Week in Review - January 9, 2015 Share This /

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Uganda's military has confirmed that Dominic Ongwen, a senior commander in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), has been taken into custody by U.S. forces. According to BBC News, the International Criminal Court wants to put Ongwen on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The rebel LRA is responsible for abducting thousands of children in northern Uganda and neighboring countries.
• The United States has donated two ex-US Army aircraft to the Djibouti Air Force, adding to a dozen it already has. According to DefenceWeb, the aircraft is being retired as a cost cutting measure. In addition to Djibouti, the Philippines Army and Coast Guard will also receive two each.
• The U.S. Coast Guard warship USCGS Gallatin was delivered to Nigeria. The vessel will join its sister ship the NNS Thunder donated to Nigeria by the United States, which the Nigerian Navy reportedly spent $8.5 million refurbishing. Jeffrey Hawkins, U.S. Consul General in Lagos, believes that the expanding capabilities of the Nigerian Navy will significantly enhance the country’s ability to address regional security challenges coming from the sea.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General published a scathing report on the border drone program suggesting the $360 million program is ineffective and does not function well enough to validate unwarranted expenditure without further study. In effect, the drone program cost substantially more than Customs and Border Patrol had estimated,spent nearly $28,000 for each illegal crosser apprehended
• President Obama has pledged to continue supporting the government of Mexico despite calls by non-governmental organizations to suspend military aid following numerous well publicized incidents involving the government and security forces implicated in corruption, torture, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances. Mexico has faced a wave of protests as a result. There have been concerns raised by the Obama administration regarding human rights but they have stopped short of suspending military aid.
• The Associated Press explained that the rise of methamphetamine seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border during the fiscal 2014 in part due to a U.S. crackdown within the United States on the chemicals used to make the synthetic drug. Drug cartels now find it cheaper and easier to produce and smuggle over the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures show a 300 percent increase in meth seizures between 2009-2014 and Mexican cartels are believed to now produce some 90% of all available quantities of the drug.

Central Eurasia

• According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan will be holding their first joint naval exercises this summer on the Caspian Sea. The five shoreline countries, which include the former three as well as Turkmenistan, and Iran have debated over the division of the Caspian and rights to its resources since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Warships will conduct drills in protecting sea routes and search-and-rescue support exercises.
• The Kremlin warned the Central Asian States as well as Afghanistan that the Russian military would not be heavily involved in any "spillover" of the Islamic State (IS) within the region if Central Asian states need to fight against IS. Russia will continue its programs of training and equipping local forces, but does not intend to send troops or border guards for protection unless the threat increases significantly.

Middle East and North Africa

• The U.S. military has begun training troops in Iraq to combat IS, but this time the training is supposed to focusmore on building confidence and “the will to fight.” The new training program not only aims to give 5,000 Iraqi soldiers basic weapons and tactics training, but also has a highlighted focus on building leadership throughout the ranks and on teachingtroops how to complete a mission without a leader.
• The United States has donated 250 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAP’s) to Iraq to rebuild the country’s forces after Iraqi troops abandoned some of their equipment in the fight against Islamic State in the summer of 2014. The Pentagon also plans to sell Iraq about 175 M1A1 Abrams tanks; 146 Stryker anti-tank guided missile vehicles; 50 Stryker nuclear, biological, and chemical reconnaissance vehicles; thousands of Hellfire missiles; and a number of Bradley fighting vehicles. Meanwhile, Bloomberg View reports that the Iraqi government is turning over U.S. weapons to Iran-backed Shiite militants who have been implicated in severe human rights violations. The U.S. government is caught in a dilemma, according to a senior administration official, because “The flawed Iraqi security forces are unable to fight Islamic State without the aid of the militias, who are often trained and sometimes commanded by officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.”