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Say No to Africom

The Nation
November 19, 2007
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071119/glover_lee

By Danny Glover & Nicole C. Lee

With little scrutiny from Democrats in Congress and
nary a whimper of protest from the liberal
establishment, the United States will soon establish
permanent military bases in sub-Saharan Africa. An
alarming step forward in the militarization of the
African continent, the US Africa Command (Africom) will
oversee all US military and security interests
throughout the region, excluding Egypt. Africom is set
to launch by September 2008 and the Senate recently
confirmed Gen. William “Kip” Ward as its first
commander.

General Ward told the Senate Armed Services Committee
that Africom would first seek “African solutions to
African problems.” His testimony made Africom sound
like a magnanimous effort for the good of the African
people. In truth Africom is a dangerous continuation of
US military expansion around the globe. Such foreign-
policy priorities, as well as the use of weapons of war
to combat terrorist threats on the African continent,
will not achieve national security. Africom will only
inflame threats against the United States, make Africa
even more dependent on external powers and delay
responsible African solutions to continental security
issues.

The US militarization of Africa is further rationalized
by George W. Bush’s claims that Africom “will enhance
our efforts to bring peace and security to the people
of Africa” and promote the “goals of development,
health, education, democracy and economic growth.” Yet
the Bush Administration fails to mention that securing
and controlling African wealth and natural resources is
key to US trade interests, which face growing
competition from China. Transnational corporations rely
on Africa for petroleum, uranium and diamonds–to name
some of the continent’s bounty. West Africa currently
provides 15 percent of crude oil imports to the United
States, and that figure is expected to rise to 25
percent by 2015.

Policy-makers seem to have forgotten the legacy of US
intervention in Africa. During the cold war, African
nations were used as pawns in postcolonial proxy wars,
an experience that had a devastating impact on African
democracy, peace and development. In the past
Washington has aided reactionary African factions that
have carried out atrocities against civilians. An
increased US military presence in Africa will likely
follow this pattern of extracting resources while
aiding factions in some of their bloodiest conflicts,
thus further destabilizing the region.

Misguided unilateral US military policy to “bring peace
and security to the people of Africa” has, in fact, led
to inflamed local conflicts, destabilization of entire
regions, billions of wasted dollars and the unnecessary
deaths of US soldiers. The US bombing of Somalia in
January–an attempt to eradicate alleged Islamic
extremists in the Horn of Africa–resulted in the mass
killing of civilians and the forced exodus of refugees
into neighboring nations. What evidence suggests
Africom will be an exception?

In contrast, Africa has demonstrated the capacity to
stabilize volatile situations on its own. For example,
in 1990 the Economic Community of West African States
set up an armed Monitoring Group (Ecomog) in response
to the civil war in Liberia. At their height, Ecomog
forces in Liberia numbered 12,000, and it was these
forces–not US or UN troops–that kept Liberia from
disintegrating. In another mission, Ecomog forces were
instrumental in repelling rebels from Sierra Leone’s
capital, Freetown.

There are a range of initiatives that can be taken by
the US government and civil society to provide
development and security assistance to Africa that do
not include a US military presence. Foremost, policy
toward Africa must be rooted in the principles of
African self-determination and sovereignty. The
legitimate and urgent development and security concerns
of African countries cannot be fixed by dependence on
the United States or any other foreign power. Instead
of military strategies, African countries need
immediate debt cancellation, fair trade policies and
increased development assistance that respects
indigenous approaches to building sustainable
communities. Civil wars, genocide and terrorist threats
can and must be confronted by a well-equipped African
Union military command.

American policy-makers should be mindful that South
Africa, whose citizens overthrew the US-supported
apartheid regime, opposes Africom. In addition, Nigeria
and the fourteen-nation Southern African Development
Community resist Africom. These forces should be joined
by other African governments and citizens around the
world, to develop Africa’s own strong, effective and
timely security capacities. Progressive US-Africa
policy organizations and related civil society groups
have not been sufficiently organized to bring this
critical issue before the people of the United States.
It is urgent that we persuade progressive US
legislators to stop the militarization of aid to Africa
and to help ensure Africa’s rise to responsible self-
determination.
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