“Red Light” in Western Africa

“Red Light” in Western Africa – The rising Terror in Africa Risks Energy Infrastructures and Threatens Economy Posted by i-HLS

Western companies active in the raw materials and energy fields operating from Mauritania to Chad, Algeria and Nigeria, are all exposed to growing terror threats south of the Sahara, even in countries previously considered safe for operations. Dangers are not limited only to the lawless Sahara area, but are expanding to the west and central of the Africa. The increase in terror and crime threats create a new economic and social reality in those countries, providing important resources for the world economy. Mitigating those threats require constant vigilance and effective intelligence, along with heightened security arrangements to deter opponents, thwart attempts of impairing human life and causing damage, while effectively addressing potential emergency situations. i-hls Reports

The continent of Africa, and in particular the countries south of Sahara, are center of wide scale activity for foreign companies. Israeli companies are present here since the early 50s. The activity was first led by the Foreign Office, who in a very short time established tens of Israeli representation offices in African countries, and in this way laid the foundations for activity in the fields of agriculture, security and infrastructure development. Later on, more and more private companies from Israel entered Africa, and performed impressive projects in various areas. During the years the business relations had their ups and downs that were influenced by political moves and events like the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War. Nevertheless, along the entire period a massive Israeli business presence was established in Africa in various fields. The present deterioration in the level of terror threat and crime at the continent of Africa is a blinking red light considering the substantial risk requiring security arrangement against it. However, and since this is the situation, this is also an opportunity for Israeli security companies specializing in management of risks of this type, to provide security solutions for each foreign organization intending to act in these countries, in order to protect the well being of its personnel and safeguard its assets.

An impressive show of force of the radical Islamic organizations in Northern Africa took place last January, when 41 foreign hostages (citizens of USA, UK, Japan, Norway, Philippines, France, Malaysia and Romania) were kidnapped by Islamic extremists at the Amenas gas field near the Algiers-Libya border. This event demonstrates the freedom of action that the terror organizations enjoy at the arena, as the result of lack of organized government and security systems, with an emphasis on countries like Mali and Libya. Also in apparently more stable countries there is a growing trend towards terror activity. Such is happening each day in Nigeria.

Al Qaida in the Maghreb (AQIM), El Shabab, and El Bioko Haram are among the terror organizations responsible for kidnapping of foreigners throughout Africa. More than 230 foreign citizens have been kidnapped at the Delta area in Nigeria since January 2007. In the recent years there is an ever worsening trend, for execution of kidnapping and bombing attacks using a variety of operational methods, focusing at the energy facilities (oil and gas). In addition to the repeating damages to the oil pipelines, also the ships used by the maritime oil production facilities and oil rigs placed opposite the Delta are a prominent target for terror acts.

Since January 2007 till June 2012 there were no less than 79 terror acts and bombing attempts at the Sahel arena only. Nigeria is the greatest oil producer at the African continent, and it is also a model for a security problem and the high level of threats against the energy facilities located in the country.

But the main problem is not just the deteriorating security in Nigeria, but the absence of stability in Western Africa in general. Africa serves at the recent years as a safe haven and operation base for activists who were trained in fighting at the tribal areas in Pakistan. As a result of the massive pressure on Al Qaeda in Afganistan-Pakistan, the substantial threats are not coming anymore from the “original” Al Qaeda, but from organizations identified with Al Qaeda and in particular the ones operating in Africa, such as the Islamic Maghreb Al Qaeda (AQIM), El Shabaab in Somalia and the Nigerian organization El Bioko Haram, who have become a real threat at the African continent in general and at the Sahel area in particular. The “production line” for the continent`s terror factors at the continent has been focused recently in Mali, that has become a “safe haven” for terror activists, and it was not by chance that the French government decided on the Seval operation, aiming to crack down on the Al Qaeda nests in the country.

No country has felt the impact of the fall of Gadafi regime more substantially than Mali, which experienced already in the past lack of stability, coups d’état acts, revolts of the Tuareg population and the influences of terror and crime organizations. But during the recent year Mali experienced all the problems simultaneously.

The author is a former Head of Division at the ISA, and at present Senior Vice President of the MAYDEX AG specializing in energy infrastructure security planning and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Security and Emergency Management at the Wingate Academic College.

Obama has several small groups of American troops fighting “terrorism” in Africa. But, needless to say, none of them are focused on fighting these Muslim terrorists. In fact, he has come to their aid in many places, especially Egypt and Libya.

And in Afghanistan, mainly standing around doing nothing, while they murder a few of our men every day or two.

This could be, but from my perspective there are two groups that pose the greatest oncoming threat to the US. These are the Arab Moslem states and Communist china. Both nurture vast ambitions of projects of the restoration of historical greatness. For the Arabs, revenge on the Infidels and the reestablishment of the caliphate for the Chinese revenge on those who degraded the middle kingdom and the restoration of China to its rightful place as the center of the world. People who nurture such ambitions are dangerous beyond all measure. They fell they are possessed of a transcendent cause and any risk is worth taking and any crime necessary is just a tool to achieve the sacred cause’s goals.

This could be, but from my perspective there are two groups that pose the greatest oncoming threat to the US.

Let me begin by stating that I am clarifying my original post, not disagreeing with you. My original post was intended to suggest that we may be on the verge of a global outbreak of violence, not just something specifically targeted toward the US, but more towards global domination.

Of course, that scenario DOES, of necessity, include the US as well as other nations around the world. One of the reasons I believe this is that I see the level of terrorism against innocent people around the world increasing. And, with zero weakening our military and our ability to respond to such a global threat, I believe that the terrorists see their opportunity rapidly approaching.

Since WWI days, America has been pretty much the world's policeman and we were able to keep most things in check. With that role now gone, I think that those who are interested only in controlling others and killing those they resent (wealthy, educated, etc.) see their time is coming.

The only real question, then, is if this plays out the way it appears, how will zero respond and against whom?

(We know he won't oppose muslim terrorists, they're his kind of people, but who WILL he oppose??)

I suppose. it seems ever since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Bloc all the bottled up tensions have been effervescing in many parts of the world. back when Clintigula was about to have his splendid little war with Serbia some newspaper, The national Journal I think, had a run down on current wars and conflicts around the world. They identified something like 32 as i recall. The Serb-Kosovo-Elbonian conflict was dead last in terms of combatants and casualties somewhat deflating the spin meisters pitch that NATO was about to confront ‘another Hitler’ as they are always puffing some insignificant ruler up to be. The point was that various ethnic battling and even intra-state conflicts were common and widespread. Nothing has changed except some of the combatants . The two sets of trouble makers I identified are those who have some potential to be real problems for the US, and in the case of China, actually become a threat to our existence or at least real vital interests.

What appears to me to be very different today is the fact that a pretty significant segment of the US population positively hates or at least deeply dislikes the US government. That is really new and the lamestream media haven't figured it out yet. They and the rest of the political and cultural establishment are so purblind that they simply dismiss this big chunk of the population as ‘ignorant red necks’. ‘bitter clingers’, or just stupid and unimportant people. many in the British elites felt the same way about the American colonists and got a very nasty surprise. Americans may have disliked a lot of things about their government but other than a part of the Populist movement and the Syndicalist socialists around the first part of the 20th century no real mass hatred of the US government is discernible among real working Americans (the 60’s ‘youth counterculture’ doesn't count because the word ‘working’ is the operative signifier). There is real potential social dynamite here and its potential is the biggest for real upheaval in the US.

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