Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Esper says ‘no decisions’ have been finalized on AFRICOM changes

"AFRICOM: Wrong for Liberia, Disastrous for Africa "

By: Aaron Mehta January 22


Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks to the press during a press conference at the Pentagon Briefing Room in Washington on Jan. 7, 2020. (Army Staff Sgt. Nicole Mejia/DoD)

NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, Fla. — Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is not backing down on potentially shifting U.S. forces out of Africa despite a week of negative reactions .. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/01/17/smith-thornberry-join-congressional-pushback-on-espers-africa-troop-drawdown-plan/ .. from members of Congress — but the secretary did say that “no decisions” have been.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday while travelling to Florida, Esper noted that “everything you do has some type of folks questioning and having concerns” and did not seem concerned by the pushback, which included the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees.

"We haven’t talked to them yet in detail… frankly, no decisions have been made,” the secretary said. “I’ve talked to members of Congress several times and once we get through the reviews, I will update Congress as well.”

The potential drawdown .. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/12/24/pentagon-examining-a-reduction-of-the-us-footprint-in-west-africa/ .. of troops is part of a broader review process looking at each U.S. combatant command to decide if the force structure is appropriate for the guidance of the National Defense Strategy .. https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2018/01/19/national-defense-strategy-released-with-clear-priority-stay-ahead-of-russia-and-china/ , which focuses on countering Russia and, especially, China.

Esper added that he “hopes” to meet with the chairmen and ranking members “next week” to talk about a number of defense issues.

Last week, Defense News reported that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith .. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/01/03/hasc-chair-adam-smith-on-how-dems-can-win-in-2020-mideast-wars-and-acquisition-reform/ , D-Wash., and ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, had written the secretary asking him to “carefully consider the adverse implications of reducing our force posture in Africa,” and cautioning that “the threat of violent extremism and terrorism persists” in the region overseen by U.S. Africa Command.

The chairmen followed criticisms from earlier in the week by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., as well as Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Chris Coons, D-Del. A bipartisan group of 11 congressmen, led by HASC Vice Chair Anthony Brown, D-Md., also sent a separate letter to Esper .. https://anthonybrown.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=749 , warning the move is a “shortsighted action that both diminishes our overall national security posture and our ability to lead with American values and influence.”

Esper’s proposed cuts would most likely focus on the several hundred troops now deployed in countries like Niger, Chad and Mali. If so, that would be a fraction of the 6,000 to 7,000 American troops in Africa, and it would appear to exclude the 500 special operations troops fighting alongside local forces against al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked militant group based in Somalia.

When Esper returns to the Pentagon Friday, he will have another meeting with AFRICOM on the potential changes. Esper will also be discussing the start of a review of U.S. Southern Command soon.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/01/22/esper-says-no-decisions-have-been-on-africom-changes/

Unsurprisingly a difference of opinion still exists on AFRICOM. An early opinion by one who was there at the beginning.

The Truth About Africom
No, the U.S. military is not trying to take over Africa. Here's what we're actually doing.
By Robert Moeller | July 21, 2010, 8:45 PM
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_T._Moeller ]
https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/07/21/the-truth-about-africom/

Then there are those as Nick Turse, who questions Moeller's contention of a "light footprint."

U.S. Military Says It Has a “Light Footprint” in Africa. These Documents Show a Vast Network of Bases.
Nick Turse December 1 2018, 11:00 p.m.
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Turse ]
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/01/u-s-military-says-it-has-a-light-footprint-in-africa-these-documents-show-a-vast-network-of-bases/

Why is America there? Mixed motives. Could a world ever be without countries operating without mixed motives? Nope.

Russia is not alone in exploiting Africa
Tracey Lindner says the scramble for Africa is largely about securing resources that are
crucial for military and civilian digital technology. Terry McGinn shines a spotlight on the US
Letters
Sat 15 Jun 2019 01.36 AEST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/14/russia-is-not-alone-in-exploiting-africa

10 years ago Moeller said there are terrorist groups in Africa. As we all all know there still are.

Terrorist Attacks Increase in Africa’s Sahel, U.S. Warns
State Department points to risk of fleeing fighters finding a new haven in semiarid belt south of the Sahara
The State Department recorded 150 terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso in 2018. Here, smoke rises after a suspected attack last year. Photo: str/EPA/Shutterstock
By Jessica Donati and
Courtney McBride
Nov. 1, 2019 3:27 pm ET
https://www.wsj.com/articles/terrorist-attacks-increase-in-africas-sahel-u-s-warns-11572636479

Likely there always will be.

