Yesterday saw the debut of America's new central command for the African continent with a quiet announcement that AFRICOM is now taking over that continent's operations from the European, Central and Pacific commands. General William "Kip" Ward, the Army's only black four-star general, will oversee the newly created entity.
It isn't everyday that the U.S. creates a new, continent-wide central command. As a member of this community, I think AfriCom should be duly noted. (drum roll)
Some people, like me, have antenna that spike straight up when we hear that on August 1st,
U.S. officials sought to reassure members of Congress that the State Department would have a key role in a planned U.S. military command for Africa (AfriCom). They also underscored that the command unit is not being established with combat in mind.
There is even some mention of a humanitarian purpose for AFRICOM. In March, an editorial by Paul McLeary for the Columbia Journalism Review bemoans the lack of MSM coverage for AFRICOM and notes that what coverage there is
... ignores the fact that AFRICOM is being set up as primarily a humanitarian operation, with serious — and necessary — anti-terrorism military programs in order to counter the spread of radical Islam on the continent
Uh huh. Right. Humanitarian war. O.k., but considering the decades of neglect or outright exploitation, what's the rush? GWOT, of course.
The rush, IMHO, in a nutshell ... AllAfrica.com delivered a nice little backgrounder in 2005 by Nigeria specialists Paul Lubeck and Michael Watts, and security specialist Ronnie Lipschutz, that
analyzes the background of the AFRICOM initiative, in terms of shifts in both energy and military strategies.
I'll quote only a small portion of this paper because it's well worth reading in its entirety:
Despite these doubts and debates, U.S. military involvement in West Africa has only mushroomed since 2001, focusing on three broad goals: (i) getting U.S. forces on the ground in order to advise and upgrade the region's militaries in support of the GWOT; (ii) establishing maritime dominance in the Gulf in order to secure offshore oil installations and, if necessary, unilaterally defending American energy assets (emphasis mine); and (iii) building or subcontracting access to new air and naval bases, to provide both forward supplies, surveillance and air cover capacities. As EUCOM's General Jones recently told the Wall Street Journal, "Africa plays an increased strategic role militarily, economically and politically " for his command, which now spends "70 percent of its time and energy on Africa up from nearly none when he took it over three-plus years ago."
The Heritage Foundation is more succinct:
Many Americans do not recognize the importance of Africa, particularly West African oil. Currently, over 18 percent of U.S. crude oil imports comes from Africa, compared to 17 percent from the Persian Gulf.(emphasis mine)
So, what do African nations have to say about AFRICOM? There are some 53 nations on the continent; South Africa is a big player, let's hear one point of view from them:
The African Union and the Peace and Security Council were established to entrench democracy, create economic development and monitor and secure peace but have not been allowed to develop and mature enough to deal with the continent's problems. Africa does not need another US base aimed at "promoting" peace and development. Africom would destabilise an already fragile continent and region, which would be forced to engage with US interests on military terms.
Voices in Nigeria:
TransAfrica Forum, America's premier African-American foreign policy organisation, has said AFRICOM "represents a policy of US military-driven expansionism that will only enhance political instability, conflict, and the deterioration of state security."
Kenya:
On 8 February, Kenya's The Nation wryly noted in an editorial that "Ironically, AFRICOM was announced as Chinese President Hu Jintao was touring eight African nations to negotiate deals that will enable China to secure oil flows from Africa."
Zambia:
A 12 April editorial in Zambia's The Post daily newspaper was even more blunt, alleging that AFRICOM was "aimed at influencing, threatening and warding off any competitors by using force," a direct reference to China's growing presence in Africa.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/...
I would be remiss if I did not mention the many sober international voices who are promoting AFRICOM as long over-due.
I'm remisss.