US Military Flights To Assist CAR Intervention Set To Begin Today

Credit: Reason

A U.S. military official has said that the military is expecting to begin transporting Burundian troops to the Central African Republic today. The troops are to take part in an African Union-led intervention supported by the French which aims to stop sectarian violence in the former French colony.

From CNN:

(CNN) -- The U.S. military expects on Thursday to begin flying Burundi forces into the Central African Republic to help stop the violence in that war-torn country, according to a U.S. military official.

The United States has two C-17 aircraft in Uganda that will pick up the forces in Burundi and unload them in Bangui, the capital. The official emphasized the U.S. planes will remain on the ground in Bangui for a very short period due to the violence there.

The official also said the United States believes its planes and crews will be safe, because French forces control the airport there. The airlift of Burundi forces is expected to last about a week. Discussions about what additional assistance the United State may provide continue.

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Comments

[Eduard van Haalen]

The airport is safe...because the *French* are guarding it? Does not com9ute.

But yeah, help out the french in a colonial war...that's always a winning idea.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm willing to enter into a long bloody war that crushes the American spirit if it means my children will have extremely readily available CAR food.

Totally worthwhile trade off.

[playa manhattan]

What is it, stone soup?

[jesse.in.mb]

No idea, but look at what the Vietnam war did for local cuisine.

[Sevo]

See, the US isn't going to get involved - involved, just sort of involved.
Goddammit, let the frogs buy their own damn airplanes and gas!

[DJF]

Remember this the next time you read a story about the EU creating a military force support its diplomatic and economic polices around the world. The EU has very few transports, tankers, reconnaissance and other support assets. They have over a million and a half active duty troops and can't move more then a few thousand outside of the EU without US help.

Europe has so long existed under US defense welfare that they have little real power though they spend a lot of money.

[creech]

Maybe after the workers seize the Boeing factory in Seattle, they'd be happy to build the EU some military transports??

[Sevo]

For FREE! Since they don't care about the evulll $!

[Francisco d Anconia]

NATO is a fucking joke. All of Europe is essentially defended on our dime.

[jesse.in.mb]

Speaking of, Gizmodo linked a map with military installation sites and aerial views of the installations. Some of them are quite pretty.

[DJF]

The military sure does like lining things up so they make perfect targets.

You go by any US military base and all the aircraft, vehicles, ships are all lined up in a neat row.

Its only after they get shot at that they spread things out and as soon as the shooting is over they put it all back into neat rows for the next time they get shot at.

[Francisco d Anconia]

The Frogs are paying us for our taxi service I expect?

[Sevo]

Yeah, with three bottles of swill they won't drink.

[johnl]

With the addition of Burundi to the equation, we're finally getting involved with countries I can't locate on a map. Time to look one up.

[CE]

I'm guessing the Central African Republic is somewhere in central Africa.

[wareagle]

oh, good; adventurism! Yea us. Does no one else have transport planes or will playing taxi service provide a convenient excuse for taking the next step. And the one after that.

[db]

Once again, the U.S. sees a little piece of crazy somewhere in the world and can'rlt resist sticking its national dick in there and wiggling.

[CE]

Another opportunity for Obama to break the law:

(c) Presidential executive power as Commander-in-Chief; limitation
The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to
(1) a declaration of war,
(2) specific statutory authorization, or
(3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1541