Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: U.S. drone base in Ethiopia is operational

  1. #1
    Senior Member Storm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Last Online
    05-19-2012 @ 05:35 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    New Worlder
    Ethnicity
    New Worlder
    Country
    United States
    Gender
    Posts
    454
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 21
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default U.S. drone base in Ethiopia is operational

    U.S. drone base in Ethiopia is operational



    The Air Force has been secretly flying Reaper drones on counterterrorism missions from a remote civilian airport in southern Ethiopia as part of a rapidly expanding U.S.-led proxy war against an al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, U.S. military officials said.

    The Air Force has invested millions of dollars to upgrade an airfield in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, where it has built a small annex to house a fleet of drones that can be equipped with Hellfire missiles and satellite-guided bombs. The Reapers began flying missions earlier this year over neighboring Somalia, where the United States and its allies in the region have been targeting al-Shabab, a militant Islamist group connected to al-Qaeda.

    On Friday, the Pentagon said the drones are unarmed and have been used only for surveillance and collecting intelligence, though it would not rule out the possibility that they would be used to launch lethal strikes in the future.

    Mindful of the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle in which two U.S. military helicopters were shot down in the Somali capital of Mogadishu and 18 Americans killed, the Obama administration has sought to avoid deploying troops to the country.

    As a result, the United States has relied on lethal drone attacks, a burgeoning CIA presence in Mogadishu and small-scale missions carried out by U.S. Special Forces. In addition, the United States has increased its funding for and training of African peacekeeping forces in Somalia that fight al-Shabab.

    The Washington Post reported last month that the Obama administration is building a constellation of secret drone bases in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, including one site in Ethiopia. The location of the Ethiopian base and the fact that it became operational this year, however, have not been previously disclosed. Some bases in the region also have been used to carry out operations against the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.

    The Air Force confirmed Thursday that drone operations are underway at the Arba Minch airport. Master Sgt. James Fisher, a spokesman for the 17th Air Force, which oversees operations in Africa, said that an unspecified number of Air Force personnel are working at the Ethiopian airfield “to provide operation and technical support for our security assistance programs.”

    The Arba Minch airport expansion is still in progress but the Air Force deployed the Reapers there earlier this year, Fisher said. He said the drone flights “will continue as long as the government of Ethiopia welcomes our cooperation on these varied security programs.”

    Last month, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry denied the presence of U.S. drones in the country. On Thursday, a spokesman for the Ethiopian embassy in Washington repeated that assertion.

    “That’s the government’s position,” said Tesfaye Yilma, the head of public diplomacy for the embassy. “We don’t entertain foreign military bases in Ethiopia.”

    But U.S. military personnel and contractors have become increasingly visible in recent months in Arba Minch, a city of about 70,000 people in southern Ethiopia. Arba Minch means “40 springs” in Amharic, the national language.

    Source - http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...wMM_story.html

  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Last Online
    10-30-2011 @ 06:56 AM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Macedonian
    Ethnicity
    Macedonian
    Country
    Macedonia
    Gender
    Posts
    38
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 0
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    And they say Obama is soft on terrorism... when the reality is very much the opposite.

  3. #3
    The Special One European blood's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Last Online
    10-07-2013 @ 01:27 PM
    Location
    Sodom and Gomorrah
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Romance
    Ethnicity
    Portuguese
    Country
    Portugal
    Politics
    Sick of all the bullshit
    Religion
    Immune to crap
    Gender
    Posts
    1,778
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 28
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default Washington Opens New US Drone Base in Africa



    Washington increased its drone fleet to 7 000 units in Africa, and opened a new drone base in an airport in Southern Ethiopia.

    Along with two other drone bases located in Djibouti (Camp Lemonier) and on the Seychelles Islands, in the Indian Ocean, the new base in Ethiopia increases the mobility of the unmanned planes which are the main war instrument of the Pentagon and the CIA to launch an air attack against Al Shabab, in the Horn of Africa.

    Drones currently flying over Somalia are departing from a base located at a civil airport in Arba Minch, a city in Southern Ethiopia. These planes, known as MQ-9 Reaper (maximum speed 370 km per hour and a price tag of some 38 million Euros) [1], can carry Hellfire missiles, though they are being used only for spying so far. These drones are very efficient in recording images and communications.

    According to the New America Foundation, drone attacks have caused this year between 350 and 500 civilian victims in Pakistan alone. Washington does not admit to using such planes to carry out missile attacks.

    http://www.voltairenet.org/Washingto...-US-Drone-Base
    "The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants." - Albert Camus


  4. #4
    Member Egbert's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Last Online
    06-06-2012 @ 06:02 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Germanic
    Ethnicity
    English and Bavarian
    Country
    United States
    Politics
    Conservative
    Religion
    Brahminist
    Gender
    Posts
    108
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 1
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by European blood View Post
    According to the New America Foundation, drone attacks have caused this year between 350 and 500 civilian victims in Pakistan alone. Washington does not admit to using such planes to carry out missile attacks.
    Nice.
    "It makes no difference what men think of war...war endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner." - "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy

  5. #5
    Banned
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Last Online
    07-23-2012 @ 02:57 AM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Germanic
    Ethnicity
    Anglo-Saxon
    Country
    United States
    Politics
    Conservative
    Gender
    Posts
    7,558
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 54
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    Where are our resident neo-fascists to decry this latest outrage of American imperialism? To think, the US will be able to do target practice on radical jihadist terrorists in Somalia from that base. We can't have that.

  6. #6
    Banned Gaztelu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Last Online
    04-23-2012 @ 02:55 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Vasconic
    Ethnicity
    Biscayan
    Ancestry
    Fields and Mountains
    Religion
    Roman Catholic
    Gender
    Posts
    1,651
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 16
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    It would be nice to see the Americans cooperate with the Kenyans to get rid of Al-Shabaab.

  7. #7
    The Special One European blood's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Last Online
    10-07-2013 @ 01:27 PM
    Location
    Sodom and Gomorrah
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Romance
    Ethnicity
    Portuguese
    Country
    Portugal
    Politics
    Sick of all the bullshit
    Religion
    Immune to crap
    Gender
    Posts
    1,778
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 28
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    Multiple missteps led to drone killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan

    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...0,549676.story


    UNIFIL and army search for Israeli plane in Bint Jbeil: report

    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Loc...#axzz1cDcNhgLR


    Israel unveils new drone that can fly to Gulf

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8527268.stm
    "The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants." - Albert Camus


Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Wings of Death: US builds global drone base net
    By European blood in forum War & Military
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 09-24-2011, 08:54 AM
  2. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-04-2011, 10:22 AM
  3. Mexican Government Using Aerial Drone Technology
    By Smaland in forum United States
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 12-19-2010, 09:42 PM
  4. FAA Pressed To Allow Drone Flights In U.S.
    By Bloodeagle in forum United States
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 06-18-2010, 07:27 PM
  5. U.S. to send back stowaway on plane from Ethiopia
    By Skandi in forum United States
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-09-2009, 02:28 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •