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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Pentagon Report: UAE Is Backing Russian Mercenaries in Libya

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Terrorism Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

The Pentagon released a report this month accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supporting Russian mercenaries fighting in Libya for rebel leader Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA).

The UAE has provided “airstrike and logistics support” to the Wagner Group, a private Russian military contractor, and other forces aiding Haftar, according to a report released last week by United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), Foreign Policy reported on Tuesday. The assessment is based on observations made between July 1 and September 30, 2020.

“The DIA [Defence Intelligence Agency] assessed that the United Arab Emirates may provide some financing for the group’s operations,” AFRICOM’s counterterrorism report stated.

AFRICOM, which refers to the Wagner Group as “a Russian Ministry of Defense proxy,” alleges that by September 30, 2020, Wagner had sent 2,000 contractors to Libya to fight within the ranks of the LNA. The report further states that Wagner also shipped an additional 2,000 Syrian mercenaries to Libya for backup support.

AFRICOM’s assessment supports a report by Reuters in June in which the news agency alleged that the Wagner Group “accelerated” its recruitment of Syrian mercenaries to fight in Libya in May. According to Reuters, the Wagner Group hired the Syrian fighters under the supervision of the Russian Army. The report claimed that the Syrian fighters were trained at a base in Homs prior to deployment to Libya and were paid about $1,000 to $2,000 a month for their services. Russia’s alleged shipment of fighters into Libya would violate a U.N. arms embargo.

Haftar and his LNA forces launched a siege of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, in April 2019. Their goal was to depose Libya’s U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), established in the capital in 2015. Despite the Wagner Group’s alleged support of the LNA, Haftar’s forces failed to take Tripoli from the GNA after the internationally-backed government called in Turkish military assistance this summer.

Since the LNA’s failed Tripoli offensive, the Wagner Group’s forces have retreated to Libya’s coastal city of Sirte and the north-central Al-Jufra Air Base where they have been building defensive lines, according to AFRICOM’s report.

“Through a series of press releases over the last two quarters, USAFRICOM has provided overhead imagery that shows, in the command’s assessment, that Russia supplied Wagner Group forces operating in Libya with equipment such as armored vehicles, air defense systems, fighter aircraft, and other material,” the assessment stated.

Libya has endured seemingly unending turmoil since a 2011 NATO-backed revolt ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi. After the dethronement, rival factions within Libya began vying for control of the country in a power struggle that continues today. Observers view Libya’s ongoing conflict as a proxy war between the LNA’s biggest backer, Russia, and Turkey, the GNA’s staunchest defender. Syria, Egypt, and the UAE join Russia in supporting Haftar and his LNA forces. Turkish-backed Syrian militias additionally support the U.N.-backed GNA.

Photo: ABDULLAH DOMA/AFP via Getty Images

Link: https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2020/12/01/pentagon-report-uae-is-backing-russian-mercenaries-in-libya/

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