The Pentagon's plans to create a new US military command based
in Africa have hit a wall of hostility from governments in the
region reluctant to associate themselves publicly with the US
"global war on terror".
A US delegation led by Ryan Henry, the principal deputy
undersecretary of defense for policy, returned to Washington last
week with little to show from separate consultations with senior
defense and foreign ministry officials in Algeria, Morocco, Libya,
Egypt, Djibouti and with the African Union (AU).
An earlier round of consultations with sub-Saharan countries on
providing secure facilities and local backup for the new command,
to be known as Africom and due to be operational by September next
year, was similarly inconclusive.
The Libyan and Algerian governments reportedly told Henry this
month that they would play no part in hosting Africom. Despite
recently improved relations with the US, both said they would urge
their neighbors not to do so, either, due to fears of future
American intervention. Even Morocco, considered Washington's
closest north African ally, indicated it did not welcome a
permanent military presence on its soil.
"We've got a big image problem down there," a state department
official admitted. "Public opinion is really against getting into
bed with the US. They just don't trust the US."
Another African worry was that any US facilities could become
targets for terrorists, the official said. Dangled US economic
incentives, including the prospect of hundreds of local jobs, had
not proven persuasive.
Henry said African officials had agreed during the talks that
counter-terrorism was "a top security concern". But he added: "The
countries were committed to the African Union as the continent's
common security structure. They advised us that Africom should be
established in harmony with the AU."
The US talks with Libya appear to have been frank. "In the area
of security, they are looking for Africa-only solutions... I
wouldn't say we see eye to eye on every issue," Henry said.
Henry emphasized the US was not seeking to supplant or supersede
African leadership but rather to reinforce it. He said the creation
of Africom would not entail the permanent stationing of large
numbers of US troops in Africa, as in Asia and Europe.
Its overall aim was to integrate and expand US security,
diplomatic, developmental and humanitarian assistance in
collaboration with regional allies, not increased interventionism,
he said.
Unveiling the plan in February, President George W. Bush said
Africom would advance "our common goals of peace, security,
development, health, education, democracy and economic growth".
But African opposition appears to have modified Washington's
approach. Henry said the latest plans envisaged "a distributed
command" that would be "networked" across several countries, rather
than a single, large headquarters in one place.
"There will be a staff headquarters... with a four-star
in-theater commander," he said. "(But) information technology
allows us to bring people at dispersed geographical locations
together. We are investigating the possibility of having the
command distributed in a number of different nodes around the
continent."
Henry said this approach matched that of Islamist terrorists.
"Al-Qaida is working in a distributive structure itself. It's
establishing nodes throughout the region and there's been an
establishment of Al-Qaida in the Maghreb."
The State Department official said the US remained confident
that partners for the Africom project would eventually be found,
although concerns persisted about political stability,
misgovernance and corruption issues in some potential sub-Saharan
partner countries.
(China Daily via The Guardian June 27,
2007)
