{"id":66008,"date":"2022-01-09T21:10:25","date_gmt":"2022-01-09T21:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabsiyonews.com\/?p=66008"},"modified":"2022-01-09T21:11:36","modified_gmt":"2022-01-09T21:11:36","slug":"jake-sullivan-must-resolve-bidens-berbera-impasse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arabsiyonews.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/09\/jake-sullivan-must-resolve-bidens-berbera-impasse\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Sullivan Must Resolve Biden\u2019s Berbera Impasse"},"content":{"rendered":"

For too long, the dispute over U.S. posture toward Somaliland has festered. The growing threat from China and uncertainty over Djibouti\u2019s future now bring the question to a head.by\u00a0Michael Rubin<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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BERBERA, SOMALILAND\u2014The storied Berbera International Airport<\/a>\u00a0is open and ready for operation. Prior to the 1960s, it was a major British station. In the mid-1970s, the Soviet Union built the airfield while Somali dictator Siad Barre was still a Soviet client. The mudbrick shells of Soviet barracks still line the southern perimeter of the airport adjacent to its access road. The airfield complimented the nearby port which the Soviets upgraded beginning in 1962.<\/div>\n
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As a result of both Ethiopia\u2019s 1975 revolution and the\u00a01977-1978 Ogaden War<\/a>, Ethiopia and Somalia switched Cold War patrons. Berbera\u2019s airfield became an American asset, while the Soviets took over American facilities in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

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While policymakers lamented the loss of Ethiopia, they embraced Berbera. Between 1980 and 1991, NASA rented space at the Berbera airfield\u2014at the time, the second-largest airstrip in Africa\u2014to enable its use as an emergency landing strip for the space shuttle at a cost of almost half a billion dollars over the period. U.S. aircraft carriers including the USS\u00a0Nimitz<\/em>\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0at the nearby port of Berbera. Barre, now a U.S. ally, drove Somalia to ruin. After launching an\u00a0unsuccessful genocide<\/a>\u00a0against the Isaaq clan predominating in the north, Somaliland\u2014where Berbera is located\u2014reasserted its independence.<\/p>\n

The end of the Cold War condemned Somaliland to obscurity, at least from Washington\u2019s perspective. President Bill Clinton embraced a peace dividend as the threat from Russia receded and as any threat from China remained off the radar. After the Black Hawk Down episode in Mogadishu, Clinton wanted to put the Horn of Africa in his rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

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That changed after the September 11, 2001, attacks and President George W. Bush\u2019s pursuit of a \u201cglobal war on terrorism<\/a>\u201d thrust East Africa back into the spotlight. The Pentagon created the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and leased space at\u00a0Camp Lemonnier<\/a>, a French military base in Djibouti. Over subsequent years, the U.S. presence in Djibouti grew; it now\u00a0numbers around 4,000<\/a>\u00a0servicemen and contractors. Its mission has also grown. Not only has the CJTF-HOA helped coordinate U.S. counterterror and Special Operations Force campaigns across Africa but it has also been crucial to American operations around Yemen.<\/p>\n

As a result of both Ethiopia\u2019s 1975 revolution and the\u00a01977-1978 Ogaden War<\/a>, Ethiopia and Somalia switched Cold War patrons. Berbera\u2019s airfield became an American asset, while the Soviets took over American facilities in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

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While policymakers lamented the loss of Ethiopia, they embraced Berbera. Between 1980 and 1991, NASA rented space at the Berbera airfield\u2014at the time, the second-largest airstrip in Africa\u2014to enable its use as an emergency landing strip for the space shuttle at a cost of almost half a billion dollars over the period. U.S. aircraft carriers including the USS\u00a0Nimitz<\/em>\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0at the nearby port of Berbera. Barre, now a U.S. ally, drove Somalia to ruin. After launching an\u00a0unsuccessful genocide<\/a>\u00a0against the Isaaq clan predominating in the north, Somaliland\u2014where Berbera is located\u2014reasserted its independence.<\/p>\n

The end of the Cold War condemned Somaliland to obscurity, at least from Washington\u2019s perspective. President Bill Clinton embraced a peace dividend as the threat from Russia receded and as any threat from China remained off the radar. After the Black Hawk Down episode in Mogadishu, Clinton wanted to put the Horn of Africa in his rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

That changed after the September 11, 2001, attacks and President George W. Bush\u2019s pursuit of a \u201cglobal war on terrorism<\/a>\u201d thrust East Africa back into the spotlight. The Pentagon created the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and leased space at\u00a0Camp Lemonnier<\/a>, a French military base in Djibouti. Over subsequent years, the U.S. presence in Djibouti grew; it now\u00a0numbers around 4,000<\/a>\u00a0servicemen and contractors. Its mission has also grown. Not only has the CJTF-HOA helped coordinate U.S. counterterror and Special Operations Force campaigns across Africa but it has also been crucial to American operations around Yemen.<\/p>\n

Suffice to say, the assessment went well: Djibouti\u2019s runway is just 10,335 feet; Berbera\u2019s is 13,580 feet. Djibouti is congested; Berbera is not. Djibouti insists on Djiboutian air control; Somaliland will negotiate. The\u00a0newly-expanded<\/a>\u00a0Port of Berbera connects to the airport without having to pass outside controlled areas. The United Arab Emirates, which briefly considered operating a military base at Berbera, built new infrastructure. Importantly, the Chinese lack a presence in Somaliland and along its 500-mile coastline on the Gulf of Aden.<\/p>\n

Not only the Pentagon wants to engage in Somaliland; the intelligence community also wants to as well. Somali society is extremely complex; it is hard to gather intelligence from outside. A more permanent U.S. presence, akin to what the United Kingdom maintains, would help the United States track terrorists, intercept weapons shipments, and stop terrorists before they act. It would put U.S. stations closer to the subjects of concern without exposing them to Chinese interference.<\/p>\n

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