New Chinese Military Base in Africa Presents Security Concerns for US

China’s first non-domestic military outpost is slated to be finished by the end of the summer, according to Marine General Thomas Waldhauser, who said the base presents security concerns to the US.

The 90-acre naval base is located a mere four miles from the headquarters of US African Command, Camp Lemonnier, in Djibouti, where some 3,000 to 4,000 US personnel are stationed at any given time.

Under Waldhauser’s watch, the US hopes to keep tabs on what China does and does not do at the new base. Waldhauser recently requested an audience with Djibouti President Ismail Omar, to whom he "expressed [US] concerns about some of the things that are important to us about what the Chinese should not do at that location."

The US uses Camp Lemonnier base as a hub for highly secretive operations, Defense Tech reported. For instance, the camp was involved in the January 29 raid in Yemen that killed Navy Seal Team 6 member William “Ryan” Owens, as well as 14 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants and at least 25 civilians.

Both the Chinese and US military in the region will likely seek to address the issue of Somali pirates. The marauders have been virtually absent from the Horn of Africa since 2013, according to data from Office of Naval Intelligence, but popped back up on the radar Monday after buccaneers raided an oil tanker and its Sri Lankan crew. 

​"The question wasn’t really if an attack was going to happen, the question was when," John Stee, head of the Horn of Africa desk at the Oceans Beyond Piracy non-governmental organization, said. "The one thing that’s not really been addressed is the real root cause of this, which is poverty."

Chinese investors have poured $400 million into Djibouti to build a trading port and to develop a free trade zone in the region. In addition to bolstering China’s naval presence in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, the base will likely serve as headquarters for roughly 2,200 Chinese soldiers stationed in Africa as part of peacekeeping operations, Waldhauser noted.

U.S. builds up military bases in Italy for African ops

Three P-3C Orion aircraft belonging to the Tridents of Patrol Squadron Two Six (VP-26) stand ready on a rain soaked airfield on board Naval Air Station Sigonella. in Sigonella, Sicily on Jan. 15, 2006. The U.S. Marines are being moved to the Naval Air Station at Sigonella on Sicily, which will eventually have a force of 1,000 Marines with its main focus Libya, 100 miles across the Med.

 

The U.S. deployment of 200 Marines to a naval base in Sicily for possible operations in Libya, a short hop across the Mediterranean, underlines how the Americans have been building a network of bases in Italy as launch pads for military interventions in Africa and the Mideast.

 

The signs are that 20 years after the American military's first, and costly, encounter with Muslim militants in Mogadishu, Somalia, U.S. operations in Africa are growing as the Islamist threat expands.

 

Another key factor is U.S. President Barack Obama's switch in his counter-terror strategy from drone strikes against al-Qaida to pinpoint raids by small Special Forces teams, as seen in Somalia and Libya Oct. 5.

These were triggered by Islamist violence in both countries, including the Sept. 21 seizure of the Westgate shopping mall inl Nairobi, capital of Kenya, by fighters of Somalia's al-Qaida affiliate, al-Shabaab, that left at least 67 people dead.

 

The U.S. SEAL Team 6 seaborne raid on the Somali coastal town of Barawe to capture al-Shabaab mastermind Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir,a Kenyan of Somalia origin, ran into heavier than expected resistance and had to be aborted.

 

But the U.S. Army's Delta Force had more success in its raid on Tripoli when they grabbed longtime al-Qaida fugitive Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, aka Abu Anas al-Libi, indicted by a U.S. court in 2000 for the August 1988 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 224 people.

 

These raids reflect a U.S. move away from the kind of risk-averse operations the Americans have been mounting with missile-firing drones to on-the-ground raids against high-value targets.

 

The abhorrence of risk stemmed largely from of the psychological fallout over the October 1993 operation in Mogadishu to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid that went badly wrong and led to the downing of two U.S. helicopters and the deaths of 18 Rangers and Special Forces troopers.

U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Africa in June-July was widely seen as evidence of the White House's broader foreign policy objectives which have included an expansion of U.S. military operations across Africa.

