U.S. Special Operations forces are not required to vet for past human rights violations by the foreign troops they arm and train as surrogates, newly disclosed documents show.
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The irregular warfare program has provided training to allied forces in countries that face a threat of invasion by larger neighbors, the senior Defense Department official said. The Washington Post has reported that an irregular warfare proxy program in Ukraine was terminated just before the Russian invasion, and that some officials want to restart it.
Rules for Pentagon Use of Proxy Forces Shed Light on a Shadowy War Power
Tag: Boko Haram
French military bases in Africa will now self-identify as schools
Emmanuel Macron wants to rebrand Paris’ presence in its former colonies as cultural and economic projects
French military bases in Africa will now self-identify as schools
Related:
Macron: ‘New era’ in economic, military strategy in Africa
Monday’s speech came at a time when France’s influence on the continent is facing its biggest challenges in decades. Growing anti-French sentiment has led to street protests in several West and North African countries.
In addition, historical economic ties that France had with the region are under pressure from the growing commercial presence of Russia, China and Turkey.
Macron acknowledged that Africa now is a “field of competition” and urged French businesses to “wake up” and get involved in the fight.
In the past year, French troops had to withdraw from Mali, which turned instead to private Russian military contractors of the Wagner group, and most recently from Burkina Faso, which also appears to increasingly look towards Moscow.
Ethiopia blocks social media amid Orthodox church tensions
Ethiopia blocks social media amid Orthodox church tensions:
The religious crisis erupted last month after a group of rebellious ethnic Oromo archbishops formed a breakaway group called the Holy Synod of Oromia in defiance of the church’s highest body or the synod.
The splinter group accuses the church of “maintaining a system of linguistic and cultural hegemony in which congregations in Oromia are not served in their native languages“, an allegation the church denies.
H/T: Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed suspends American big tech
Related:
The Lingering Danger of Google & Facebook
Another schism?! Is the Holy Synod of Oromia supported by the US?! TBD, soon.
Read More »Pentagon Blows Deadline To Explain US Role in Nigerian Airstrike That Killed 160 Civilians
One human rights campaigner said the military’s failure to provide a timely response to Democratic lawmakers’ questions “does not bode well for the U.S. government’s expressed commitment to transparency and accountability.”
Pentagon Blows Deadline To Explain US Role in Nigerian Airstrike That Killed 160 Civilians
Weapons Sent to Ukraine ‘Beginning to Filter’ to Africa, Nigerian President Says
As smuggled arms coming from Ukraine begin to appear in more and more countries, leaders who want to stem the flow are beginning to realize they’ll have to take a collective approach.
Weapons Sent to Ukraine ‘Beginning to Filter’ to Africa, Nigerian President Says (archived)
Cambridge Analytica Reborn? Private Spy Agency Weaponizes Facebook Again
by Kit Klarenberg
For all the public outcry, official probes and hearings, financial penalties, apologies and proposed regulations, Facebook remains the world’s foremost surveillance tool – weaponized in all manner of malevolent ways by any number of hostile elements.
Cambridge Analytica Reborn? Private Spy Agency Weaponizes Facebook Again
NATO’s fascist history
In recent years NATO – essentially the USA and Western Europe – has bared its fascist roots through multiple interventions across four continents.
NATO’s fascist history
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 