Kampala — A US army contingent is camped in Kitgum to train East African armies in humanitarian assistance and fighting techniques. The advance guard of the expected 550 American soldiers embarked on a water purification exercise on Tuesday.
They installed water purification machines at Lagwel Dam in Akwang sub-county and another one at Aswa River.
The US army and contingents from Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda will undertake a joint field training exercise in dealing with disasters, said Lt. Col. David Konop, the US public affairs officer.
Under the operation code named 'natural fire', the US will also give East African armies tips on building capacity to enable them respond to epidemics like swine flu and Hepatitis E .
About 550 US soldier and 650 troops from the East African nations are expected to take part in the exercise, which will be launched next week at Pajimo barracks.
About 60 trucks delivered military equipment, building materials and drugs at the barracks.
In a press interview at their base, Maj. Richardo Wilson, who is in charge of operations, said his team had experienced delays due to the poor road network.
The advance team, he said, hoped to pump at least 20,000 litres of purified water every day to serve the joint troops and neighbouring communities.
"Each army is expected to demonstrate their skills in responding to disaster during the exercise," said Capt. Michael Van Derwood.
He explained that the East African armies will be trained in convoy operations and transportation of troops, hand-to-hand fighting techniques, basic military fighting skills, weapons training, helicopter operation, crowd or riot control, entry control point and vehicle check-point.
"Soldiers should be able to defend themselves through hand-to-hand if it comes to that, like in Iraq, where sometimes the distance between you and your enemies is narrow," he said.
At Pajimo barracks, each of the participating East African armies will establish its own camp with military equipment for demonstration and training.
The US army has engaged local and national contractors to build four huge tents that can serve as a dining hall, a sleeping place and a command post.
Apart from the training, the armies will for one week provide free medical, dental and engineering support to the local communities.
Medical camps will be set up at Kitgum hospital, Mucwini, Pajimo and Palabek health centres.
The engineering team will renovate the dining hall at Kitgum High school. The armies will also construct two classrooms at Muwini Primary School and build a maternity ward at Kitgum Government Hospital.
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This is another example of recolonisation of Uganda. It is plain and simple M7 has sold out Uganda. I would like to engage President M7 on this issue that despite all the talk he is a surrogate and an agent of Western Imperialism in Africa. One wonders why M7 is doing this ? Is it his questinable background in Uganda ? Is M7 patriotic as he would want Ugandans to believe ? What has he done for Uganda during his 25 years in power ? Has he a hidden agenda of a Super Tutsi East African Federation hence his calling for East african High military Comand to safe guard the Tutsi Federation trained and managed by the US military in Uganda. Will M7 be a life President because of this treachery ? Indeed we have seen American greddy relationships with Greedy leaders like M7 but alas such relationships never endure because they are murky , explotative and above all anti People. We saw it with Shah in Iran , Noriega In Panama and Mobutu to mention but afew . M7 talks about development and patriotism . Where is his Patriotism when he and his Tutsi clique are selling out Uganda for a few dollars ?
About 550 US soldiers to train 650 troops from the East African nations; what kind of training is this?
And thus it came to pass that the antelopes welcomed the lions in their midst to bolster their defense against predators. Sounds stupid, right?
Where lies the greatest danger to the sovereignty of the African countries and the survival of the African?
Such "training" accords the foregners an intimate knowledge of the African armies' capabilities, staffing and war materiel. The foreigners get to know the strategies of the Afrivcan armies, their deployment, their possible manouvres it times of conflict and their command structure. What else would you want to know about your opponent? Whether or how quickly you can disrupt their logistics - cut off their supply routes.
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And having a good psychological profile of their commanders helps a great deal in the art of compromise. Such "manouvres" and "training" does that for foreigners.
Are the African armies going to be trained how to effectively defend their territories against foreign invaders - like the USA and UK?
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Africa is the richest continent in resources - that western countries MUST have for their survival and their "way of life".
are foreign predators aiming to pre-empt any resistance they may encounter during an invasion by turning the African armies in Africa into an mere extension of the police force - trained for domestic security work to kill their own people?
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Are these foreign trainers going to go into techniques the African Armies may employ in the event of a nuclear or chemical/biological attack from these same foreigners, of course?
And the danger to the survival of the Africans is lost to their leaders.
Africa, your salvation lies deep within you. You must rely on your own people for your own survival. And TIME is not on your side.
Correction:
" And the nature of the dire threat to the survival of the free African - beyond the second half of THIS century - is lost to the African leaders. .."