US using Ebola to advance its imperialist agenda in Africa - Analyst

US using Ebola to advance its imperialist agenda in Africa: Azikiwe

The United States is using the epidemic of the Ebola virus to advance its imperialist agenda in West Africa, a civil rights activist and journalist in Detroit says.

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Tuesday while commenting on President Barack Obama’s announcement that the US military will be involved in tackling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, arguing that it represents a serious national security concern.

"I believe this is just another means for the United States military intelligence’s deeper penetration of the African continent. Already the United States has military presence in Liberia, in Sierra Leone, as well in the west African state of Nigeria, all of which have been... impacted by the epidemic of the Ebola virus,” Azikiwe said.

"The only way in which this disease can be tackled is through the proliferation of medical personnel, trained doctors, nurses, the development of the field hospitals and clinics, and through this process that the disease can be arrested," he added.

"The reason why this disease is having such a traumatic impact on Africa… a lot of it is a direct result of colonialism and neocolonialism. It has been admitted by the World Health Organization, the MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders), the African regional organizations themselves, the fact that there are not adequate healthcare facilities in these various countries -- adequate research facilities -- so this disease can be tackled both through research as well as through medical treatment," the civil rights activist noted.

"This treatment will be designed to contain a virus and also to eliminate it. But it's not a military solution, it's a medical solution, and the medical solution is definitely related to the lack of the development, the lack of resources in the entire region," he stated.

"The Ebola cases that have been sent to the Unites States for treatment have gotten very positive results and that's directly related to the level of medical facilities and healthcare professionals that can address this issue," Azikiwe said. "But it's not a military issue, it's a medical issue, and the medical issue is definitely related to the question of development in West Africa."

"And this is the only way of which there would be a long-term solution for this crisis. The disease [at] this point is a threat for West Africa but it's also an international threat because there's no way it can be contained strictly in the West African region," he emphasized.

"We go back to the question of adequate medical facilities and adequate medical personnel. So this is the real solution. And AFRICOM, the United States Army for Africa, these military intuitions are not established for the purposes of healthcare, they are established for the purpose of carrying out the United States' imperialist foreign policy in Africa. And this is just another mechanism for Barack Obama to move in that direction,” Azikiwe concluded.

In a related development the UK government has announced plans to dispatch military and humanitarian experts to Sierra Leone to set up medical treatment centers in areas affected by the Ebola outbreak.

A 62-bed facility will be built and operated by military engineers and medical staff, said an official British government press release on Monday, adding that the medical center will become operational within eight weeks.

The health facility is in addition to the UK’s 25-million-pound package of support to contain and control the disease, which includes multilateral support as well as direct funding to aid agencies operating on the ground, the press release further noted.

According to the official document, British military personnel will begin to survey and assess the site later this week.

Based near the capital Freetown, the facility will treat victims of the disease, including local and international health workers and medical volunteers.

According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data, the total number of deaths from Ebola in the worst-hit areas including Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone has topped 2,100.

Meanwhile, the WHO believes it will take six to nine months to contain the spread of Ebola.

The United Nations has stated that it will cost the region $600 million to try and contain the epidemic. The European Union pledged $180 million to the region on Friday.

"The situation is going from bad to worse," said Kristalina Georgieva, the EU commissioner responsible for humanitarian aid. "We are helping make a difference on the ground but the needs are outpacing the international community's capacity to react."




-GJH/GJH/ MFB/AS/MAM