Originally Posted by Tom Odom
Tom,
Have you had any involvement in the creation of AFRICOM? I have a Yale grad student working with me over the summer doing some research on it, and I'm trying to figure out who to link him up with. He's contacting Mike Smith who is now at State, and he and I are going to try to get to EUCOM and JTF-HOA over the summer (who could pass up a visit to Djibouti in August!!).
Steve,
Dr, Hans Pawlisch at the Joint History Office, Office of the Chairman, was wanting me to put in for the command historian position. I can send you an email address for him next week when I go back to work.
Best
Tom
North Africa Reluctant to Host U.S. Command
24 June Washington Post - North Africa Reluctant to Host U.S. Command by Craig Whitlock.
A U.S. delegation seeking a home for a new military command in Africa got a chilly reception during a tour of the northern half of the continent this month, running into opposition even in countries that enjoy friendly relations with the Pentagon.
Algeria and Libya separately ruled out hosting the Defense Department's planned Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, and said they were firmly against any of their neighbors doing so either. U.S. diplomats said they were disappointed by the depth of opposition, given that the Bush administration has bolstered ties with both countries on security matters in recent years.
Morocco, which has been mentioned as a possible site for the new command and is one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region, didn't roll out the welcome mat, either. After the U.S. delegation visited Rabat, the capital, on June 11, the Moroccan foreign ministry strongly denied a claim by an opposition political party that the kingdom had already offered to host AFRICOM. A ministry statement called the claim "baseless information."
Rachid Tlemcani, a professor of political science at the University of Algiers, said the stern response from North African governments was a reflection of public opposition to U.S. policies in the predominantly Muslim region...
As much as I understand the apparent imperative to have Africa Command in North Africa, I suspect that the answer is going to be very similar all over the place in any of the Islamic North. Notwithstanding that, I think that collocation with the OAU in Addis would make the most sense in terms of the mission and role of the command.
Nor, do I think that it will be that different in West Africa.
Ultimately I still think that (barring some massive, unforeseen act of influence) the Command might end up somewhere in Anglophile sub-saharan Africa. (RSA, Botswana (at least then it would be collocated with the SADC) etc... Would also address some basic force protection issues and perhaps meet an administration preference for a democracy.
Mark,
I concur on southern Africa. It would also help with infrastructure issues that would cripple a HQs effectiveness in Western Africa.
Best
Tom
I absolutely cannot imagine the South Africans allowing it. They remain almost pathologically leery of being seen as an American proxy. For a long time, they refused assistance from the African Crisis Response Initiative.
I would think Ghana would be the most likely choice--they're reasonably close to the U.S., a functioning democracy, and sort of centrally located. Uganda also might be a possibility. You're right about Botswana but it's harder to get in and out of Gabarone than Accra or even Kampala. I would also think that Senegal might make the short list. I'd like to see that simply because it would make heads explode in France.
I think that your perceptions of the current South African administration are probably right. However, I think the next one, particulalry as some of the ANC 'old and bolds' from the old days retire and drop off the twig, might be a different scenario. I think that guys like Ramaphosa, who had quite a different (and later generation) experience of the struggle will not necessarily subscribe to some of the old prejudices to the USA.
I agree with you about Ghana.
The Pacific is not always pacific
but the name, applied to a US Military Command is fairly benign. As are the names Central, Northern and Southern. European is locale specifc but it's been around so long no one notices.
OTOH, naming a new Command for a specific and troubled continent at a time whee we're in one of our periodic 'throwing our weight around' modes is probably not very smart.
I have no question that the long standing division of the continent among three Commands should be rectified for many reasons but an innocuous name would soothe the concerns of many. Regardless, we've done it and named it.
That did not mean we then had to go shopping for an office building and get embarrassed by having our credit card rejected -- totally predictably -- in several countries. Hopefully, we will not be dumb enough to bully our way in somewhere.
If Southern Command can operate from Miami, so could Africom...
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