By COLIN CLARK
WASHINGTON: For the first time, an important United States military base, one where a great deal of highly classified communications, intelligence and operations occur, sits within a few miles of a military competitor.
WASHINGTON: For the first time, an important United States military base, one where a great deal of highly classified communications, intelligence and operations occur, sits within a few miles of a military competitor.
Where? Djibouti, the tiny African state that sits on the Horn of Africa across from Yemen and sits astride the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It is one of the world’s most strategic locations. The US base there supports highly classified operations by Joint Special Operations Command, especially in and around Somalia, as well as a host of intelligence and support functions for US and allied forces throughout the region. The Chinese have declined to admit their location is a military base, instead calling it a “logistical support” facility to help supply China’s anti-piracy efforts. The head of Africa Command (AFRICOM), Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, put paid to China’s soft-pedaling of the base’s nature this morning when he told me that the yet-to-be-finished facility China is building is, simply, a “military base.”
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