US launches new Africa command, closely watched by Senator
By Daniel Van Oudenaren
October 1, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — The United States military’s new Africa command (AFRICOM) became officially fully operational Wednesday as part of a plan to re-align the military’s regional command structure, consolidating administrative control of programs already run independently by the U.S. Central Command, European Command and Pacific Command.
Although U.S. lawmakers this week are overwhelmingly focused on legislation to address a national financial crisis, Chairman of the Subcommittee on African Affairs Senator Russ Feingold took note of AFRICOM’s official start Wednesday in a statement in which he expressed support for the new command but also concern that it could be perceived as a sign that the U.S. is militarizing its Africa policy.
“Lasting security requires reconciling political grievances, improving governance, strengthening the rule of law and promoting economic development: tasks for which our military, or any military for that matter, cannot be the lead,” said Feingold.
A Defense Department official said Monday that daily command activities will include conferences, officer visits and the implementation of security assistance programs, which will be administered by the new command but ultimately headed by the State Department.
While AFRICOM is designed to include staff from the State Department, Feingold doubted that this is being effectively implemented.
“Despite initial ambitions to have 25 percent of AFRICOM’s headquarters’ positions filled by non-military staff, that number has been severely reduced because of resource and staffing limitations in civilian agencies. … While civilian agencies operating abroad continue to face resource constraints, more and more resources are being invested in military relationships and assistance in Africa,” said Feingold.
Similar statements were made in a July 15 report by the Government Accountability Office, which projected that by Oct. 1 there would be 13 positions filled by non-Department of Defense (DOD) personnel, out of 993 total staff positions.
The report said, “DOD has had difficulties integrating interagency personnel in the command, which is critical to synchronizing DOD efforts with other U.S. government agencies. DOD continues to lower its estimate of the ultimate level of interagency participation in the command. According to DOD, other agencies have limited resources and personnel systems which have not easily accommodated DOD’s intent to place interagency personnel in the command.”
The foreign service officer tasked with helping Gen. William Ward run the new command is Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, who served in Burundi and Ghana, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Theresa Whelan.
Whelan said that the new command will help African partner nations build their military capacities to handle natural disasters, terrorism and conflict prevention.
Sen. Feingold urged that “the United States needs to continue to invest in our diplomatic, economic, humanitarian and development capacities on the continent. We need a unified interagency approach to these challenges in which AFRICOM is supporting, not eclipsing, the work of our diplomats, our aid workers and other key partners.”
Feingold also implied that congress should work to provide more resources to U.S. diplomats.
The new Africa command was not formed in response to recent events in Darfur, says the website for AFRICOM, which is now based in Stuttgart, Germany.
Reportedly, initial discussions for a new command structure preceded the outbreak of the Darfur insurgency in 2003, and a number of initiatives were formed in 2002 for operations in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, primarily focused on combating the al-Qaeda organization.
(ST)