 

Many of these involve small-scale "secret wars" against Islamists, mainly linked to al-Qaida and often carried out under the aegis of the U.S. Africa Command established in 2007.

 

"Both the number and complexity of U.S. military operations in Africa will continue to grow in the medium term," observed Oxford Analytica.

 

"Given the relatively high impact contribution they make to Washington's strategic goals, such military operations will also increasingly encroach on domains traditionally associated with development and diplomacy.

 

"However, they will also increasingly commit the United States to an 'intervention-led' foreign policy in Africa."

 

Although Africom and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command claim they have a small footprint in Africa, over the last year or so they've been increasingly active in building up a U.S. military presence -- and especially reach -- across the continent.

       

The United States has only one official base in Africa, the counter-terrorism facility at Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion base in Djibouti, East Africa, where Special Forces, strike jets and armed unmanned aerial vehicles are based.

 

But small units are deployed across Africa. Meantime, the Americans have established a network of bases in Italy, involving a significant manpower shift southward from the old Cold War bastion of Germany.

 

The Marines moved to Italy from Spain this month are the vanguard of a larger force dubbed Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response.

 

It was established after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

 

According to U.S. security specialist David Vine, the Pentagon has spent around $2 billion -- and that's just construction costs -- "shifting its European center of gravity south from Germany" and transforming Italy "into a launching pad for future wars in Africa, the Middle East and beyond."

The U.S. Marines are being moved to the Naval Air Station at Sigonella on Sicily, which will eventually have a force of 1,000 Marines with its main focus Libya, 100 miles across the Med.

 

Vines estimates there are now 13,000 U.S. troops in Italy at Sigonella and some 50 other facilities like Vicenza, a former Italian air force base near Venice, with the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), a rapid response force.

The Chinese Threat In Africa

As China becomes more involved in Africa economically, there is growing fear that China is using methods that will eventually lead to intense anti-Chinese attitudes. For example, the Chinese bring their own workers and employ few locals for construction projects China is paying for. This gives the Chinese greater control over projects, usually related to construction (buildings, roads, and the like) or mining. The Chinese tend to ignore local advice, which leads to construction practices that work back in China but not in various parts of Africa. The Chinese workers are kept in separate camps and rarely mix with locals, giving rise to suspicions that they are Chinese convict labor. There’s no evidence of that, and Chinese managers everywhere tend to be very intent on tightly controlling work they are responsible for.

 

These Chinese construction projects please the local African officials because the Chinese get the job done quickly with minimal problems from locals. Neither the dictators nor the Chinese are concerned with long-term problems. While China has been generous with business deals in Africa, and sent over half a million Chinese to work, invest, or settle in China, African tyrants are favored as partners. 

That's because these thugs are shunned by Western nations and businesses. Because of this, China is increasingly seen as a supporter of evil governments and that has generated a widespread African hostility towards all things Chinese. This has led to anti-Chinese riots in some countries and a general animosity towards the Chinese at the grass roots level. Thus, when these countries go through their next rebellion the Chinese are likely to be a popular target and a major loser if the rebels win.

 

China has been at this for nearly a decade. This really kicked into high gear when China declared 2006 was officially "The Year of Africa." China went all out to make a favorable impression on African governments and increase Chinese economic and diplomatic activity in Africa that year. To that end, about a billion dollars-worth of debts, of African nations to the Chinese government, were forgiven. The year before, Chinese commercial and government organizations invested over $13 billion in Africa. This was less than one percent of China's GDP but by African standards, it was huge. 

 

However, there was some blowback. The Chinese were mainly after raw materials, especially oil. A lot of that $13 billion was bribes for local officials. As usual, the average African was getting screwed by these deals. For example, a lot of the investment was for infrastructure (roads, bridges, structures), and a lot of those deals stipulated the use of Chinese labor for most of the work. There was never any intention of employing many Africans. The Chinese pay such low wages that they could afford to fly in Chinese for many jobs. China is also flooding African markets with inexpensive goods. Both of these tactics are hurting local businesses and causing unrest among African business owners and workers. As a result, it's become common for opposition parties in Africa to accuse China of "neo-colonial exploitation." The accusation fits, and the Chinese will pay for it down the road, as will peacekeepers brought in to help clean up the mess.

