Africa Command?

[tk27]

"AFRICAN COMMAND : THE NEWEST COMBATANT COMMAND" by Paul P. Cale, Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/KSIL/2005-ksil-details.cfm?fileID=252)

"U.S. Military Assistance for Africa: A Better Solution" by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., and Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., The Heritage Foundation, October 15, 2003. (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/bg1697.cfm)

"My prediction on Africa Command coming true a bit faster than I expected" by Thomas P.M Barnett. Thomas Barnett Weblog, January 18, 2006
(http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/archives2/002849.html)


The continent of Africa's AOR is currently split between EUCOM, CENTCOM and to a lesser extent PACOM. (See PS General Info on AOR (http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8076) and DOD Unified Command Plan (http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/unifiedcommand/)) However, citing current and future trends, along with a perceived attention gap by EUCOM and CENTCOM, a call for the creation of an Africa Command has arisen.

This thread is dedicated to discussion about the creation of AFRICOM. If a moderator or more learned poster would like to pose questions in order to facilitate / focus the dialogue, please do so. For now the thread is open-ended, please post your thoughts and opinions on the matter.

[Jack Moroney (RIP)]

It would be better called TRICOM for Tribal Command. Africa as it exists today is a hand me down of physical borders formed by Europeans without regard to tribal culture and existing and established regions. Africa has been aptly described as a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica. With few exceptions you do not deal with countries, but tribes in power, vendettas in progress, Zoes in command, greed, corruption, ignorance, apathy, exploitation, mysticism, and human and ecological disasters beyond comprehension. No, there will never be an Africa Command, but there will be areas of interest and intervention as suits our national purpose or slakes our collective psuedoguilt created by politicians who will do anything to capture votes or push causes for which they have little or no understanding. Now what was the question? I really have no strong feelings about this subject one way or another.

Jack Moroney-annoited paramount chief of the Khran peoples in a secluded rainforest in West Africa 1981

[The Reaper]

Steel on target, Sir.

TR

[Airbornelawyer]

The reason why Africa is divided among different commands is that Africa is not a monolith geopolitically.

I would quibble with the powers that be over how the demarcation is done - e.g., I would put the Arab-speaking North African states of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco in CENTCOM's AOR - but there is sound reason for lumping Egypt with the Middle East and not sub-Saharan Africa. A similar issue arose over Central Asia - the states there, as former SSRs of the USSR, were under EUCOM, but were moved to CENTCOM since the security issues there are more closely related to the Middle East and the war on Islamist-sponsored terrorism. Asia is similarly divided in that PACOM, CENTCOM and (with Russia) EUCOM have parts of the continent in their AORs.

Africa remains an orphan without its own primary command because, however sad the situation is in most African countries, the issues do not significantly impact U.S. national security policy. To the extent they do, it is primarily in contexts, such as North Africa and the Horn of Africa, where another regional command is in a position to exercise leadership. Perhaps this will change - increasing U.S. dependence on oil from the Gulf of Guinea and the South Atlantic might change the calculus of U.S. interests in places like Nigeria and Angola - but for now U.S. interests are primarily humanitarian and are more like putting on bandaids than seeking long-term cures.

I suppose a combined command, incorporating European countries with more direct interests in the region, i.e., Great Britain and France, might make some sense, but it would be seen as neo-colonialist and would suffer from the conflicts of interests among the countries involved. And the U.S. component of such a command would still be the bastard stepchild of more important commands.

[Weazle23]

...
Jack Moroney-annoited paramount chief of the Khran peoples in a secluded rainforest in West Africa 1981


Ever meet Sam Doe? I spent a short time with some Kru in Monrovia in '02 and again in '03. Crazy place.

[Jack Moroney (RIP)]

Ever meet Sam Doe? I spent a short time with some Kru in Monrovia in '02 and again in '03. Crazy place.

Yep, and Tommy Quiwompka, that pimp J. Podier, and the whole crew of the Peoples Redemption Council.

[tk27]

“The president has decided to stand-up a new unified, combatant command, Africa Command, to oversee security cooperation, building partnership capability, defense support to non-military missions, and, if directed, military operations on the African continent,” Gates said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
DoD Establishing U.S. Africa Command (http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2940)

backgrounder:
Africa Command: Forecast for the Future, by CDR Otto Sieber. Strategic Insights, January 2007. (http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2007/Jan/sieberJan07.asp#author)

[vsvo]

Barnett has an article in the latest Esquire magazine (July 2007) about Africa Command.

[Matta mile]

I agree with Colonel Moroney,
Having spent a bit of time in east Africa, I dont envision the Kikuyu, Masai, and Samburus readily adapting to unification principles at the national level needed to support strategic objectives militarily or otherwise. Doesn't make them bad however, establishing "common ground" for advisors to set things in to motion may be quite trickey.
Better to ask for forgiveness than permission comes to mind.
MM

[x-factor]

Link to Barnett's Esquire article - http://www.esquire.com/features/africacommand0707

It deals a lot with SOF issues as well as the Africa discussion. Worth reading, I thought.