Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Thu 05/18/2006 View Wed 05/17/2006 View Tue 05/16/2006 View Mon 05/15/2006 View Sun 05/14/2006 View Sat 05/13/2006 View Fri 05/12/2006
1
2006-05-18 Africa North
GSPC leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar threatens to hit US military bases across Africa
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by Dan Darling 2006-05-18 01:16|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Is that wise? US military bases tend to hit back harder.
Posted by trailing wife 2006-05-18 07:07||   2006-05-18 07:07|| Front Page Top

#2 I don't recall ever hearing "Wise" and "Islam" in the same sentence.
Posted by Redneck Jim 2006-05-18 08:10||   2006-05-18 08:10|| Front Page Top

#3 Somehow I have difficulties imagining a ragtime dwindling militia like the gspc attacking hardened military bases; they couldn't do it against algerian bases, I doubt they could do it against us ones.
Still, their gia predecessors were quite good at ambushing army convoys (subsequently cutting the throats of draftees for their snuff movies proapaganda), or setting IED before it got trendy, but of course, their manpower was larger.
Posted by anonymous5089 2006-05-18 09:41||   2006-05-18 09:41|| Front Page Top

#4 typical bravado and aggrandizing from that set. hamas was going to send 800 suicide bombers into israel after yassin was killed by israel. that ended up amounting to one reluctant suicide bomber with down syndrome on pcp. sure
Posted by ordu 2006-05-18 09:42||   2006-05-18 09:42|| Front Page Top

#5 Whatever. With gas a $3/gallon, he's not going any further than the end of the local bus route.
Posted by ed 2006-05-18 10:06||   2006-05-18 10:06|| Front Page Top

#6 Talk doesn't cost anything. And if Uncle Sam backs off, he's achieved his objective. Heck, if I were him, I'd be threatening everyone under the sun. The other reason he's doing this is to paint Algeria's government as Uncle Sam's minion and to remind Algerians that there are armed infidels defiling Muslim soil. Which, given how anti-American many Muslim populations are, is a pretty good strategy.
Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-05-18 13:20|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com]  2006-05-18 13:20|| Front Page Top

#7 Do we have any bases left in Africa?
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-05-18 13:21||   2006-05-18 13:21|| Front Page Top

#8 Do we have any bases left in Africa?
Just a command and control center and some Special Forces in Djibouti, between Somalia and Ethiopia. I don't think they'll be attacking THERE any time soon - not and have any soldiers left alive.
Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot  2006-05-18 14:00|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-18 14:00|| Front Page Top

#9 I think this link deserves a seeth-o- meter. It's islamo-fascist wanking for teh "masses" of the umah.

Posted by SPoD 2006-05-18 15:21|| http://sockpuppetofdoom.blogspot.com/]">[http://sockpuppetofdoom.blogspot.com/]  2006-05-18 15:21|| Front Page Top

#10 Depends on how you define a base. If you mean places with American flags, "Welcome to Fort XYZ", and MP guards at the gates, no. If you mean operational bases established in existing national army bases in the assisting country, yes. All of this is opensource, so nothing hidden about it per se. Those pre-existing bases tend to start having a lot of spare parts show up for their vehicles, new wells drilled, new barracks built, new aid stations built, proper fences built, and a truly usable firing range built. Plus the troops there undergo 4-8 weeks of refresher training, including more time at the firing range than ever before, and firing hundreds of rounds of ammo each to bring them up to acceptable marksmen levels. And they then are issued non-American uniforms, LBE, and boots to bring the unit to a standard appearance and level of functionality.
Since we have so many ex-Warsaw Pact allies now, it is easy for us to get parts for GAZ and Ural trucks, ex-Soviet ammo, and East European desert uniforms and boots. All of which builds up the locals without leaving too much of a provable American presence.
Posted by Shieldwolf 2006-05-18 19:56||   2006-05-18 19:56|| Front Page Top

#11 we have troops in Mali, Algeria and Morocco, IIRC helping train the locals. Chad possibly also, but I'm unsure on that one
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2006-05-18 20:36||   2006-05-18 20:36|| Front Page Top

#12 Marines from my part of the world went to Chad not long ago, Frank.
Posted by trailing wife 2006-05-18 23:45||   2006-05-18 23:45|| Front Page Top

00:01 JosephMendiola
23:50 Manolo
23:50 SOP35/Rat
23:45 trailing wife
23:41 bombay
23:33 It Insider
23:29 Gromosh Elminegum5705
23:26 Monsieur Moonbat
23:18 Manolo
23:15 eniac
23:13 JosephMendiola
23:13 Monsieur Moonbat
23:04 Monsieur Moonbat
23:00 Broadhead6
22:55 Manolo
22:52 Frank G
22:51 Broadhead6
22:47 Manolo
22:47 xbalanke
22:46 Broadhead6
22:42 Jules
22:39 Broadhead6
22:39 JosephMendiola
22:37 DMFD









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com