the newly established military academies to train local armed forces.
At this stage, the reduction in the contingent will not affect Chad, Niger and Djibouti.
We have previously described ( https://t.me/rybar/44255 ) how Macron's plans to cut funding for foreign operations, along with a redistribution of the budget to the detriment of the Ground Forces, irritate the French generals and provoke the risk of domestic political tension.
However, despite the decision of the French administration to focus on economic instruments to advance its interests, one cannot ignore the continuing influence of the French Armed Forces on politics in African countries.
In the near future, the French government will try to reformat its military presence in the direction of careful work with local military personnel to educate loyal officers.
And the “dirty work” in the fight against radical Islamists, according to the plan of the French leadership, will remain with the national armies and foreign actors who are interested in increasing their influence in Africa.
@rybar - zinc
Remains of former luxury. In recent years, the French neo-colonial empire has been reduced so well.
#1
The French military base serves as a logistics hub for French military operations and the protection of French merchant ships along the economic corridor.
Somebody needs to protect commercial traffic on the open ocean in that part of the world from Somali pirates. I'd give the French a pass in this case.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/15/2023 12:06 Comments ||
Top||
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Turkey’s exports in the global arms market made a jump after its share between 2018 and 2022 reached about 1.1%, reflecting an increase of 0.5% compared to the previous 4 years. Turkish media reported.
Zaman newspaper quoted a report published by the Sweden-based World Peace Research Institute on global arms exports for 2022, that Qatar came at the forefront of countries importing weapons from Turkey, with an import volume of 20%, followed by the United Arab Emirates with imports of 17% and Oman with an import volume of 13%.
Turkey ranked twelfth in global arms exports during the period between 2018 and 2022, after its share during the period between 2018 and 2022 reached about 1.1%, reflecting an increase of 0.5% in Turkey’s share compared to the previous four years, as Turkey’s arms exports increased during the two mentioned time periods by about 69%.
Turkey also ranked 19th in the list of arms importing countries, with India topping the list, followed by Saudi Arabia in second place and Qatar in third place.
Between 2018 and 2022, Turkey’s share of global arms imports declined from 2.4% to 1.3%, while this percentage reached 49% compared to the previous four years for that time period.
The report pointed to the decline in US arms exports to Turkey during the period between 2013 and 2017 and 2018 and 2022, as the report attributed the reason for this decline to political tensions between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2023 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[DailyCaller] The Red Cross has guides for U.S.-bound migrants that include a map to the border, resources along the journey and a paper on what to do when encountering the dangers along the journey, according to documents obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The American Red Cross sits on the board of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Food and Shelter program, which allocates millions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer funding to nonprofit groups supporting illegal migrants released into the U.S.
"If you use contraceptives methods, don’t forget to bring them with you. In necessary cases, some Red Cross’ clinics and medical brigades will give them to you for free," one of the documents for migrants states. Bye, Bye, ARC. They'll never go away. They're the same bastards who charged a dime (twice the going rate at a restaurant) for a cup of coffee at one of their rear area stands at the Battle of the Bulge. They say that's a myth, but my Dad said he paid a dime outside St. Lo. Period. Then he found the Salvation Army setup, and it was free. And then there was their handling of relief funds after 9-11...
I don’t remember that story, but I was distracted worrying about Mr. Wife, who was stuck in Geneva.
[CNN] Charities swung into action after the September 11 terrorist attacks, raising more than $1 billion. But questions are being raised about where and how and how much of that money is being distributed.
Bearing the brunt Tuesday during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel was outgoing Red Cross President Dr. Bernadine Healy.
The Red Cross has raised more than $564 million for the Liberty Fund, which was set up in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
While the agency states on its Web site that it is spending more than any other relief agency responding to the terrorist attacks, it has distributed only $154 million.
Healy was hammered by one New York official for the Red Cross' decision to put aside nearly half of the money raised for future needs that may include terrorist attacks.
"I see the Red Cross, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars that was intended by the donating public to be used for the victims of September 11 -- I see those funds being sequestered into long-term plans for an organization," testified New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Healy later told CNN the Red Cross was a service organization and that previous donations had prepared the agency to deal with September 11.
