AFRICOM New Developments Presentation to the Portfolio Committee

AFRICOM: New Developments Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs Parliament, 20 February 2008 Dr Michele Ruiters, IGD micheler@igd. org. za Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08

US in Africa l l l Africa in US policy – Cold War interests Post-Cold War – protecting economic interests, war on terror, maintained military presence in Africa Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) – humanitarian support and end to genocide African Contingency Operations Training Assistance (ACOTA) – provide African troops with offensive materiel. Africa Regional Peacekeeping Programme (ARP) Pan-Sahel Anti-terrorism Initiative (later known as the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Initiative) Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 2

US in Africa cont. l l l Counter-Terrorism Initiative - $500 million over 6 years – programmes in Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria, and Morocco. Builds upon the former Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI), which concluded in December 2004 (focus on weapon and drug trafficking, counterterrorism) Previous U. S. military activities in sub-Saharan Africa have included Special Forces associated Joint Combined Exchange Training Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 3

Plus: l l l Camp Lemonier – Djibouti, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), FOS (2000 personnel, operational since 2003) Cooperative Security Location (CSL) – regional training in counter-terrorism, interdiction of drug trafficking, access to continent. Host nation facility, ‘lily pad’ to ‘leap frog’ into hotspots Forward Operating Sites (FOS) – small permanent force or contract personnel, support sustained operations Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 4

US activity in the Horn: l l l Somalia – 1993 ‘Black Hawk Down’, Mission Restore Hope failed Jan 2007 – gunship attack against 3 alleged al-Qaida operatives, men thought to be involved in the 1998 Kenya and Tanzania bombings US aims to help Somalia regain political and economic stability through good governance and counter-terror initiatives Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 5

Importance of Horn to US l ‘We arriving there early enough with an opportunity to help shape the environment, work toward a more secure environment and hopefully allow people the opportunity to choose a direction to go in their lives that steers them away from extremism’ – Navy Rear Admiral James Hart Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 6

Africa’s Arc of Instability: add Kenya, DRC and Central Africa Republic Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 7

Current US Command system l l l CENTCOM – East Africa, Central Asia, Middle East (27 countries – est 1983) PACOM – East, Southeast Asia, Madagascar, Oceana, Alaska, Pacific islands EUCOM- Europe, Turkey, former Soviet Union (- 5 Asian republics), Greenland, rest of Africa (92 countries) NORTHCOM – North America SOUTHCOM – South America Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 8

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AFRICOM’s configuration l l l First mooted by Rumsfeld mid-2006, Bush announcement 15 December 2006 General William ‘Kip’ Ward to head command No additional personnel, no base – official US stance Crisis response configuration – but no immediate response planned (US) Deepen military-to-military relations at request of African partner Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 10

Configuration cont. l l l AFRICOM to be based in Stuttgart, Germany under EUCOM until October 2008 Not including Egypt – will remain under CENTCOM Pacific Islands – Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Principé, Equatorial Guinea islands, Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 11

Rationale for AFRICOM l l l United States Africa Command to form part of the command structure across the world AFRICOM to create synergies in US programmes (USAID, Depts of Defence, State, Energy, Treasury, Education, Health etc. ) Consolidation of 3 existing headquarters on continent – harmonising and rationalising US military. Fear of China’s rise in Africa (India? ) Middle East ‘lost’ therefore Africa closest ‘base’ for US military interests Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 12

US interests in Africa l l l l ‘War on terror’ counterweight – prevention of war Strategic importance of Africa Lily pad to the Middle East Protect oil interests (10% US oil from Africa – West Africa could provide 25% of US by 2015) Humanitarian Rise of China Peace, democracy, prosperity, stability in Africa Total aid package = US$9 billion Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 13

Consequences of US Militarisation of Africa l l l l Guns not negotiations Exacerbate regional and cross-border tensions Most-favoured nation status Military only game in town Militarisation of communities/societies ‘Mission creep’ Hyper-masculinity within fragile societies Gender implications Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 14

Country responses to AFRICOM l l l Morocco, Algeria Libya against Liberia initially welcoming Kenya has long history with US military but reluctant to openly host AFRICOM Ethiopia implicated in Somali invasion now reluctant to engage with AFRICOM idea Nigeria against SADC against – MP Lekota’s statement Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 15

African Union’s (AU) position l l l General Ward met with AU November 2007 Peace and Security Council established to secure peace on the continent Does not wish to violate sovereignty of member states African solutions for African problems African Union Standby Force and SADC Brigade Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 16

New conception of AFRICOM l l l US takes a step back February 2008: ‘stabilising partner’ AFRICOM will be modified – focus on ‘added value’ and improved coordination of US assistance Dept of Defence no longer lead, instead State Department will coordinate US departments Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 17

Change in Plans l l l AU rejected US plans to find host nation with continental consensus Bilateral approach – US to meet with fragile/weak states during Bush visit Even if AU or RECs object to US in Africa, not much can be done because of bilateral nature of agreement Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 18

Possible host/location: l l l l Kenya – long term relationship with US training programme (listening posts) Djibouti – Camp Lemonier Ethiopia – withdrew because of AU location Nigeria – not willing to give up space Gulf of Guinea – already there Rwanda – Kagame needs support for regime Weak/fragile states Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 19

What’s to be done? l l l Unified position on AFRICOM via AU to be made public AU Peace and Security Council to be strengthened to deal with outside ‘influences’ Govern the relationship with outside partners irt military assistance from Europe and US Ensure sovereignty (political, economic, geographic) Need to guard against EPAs-style fallout Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 20

And…. l l l Strengthen national, regional and continental institutions to deal with poverty, health, education, and other issues that could lead to conflict Facilitate communities’ involvement in their own development rather than allowing external involvement Strengthen civil society’s access to government (national, regional and continental) to facilitate transparent and accountable governments. Thank you. Africom - Parliament Presentation 20/02/08 21