More Mercenary Su-25s Slip Into Africa

Back in February the African country of Niger received its first jet combat aircraft in the form of two Su-25s. These were received from Ukraine, which has a lot of Cold War surplus weapons and refurbished these two ground attack aircraft. It is believed that Ukraine also supplied pilots and ground crews, at least until some Niger personnel could be trained to do the work. Niger is very poor and until the two Su-25s arrived had no combat aircraft at all and only about a hundred personnel and 12 transport and reconnaissance aircraft in its air force. France or the United States may have provided the money for the two Su-25s, which could be essential in dealing with the large number of Islamic terrorists operating next door in Mali or Nigeria. This is not the first time Su-25s have been supplied this way. Back in 2004 Ivory Coast for two Su-25s in a similar deal, but made the mistake of using them against some French peacekeepers. The French Air Force promptly responded by attacking the Su-25s on the ground and destroying them.

 

The Su-25 was designed to attack ground targets, not other aircraft. It is a 17 ton aircraft that carries a 30mm twin-barrel rotary cannon (with 250 rounds) and up to five tons of bombs and missiles (including air-to-air missiles). The twin-engine, one seat aircraft has a combat radius of 380 kilometers and a top speed of 900 kilometers an hour. It's the Russian equivalent of the U.S. A-10.

 

The Su-25 design is actually more similar to the 19 ton American A-9, a competing design with the 23 ton A-10. The Su-25 and A-9 both are about 14 percent faster than the A-10. But the A-10 is a more stable aircraft and much more resistant to battle damage. Absent lots of ground fire, both the A-10 and Su-25 are very effective against ground targets. The A-10 also has an edge with its unique 30mm autocannon, in addition to seven tons of bombs. The A-9 could carry eight tons, in addition to the same 30mm autocannon.

Argentina celebrates Africa’s 54 countries support for Malvinas sovereignty

Africa’s fifty four countries joined South America “in recognizing the legitimate sovereignty rights of Argentina over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the adjoining maritime spaces”, announced the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a communiqué in reference to the so called Declaration of Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea. 

The African countries position reflected in the Malabo declaration was born out of the III Summit of South American and African countries which was held during two days precisely in Malabo.

The declaration also includes Argentina’s claim condemning hedge funds (‘vulture funds’) and measures to promote cooperation South to South programs and projects among the two regions.

The Argentine ministry in the release underlines that the “document is a diplomatic victory for our country since it is the first time that the whole of Africa joins our continent in declaring legitimate the rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute over the Falkland Islands”.

The declaration also calls on “the UK to resume negotiations with Argentina for a fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the dispute, as soon as possible and in conformity with the relevant resolutions from the UN and other regional and international organizations”

Foreign minister Hector Timerman thanked at Equatorial Guinea the solidarity from the leaders and Foreign ministers whom participated at the III summit of South America-Africa (ASA) and pointed out that “Africa is currently a priority for Argentina’s foreign policy”.

The statement is supported by the fact that the administration of President Cristina Fernandez had decided to re-open and open several diplomatic legations in Africa and specifically mentioned Ethiopia and Mozambique.

The first ASA Summit was held in Abuja, Nigeria, November 30, 2006, while the second, on Isla Margarita, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, September 27, 2009.

Article 26 of the declaration refers to the Falklands:

26. We recognize the legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands, and the surrounding maritime areas, and urge the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to resume negotiations with the Argentine Republic in order to find, as soon as possible, a fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the dispute, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and other regional and international organizations.