"We had planned for a weapon of mass destruction attack," she said. "We knew our obligations under the congressional charter. We knew it involved victim assistance and sheltering. We knew that it involved with dealing with rescue workers. We knew that it involved blood."
She also noted that some of the new funding went toward helping communities learn how to deal with other threats such as anthrax.
The hearing was contentious, with panel members trying to get at the issue of donor intent and whether the Red Cross misled donors.
"What's at issue here is that a special fund was established for these families. It was specially funded for this event, September 11," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Louisiana.
"And it is being closed now because we are told enough money's been raised in it, but we're also being told, by the way, we're going to give two-thirds of it away to other Red Cross needs."
#3
San Diego Red Cross had to be taken over back when wildfire donations were misappropriated. Seems like a common story, along with high overhead % taken. I prefer to give to Salvation Army and USMC Toys for Tots, both of which actually embody low overheard and delivery to actual needy
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/15/2023 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Her tenure at the Red Cross was unsteady. In the spring of 2001, the FDA issued a record fine to the Red Cross for mishandling CMV infected blood products.
The American Red Cross was criticized in the news media, notably by Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and some in Congress for misleading donors by soliciting and receiving donations worth $564 million after the 9/11 attacks, after it was discovered that the majority of the received funds were put aside for the organization's long-term use rather than going to support victims and volunteers.[8] The Red Cross was forced to change its policy.
Healy also advocated withholding dues from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for not allowing Israel's Red Cross society (Magen David Adom) to join the international body without adopting the cross or crescent as its symbol.[9] The Red Cross Board of Directors hired her as a “change agent” but chaffed at her steely managerial style and the board's “loss of control over day-to-day decision-making."[10] The board forced her resignation in the wake of these disagreements and controversies.[11][12][13][14] Healy departed the organization as president on December 31, 2001.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The trial in the case of Abdulmumin Gadzhiev,
...for some reason Kavkaz Uzel also likes to spell his name Abdulmumin Hajiyev. He’s involved in the Ansar Foundation crowd that’s been fundraising for ISIS in Syria....
journalist of the Chernovik newspaper, Abubakar Rizvanov, head of the Ansar charity fund, and Kemal Tambiev, dragged on due to the lack of results of the examination of Gadzhiev's articles, which had previously been repeatedly requested by the prosecution. This circumstance does not allow to proceed to the debate, the lawyers noted.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Abdulmumin Gadzhiev's colleagues regularly hold single pickets in the center of Makhachkala in support of him, as they consider his criminal case to be political persecution. The picketers are, in particular, the founder of Chernovik Magdy Kamalov, deputy editor-in-chief of the publication Magomed Magomedov and journalist of Novoye Delo Idris Yusupov. On March 13 , Magomedov and Yusupov held two single-person pickets demanding an end to the criminal prosecution of Gadzhiev in Makhachkala .
The case of Abdulmumin Gadzhiev is lost against the background of other news, and such pickets remind people of his fate, Gadzhiev's friends pointed out on February 20 after another series of pickets.
On March 13, two pickets were held in Makhachkala in support of Abdulmumin Gadzhiev. The action took place before the next court hearing on his case, which is scheduled for March 16, said journalist Idris Yusupov, one of the picketers.
"Everything went smoothly. One picket was held by Magomed Magomedov, deputy editor-in-chief of Chernovik. He stood with a placard: "Freedom to Abdulmumin Hajiyev." I had a picket with a placard: "Freedom to journalism," Yusupov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
He noted that police officers approached the protesters and checked their documents.
"Usually, the district police officers also drive up and take explanations. This is a standard procedure. But this time the district police officer did not have time to arrive. He later called Magomedov and made an appointment for an explanation. But there was no meeting with me," the journalist explained.
There were no new participants at the pickets, he specified.
"Abdulmumin's relatives came. They were like observers. On the whole, passers-by were approving. Cars passing by gave signals. No one tried to disrupt the picket," Yusupov said.
