Boko Haram Still Hold Territories in Nigeria - US Commander Counters Buhari

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   US Africa Command (US AFRICOM) Commander David Rodgriguez, has countered President Muhammadu Buhari, saying Boko Haram still holds several territories in Northern Nigeria, ThisDay reports.
   
   He spoke on Tuesday in response to a question during testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee reviewing fiscal year 2017 defence budget.
   
   His comment about Boko Haram was in response to a question by Senator Angus King of Maine who asked : “Is Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram growing, are they adding members? I know they don’t hold territory, are they adding areas of influence?” to which Rodriguez replied, “actually sir, Boko Haram does hold some significant territory in Northern Nigeria as do Al-Shabaab in limited areas of Somalia.”
   
   He added that recently there is a “tactical upswing” in Al-Shabaab’s operations in Somali but did not elaborate on Boko Haram’s operations, adding in his written testimony to the Senate Committee that containing and degrading the ISIL-affiliated Boko Haram remains one of AFRICOM’s top priority.
   
   “We are watching carefully for signs that the threat posed by Boko Haram to US persons is growing as a result of the group’s alignment with ISIL,” Rodriguez added.
   
   
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US: Start Preparing for the Collapse of the Saudi Kingdom

Saudi Arabia is no state at all. It's an unstable business so corrupt to resemble a criminal organization and the U.S. should get ready for the day after.

BY SARAH CHAYES ALEX DE WAAL

Alex de Waal is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation and a research professor at Tuft University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

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Sarah Chayes is senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law and South Asia Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is the author of Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security.

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For half a century, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the linchpin of U.S. Mideast policy. A guaranteed supply of oil has bought a guaranteed supply of security. Ignoring autocratic practices and the export of Wahhabi extremism, Washington stubbornly dubs its ally “moderate.”
So tight is the trust that U.S. special operators dip into Saudi petrodollars as a counterterrorism slush fund without a second thought. In a sea of chaos, goes the refrain, the kingdom is one state that’s stable.
But is it?

In fact, Saudi Arabia is no state at all. There are two ways to describe it: as a political enterprise with a clever but ultimately unsustainable business model, or so corrupt as to resemble in its functioning a vertically and horizontally integrated criminal organization. Either way, it can’t last. It’s past time U.S.decision-makers began planning for the collapse of the Saudi kingdom.

In recent conversations with military and other government personnel, we were startled at how startled they seemed at this prospect. Here’s the analysis they should be working through.
Understood one way, the Saudi king is CEO of a family business that converts oil into payoffs that buy political loyalty. They take two forms: cash handouts or commercial concessions for the increasingly numerous scions of the royal clan, and a modicum of public goods and employment opportunities for commoners.
read more at Defense One or commentary from Sputnik News below:

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Riyadh on the Brink: US Must Prepare for Collapse of its Mideast ‘Lynchpin’

The United States must start thinking of ways to mitigate the damage from the approaching collapse of the current Saudi Arabian monarchy.

A codependence between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US has existed for decades. A scheme in which oil from the Saudis was exchanged for US military might worked well for both. It worked so well, in fact, that the US turned a blind eye to consistent human rights violations in the kingdom, as well as the spread of Wahhabi religious extremism.

Unfortunately for America, this formula has an expiration date. Several factors predetermine the collapse of the current Saudi Arabian ruling monarchy, according to Defense One.

The first is that it operates more as a “family business” than an actual state, where the king, aka the CEO, converts oil into payoffs to buy political and military loyalty. It is widely accepted that the system is corrupt and cannot endure. What happens when the price of loyalty rises and a ravenous elite doesn’t limit its appetite now that oil prices keep dropping? The monarchy will face political insolvency.

Saudi citizens have begun to show hints of discontent with the heavy-handed ruling elite, especially those members of the Shiite minority. The highly educated Sunni majority is also showing dissatisfaction with the cake crumbs it is accustomed to receiving. And Saudi officials, exploiting ‘guest workers’ who currently heavily outnumber citizens and may soon see those indentured servants begin to claim rights.

