Kevin J. Kelley
3 July 2007
Nairobi — The United States is taking a modest approach toward its planned Africa Command (Africom) following a series of inconclusive consultations with leaders of several countries on the continent, including Kenya.
The exploratory talks over the past few months reportedly yielded little enthusiasm for the prospect of a major US military presence in Africa.
Analysts suggest that the cool response reflects African governments' fears of becoming targets for terrorism should they agree to host Africom. The countries visited by Pentagon officials are also thought to have expressed misgivings about the political implications of the US initiative, which was seen as potentially undercutting the African Union's efforts to develop its own security capabilities.
The most recent rebuff came last week from North African countries.
The Washington Post reported on June 24 that US diplomats holding talks with Algeria and Libya were disappointed that both countries had ruled out hosting Africom. Algeria and Libya also made clear they were opposed to the new command being based in any of their neighbouring countries, the Post added.
"We've got a big image problem down there," an unnamed State Department official said in reference to Africa, according to a June 26 report in the London-based Guardian. "Public opinion is really against getting into bed with the US. They just don't trust the US."
The Bush administration now says Africom will not involve insertion of US troops into Africa, nor will it result in establishment of a new American military base on the continent.
"Africom is not meant to fight wars," Ryan Henry, a senior Pentagon official, told reporters in Washington at a June 22 briefing. The command's purpose, he said, will be humanitarian assistance, civic action, training of African soldiers, and assistance with border and maritime security.
Seeking to dispel "myths" about Africom's aims, Mr Henry said its primary focus would not be to conduct counter-terrorism operations. The new command was also not being created in response to China's growing influence in Africa nor as a means of enforcing US access to Africa's oil and other natural resources, Mr Henry added.
Africom will differ from all other US military commands in that it will have no single fixed headquarters, Mr Henry continued. The Pentagon is instead planning a "distributed" structure in which Africom staff will operate from various "nodes" around the continent, he said.
"Where those nodes will be - we haven't even begun to map that out," added Mr Henry, whose title is Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defence for Policy.
Some members of the staff of Africom, envisioned as numbering between 400 and 1,000 personnel, will work outside Africa. The general to be placed in charge of Africom, who has yet to be named, will be stationed in Africa but will move among the dispersed nodes, Mr Henry indicated.
Africom is intended to become fully operational by late next year. In the interim, its leaders are stationed at a US military command centre in Germany.
Plans for the creation of Africom were announced in February. The aim, US officials explained, is to consolidate responsibility for American military interests in Africa, which are currently divided among the US European Command, based in Germany; the US Central Command, based in the state of Florida; and the US Pacific Command, based in Hawaii.
Most of East Africa, including Kenya, presently comes under the aegis of the Central Command.
A new US military command with responsibility for the entire continent, except Egypt, is needed because "Africa is growing in military, strategic and economic importance in global affairs," according to the Africom website.
The website also indicates that $50 million has been budgeted for Africom in 2007, with funding for future years yet to be determined.
Mr Henry denied that African nations had explicitly refused to host Africom. "In our consultations, we have neither asked nor discussed with anyone where the headquarters would be," he said.
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