"A US navy battlegroup is to make a 'show of force' in the oil-rich waters of the Gulf of Guinea, off West Africa, diplomats said Friday, as Washington hones plans to escape its dependence on unstable Middle Eastern supplies by securing more (read: getting its next fix from) African crude.
"The foray by a heavily armed carrier group 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.
"An Abuja-based US 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 (Who thought up that name? "Make it sound like reggae and the locals will greet us with their colorful antics and dance steps") aims to demonstrate the capabilities of the US navy; before we only had two or three operations involving aircraft carriers at any one time,' the anonymous gunboat promoter said, adding that 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 with all the neccessary support ships in the four corners of the world, at the same time,' he said."
In other words: "We're desperate and we have lots of guns." See archetypally related story: The Ballad of the Angry Armored White Man.
Fortunately, this nonsense will soon come to an end, and more folks/nations will express themselves in a true spirit of community and cooperation. The United States will benefit from doing the same.
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