In countries such as Nigeria, Brazil or Malaysia, when people protest government corruption, heads of state resign. Saudi King Salman’s ruling methods include executing dissidents, embarking on foreign wars, and whipping up sectarian rivalries to discredit Saudi Shiite demands. These and many other social issues, including the treatment of women as second class citizens, only contribute to the disaffection.

According to Defense One, there are three ways things could play out. One is a factional struggle within the royal family when it runs out of money, resulting in a new king who either continues the old ways or attempts reform.

Another possibility is additional foreign wars, as war is a popular option among the desperate to direct attention away from themselves. One war, against Yemen, is already in progress. The monarchy has hinted that it will fight in Syria as well.

Or there could be insurrection. It’s unlikely, as the ruling party holds all the resources, but it must, nonetheless, be considered. The US must be prepared for any of these scenarios and not get caught flat-footed when its Arab lynchpin in Mideast policy comes apart.

More troubles for Buhari as US organises global boycott of Nigeria's crude

More troubles for Buhari as US organises global boycott of Nigeria's crude

Following Nigeria’s refusal to devalue its currency (the naira), in-line with IMF recommendations, crude oil traders worldwide have begun to shun Nigerian crude oil over the last several months. Nigeria remains one of the primary sources of “sweet crude” oil grades that is relatively pure crude oil with low levels of sulfuric content.

In order to refine heavy oil grades with higher levels of sulfur and other impurities, refineries throughout the world mix sweet crude with other grades of oil to produce its various classes of refined products. Officials in the NNPC and other blocks in the petroleum industry in Nigeria are scratching their heads trying to figure out why so many of their former buyers have not picked-up their usual volume of purchase orders of Nigerian crude. Only India and purchasers and traders outside of Western influence have continued to increase their purchase orders given the demand glut. The development has caused Nigeria’s already dwindling revenues to decline even further dangerously flirting with insolvency.

Unbeknown to Nigerian officials, behind the inexplicable drop in sales is a top secret operation orchestrated by high-ranking officials within the US government itself. The IMF and the US Government are different heads of the same creature. The repeated and firm recommendations of the IMF for Nigeria to devalue its currency and weaken its economy is also the firm position of the United States. Because the CBN and Nigerian officials have vehemently refused, they have responded by organizing a clandestine global boycott of Nigerian oil to starve the nation of foreign exchange earnings and force a currency devaluation. The government has managed to save and increase foreign reserves despite low oil prices, through prudent management of the CBN has shown that it can limp along and ride out the slum in oil prices.

Many Nigerian policy-makers in the executive and legislature fail to realize the truth that the United States under the current administration is not a friend of Nigeria. In the height of war they refused to sell weapons and liaised with South African intelligence to circumvent weapons procurement through other means. Further even after the election of President Buhari, has continued their hostile policy to undermine Nigerian security and instead strengthen Nigeria’s immediate neighbours. Economically, the US through the IMF has recommended damaging policies of currency devaluation, and is now actively organizing a global boycott of Nigerian crude oil to further starve the CBN of foreign exchange. The question is, why has the United States adopted a overtly hostile stance toward Nigeria? The answer is very simple.

Nigerian policy makers are keen to the hostile rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa for influence and policy direction on the African continent. They can easily see that South Africa is an adversary. What they fail to realize is that in the rivalry between the two powerhouses of Africa, the United States has chosen sides, and South Africa is their favourite partner. Undermining Nigerian security and economic growth diminishes the nation’s growing influence in Africa, and aids South Africa’s declining presence. South Africa is the only African country on the G20 and for decades has been the only African country that matters to the world and to Western policy makers. They have a longstanding healthy relationship with South Africa that has made it easy for them to operate on the continent and expand their influence. The rise of Nigeria above South Africa is a terrifying development and one that the United States is willing to obstruct and undermine both economically, politically, and militarily. Instead of smiling and embracing the Judas kisses given by U.S. officials Nigerian policy makers need to adopt the same caution with the United States as they have already with South Africa because the two are working together to check and contain Nigeria’s rise in Africa.

- Africa Resource Centre