Al-Shabaab kills three Americans in attack on US military base in Kenya
One US serviceman and two US Department of Defense contractors killed, while five attackers were killed
AP in Nairobi
Mon 6 Jan 2020 08.52
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/05/al-shabaab-attack-us-military-base-kenya

How do African leaders feel about AFRICOM this some 13 years on?

West African leaders warn it would be a ‘mistake’ to cut back US troops in Africa
Diana Stancy Correll
January 21
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/01/21/west-african-leaders-warn-it-would-be-a-mistake-to-cut-back-us-troops-in-africa/

-

If you really want to fight terrorism, start by fighting child poverty
Poor people have no stake in nations and economies that ignore them – governments must recognise residents of slums as full citizens, not squatters
Kennedy Odede
co-founder, Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO)
Fri 21 Aug 2015 19.37 AEST
Last modified on Fri 6 Oct 2017 23.14 AEDT

“I grew up with men and women in Kibera with enough energy, intelligence and entrepreneurial zeal to be a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs,” says Kennedy Odede Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
P -Poverty feeds terrorism by eroding a basic human need: the need to belong. This may seem like an unlikely place to begin a conversation on terrorism, but after growing up in one of Africa’s largest urban slums for most of my life, I am certain that nurturing a sense of belonging in young people through economic opportunity and the cultivation of community is essential for curbing the spread of terrorism.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/aug/21/terror-groups-africa-recruit-children-from-kibera-mathare-slum-poverty

Most everybody agrees extreme inequality is an ever-increasing problem to be addressed. Within and
between nations. Something tells me though that question is not so important in all peoples' minds.

Isis claims sub-Saharan attacks in a sign of African ambitions
This article is more than 7 months old
Move points to effort to become platform for Islamic extremist groups after fall of ‘caliphate’
Jason Burke Africa correspondent
Thu 6 Jun 2019 22.20 AEST
Last modified on Fri 7 Jun 2019 03.50 AEST

Members of the Congolese national army move near where the ADF militia group operates in North Kivu province. Photograph: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/EPA
P - Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two attacks by militants in sub-Saharan Africa in less than 24 hours, suggesting the continent is central to the terrorist group’s strategy of expanding a global network of extremists after the loss of its territories in Iraq and Syria.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/06/isis-claims-sub-saharan-attacks-sign-africa-ambitions-islamic-extremist

Then there are these guys.

Attacks by White Extremists Are
Growing. So Are Their Connections.

By WEIYI CAI and SIMONE LANDON APRIL 3, 2019

[...]

An analysis by The New York Times of recent terrorism attacks found that at least a third of white extremist killers since 2011 were inspired by others who perpetrated similar attacks, professed a reverence for them or showed an interest in their tactics.

The connections between the killers span continents and highlight how the internet and social media have facilitated the spread of white extremist ideology and violence.

In one instance, a school shooter in New Mexico corresponded with a gunman who attacked a mall in Munich. Altogether, they killed 11 people.

[...]

“I think that Breivik was a turning point, because he was sort of a proof of concept as to how much an individual actor could accomplish,” said J.M. Berger, author of the book “Extremism” and a research fellow with VOX-Pol, a European academic initiative to study online extremism.

“He killed so many people at one time operating by himself, it really set a new bar for what one person can do.”

Shortly after the Norway massacre, a prominent American white supremacist named Frazier Glenn Miller wrote on a white supremacist forum that Mr. Breivik had “inspired young Aryan men to action.” Mr. Miller opened fire on a Jewish retirement home and community center in Kansas a few years later, killing three.

Mr. Breivik was not the only mass killer to inspire copycats. The Christchurch shooter also paid tribute to a Canadian man who opened fire inside a Quebec City mosque in 2017, writing his name on one of the guns used in his attack.

That Canadian gunman read extensively about Dylann Roof, the American who killed nine worshipers at a black church in South Carolina in 2015.

At least four white extremist killers made statements online praising Elliot Rodger, a racist and misogynist who targeted women in a 2014 spree, before carrying out their own attacks.

All these attacks occurred amid a surge of white supremacist and xenophobic terrorism in the West that has frequently targeted Muslims, immigrants and other minority groups, the Times analysis found.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/03/world/white-extremist-terrorism-christchurch.html

The West has exploited Africa for centuries. Question is where do we go from here.

One thing is certain. Good people will continue to do the best they can
to create a better world. There are millions of them doing their best.

That IS a real positive.