CAPTAIN JAMES BLACK:
Navy Captain James Black is the base commander. I describe it as a landlocked aircraft carrier or a landlocked amphib. We are self-contained, do our own water, our own electricity. Feed our own people. MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: For security reasons, Americans are not allowed to leave the base. The tour of duty here is anywhere from nine months to a year. And it’s hot all year, averaging 105 degrees in summer. Some of the amenities help: A gym. Subway is here. There’s a small movie theater and a U.S. post office.
Camp Lemonnier has become a Pentagon hub for sending Special Operations forces to conflict zones like Somalia, Libya, and Yemen…and to operate drone missions. Showcasing its importance, U.S Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited last month and met with Djibouti’s president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, who’s now serving his fourth five-year term and first welcomed the Americans in 2002.
His decision to allow the U.S military base here was controversial. This is a predominantly Muslim nation…in a predominantly Muslim region.
The week after the Mattis visit, a ceremony at Camp Lemonnier illustrated just how many other nations also have a military presence in Djibouti. France, Italy, and Japan have bases here. In all, Djibouti collects about 150 million dollars a year in rent.
Source link : https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/world-powers-look-djibouti-trade-military-access
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Publish date : 2017-05-13 07:00:00
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