United States of Africa: A dream that got Gaddafi killed at the hands of a desperate US

The United States of America is a conglomeration of states that if not united under a federal system, could have been separate countries. The United States of Africa is yet to be brought under one federal system. When it is brought under such a system, the USA will be given a run for its money. You all know how Barack Obama and NATO bombed the living daylights out of Libya, right? The North African country was sent back to the stone age. Since the late 1960s, when Muammar Gaddafi took over the reins of power, Libya went on from becoming one of the poorest African countries to one of the richest.

By 2011, Libya served as a model not just for other African nations, but also for developing countries around the world. It was economically independent, was self-sufficient in oil, food, and water, and even had its own state-owned bank. Education and medical treatment were free; having a home was considered a human right and Gaddafi had created the largest irrigation system on the face of the planet – called the Great River Project – that ensured water supply throughout the country.

Why was Muammar Gaddafi Killed?

2011 was the time when the Obama-Clinton-sponsored Arab spring regime change campaign was going in full swing across the Middle East. Interestingly, Libya was bombed to death by NATO’s forces only after the Obama administration got intelligence inputs that Gaddafi was planning on creating a pan-African central bank with its own gold-backed currency.

According to Hillary Clinton’s leaked emails, one correspondence, dated April 2, 2011, read in part: “Gaddafi’s government holds 143 tons of gold and a similar amount in silver. This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).”

Such a currency would have freed the African continent from its economic bondage under the dollar, the IMF, and the French African franc. Muammar Gaddafi would have emerged as a leader behind whom all African countries would rally, perhaps even leading to Africa becoming one consolidated, the federal unit of various states – much like America.

NATO’s “Humanitarian Intervention”

The former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was among the loudest proponents of destroying Gaddafi’s regime. In 2011, Sarkozy reportedly called the Libyan leader a threat to the financial security of the world. Why? You see, Gaddafi had shunned the Petrodollar, and was well on the path towards creating an African hard currency that would give the United States of America, its allies, and their institutional hegemony over the global financial system a run for their money.

In 2001, the same was done by Saddam Hussein. Dissatisfied with the shrinking value of the dollars that OPEC was getting for its oil, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein broke the Petrodollar pact and sold oil in euros. He was killed by the West too.

Gaddafi was killed in a more brutal way. He was publicly lynched to death. Hillary Clinton and her bosses wanted to make an example out of the man. Anybody who dares challenge the hegemony of the West in any manner should be prepared to face a similar or even worse fate. That’s the message that NATO wanted to send out.

An Africa united by one currency would eventually become a very powerful entity on the world stage. Its size, scale, resources, and manpower would have been insurmountable. The United States of America and its allies would be reduced, in the long run, to insignificant entities. So, the idea of a United States of Africa was nipped in the bud by Obama and his friends when they publicly killed Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then the US made Two strategic blunders in Africa

The United States has lost a strategic region in Africa. These regions have emerged out of the clout of Washington and are carving an independent path for themselves. The Biden administration has undertaken successive blunders in Africa that have alienated countries in this part of the world away from Washington. Take the case of what Joe Biden tried doing in the Horn of Africa. By dominating the Horn of Africa, the U.S. can dominate the Bab al Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and through which much of global trade passes.

The U.S. can dominate this strait only if it controls the Horn of Africa, and to establish that Joe Biden tried pushing Ethiopia into a civil war with all his might. This was his first blunder.

Antagonising Horn of Africa Nations

Ethiopia has quelled the rebellion of the Tigray People’s Liberation (TPLF). The Biden administration had, at the peak of the conflict late last year, accused Ethiopia and its forces of committing human rights violations in Tigray. As a consequence, the White House was preparing for a “humanitarian intervention” in the second most populated country in Africa.

The Biden administration had made all plans to militarily intervene and wage war against Ethiopia. However, it made such plans on the assumption that Ethiopia’s neighbours would participate in such an immoral war.

Washington was to use its base in Djibouti to launch attacks on Ethiopian forces and assets. Djibouti, however, said its territory cannot be used by the U.S. for attacking other countries. Meanwhile, Eritrea had deployed its soldiers to aid Ethiopia’s forces in their fight against the TPLF. Sudan and Somalia helping the United States was always a non-starter. Sudan is influenced by Russia, while Somalia has a historic axe to grind against Washington.

Basically, the Biden administration’s support for the TPLF is what ruined the United States’ image and prospects in the Horn of Africa. This also impacted Washington’s reputation in North Africa as a whole. However, Biden’s second blunder is what has disgusted North African nations to their guts.

The Algeria-Morocco Conundrum

The United States had somewhat amicable relations with Morocco. You see, the Trump administration got Morocco to sign the Abraham Accord with Israel, in exchange for recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the phosphate-rich Western Sahara.

But Morocco has been rethinking its stance, partly due to the Biden administration trying to get cosy with Algeria. Currently, Joe Biden is trying to snatch Algeria away from the Russian sphere of influence. That is not really working out like Washington would want it to. As the U.S. remains distracted, Russia and OPEC are making a move to snatch Morocco away from Washington.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced a $100 million loan to Morocco aimed at promoting financial inclusivity. The loan to Morocco is, in part, aimed at driving it away from Washington and into the Arab camp. Given the fact that the Biden administration has maintained a stoic silence on the issue of Western Sahara and whether it considers the region a part of Morocco, Rabat is reconsidering its wholehearted subservience to Washington.

As for Algeria, it is deeply influenced by Russia. Algeria is the EU’s third-largest gas provider (behind Russia and Norway), supplying approximately 8% of the EU’s gas supplies in 2021 via pipelines across the Mediterranean Sea. Algeria also has a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to export gas via ship. Snubbed by OPEC and the Arab world at large, the Biden administration is trying to woo Algeria now – with the sole intention of securing its gas supplies.

But Algeria is squarely placed in the Russian camp. Russian companies have many investments, deals and assets in Algeria. There are also various joint ventures and partnerships between Algerian and Russian state corporations. Both the governments have several deals in the field of energy exploration, storage and supply projects across Algeria.

Additionally, Algeria relies on Russia for its defence infrastructure and arms supplies. There is an added disadvantage for the United States when dealing with Algeria. You see, Algiers has been at odds with Washington on neighbouring Libya and on Syria. Algeria opposed the NATO-led military action that helped overthrow the regime of Muammar Qadhafi. Algeria also maintains relations with the Assad regime in Syria despite Washington’s efforts to prevent the broad reintegration of Assad into the Arab fold.

Therefore, the second blunder that the Biden administration made in North Africa was maintaining an ambiguous stance on the issue of Western Sahara. It antagonised Algeria even more by not reversing the Trump-era recognition of the region as Moroccan territory, while also unhinging Rabat by not affirming its support for the Trump-era deal.

North Africa is fast emerging as the backyard of the Russians. Owing to Biden’s brazen policies, the United States seems to have lost the crucial region forever.

source TFI Global News by Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra