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Thread: AFRICOM and the perception mess

  1. #21
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
    Stan, it's the 'C' word. Continuity.

    Oh yes, and you want to send out maximum number of African Americans - to take the racial edge off it all. Might not be PC, but that's the way to do it.
    Strange that, the African Americans in Zaire felt that it was harder for them to get along. We don't actually employ any Americans and our support and training is governed by Geneva (UN) and what we call IMAS - International Mine Action Standards. AFRICOM should be looking at our program so we can expand (hope we don't have to wear those funky patches with our baby blue helmets )

    Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
    The last thing you want to be doing is training up future well trained genocidal militias which will happen if you are not careful.
    That's a tough one. The vetting process is straight forward but is dependent on the current host country government to provide information to initiate vetting.
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    I have a friend who works with Nigerian entrepreneurs in NYC; it’s not as if all Americans are unaware of the goings-on of the world. And since we’re talking perceptions I’m going to bring this up: Nigerians don’t exactly enjoy a sparkling reputation amongst other Africans. Are you so sure Nigerians carry a lot of weight in shaping public opinion outside of their home country?
    I totally accept that we don't enjoy a sparkling reputation anywhere. I refer to my Nigerian passport as the Mark of Cain. However, due to our size, our cultural exports (most of Africa watches Nollywood), our record as a peace-keeping nation, the popularity of our public intellectuals (Soyinka, Achebe) and the reputation of our business people we tend to be listened to.

    See a BBC article - How Nigeria has affected the rest of Africa.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11429067

    When I mentioned that Africa was huge. I wanted to bring out the fact that the distance from Dakar to Mombasa is greater than the distance from Seattle to Florida. That Congo DRC is a very different country from either Senegal or Nigeria. That the lessons you learn from dealing with Rwanda and Congo do not necessarily apply to Ghana or Cameroon.

    Nobody makes such generalisations about Asia or Europe. Africa is clearly the least understood combatant command area.

    For example, some of you talk about food aid and its importance in Africa. A West African sees food aid much differently from an East African (West Africa has a lot less famines than East Africa so depends much less on food aid). He doesn't attach the same importance to food aid as a person who grew up in the horn. Thus, a message tailored for the East African audience may seen as an insult in much of West Africa.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
    Strange that, the African Americans in Zaire felt that it was harder for them to get along. We don't actually employ any Americans and our support and training is governed by Geneva (UN) and what we call IMAS - International Mine Action Standards. AFRICOM should be looking at our program so we can expand (hope we don't have to wear those funky patches with our baby blue helmets )
    Stan, are we not perhaps at cross purposes? I believe you are talking about demining teams? I was talking about training battalions as per the Stars and Stripes articles.

    My thoughts were of staffing over a 10 year period involving permanent postings preceded by extensive language training etc etc. The issue of staffing would relate to officers on the Gurkha model or the RAR model, perhaps starting on a earlier colonial model (which included key NCO posts as well) and depending on the local ethnic/tribal military history (I'll come select them ). Perhaps for a different discussion sometime?

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    Stan, are we not perhaps at cross purposes? I believe you are talking about demining teams? I was talking about training battalions as per the Stars and Stripes articles.

    My thoughts were of staffing over a 10 year period involving permanent postings preceded by extensive language training etc etc. The issue of staffing would relate to officers on the Gurkha model or the RAR model, perhaps starting on a earlier colonial model (which included key NCO posts as well) and depending on the local ethnic/tribal military history (I'll come select them ). Perhaps for a different discussion sometime?
    Does your concept have political support both in the US and Africa?

    I haven't read the Stars and Stripe article, but if you are pushing for a model like Glover's Hausas or the Nubian dominated King's African Rifles, I have three words for you: don't try it.

    We've been there, done that. Works very well for a colony, doesn't work well in an independent nation.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    Does your concept have political support both in the US and Africa?

    I haven't read the Stars and Stripe article, but if you are pushing for a model like Glover's Hausas or the Nubian dominated King's African Rifles, I have three words for you: don't try it.

    We've been there, done that. Works very well for a colony, doesn't work well in an independent nation.
    OK, well read the Stars and Stripes article for context then comment.

    A lot of what is discussed here is merely theoretical or from some based their own limited experience, thats why its called a discussion forum.

    Feel free to make a concrete contribution on how best to staff military support missions to Africa (frrom the US or other countries) and how that would differ in approach between say Nigeria and the DRC, Egypt and Somalia. etc etc.
    Last edited by JMA; 11-16-2011 at 05:01 PM.

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    I've read the article.

    1. Clearly Joseph Kabila doesn't depend on these guys for his personal security. He seems to be applying a popular model in the developing World - i.e. lavishly fund an elite unit largely composed of members of your tribe / mercenaries and treat the rest of the army like crap. (I might be wrong here). I find it hard to be believe that while Rwanda can field a modestly competent army, Congo DRC cannot.

    He doesn't trust these guys, so he'll pay lip service to anything you tell him to secure his next tranche of aid funding.

    2. The problem with Congo DRC is political, not military and Joseph Kabila clearly isn't the man you should be dealing with.

    3. No amount of exposure to the US army is going to change the nature of military-civilian relations in the Congo DRC (to put it mildly), unless the underlying, socio-economic and political problems are dealt with. All armies reflect the values and the education levels of their lowest recruits and the leadership qualities of their commanders. The Nigerian army for example, has a well earned reputation for brutality, but it is less likely to sink to the level of the Congolese army because its leadership and rank and file are better educated and better orientated.

    4. A nation the size of Western Europe cannot be effectively administered from Kinshasa. It's time to break up the Congo and deal with the constituent parts. The US military intervention merely continues the false notion that Congo DRC is a united, contiguous entity and should be treated as such.

    5. On the balance, what the US army is doing is better than doing nothing, but it is not sustainable.

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    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    I've read the article.

    1. Clearly Joseph Kabila doesn't depend on these guys for his personal security. He seems to be applying a popular model in the developing World - i.e. lavishly fund an elite unit largely composed of members of your tribe / mercenaries and treat the rest of the army like crap. (I might be wrong here). I find it hard to be believe that while Rwanda can field a modestly competent army, Congo DRC cannot.
    Very well said and precisely the problem even in 1984. The only difference then were non-State actors like Belgium, China, Egypt, France, Israel and USA all took care of some unit with both funding and training. Rwanda's military even during the genocide was better trained and equipped and gave the FAZ a run for their money.

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    He doesn't trust these guys, so he'll pay lip service to anything you tell him to secure his next tranche of aid funding.
    Seems it was never an issue of trust even during the EUCOM days. But to be fair, it was the US Administration's policy and we had to manage it whichever way possible.

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    5. On the balance, what the US army is doing is better than doing nothing, but it is not sustainable.
    Agreed. We are not staying there for 25 years again and it would take that amount of time to have completely retrained and funded the Congolese military.
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    Stan,

    So you worked with Mobutu? I actually think that the Cold War was a wasted period in Africa. The US pursued very narrowly defined goals (Soviet containment), missed the forest for the trees, hastily withdrew when the Soviet Union collapsed, left a vacuum and raced back when the Chinese and Al Qaeda appeared to be exploiting that vacuum.

    (Your history makes me wonder when next you'll head for the exit. Anyway, I digress...)

    Please what really are America's long-term goals in Congo? Is it to contain Chinese influence or create a sustainable environment for trade and prosperity or is it merely to satisfy the expectations of NGO crowd or the fear of regional destabilisation?

    I suspect your policy is more driven by threats (China, Regional Destabilisation) and managing the expectations of Jeffery Sachs. These are great, but the Congolese will be eternally grateful to America if it could craft a bolder policy driven more by opportunities than fears and threats.

    Congo DRC needs to be shaken up. The people of Congo have had a raw deal since King Leopold and the Force Publique, they lack the internal capacity to reform themselves and no one in Africa (Nigeria included), has the resources or diplomatic capacity to do that.

    I am told that 5.4 million have died between 1998 - 2008. Those numbers are staggering. Those numbers tell us that the political architecture of Congo needs to be renegotiated. Let's stop the pretense and break the country into component parts, starting with Katanga.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    I am told that 5.4 million have died between 1998 - 2008. Those numbers are staggering. Those numbers tell us that the political architecture of Congo needs to be renegotiated. Let's stop the pretense and break the country into component parts, starting with Katanga.
    I can see the logic in that, but I can't see any way that it would be appropriate or possible for the US to initiate such a move.

    Look back at the creation of AFRICOM... this represented a very minor shift, yet it was presented, and largely accepted, as evidence of a sinister American grab for African influence and resources. Imagine how the same people - "the Als", as you described them - would spin an American-initiated effort to dissolve the Congolese government and partition the country. Would that not be interpreted, presented, and accepted as evidence of the most naked kind of paleo-colonialism... no matter what the actual intention?

    I do not personally think it would be wise or necessary for the US to try to directly counter or contain Chinese influence in Africa. We have a saying about allowing someone to have the rope with which to hang themselves...
    “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”

    H.L. Mencken

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    Council Member M-A Lagrange's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    Congo DRC needs to be shaken up. The people of Congo have had a raw deal since King Leopold and the Force Publique, they lack the internal capacity to reform themselves and no one in Africa (Nigeria included), has the resources or diplomatic capacity to do that.

    I am told that 5.4 million have died between 1998 - 2008. Those numbers are staggering. Those numbers tell us that the political architecture of Congo needs to be renegotiated. Let's stop the pretense and break the country into component parts, starting with Katanga.
    Kingjaja:

    Please, the numbers are between 3.6 and 4.2 million people who died during that periode due to the consequences of war (displacement, malnutrition, banditry...).
    Combats have made approximately between 250 000 and 500 000 victimes directly.

    Also, the political architecture of DRC has been renegociated by the congolese themselves in Sun city through the dialogue inter congolais. They came out with a decentralised state in which provinces are semi autonomous and have provincial parliament. The decentralisation had to be accelerated in 2006 after the first elections since independance as said in the constitution.
    In 2011 Joseph Kabila, DRC president decided to postpound indefinitely the decentralisation after not implementing it during 5 years. No congolese reacted because they are used to their 11 provinces.

    Also, Katanga province is hightly controled by Kinshasa which is 3000 km far away. Actual president Joseph Kabila is originating from Katanga and Maniema. The Baluba from North Katanga are in power in Kinshasa. The actual president of the electoral commition is a Baluba from Katanga. In an interview he said: "before, I wanted to become a soldier to become very rich."
    The actual governor of Katanga, who is the brother of the man controling all the logistic road export of mineral from Katanga to Mombassa has been harrassed by the members of president circle because he wanted more transparency in the mining exploitation in Katanga. He extended a ban on conflict mineral set by the president himself from Kivu and Maniema provinces to Katanga. By doing so he allegedly stopped illegal exports of conflict mineral from Maniema through Katanga. Maniema is a province where business is controled by DRC president twin sister...

    The only people who want Katanga independance are radical extremist from congolese extrem right. In the 90, their movement, at that called UFERI, lead by the actual president of Katanga parliament killed more than 100 000 people because they were Baluba from Kasai.

    Shall I continue to explain why your understanding of DRC is just wrong and dangerous?

  11. #31
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Hei Jaja !
    You always have only the hard questions !

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    Stan,

    So you worked with Mobutu? I actually think that the Cold War was a wasted period in Africa. The US pursued very narrowly defined goals (Soviet containment), missed the forest for the trees, hastily withdrew when the Soviet Union collapsed, left a vacuum and raced back when the Chinese and Al Qaeda appeared to be exploiting that vacuum.
    Yep, worked right inside his presidential palace at Gbadolite in 1984 as a team leader instructing on armored vehicles I quickly picked up Lingala and began my bastardized version of Belgian Frog too !
    Those were the days when Kinshasa was truly "Kin La Belle" !

    There were no defined goals back then, and the EUCOM objectives were at best foggy. My team ended up all over the country and our mission statement was baffled by the Zairois. SIGH ! We had Russians and Cubans across the river trading diamonds for anything that remotely appeared to be military hardware, rebel insurgents 300 clicks west, expats building and maintaining a power dam, and very hungry businessmen mining everything that Zaire stood for. A vast country with no infrastructure outside of perhaps Bas-Zaire and Shaba Provinces.

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    (Your history makes me wonder when next you'll head for the exit. Anyway, I digress...)
    It wasn't intended to be an "exit strategy" and you have a very valid point and concern. Sitting in your shoes I would also be worried.

    Our history in Zaire was strange for most of us working there. The end of the Cold War did not have to mean the end of Zaire, but the US Administration and half of Europe were no longer in need of a dictator and pushed for a democratic Zaire along with the Zairois. Well, as JMA so eloquently put, how do you force free and democratic elections on a country that never had them and has no need for elections (Uncle Mo was not leaving) ?. The pace that the Clinton Administration pressed on the Embassy was unrealistic for even a modern western culture. Our Ambassador, a tall and attractive white female, would have the honor of addressing Mobutu with the plan
    The rest you know !

    I was optimistic when Obama was elected, and I'm sure the Africans were also relieved and had some high hopes (Americans did).

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    Please what really are America's long-term goals in Congo? Is it to contain Chinese influence or create a sustainable environment for trade and prosperity or is it merely to satisfy the expectations of NGO crowd or the fear of regional destabilisation?
    Gotta answer your questions backwards:
    The NGO crowd has no real influence and they are quick to back off when one considers where all their operating money comes from. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

    Trade and prosperity were always on the table, but, as you already described perfectly, the Congolese govt. will only play along until the next tranche of aid is provided. We can change the name of the country, but we will never manage to change the Zairois mentality by playing an American game with Zairian rules. I believe an open trade policy is also on the table for Nigeria, but I don't know what the conditions are with the exception of our stupid selective-vision/hearing human rights policies tied directly to foreign aid. With that, I'll answer number 3..

    The (current) USG concern about China is her provision of unconditional foreign aid. China achieves diplomatic, military, and economic influence in African nations in exchange for unconditional foreign aid, regardless of the benefiting country's human rights record or political practices. That's probably not good for anyone in Africa but dictators love free cash
    Dayuhan has an excellent post to you on China. He hit every single salient point as if he lived in Zaire with me. The only thing he might have missed was how much China got involved with the Zairian Army. That spelled real trouble when we are trying to clean up what the FAZ has been accustomed to doing for 3 decades.

    What I despise about US foreign policy with regards to financial aid is we often end up selectively blind or deaf when we need to; It should never get to that point. If we're going to get on our high horse with moral judgement, then we should stay there.

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    ...but the Congolese will be eternally grateful to America if it could craft a bolder policy driven more by opportunities than fears and threats.
    I agree but I have no clue how to get there. My programs are also partly financed by the USG and there are more rules than I can even begin to comprehend. Estonia is a small country and very easy to manage. Congo is huge and Africa is a giant. AFRICOM was designed to handle that while trying to battle for the same pot of money the rest of us are expected to share. A real hard nut to crack.

    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    I am told that 5.4 million have died between 1998 - 2008. Those numbers are staggering. Those numbers tell us that the political architecture of Congo needs to be renegotiated. Let's stop the pretense and break the country into component parts, starting with Katanga.
    More war stories:
    In 94 I literally watched over 4,000 people die a day as a member of a 3-man team. That was the longest 6 months of my life.

    Inchi ya Katanga
    Katanga has been saying that since 1960 and things would be slightly different if they had nothing to mine and sell. Let's be realistic, Katanga constitutes almost 50% of all revenues even today. Would your break up of the DRC include equal shares of revenues ? How do you propose to prop up the remainder of the country ? Be careful, the Russians are also trying to get into Katanga and nearly support their desire to become and independent State. That my friend is what they do all over the world and make the Chinese look like amateurs.

    Regards, Stan
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    Quote Originally Posted by M-A Lagrange View Post
    Shall I continue to explain why your understanding of DRC is just wrong and dangerous?
    Hey MA,
    I was wondering just how long you would lurk around in the African threads
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
    Dayuhan has an excellent post to you on China. He hit every single salient point as if he lived in Zaire with me.
    Interesting... I've never been there, but I guess that leopard wears the same spots in a lot of places. What's your read on how people were reacting to the Chinese presence, both on the level of the major project investments and the street-level commercial presence?
    “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”

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    Council Member M-A Lagrange's Avatar
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    [QUOTE]
    Quote Originally Posted by KingJaja View Post
    I've read the article.

    1. Clearly Joseph Kabila doesn't depend on these guys for his personal security. He seems to be applying a popular model in the developing World - i.e. lavishly fund an elite unit largely composed of members of your tribe / mercenaries and treat the rest of the army like crap. (I might be wrong here). I find it hard to be believe that while Rwanda can field a modestly competent army, Congo DRC cannot.
    Simply because of what you just said: he treat the rest of the army like crap...

    2. The problem with Congo DRC is political, not military and Joseph Kabila clearly isn't the man you should be dealing with.
    So who should be DRC president part from Stan and me? or Tom?
    If you tell me the opposition, then I will advise you to just take the time to read DRC news from the last week and you will understand.

    3. No amount of exposure to the US army is going to change the nature of military-civilian relations in the Congo DRC (to put it mildly), unless the underlying, socio-economic and political problems are dealt with. All armies reflect the values and the education levels of their lowest recruits and the leadership qualities of their commanders. The Nigerian army for example, has a well earned reputation for brutality, but it is less likely to sink to the level of the Congolese army because its leadership and rank and file are better educated and better orientated.
    Yep, and how do you solve the issue when a whole country has a culture of stealing, corruption and fraud? As Mobutu said: I cannot pay you anymore, so you will have to steal. Don't steal too much but steal anyway cause that your only way to get paid.


    4. A nation the size of Western Europe cannot be effectively administered from Kinshasa. It's time to break up the Congo and deal with the constituent parts. The US military intervention merely continues the false notion that Congo DRC is a united, contiguous entity and should be treated as such.
    That war costed at least 2 million lives. Wanna try again?

    5. On the balance, what the US army is doing is better than doing nothing, but it is not sustainable.
    I agree with you.

    Now the real question how do you "force" a government to implement a security sector reform that he is not willing to conduct as it would endanger its grip on populace and make people in power less rich?
    And that's not a rethorical question.

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    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Hey Dayuhan,

    In the early 80s the Chinese presence was not so apparent in town, as the majority were military “advisors” (technicians) working on tanks and patrol boats outside the capital, and training the 41st Commandos in north-eastern Zaire. With perhaps the exception of our weekly attaché briefs and several sponsored visits to their sites, I would have told you there were no Chinese in Zaire.

    In early 1990 however the Chinese came back to (ahem) assess things and it was estimated that over a thousand Chinese were in Zaire. In true fashion, the women encroached on small shop owners selling jewelry and clothing to tourists at rock bottom prices. That led to conflict at the markets and the Chinese moved out and set up shop in Gombé, the heart of the business sector. By now the majority of western financial aid was gone and 91 saw social and political upheaval like never before. Interestingly enough, most of the foreigners evacuated leaving only the Chinese and some Lebanese diamond dealers behind.

    The Chinese were really good at playing on Zairian fears, warning Zaire and the west about Russians and Cubans, and used that to their every advantage. The trouble with most of us (the west) was we were not convinced, but as our financial aid dwindled (only humanitarian aid was permitted), our voices of reason were no longer welcomed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dayuhan View Post
    Interesting... I've never been there, but I guess that leopard wears the same spots in a lot of places. What's your read on how people were reacting to the Chinese presence, both on the level of the major project investments and the street-level commercial presence?
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    Also, Katanga province is hightly controled by Kinshasa which is 3000 km far away. Actual president Joseph Kabila is originating from Katanga and Maniema. The Baluba from North Katanga are in power in Kinshasa. The actual president of the electoral commition is a Baluba from Katanga. In an interview he said: "before, I wanted to become a soldier to become very rich."
    The actual governor of Katanga, who is the brother of the man controling all the logistic road export of mineral from Katanga to Mombassa has been harrassed by the members of president circle because he wanted more transparency in the mining exploitation in Katanga. He extended a ban on conflict mineral set by the president himself from Kivu and Maniema provinces to Katanga. By doing so he allegedly stopped illegal exports of conflict mineral from Maniema through Katanga. Maniema is a province where business is controled by DRC president twin sister..
    I might be wrong (I don't claim to be an expert on Congo), but what happens when the non-Katangese rule Congo? Will Katanga still be happy with the arrangement? I am asking this question because I see parallels in the situation in Nigeria.

