Bush confirms plan to create US command in Africa
Feb 6, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — U.S. President George W. Bush confirmed plans Tuesday for the Pentagon to set up an Africa Command to oversee its operations there.
“This new command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa,” Bush said in a statement. “Africa command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic growth in Africa.”
Appearing on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Bush approved a Defense Department recommendation that a military structure be set up to oversee missions on the continent, which U.S. officials now believe has greater strategic importance to the U.S. than it had before.
“The president has decided to stand up a new unified combatant command, Africa Command, to oversee security, cooperation, building partnership capability, defense support to nonmilitary missions, and, if directed, military operations on the African continent,” Gates told a congressional hearing on the defense spending that Bush proposed Monday for budget year 2008, which starts in October.
“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integrated approach than the current arrangement of dividing Africa between Central Command and European Command, an outdated arrangement left over from the Cold War,” Gates said.
The U.S. military has a system under which each region of the world is overseen by a specific command – essentially a regional headquarters – such as the Pacific Command, Central Command and so on. Africa is now split among commands, which have been increasing activities on the continent greatly in recent years.
The Central Command, which controls the Horn of Africa, set up a task force there in an attempt to catch any al-Qaida terrorists escaping from Afghanistan after the war started in late 2001. It since has expanded to humanitarian and other missions.
The European Command has sent Special Forces to do training exercises in North African countries and done humanitarian projects, medical training and other missions such as harbor maintenance in oil-producing nations in the Gulf of Guinea.
The various types of operations are aimed at building partnerships and strengthening the ability of African governments and militaries to do their jobs. The hope is that the activities will make nations there less vulnerable to the recruiting efforts of terrorists and help catch those already using it as a safe haven.
Officials say that Africa also is strategically more important because of increased efforts by China to involve itself and gain influence on the continent.
Gates gave no details on the new command but a military official familiar with planning for it said personnel, location of the headquarters and other details have not been finished. A transition team soon will begin working from facilities in Stuttgart, Germany, the European Command headquarters. But ultimately officials want the headquarters somewhere in Africa.
The new command will include islands around Africa and all nations on the continent except for Egypt, which will stay in Central Command, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the plans on the record.
Bush authorized the command to be set up no later than the end of the 2008 budget year – or September 2008 – the official said, adding that he did not know the dollar amount budgeted for the plan.
(AP)