An Update
The COVID-19 outbreak continues to wreak havoc around the World. Currently this has led the United States to cancel two Military Exercises with its African Partners.
24 hours ago (March 16th) the AFRICAN LION 2020 Exercise was supposed to begin in Tunisia, Senegal and Morocco and wrap up on April 4th. Previously on March 10th it was announced that COVID-19 concerns would result in the exercise being scaled back.
The cancellation was based on the increase of International Travel Restrictions due to the outbreak and to minimize the risk to the US and its partners that would be taking part in the exercise.
This cancellation comes a week after AFRICOM announced that OBANGGAME EXPRESS a naval exercise off West Africa would be cancelled as well. One of the assets that the US allocated for the Exercise the USS Carney paid a weekend visit to Capetown, South Africa en route to the exercise. Instead it will return to patrolling the Area of Operations for the US Sixth Fleet.
Also within the last week an unnamed country in East Africa received some armed Cessna Caravans as well. My take is that the country happens to be Kenya and these are the replacements to those Aircraft destroyed during an Islamist attack on a KDF Base that occured a couple of months ago.
Earlier this Month the United States named a Special Envoy to the Sahel. Dr. Peter Pham the Director of the African Center of the Atlantic Council has been tapped for the post. His mandate is limited to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger which to the Confused Eagle seems short sighted.
For two years the Christians in Nigeria have been begging the Trump Administration to name one for either Nigeria itself or the Lake Chad Basin. Those who advocate for the situation in Cameroon have been asking for the voice of Washington to assist in their situation. (BTW the Anglophones were supposed to have a conference this coming weekend in Washington but has been postponed due to the virus)
Confused Eagle is still keeping an ear to the ground searching for Non-Virus related News.
24 hours ago (March 16th) the AFRICAN LION 2020 Exercise was supposed to begin in Tunisia, Senegal and Morocco and wrap up on April 4th. Previously on March 10th it was announced that COVID-19 concerns would result in the exercise being scaled back.
The cancellation was based on the increase of International Travel Restrictions due to the outbreak and to minimize the risk to the US and its partners that would be taking part in the exercise.
This cancellation comes a week after AFRICOM announced that OBANGGAME EXPRESS a naval exercise off West Africa would be cancelled as well. One of the assets that the US allocated for the Exercise the USS Carney paid a weekend visit to Capetown, South Africa en route to the exercise. Instead it will return to patrolling the Area of Operations for the US Sixth Fleet.
Also within the last week an unnamed country in East Africa received some armed Cessna Caravans as well. My take is that the country happens to be Kenya and these are the replacements to those Aircraft destroyed during an Islamist attack on a KDF Base that occured a couple of months ago.
Earlier this Month the United States named a Special Envoy to the Sahel. Dr. Peter Pham the Director of the African Center of the Atlantic Council has been tapped for the post. His mandate is limited to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger which to the Confused Eagle seems short sighted.
For two years the Christians in Nigeria have been begging the Trump Administration to name one for either Nigeria itself or the Lake Chad Basin. Those who advocate for the situation in Cameroon have been asking for the voice of Washington to assist in their situation. (BTW the Anglophones were supposed to have a conference this coming weekend in Washington but has been postponed due to the virus)
Confused Eagle is still keeping an ear to the ground searching for Non-Virus related News.