Article 58 refers to the ‘vulture funds’:

58. We reiterate that financial reform should aim to facilitate that investments are channelled to development objectives and not to speculative activities. We support a reduction in the mechanical dependency on the Credit Rating Agencies, an increase in their transparency, accountability and competition amongst them. Furthermore, we recognize the need to tackle tax havens, which facilitate tax evasion, corruption and criminal activities and offer an operating base to vulture funds. Finally, we emphasize the need to put limits to the action of these funds in order to avoid that their behaviour jeopardize the international financial stability
 

Tunisia in turmoil: Stones thrown at president, unrest 2 years after Arab Spring

Inhabitants of Sidi Bouzid shout slogans before hurling rocks at Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki and parliamentary speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar on December 17, 2012, in the central town of Sidi Bouzid 

Tunisian protesters in Sidi Bouzid, the epicenter of the country's Arab Spring uprising, threw rocks at visiting President Moncef Marzouki and other top leaders in a show of protest. Two years after the revolution, Tunisia is still gripped by unrest.

In late 2010, a 26-year-old university graduate lit himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid. Protests broke out across Tunisia on December 17, 2010, and were then repeated across North Africa and the Middle East. Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was the first ruler to be ousted in the Arab Spring uprisings, following months of violent unrest. 

One week ago – nearly two years after Ben Ali was deposed by the popular uprising – tens of thousands of protesters turned out in a mass strike planned by the country’s most powerful labor union, aimed at the stagnant economy and police brutality.

Two weeks earlier, another protest saw over 200 people wounded in clashes between Tunisian security forces and thousands of protesters in the impoverished town of Siliana. Fighting there raged on for several days, according to local medics. 

The unrest comes during a period of record unemployment in Tunisia. In November, the World Bank approved a $500 million loan to alleviate the country’s economic woes; another $700 million came from other donors. It was the second loan approved by the World Bank since the Arab Spring swept Ben Ali from power.

Most activists say that the Arab Spring brought about the exact opposite of what the demonstrators intended.

“The situation is worse right now in comparison to years before the revolution. Personally, I don’t feel safe anymore. When you see all the violence of the police of the salafis. Even the police are attacked sometimes. And there’s less freedom. I received so many messages from girls who say they were harassed on the street, even by police, who didn’t tolerate the way they dress,” Tunis-based activist and blogger Lina Ben Mhenni told SW.

The turmoil in Tunisia mirrors similar structures across the region. Experts say that the policies the newly elected leaders enact are not far from those of their predecessors.

In Egypt, opposition groups are urging a mass protest on Tuesday over alleged vote rigging during the national referendum on a controversial draft of the constitution. On Sunday, the Muslim Brotherhood announced the first results, prompting anger and accusations of electoral fraud. The next vote in the referendum is scheduled for the coming weekend.

“Those who voted for the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt did so because they wanted economic changes, not just getting rid of Mubarak and letting Morsi in. And Morsi, even though he’s obviously a very different political figure to Mubarak in terms of his ideology, has carried on much the same policies in terms of economic policy,” journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark told SW.

“I think it has to be a different type of a democratic system. The democracy that the US would like to impose upon Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and other countries throughout the region, even Libya, where war was waged last year to topple the Qaddafi government, is not suitable to the people inside of that region,” Detroit's Pan-African News Wire editor Abayomi Azikiwe said to SW.

Satellite images point to airstrike destruction of Sudanese arms factory

Sixteen-meter craters at the site of Wednesday’s Sudanese weapons factory explosion point to a surgical airstrike, a US-based monitoring group said. Earlier, Khartoum accused Tel Aviv of destroying the plant, reserving the right to retaliate.

­The shots released by the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) to the Associated Press support the Sudanese government accusation that Israel was behind the bombing of the Yarmouk military complex in which two people have been killed.

Experts consulted by the SSP have confirmed air bombardment of the site which destroyed the complex.

Military specialists found the site, “consistent with large impact craters created by air-delivered munitions,” Satellite Sentinel Project spokesman Jonathan Hutson told the SW.

The group also said that the images indicate that the explosion “destroyed two buildings and heavily damaged at least 21 others,” adding that there was no sign of fire damage at the fuel depot inside the military complex.

The observed craters were centred in the area of the complex where some 40 shipment containers had been stacked, the SSP further noted.

