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Foreign Policy In Focus A U.S. Army captain in Africa waxes philosophical. It's like the old saying, he opines; "give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever."
Is he talking about skills-building, or community empowerment? No: Captain Joseph Cruz goes from channeling the musician Speech from the American hip-hop group Arrested Development back to his military-approved talking points: "the same can be said about military to military training and that's why we do it."
The Delta company soldier is one of 1,800 based in Djibouti at an old French Foreign Legion base, and he is comparing lessons in small naval patrol boat tactics, approaches to counter terrorism operations, and how to use an M-16 rifle, to teaching a man to fish.
It is not just the Djiboutians who are receiving these lessons -- members of the Ethiopian, Ugandan and Kenyan armed forces have also been on "fishing trips" with the U.S. military.
Most Americans have never heard of Djibouti, and fewer can pronounce it correctly, but here -- far from the bombed bridges of Baghdad and the flourishing poppy fields of Afghanistan -- is the third front of the war on terrorism. As Rear Admiral Richard Hunt, the Commander of Combined Joint Taskforce-Horn of Africa (or CJT-HOA, in inimitable military style), explains: "Africa is the new frontier that we need to engage now, or we are going to end up doing it later in a very negative way."
As part of the CJT-HOA these soldiers are also building schools, digging wells and sanitizing slaughterhouses. Their work is delineated by the four Ps and the three Ds: Prevent conflict, promote regional stability, protect coalition interests and prevail against extremism in East Africa and Yemen through diplomacy, development and defense.
Amid the commemorations, tributes, and critiques that cluster around the September 11 anniversary, we should not lose sight of how the war on terrorism is militarizing Africa. With under-tapped oil reserves, vast stretches of ungoverned space, impoverished populations and pandemics of AIDS/HIV and other diseases, Africa is now on Washington's radar screen. The National Security Strategy for the United States, 2006 says: "Africa holds growing geo-strategic importance and is a high priority of this administration." But the most significant way that high priority status is being expressed is through commitments of military aid, training, troops and equipment.
The U.S. base in Djibouti is just one plank in a new platform of military engagement in Africa. There is also the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Initiative (TSCTI), which Congress funded at $500 million over six years in 2005. There are also increased naval maneuvers in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, and establishment of a P3 Orion aerial surveillance station in Algeria.
And now, as though the Pentagon does not have enough on its plate, President George W. Bush has established United States African Command (AFRICOM) as the newest U.S. military sphere of influence. The command brings together most of the continent (Egypt will remain under CENTCOM) for the first time, and according to President Bush it "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."
Suite ..http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4561 (Foreign policy)
Is he talking about skills-building, or community empowerment? No: Captain Joseph Cruz goes from channeling the musician Speech from the American hip-hop group Arrested Development back to his military-approved talking points: "the same can be said about military to military training and that's why we do it."
The Delta company soldier is one of 1,800 based in Djibouti at an old French Foreign Legion base, and he is comparing lessons in small naval patrol boat tactics, approaches to counter terrorism operations, and how to use an M-16 rifle, to teaching a man to fish.
It is not just the Djiboutians who are receiving these lessons -- members of the Ethiopian, Ugandan and Kenyan armed forces have also been on "fishing trips" with the U.S. military.
Most Americans have never heard of Djibouti, and fewer can pronounce it correctly, but here -- far from the bombed bridges of Baghdad and the flourishing poppy fields of Afghanistan -- is the third front of the war on terrorism. As Rear Admiral Richard Hunt, the Commander of Combined Joint Taskforce-Horn of Africa (or CJT-HOA, in inimitable military style), explains: "Africa is the new frontier that we need to engage now, or we are going to end up doing it later in a very negative way."
As part of the CJT-HOA these soldiers are also building schools, digging wells and sanitizing slaughterhouses. Their work is delineated by the four Ps and the three Ds: Prevent conflict, promote regional stability, protect coalition interests and prevail against extremism in East Africa and Yemen through diplomacy, development and defense.
Amid the commemorations, tributes, and critiques that cluster around the September 11 anniversary, we should not lose sight of how the war on terrorism is militarizing Africa. With under-tapped oil reserves, vast stretches of ungoverned space, impoverished populations and pandemics of AIDS/HIV and other diseases, Africa is now on Washington's radar screen. The National Security Strategy for the United States, 2006 says: "Africa holds growing geo-strategic importance and is a high priority of this administration." But the most significant way that high priority status is being expressed is through commitments of military aid, training, troops and equipment.
The U.S. base in Djibouti is just one plank in a new platform of military engagement in Africa. There is also the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Initiative (TSCTI), which Congress funded at $500 million over six years in 2005. There are also increased naval maneuvers in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, and establishment of a P3 Orion aerial surveillance station in Algeria.
And now, as though the Pentagon does not have enough on its plate, President George W. Bush has established United States African Command (AFRICOM) as the newest U.S. military sphere of influence. The command brings together most of the continent (Egypt will remain under CENTCOM) for the first time, and according to President Bush it "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."
Suite ..http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4561 (Foreign policy)
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