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AFRICAN ENSLAVEMENT & COLONIALISM IN FULL SPEED
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Feb 08, 2007 06:43 PST
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From: Amen-@aol.com
Date: 02/07/07 23:45:20
To: Amen-@aol.com
Subject: AFRICAN ENSLAVEMENT & COLONIALISM IN FULL SPEED - Arab,
Europe & Asia
Bush Approves New U.S. Command in Africa
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
WASHINGTON - As Al Qaeda and other threats continue to grow on the
continent, the Pentagon is creating a new command to handle security and
military concerns in Africa, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.
The Africa Command would take over duties split among three of the
military's five geographic commands, the European Command, Central Command
and Pacific Command. Establishment of an Africa Command is done under
presidential authority but members of Congress have been consulted in recent
weeks. "This command will enable us to have a more effective and integrated
approach than the current arrangement of dividing Africa between Central
Command and European Command, an outdated arrangement left over from the
Cold War," Gates said, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee
during a budget hearing. President Bush has already signed off on the
move.The command would "oversee security, cooperation, building partnership
capability, defense support to nonmilitary missions, and if directed,
military operations on the African continent," Gates said.
"This new command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and
create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in
Africa," said White House press secretary Tony Snow, reading from a
statement during his afternoon briefing. "Africa Command will enhance our
efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and to promote
or common goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic
growth in Africa." Snow said officials will be consulting with African
leaders on how U.S. military can address security issues there as well as
where command headquarters will be. The president asked Gates to stand up
the command by the end of the 2008 fiscal year or September next year.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., gave his support for the plan during an exchange
with Gates Tuesday. "I've been complaining about it for about 10 years," he
said. "That's very, very good news." Defense officials had been discussing
the idea of a new position in the Pentagon because of growing concern about
Africa's significance in the War on Terror, especially in the Horn of
Africa, which includes Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The countries lie
across the Gulf of Aden from the Saudi Arabian Peninsula and are home to
increasing religious and military tensions.
A new command would give the U.S. military a distinct organization to
counter potential threats and plan military action on the continent. Somalia
has been a military concern for the United States that dates back to 1992
when troops were sent there to pacify the country following the government
collapse and rise of feuding warlords. U.S. forces were still in Somalia
when President Clinton took office in 1993, but after 18 soldiers were
killed in the October 1993 battle documented in the book, "Black Hawk Down,"
Clinton withdrew U.S. troops and the country remained largely ignored until
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
After Sept. 11, Centcom worked in the Horn of Africa to try to deter
terrorists from establishing control there, and since then, the United
States has assisted with humanitarian missions. But the United States also
has recently executed air strikes in the Somalia targeting suspected Al
Qaeda hideouts.
Somalia has been governed by a weak, regionally-enacted government that was
able only in January to claim control of the capital, Mogadishu, with the
aid of Ethiopian forces. Until then much of the country had been under
control of the Council of Islamic Courts militia, which U.S. officials
believe was harboring Al Qaeda operatives, and the central government
operated outside the capital city. Additionally, the Darfur region of Sudan
has has been the site of an ongoing civil war in which it is estimated more
than 400,000 have been killed. Bush mentioned Darfur in his State of the
Union address this year, saying, "We will continue to speak out for the
cause of freedom in places like Cuba, Belarus and Burma, and continue to
awaken the conscience of the world to save the people of Darfur."
Answering reporters' questions Tuesday, Snow said "Darfur continues to be a
matter of concern." "We have a lot of commitments and interests in Africa,
Darfur clearly being one of them. But we also continue to work with the
African Union to try to work to get forces in to stop the genocide in
Darfur," he said. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, a Defense Department
spokesman, said the moves represent a growing African role in U.S. affairs.
"This is kind of a realization that in the year 2007 ... that Africa plays a
much more significant role to America than probably the average American
realizes. A stable and secure Africa in the end benefits America," Carpenter
said. He said U.S. forces currently in Africa help national forces in a wide
variety of ways, including more traditional training and border enforcement,
but also in some less-known areas like fishing-water rights and HIV/AIDS
prevention among military forces.
Carpenter said the changes likely will not result in any noticeable
alterations in troop levels. The bulk of current military forces in Africa
now - about 1,700 personnel - are stationed in Djibouti, which borders
Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. He said fewer than 3,000 U.S. military
personnel are stationed in Africa overall. Carpenter said the headquarters
will house mainly officers and administrators, from generals to lawyers to
accountants. It is not clear how many would be stationed in the
yet-to-be-determined headquarters, but it likely would be fewer than 1,000,
he said. About $50 million in the current fiscal year budget is earmarked
for the plan, but it was not immediately clear how much had been allocated
in the fiscal year 2008 budget plan released by the White House on Monday.
Operations in North Africa had been handled by the European Command, and
were aimed at military training and humanitarian efforts. Officials say that
Chinese efforts to exert its military influence in Africa have drawn the
interest of U.S. military planners. Currently, all active duty personnel
fall into nine combatant commands, including five geographic commands. The
Africa Command would make the sixth geographic command and follow the most
recently-established command, Northern Command, which was created in the
aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
FOX News' Mike Emanuel, Nick Simeone and Greg Simmons and The Associated
Press contributed to this report.
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