“If the explosions resulted from a rocket or missile attack against material stored in the shipping containers, then it was an effective surgical strike that totally destroyed any container” that was at the location, the project said.

SSP did not comment on the allegations of Israeli involvement in the destruction of the munitions plant. 

Initial official reports from the accident suggested an accidental explosion in a storage room, but Sudan later blamed Israel for launching the attack. “We believe that Israel is behind it,” said Information Minister Ahmed Belal Osman, adding that the planes had approached from the east.

Tel Aviv has so far neither confirmed nor denied striking the site, but has accused Sudan of being a key transit partner in supplying Hamas and Hezbollah with weapons.

Israeli officials suggest that arms smuggled to Gaza and Lebanon originate in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas then get to Sudan before crossing Sinai desert into Gaza through underground.

The explosion on October 23 caused the ammunition to explode for hours, threatening homes in the neighborhood adjacent to the factory and causing chaos among residents. Besides the two killed many people suffered from smoke inhalation.

Sudan accuses Israel of bombing weapons factory, threatens to retaliate

Israel was behind the bombing of a military factory that killed two people, claims Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman. Now, the Arab North African state is threatening to respond in kind.

"We think Israel did the bombing," Osman told a news conference, adding that Sudan reserves “the right to react at a place and time we choose." He also told reporters that his government may take the issue up with the United Nations Security Council.

The minister said four planes were involved in the attack at the Yarmouk military manufacturing facility in south Khartoum, and claimed evidence recovered at the scene points to Israel’s involvement.

The Yarmouk complex was built in 1996, and is one of two known state-owned weapons manufacturing facilities in the Sudanese capital.

Residents from the area told local newspapers that they saw planes flying overhead just before the explosion. The blast blew roofs off houses, shattered windows and set nearby trees ablaze. Several people suffered from smoke exposure.

Thick smoke blackened the sky over the complex, and firefighters fought the blaze for hours.

It's not the first time Sudanese officials have blamed such an incident on Israel.

One person was killed when a car blew up on the country's Red Sea coast in May, about a year after Sudan blamed Israel for an air strike on a vehicle in the same area. Witnesses to the May incident said they heard a big blast that set the car ablaze and left two holes in the ground.

In January 2009, foreign aircraft struck a truck convoy reportedly laden with weapons in the country’s east, killing dozens. The shipment was rumored to be headed for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, though Sudanese parliamentarians denied the claims.

Osman told the news conference that his country was certain the previous attacks were ordered by the Israeli government. “The main purpose is to frustrate our military capabilities and stop any development there and ultimately weaken our national sovereignty,” he said.

Israel, as is its policy, has neither admitted nor denied carrying out the attack.

Khartoum is seeking the removal of United States sanctions imposed in 1997 over support for international terrorism, its human rights record and other concerns.

In 1998, US cruise missiles bombed a Khartoum pharmaceutical factory suspected of links to al-Qaeda in the wake of the terrorist group's bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.

Al-Qaeda leader calls for more anti-US protests

With the number protests outside US embassies declining, Al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri urged “zealots of Islam” to “continue opposition.” He said a US-made Islamophobic film is “American crusader Zionist aggression,” and cannot be forgiven.

­Al-Zawahiri’s seven-minute address to "free and distinguished zealots for Islam" appeared on Islamic websites early Saturday. In the speech, Al-Qaeda’s new leader, who came to power after Osama Bin Laden’s death last year, hailed “the honorable people… who stormed the US embassy in Benghazi and those who protested outside the US mission in Cairo, where they replaced the US flag with that of Islam and jihad.”

An angry mob assaulted the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, the 11th anniversary of Al-Qaida’s 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other staffers were killed in the incident.

It was initially believed that the Benghazi violence was prompted by an amateur film made in the US that depicted Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a thuggish deviant. Later, however, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta revealed that the assault in Libya was a preplanned attack linked to Al-Qaeda.