Without an examination of Abdulmumin Gadzhiev's articles, requested again by the prosecutor, the debate cannot begin, Gadzhiev's lawyer Arsen Shabanov said. "And the examination will probably be ready only by April. The secretary of the court can inform about its readiness in advance. But that's for sure. Perhaps it will become known at the meeting that the expert's conclusion has been received," he explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to Gadzhiev's lawyer, court hearings are postponed only because of the lack of results of the examination. "The case materials have long been presented and announced. All the evidence has been exhausted. We are only waiting for an examination. On March 16, apparently, there may be some procedural issues. But until there is an examination, the judicial investigation is not considered complete, and it is impossible to move on to debate," he said. Shabanov.
Tambiev's lawyer Ruslan Nagiyev doubted that a new expert opinion on Hajiyev's articles would be ready by March 16. "There will be procedural questions and motions at the meeting. On our part, about the exclusion of evidence," he shared with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
As for the beating and other types of pressure on Tambiev, although there is no conclusion from the forensic medical examination, there is other evidence of this fact, he noted.
“From the first days of detention, photographs were taken, including at the trial by journalists, in which Tambiev was captured with bruises, bruises. It is also important that the Dagestan Bar Association recognized gross violations in the work of a lawyer by appointment, who allegedly was during the first interrogations of Tambiev. In fact, it is recognized that these interrogations were conducted without a lawyer. This can be significant for the case," Nagiyev said.
Recall that the journalist of the Chernovik newspaper Abdulmumin Gadzhiev, as well as the head of the Ansar charity fund Abubakar Rizvanov and Kemal Tambiev, have been in custody since June 2019 on charges of financing terrorism. Investigators believe that they collected 68 million rubles and 200 thousand dollars for the terrorists under the pretext of building mosques and helping poor Muslims.
The investigation connects the defendants with Israil Akhmednabiev, a Dagestan preacher and founder of the Mukhadzhirun Islamic Foundation
... Mukhadzhirun apparently means ‘Living Heart’, for what that’s worth. Apparently the foundation and Mr. Akhmednabiev have been connected to fundraising for ISIS...
, known as Abu Umar Sasitlinsky, who has been put on the wanted list in a terrorism case. The defendants plead not guilty.
[IsraelTimes] A report by an Israeli nonprofit argues that UNRWA, the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees and their descendants, has failed to remove hateful content glorifying terrorism and demonizing Israel from its school curriculum. "Where's the fun in that?"
The report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE), written jointly with the UN Watch nonprofit, finds 47 new instances of alleged incitement by UNRWA teachers and staff, despite previous pledges by the agency to remove such content and adopt a zero tolerance policy for employees who incite to racism or murder.
It finds that the agency’s staff and schools, which teach Paleostinian children throughout the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip and elsewhere, "regularly call for the murder of Jews, and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis, and incite antisemitism," according to a statement by IMPACT-SE.
The report "captures evidence taken from inside UNRWA classrooms, showing the teaching of these materials, and revealing how UNRWA’s own content directs students to study specific hateful passages in Paleostinian textbooks — which the organization claims teachers are told to skip."
It "identifies 133 UNRWA educators and staff who were found to promote hate and violence on social media, and an additional 82 UNRWA teachers and other staff affiliated with over 30 UNRWA schools involved in drafting, supervising, approving, printing, and distributing hateful content to students."
[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian terror group Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, warns Israel it will react to any potential "violations" at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount site during the upcoming Moslem holy month of Ramadan.
Hamas, which rules the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, issues the warning less than two weeks before the start of Ramadan and amid an escalation in violence and terror attacks.
Salah al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, says the risk of escalation entirely "depends on the Israeli occupation’s violations across Paleostine and at al-Aqsa Mosque" — the Moslem name of the Temple Mount compound, the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest to Moslems.
Any Israeli attempt to "impose" its policies during Ramadan would be met with the "reaction of our people," Arouri says in remarks carried by his movement’s official website.
Hamas, meanwhile, has no plans to initiate an escalation during Ramadan, according to the English-language version of Arouri’s remarks, although such a clarification does not appear in the Arabic version.