    In 1993, Babangida annulled an election won by a Yoruba (Abiola). During the nineties the Yoruba and the Niger Deltans were the most dissatisfied by the situation in Nigeria. When Obasanjo (a fellow Yoruba) came to power, the level of dissatisfaction declined.

    When Jonathan (an Ijaw from the Niger Delta) became Vice-President, I began to notice a decline in the level of violence in the Niger Delta. (There were other factors, like Yar'adua's amnesty programme, but the presence of a fellow Ijaw at Abuja had something to do with it). If you notice, since Jonathan became president, Niger Delta militants have been a lot more quiet than usual (Boko Haram is giving us far more pain).

    In the future, when the Katangase no longer control Kinshasa, will they be still be happy to go along with the present arrangement?

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    My significant other is away to the African Studies Association meeting and it occurred to me to browse the program to see how many presenters are taking AFRICOM as their topic. Only two, it turns out, both of whom list Africa Command as their affiliation. I suspect that runs counter to some folks’ perception of perceptions in a couple of ways.

    -------------------

    Commanding Africa (Saturday 1415–1615)

    Chair: William Minter, AfricaFocus

    Liza Briggs, US Africa Command – “US Africa Command: a socio-cultural lens on military engagement”

    Ibrahim Ndzesop, University of Paris I – “Mercenaries and military manpower in African history: when do states use mercenaries?”

    Stephen Harmon, Pittsburgh State University – “Kidnapping and contraband: al-Qaeda in the Sahara-Sahel region and its implications for regional policy”

    Maureen Farrell, US Africa Command – “Gender mainstreaming with African militaries: a role for AFRICOM?”

    Discussant: William Minter, AfricaFocus
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    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    I'm surprised AFRICOM even got into the venue. But then, money talks and I'm sure they pay dearly for such an event. Public Affairs can do wonders with our taxes !

    I am most interested in Mercenaries and military manpower in African history and would love to hear what your better half has to say on that subject. A ton of evidence that the Serbs were Mobutu's final frontier but none were actually killed nor captured. However, they left a significant amount of anti-personnel mines behind that are still being cleaned up as we speak.

    Quote Originally Posted by ganulv View Post
    My significant other is away to the African Studies Association meeting and it occurred to me to browse the program to see how many presenters are taking AFRICOM as their topic. Only two, it turns out, both of whom list Africa Command as their affiliation. I suspect that runs counter to some folks’ perception of perceptions in a couple of ways.
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    Two comments based on my brief time in Congo.

    First, I don't think the race of any American military adviser sent to Congo would make a difference. An American was a mundele no matter what color they were.

    Second, it might make great sense to break Congo up into parts but I am not sure the Congolese see it like that. They seemed to accept the idea that the DRC was one country and should stay that way.
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    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Hey Carl,
    Hope your C12 adventures are still keeping you excited

    A good point, but I would also like to point out that most of the missionaries and Belgians that were born there and could dance the lingo with the best of the Zairois also called Zaire home. What did Tom accuse me of ? Reading your opponent before he ever had the thought of doing it. Not a language thing and not a skin color thing. Being called mundele never much mattered to me, but the compliments I did enjoy.

    We could no more break up Congo than we could separate NY from the USA. Regardless of the shape she's in, the people still think of it as home in one piece. At least the people still pathetically believe in their country (something I would have never thought after the abuse they have been through).

    Take care, Stan


    Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
    Two comments based on my brief time in Congo.

    First, I don't think the race of any American military adviser sent to Congo would make a difference. An American was a mundele no matter what color they were.

    Second, it might make great sense to break Congo up into parts but I am not sure the Congolese see it like that. They seemed to accept the idea that the DRC was one country and should stay that way.
    If you want to blend in, take the bus

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