No offense to the American Republican Senator James Inhofe, a very interested friend of Algeria and his henchman of the Polisario, the Kingdom will indeed be the main host country of the largest military exercise on the continent in Africa, the African Lion. 2023, as for nearly two decades.
The U.S. Army European Southern Task Force (SETAF-AF) has confirmed on its website that, as usual, the African Lion will take place May 15 through July 18 in Morocco, Djibouti, Ghana, in Senegal and Tunisia. “The annual exercise provides unparalleled opportunities for participation and cooperation on the African continent. As Morocco anchors the exercise, the other nations, known as the Rays, continue to increase in size and contribution to the overall exercise.“, confirms the source.
The Polisario supporter will therefore have tried in vain to convince the American administration to look for another place to host the African Lion military exercise, “because Morocco has shown no willingness to resolve the Western Sahara issue, the United States should evaluate alternative locations to host our annual military exercises», said James Inhofe last July. Unfortunately for good old Jim (87), preparations are well underway and we can even say that these big maneuvers have already begun.
Indeed, Tunisia hosted, from September 26 to 30, a meeting between the American army and its African partners. “Given the multitude of complexities that naturally exist in an exercise of this magnitude, planning and coordination with joint U.S. forces and partner nations is a long-term, year-round project to ensure ensure that when the exercise begins it will be well coordinated and masterfully executedsaid Lt. Col. Paul Hilaski, head of the African Lion branch within the U.S. Army Africa in support of U.S. Africa Command and the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (SETAF-AF).
The decision was reportedly made and announced during the visit of the Chief of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), US Marine Corps General Michael Langley to Morocco last week. Indeed, Langley made a two-day visit Oct. 17-18 to Morocco, marking his first trip to the North African country while serving as the U.S. commander of AFRICOM. On the occasion, Langley expressed satisfaction with the cooperation between Morocco and the United States, describing it as “stronger than ever”. Morocco coordinates closely with the United States on a hundred military exercises and events and hosts African Lion. The Kingdom remains a major partner in US international military education and training and foreign military sales programs.
During his two-day visit, on October 17 and 18, General Langley met in Rabat with senior Moroccan military officials, including Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of the South Zone, as well as Abdellatif Loudiyi, the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of the administration of National Defense. “Our military partnership is built on deep historical ties that date back to the very founding of the United States. Our discussions today focused on how we can continue to work together on a range of important security issues, and continue to ensure regional stability.“, had declared in particular the most senior American military official focused on Africa, the general of the Marine Corps of the United States, Michael Langley.
On this visit, the United States Embassy in Rabat reported on its website that “General Langley’s visit comes just weeks before a major milestone in the history of US-Moroccan relations, namely the 80th anniversary of Operation Torch, recalling that in November 1942, 30,000 American soldiers landed in Morocco to protect the region from Nazi tyranny during World War II“. In this context, an exhibition will take place at the National Library of Morocco (BNRM), in mid-November.
Moreover, during the next operation of the African Lion, there would be plans for a more reinforced presence of Tsahal soldiers and officers. As a reminder, at the last African Lion exercise, Israel was represented by only two officers as well as the head of the Middle East and North Africa division of the Ministry of Defense in the Political and Politico-Military Bureau, which also serves as military attaché of the Ministry of Defense of Israel in Morocco. That said, military officials will meet several times in different host nations to plan next year’s military exercises.