[NPASyria] In a statement yesterday, March 13, Human Rights Watch (HRW), an NGO, called out the Danish immigration service’s labeling of the government-controlled areas of Latakia and Tartus as ’safe’ for refugees to return to.
In 2019, the Danish immigration service similarly announced the government-held areas of Damascus and Rif Damascus as safe, causing a stir. HRW says the first returns under the new label could be decided as early as Friday, March 17, when two Syrians from Latakia will have their temporary protection revocation appeals heard before a Danish refugee appeals board.
HRW says that the Danish body’s decision is "playing into the regime’s hands" and that a negative decision on Friday could set a "dangerous precedent".
"Denmark should reverse its decision to revoke protection for some Syrian refugees and recognize that Syrian refugees remain at risk in their home country, no matter which part of the country they come from," it added.
Syrians under government controlled continue to be exposed to "grave human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... abuses and persecution at the hands of the Syrian authorities and affiliated militias, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and kidnappings," according to multiple reports.
Latakia and Tartus have additionally been ravaged by the earthquakes on February 6. In the region of Latakia alone, 806 people were killed, while more than 15.000 buildings were damaged. Around 2.267 families of those displaced now live in 29 accommodation shelters, according to Latakia’s governor, Amer Hilal.
Around 142.000 people have been affected by the quake. The government has deemed both regions ’disaster areas’.
[NPASyria] The number of Syrians returning to northwest Syria from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... has reached 54.000 one month after the issuance of exemptions, crossing through four border crossings after the February 6 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria.
Bab al-Hawa border crossing on the Ottoman Turkish border in northern Idlib announced the number of Syrians coming to northwest Syria from quake-devastated areas in Turkey has reached 17.993 people.
On the day 27 after the earthquake, 232 people, who obtain the temporary protection card (Kimlik), arrived in Syria after being permitted to return to their country from Turkey.
Recently, Turkey has eased border-crossing regulations for Syrians holding the Kimlik from any of the earthquake-stricken Ottoman Turkish provinces.
11.842 people arrived in Syria through the Bab al-Salameh border crossing in northern Aleppo. 14.500 arrived through the Jarablus border crossing in northeast Aleppo, according to statistics published by the administration of the border crossings.
The administration of the Tel Abyad border crossing north of Raqqa announced 7.907 people arrived in Syria in 29 days.
Only Syrians who live in the quake-hit provinces of Gaziantep, Kilis, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Malatya, Adana, Elazig and hold the Kimlik are allowed to enter Syria.
The permit lasts at least three months and a maximum of six months. Syrian activist muppets have expressed concern that Turkey will not allow their return.
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Wally Jumblat ...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Tuesday described the Iranian-Saudi reconciliation agreement as a "major event," hoping it will lead to a "settlement" in Lebanon Hezbollahstan ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years. It produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. That's three statements. Only the first is subjective.... and the "election of a president before June."
"No camp can impose a provocation candidate on the other," Jumblat said in an interview with Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5-100.3), saying he prefers "a consensual president who has an economic aspect."
As for the list of candidates that he raised with Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri ...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , Jumblat said: "I had proposed three names -- General Joseph Aoun, Jihad Azour and Salah Honein -- and in the list I proposed to Speaker Berri I added the name of the candidate May Rihani."
"The regional Saudi-Iranian consensus is a major event that surpasses my proposal and the proposal of Speaker Berri and (Hezbollah chief) Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah)," Jumblat added, noting that the KSA-Iran ...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979... deal will have a "huge impact on the region."
"I don’t have any answer about the date of the president’s election, but let the (Saudi-Iranian) agreement be a motive for ending major analyses and attempting to reconcile viewpoints. Enough with the wars of elimination from all sides," the PSP leader went on to say.
Noting that "boycotting dialogue would be a mistake," Jumblat pointed out that dialogue would "contribute to a common nomination of a president, similarly to a Doha 2 scenario, but in Lebanon and not anywhere else."
MTV meanwhile reported that Jumblat will travel to Kuwait on Wednesday for a political visit.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2023 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The 
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
