United States considers military-industrial base in Morocco
US President Joe Biden has instructed his Defense Minister, Lloyd Austin, to prepare an emergency plan to establish an American military-industrial base in Morocco. This article is a press review from the Middle East Monitor.
On January 17, 2023, Middle East Monitor reports the news, citing the New York Daily News. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been tasked by the United States President Joe Biden with creating an emergency plan to construct an American military industrial base in Morocco.
The proposal was reportedly made at a high-level gathering in late December when Biden and Austin spoke about the new international military strategy of the United States. The statement reads, “Biden has urged Austin to press the Pentagon to ease the logistical and legal issues of US defense involvement in Morocco.”
The improvement of Rabat’s military technical capabilities will be necessary for both the strengthening of its leading position in the war against terrorism and for its inclusion in the international military balance.
According to the Middle East Monitor, a press monitoring organization and lobby group that primarily focuses on Middle Eastern issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “Biden received a detailed report from CIA Director William Burns on the expansion of Russia’s influence in Africa, including Zimbabwe, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Algeria, and the Sahel and Sahara countries” prior to his meeting with Austin.
Russia “not only firmly supports the Algerian dictatorship militarily and diplomatically, but also contemplates the creation of a massive logistical base that would give it a vital outlet to the countries south of the Sahara desert,” according to a CIA study. The interests of Washington and its allies in the region would be “threatened” by such a situation, according to the CIA.