US navy to launch 'show of force' off oil-rich west Africa

"A US navy carrier battlegroup is to launch a "show of force" in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea off west Africa as part of an unprecedented global operation to demonstrate America's command of the high seas, a US diplomatic source told AFP on Friday."

"The foray by a heavily armed battlegroup into the waters off Nigeria, Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea and other African oil producers, comes at a time when fuel prices are topping the US political agenda and security crises in the Gulf region are pushing demands for greater diversification in energy supplies."

"The Abuja-based diplomat told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the Gulf of Guinea was "a place where there is not normally an American presence" and described the operation as "a show of force."

"Operation Summer Pulse '04 aims to demonstrate the capabilities of the US navy; before we only had two or three operations involving aircraft carriers at any one time," he said, adding that now seven carrier groups are to be deployed in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Guinea."

"The navy wants, through this exercise, to demonstrate to the world that even with all its current responsibilities, it can still position half-a-dozen aircraft carriers withh all the neccessary support ships in the four corners of the world at the same time," he said."

"In Washington, a statement on the Pentagon website, said: "Beginning this week and continuing through August, the Navy will exercise the full range of skills involved in simultaneously deploying and employing carrier strike groups around the world."

"Summer Pulse '04 will include scheduled deployments, surge operations, joint and international exercises, and other advanced training and port visits," it added, although the Nigerian military told AFP it had no knowledge of any upcoming joint programmes in the Gulf of Guinea."

"The US diplomatic source said that future joint exercises were under consideration, but that the planned visit of a US navy admiral had been postponed until "August or September"."
www.spacewar.com...

It just sounds like blatant intimidation

Not that I am saying this is right at all, but could it also be that we are held up by these oil countries because they know we need it so the out put to the US goes down etc for there political pupose, and that we are saying don't Extort us to much becasue we can still Mess you up.

Again just another side of the coin

uh yeah.

west africa isnt what i would call "oil rich" more like "oil middle class".

i looked at a map from national geographic...if you put nigeria golan and gabon together they wouldnt come close to any one middle east country that produces oil. in fact the only one that might come close to being oil rich is nigeria and compared to even the smallest middle east country they are a drop in the bucket.

iraq has tons more oil than west africa by leaps and bounds. now since everyone has claimed we went into iraq for oil...it wouldnt make any sense to ignore iraq oil and go for a smaller fish like west african oil. in fact it would be down right stupid. thats if we even went into iraq for oil to begin with. strategically speaking iraq or any midde east country for the trouble would yield far more oil.

i smell BS and misinformation here.

Originally posted by ThePrankMonkey
uh yeah.

west africa isnt what i would call "oil rich" more like "oil middle class".


i smell BS and misinformation here.

Great point, I do think a show of force to say we are still here and can get you, even though we are in 2 wars is a more likely reason

Originally posted by 300k
It just sounds like blatant intimidation

did you even read the link, it said we have been helping those navies, its not to intimidate them at all.

what about other resourses though. If the dollar is going to crash then a country rich in gold and silver would be very handy to have in your pocket.

What show of force? the oil in africa does not belong to the people but rather to oil corporations like Chevron.

Originally posted by marg6043
What show of force? the oil in africa does not belong to the people but rather to oil corporations like Chevron.

no they do belong to the governments there, companies have to have contracts to operate in any country.

OK,I read something on this a week or so ago.The U.S are looking at buying/leasing an island off the coast to turn into a naval base.

I forget the name of the island now but this is totally true.

With the middle east looking dodgy it's a good way to protect an important oil supply and project power and it fills a hole on the globe where there wasn't a base.They are leasing Diego Garcia of the Brits now.

Also,Al Qaeda will probably target any countries oil supply now.The tactic now must be to raise the price of oil anyway they can.

[Edited on 5-6-2004 by John bull 1]

Originally posted by ThePrankMonkey

i looked at a map from national geographic...if you put nigeria golan and gabon together they wouldnt come close to any one middle east country that produces oil

umm nigeria is a member of OPEC so is angola, and those other west african nations have discouvered large oil fields off their coasts that do rival middle eastern oil and they are being developed now, even south africa has discovered large oil fields off their coast.

TextTextno they do belong to the governments there, companies have to have contracts to operate in any country.

You are right, and US have the biggest corporation contract with them.
I don't see why US need to show power.

90 percent of oil revenues in Nigeria comes from foreign earnings, more than enough to pay for its military, which, in exchange for the government's share of the oil profits, does wahtever is required to keep corporate operations running smoothly.

In 2002 more than 600 women from the villages around the Niger Delta took over a Chevron Terminal, demanding jobs for their men, investment in the communities and an end to the killing of local residents by soldiers acting in the defense of the oil company.

The land on which the Delta people live is some of the wealthiest in the world, but its people are some of the poorest.

Ater decades of oil development, the land is racked by enviromental damage: oil spills dot the coastline, corporate-built canals permit sea water to leach salt into the drinking supply, eroding farmland.

All this people wants is just basic needs like electricity, water jobs heathcare, peace.

The goverment care not for his people but big corporations.
Chevron is a corporation which stand accused of human violations in Africa.

perhaps US may be showing power to protect his biggest investment.

Originally posted by namehere

Originally posted by 300k
It just sounds like blatant intimidation

did you even read the link, it said we have been helping those navies,

I'm sorry where does it say that?