afrol News, 2 October - United States' new military command for Africa got operational yesterday, inspite of skepticism about its intention on continent.

Earlier this year, US government announced that its defence department was creating a US-Africa command headquaters to coordiante country's military as well as security operations throughout Africa.

Command, dubbed 'Africom', was carved out of three other commands previously responsible for Africa, but it will remain for now based in Stuttgart, using facilities previously occupied by European headquarters.

President George W. Bush first announced plans for command, including a base in Africa, in February last year, but since then officials have backpedalled following hostile African reaction, including from regional heavyweights South Africa and Nigeria.

As of yesterday, command absorbed a 1,800 member US military task force in Horn of Africa based in Djibouti along with US military-to-military programmes that until now had fallen under US European Command.

Some African critics have sought to link Africom project to increasing reliance of US on imports of oil from Africa, especially crude-rich Gulf of Guinea.

Washington is now reportedly at pains to deny plans for new bases and reject widespread suspicion that real motive is to counter growing Chinese influence and control oil supplies from Gulf of Guinea, expected to supply 25 percent of US needs by 2015.

"There is no hidden agenda," Africom commander General William Ward told media, adding that it was a "myth" that Washington wanted to build new bases in Africa.

President Bush is said to have called idea "baloney" during an African tour earlier this year.

Deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs Theresa Whelan was quoted as saying, "the fact that we created a new organisational structure to implement security strategy in Africa hasnt changed any of rules that governed the old organisational structures."

Ms Whelan said Africom's leadership, half of it civilian agencies including State Department, will be "more cautious about looking for military solutions to problems in Africa."

The stated aim of Africom is to build the capacity of African countries to face everything from disasters to terrorism and make the continent more stable.

"Unlike traditional Unified Commands, Africa Command will focus on war prevention rather than war fighting," Africom's website says.

A spokesman said command was expected to reach its full strength of 1,300 by end of 2009, from 1,000 at present.

Americans have for years also trained African forces in vast and remote Sahel region where myriad armed groups operate including nomadic Tuareg rebels and al Qaeda's North African wing, which has staged a growing number of attacks from Mauritania to Algeria since 2006.

Jackie Cilliers, director of South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, said original debate on Africom was politicised because of US war on terror, provoking negative reaction that was aggravated by heavy-handed and unsuccessful American policy in Somalia.

Washington first backed discredited Somali warlords who were defeated by an Islamic Courts movement, then supported an invasion by Ethiopia that overthrew Islamist forces and installed a weak interim government.

Mr Cilliers said that on an operational level there was close cooperation between several African countries and Pentagon particularly in Sahel and the Horn.

He said that since the negative initial reaction Washington had "changed the whole focus of Africom so that it is much more orientated to support of the African (Union) Standby Force and so on and that is a step in right direction."

Mark Schroeder of Stratfor geopolitical analysis company also said Africom was currently intended to consolidate existing Pentagon activities rather than taking bold new initiatives.

He said Washington had not had capacity this year to overcome African resistance to basing Africom on continent.

Another worry is that a beefed-up US military presence in Africa will simply fulfill prophecy that Africa might become next terrorist breeding ground.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is said to have already refused to host Africom and has made known its unwillingness to have it based "anywhere on the African soil."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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