Flintlock Underway in Mali

STUTTGART, Germany — A two-week joint military exercise intended to help prepare for future peacekeeping and humanitarian missions will start Monday in Mali, according to U.S. Africa Command.

The exercise, dubbed Flintlock, is the latest in a series of exercises conducted between Malian and U.S. military forces and partner nations throughout Africa.

The focus of the mission is to strengthen military and regional relationships, according to AFRICOM.

While in Mali, Malian and U.S. military personnel will conduct

• Medical Civic Action Programs
• Veterinary Civic Action Programs aimed at providing services to rural communities in Mali.
• American military aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules and the CV-22 Osprey also will be involved in the exercise.

Flintlock, which runs until Nov. 20, is an ongoing series of military exercises conducted under the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership program and involves the U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Defense Department.

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Joint Military Exercises in Mali

Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia are among 13 African and European countries along with the United States, which will carry out a joint military exercise in Mali in late August or early September, AFP and Algerian media reported Thursday (August 16th).

The drill has been dubbed "Flintlock 2007" and will also see the participation of Mali, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso, France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. "The key objective of this exercise is to assist partner countries to plan and execute command, control and communication systems in support of humanitarian operations, peacekeeping and disaster management," Ech Chourouk and El Watan quoted a report from the US embassy in Bamako as saying.

According to AFP, "Flintlock 2007" is the last in a series of exercises carried out jointly by the American military and African partner nations, as part of the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership initiative.

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China's State Run Newspaper suggests that Flintlock is really about controling Natural Resources in Africa. I can understrand why China may not like the exercise, since China herself appears to be making a run on African Oil.

-Shimron