Tuesday, May 4, 2021

"Morocco: U.S. to lead war games after 30-year ceasefire with Western Sahara ends"

Huh.
Following up on yesterday's "Today I Learned: There Is Cobalt Off the Coast Of Western Sahara".

From Anti-Bellum, April 29:

The U.S. and NATO and African military allies are now planning this year’s iteration of the annual African Lion war games in Morocco and adjoining countries. The largest military exercise in Africa.

Military planners from U.S. Army Africa/Southern European Task Force were in the Moroccan city of Agadir from January 20-30 to plan the U.S.-led multinational exercise.

African Lion 21, to be held from June 7-18, however, will be occurring under ominous and unprecedented circumstances.

As a trade-off with Morocco for a deal normalizing relations with Israel engineered by the outgoing Donald Trump administration in December, the U.S. now for the first time recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over all of Western Sahara, territory it seized in 1975 (initially with Mauritania, which withdrew its claim in 1979) after colonial owner Spain left it. Washington presided as Mephistopheles in a Faustian pact with Morocco and Israel with the Western Sahara the sacrificial victim. The State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) now list all of Western Sahara as part of Morocco.

Western Sahara has recently renewed its request for United Nations membership, and accuses France, Spain and the U.S. of thwarting that effort.

When Morocco and Mauritania divided up the former Spanish possession the Polisario Front (Frente Polisario) organized indigenous opposition to the seizure and waged a struggle for independence against Moroccan occupation....

....MUCH MORE