Military Ebola mobilization piggybacked on a pre-existing African basing agenda

Evidence

While many portrayed the military’s reaction to Ebola as pure altruism, months before the Ebola deployment, the Pentagon already had plans to build three to five new bases on the continent as well as an intermediate staging base in West Africa—that is, like the one now under construction in Dakar, Senegal. When I asked an Africom spokesperson if the command will seek another intermediate staging base in West Africa, Benjamin Benson replied in an email that the command “is exploring options at several locations that would allow for staging in the event of crisis.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 999