The Ebola military deployment served pre-existing base-building plans

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

Categorization

• CANDY: A striking, tweetable instance of humanitarian framing masking strategic expansion — needs modest context but lands well.
• SEED: Possible essay angle: humanitarian crises as cover for military infrastructure expansion, comparing Ebola to other disaster responses.
• XREF: Echoes the book’s broader claim that base expansion rides humanitarian and security justifications.