Abby Martin
Empire Update
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC1mLxc4BYw&rel=0&feature=relmfu]
Our next update is a new development we reported last week regarding Trump’s misreported troop “withdrawal”, or more accurately, troop repositioning, for the US war in Somalia.
On November 25, a senior state department official leaked to the press that a CIA operative had just been killed in combat in Somalia.
Now, some have speculated that this leak was to put pressure on the Trump administration to back off it’s plan to move troops from Somalia to Kenya and DJiBouti, from which they would still conduct combat missions in Somalia. But, as I reported last week, the US would leave intact it’s CIA operations in Somalia, like this operative killed last weekend.
But the real story here, is that it exposes a little-known aspect of the CIA. When most Americans hear “CIA” they think of people in suits, sitting behind a desk, or conducting spying operations. They don’t often think of troops in combat.
It is unknown to most that the CIA has something called the Special Activities Division, which is essentially it’s own paramilitary organization. It recruits the most elite fighters from Army Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. It is considered the most mysterious military organization in the world, and they’re on the ground probably everywhere.
They do everything from conducting high-level assassinations and kidnappings, to secretly training proxy forces. Similar to the US military’s Special Op, but somehow far more dark, secretive, and totally unaccountable.
For example, if CIA troops are on the ground shooting people, the US can totally deny it, pretending it actually doesn’t have soldiers there.
Meaning the US really has troops on the ground, very much at war, in far more countries than they will admit. How many countries have these CIA strike teams on the ground, where it would be too scandalous or provocative for the US to send troops?
But back to Somalia, the phrase “removing troops” will only refer to official troops; not these unofficial hit squads who are very much US troops. While it is yet to be seen what will happen regarding the Somalia withdrawal, we got a little reminder this week that the expanse of the US war machine is even greater than we already know.
In our final update, we finally have some good news. The domination of the US Empire in Latin America was dealt a major blow this week, when Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, announced that his country was rejoining three key regional alliances: the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Union of South American Nations.
ALBA was founded by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez as a vehicle to unite progressive and pro-socialist governments in the region in order to fight for Latin America’s independence from U.S. imperialism. Washington has sought to destroy the ALBA alliance since it was founded, to keep Latin America subservient to US capitalism.
In fact the Pentagon has launched coups in several ALBA nations; a successful one in Honduras, several failed ones in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and most recently Bolivia, where the Trump administration helped overthrow left-wing indigenous leader Evo Morales. The recent victory against the US coup government in the Bolivian election last month was the first blow to US designs, and this new announcement has landed a second punch.
Rejoining ALBA is not just important for Bolivia, but for the other ALBA nations who have another link in the chain of solidarity against the US empire. And for now we can revel in that celebration by the Bolivian grassroots, and the failure of the Pentagon.
— source theanalysis.news | Dec 2, 2020