Some protests were truly massive, but peaceful: Over 15,000 Pakistani protesters rally in Karachi on September 29, 2012, (AFP Photo / Rizwan Tabassum)

Some protests were truly massive, but peaceful: Over 15,000 Pakistani protesters rally in Karachi on September 29, 2012, (AFP Photo / Rizwan Tabassum)

Saturday was not the first time Al-Qaeda praised the Benghazi attack, but as in previous statements, Al-Zawahiri stopped short of claiming responsibility.

Al-Zawahiri also called for more global protests against the US and lashed out at Washington for its reluctance to ban the anti-Islamic video 'Innocence of Muslims.'

The White House, though condemning the 13-minute video uploaded to YouTube, said they could not ban the movie without violating the US constitutional right to free speech.

But many rallies turned violent: Yemeni protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by riot police during a demonstration against a film mocking Islam at a crossroad leading to the US embassy in Sanaa on September 14, 2012. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Huwais)

But many rallies turned violent: Yemeni protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by riot police during a demonstration against a film mocking Islam at a crossroad leading to the US embassy in Sanaa on September 14, 2012. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Huwais)

Al-Qaeda’s leader said Saturday that the US allowed the film's production and circulation under “the pretext” of freedom of expression, “but this freedom does not prevent them from torturing Muslim prisoners.” Al-Zawahiri was apparently referring to the Muslims imprisoned in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Thousands rallied in Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran and across Europe to protests against the incendiary 'Innocence of Muslims' video. US missions and businesses were burned down, and over 60 people were killed and hundreds injured in the resulting clashes with police.

Clinton admits al-Qaeda behind Benghazi attack

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now suggests the attack in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans may have been hatched by an al-Qaeda affiliate, yet another drastic change of heart from an Obama appointee.

In New York City on Wednesday, Secretary Clinton told attendees at a special United Nations meeting that the September 11, 2012 assault first thought by the White House to be a spontaneous, violent response to an Anti-Islam film made in America could have been orchestrated by extremists in North Africa, specifically those subscribed to an off-shoot of al-Qaeda.

“For some time, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and other groups have launched attacks and kidnappings from northern Mali into neighboring countries,” Clinton told the crowd this week. “Now, with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions. And they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions underway in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.”

Secretary Clinton’s address was delivered at a United Nations meeting on instability in the Sahel, the region of Africa that includes Mali and, apparently, terrorist operatives conducting assaults on Americans for al-Qaeda.

Immediately following the September 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration all but confirmed their suspicious than “Innocence of Muslims,” an America-made film that mocked Islamic prophet Mohammed, was likely to blame for the violence. The movie was believed to have sparked protests in Cairo earlier in the day, which the White House then suggested spread to Libya and elsewhere in the Muslim world. Both the State Department and the White House initially hinted that the film was to blame for the Benghazi raid, and on September 16 Susan E. Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations, directly linked the movie with the mayhem.

Days later, what was once a “spontaneous” response was reconsidered by many as something more.

“I would say yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy,” National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen told Congress on September 19.

The next day, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said it’s “self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack.” Nearly a week later on September 26, Carney altered the official explanation to say, “it is certainly the case that it is our view as an administration, the President’s view, that it was a terrorist attack.”

Carney’s reluctance to identify the assault as the act of terrorists could easily be explained as the White House’s unwillingness to admit a defeat in their War in Terror, not just on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks but so close to the November presidential elections. The United States has so far invested a substantial amount of men and money into efforts to allegedly free the Libyan people from the regime of fallen former leader Muammar Gaddafi, but now it appears as a man considered a ruthless dictator by Washington has only been replaced by rampant terrorism courtesy of al-Qaeda affiliates.

Now Secretary Clinton says that the assault was more than just an act of violent extremism and that the men behind the mob attack may have ties to America’s most notorious foe: al-Qaeda.

"We’re working with the Libyan government and other partners to find those responsible for the attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi and bring them to justice.But we are also expanding our counterterrorism partnerships to help countries meet their own growing threats,” she added at the UN meeting. “ We’re taking aim at the support structure of al-Qaida and its affiliates – closing safe havens, cutting off finances, countering their ideology and denying them recruits."

Earlier in the week, US President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly, “I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity.”