Greetings, and welcome to the World Affairs Board!
The World Affairs Board is one of the premier forums for the discussion of the pressing geopolitical issues of our time. Topics include foreign & defense policy, international security, military developments, weapons proliferation, terrorism, international strategic affairs, and politics. Our membership includes many from military, defense industry, and government backgrounds with expert knowledge on a wide range of topics. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so why not register a World Affairs Board account and join our community today?
|
 |
04-30-2007, 17:16 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
|
|
Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
Country: 
|
U.S. force aims to secure Africa
Quote:
U.S. force aims to secure Africa
By Jason Motlagh
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 30, 2007
The United States hopes by year's end to establish an Africa Command that will anchor military operations across a continent seen to be of increasing strategic importance and threatened by transnational terrorists.
The new force, known informally as AfriCom, will preside over all countries on the continent except Egypt and is expected to be operational by the fall, according to Pentagon officials. They say it is needed to secure vast, lawless areas where terrorists have sought safe haven to regroup and threaten U.S. interests.
"Part of the rationale behind the development of this command is clearly the growing emergence of the strategic importance of Africa from a global ... security and economic standpoint," Rear Adm. Robert Moeller, head of the Africa Command Transition Team, said earlier this month. "This allows us to work more closely with our African partners to ... enhance the stability across the continent."
Plans for such a force were first disclosed in April 2004, but it was not until February this year that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates laid out the scope of the new command.
AfriCom will initially operate as part of the Stuttgart, Germany-based European Command before becoming independent at the end of 2008. It will be a "unified combatant command" that includes branches of the military along with civilians from the departments of Defense, State and Agriculture, among others, according to Adm. Moeller.
The force will deal with peacekeeping, humanitarian aid missions, military training and support of African partner countries. A headquarters location has yet to be determined.
The United States now maintains five military commands worldwide, with Africa divided among three of them: EuCom covers 43 countries across North and sub-Saharan Africa; Central Command oversees East Africa, including the restive Horn of Africa; and Pacific Command looks after Madagascar.
In 2001, CentCom established a task force in the Horn to track down al Qaeda terrorists and monitor instability in Somalia. It has since expanded to conduct humanitarian missions in the region.
EuCom directs a seven-year, $500 million counterterrorism initiative that provides military and developmental aid to nine Saharan countries deemed vulnerable to groups looking to establish Afghanistan-style training grounds and carry out other illicit activities.
The main target of U.S. Special Forces training African troops has been the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Call and Combat. The group withered after a crackdown by Algerian authorities and a state-sponsored amnesty program, but a new al Qaeda-linked offshoot claimed responsibility for the April 11 Algiers suicide bombings that killed more than 30 people.
U.S. military officials say there is evidence that a quarter of suicide bombers in Iraq are from North Africa. Other jihadists are said to have traveled as far as Afghanistan to receive training before returning home to Africa to sow trouble.
However, the initiative is not welcome in every African country. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, quoted in the Libyan daily Al-Fajr Al-Jadid, said at a conference in Chad last week that such a force was neither wanted nor needed.
"We told [the Americans] we do not need military aircraft flying over, nor do we need military bases," he reportedly said. "We are in need of economic elements and an economic support. If your support to us is military intervention, then we do not need you, nor your help."
Some Western critics worry that a military-based policy on the continent could breed radicalism where it scarcely exists by sustaining despotic regimes that usurp funding and military hardware to tighten their grip on power.
A 2005 report by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said the Saharan region is "not a terrorist hotbed," and warned that some governments try to elicit U.S. aid while using the "war on terror" to justify human rights abuses.
U.S. officials insist the new AfriCom will not result in a large-scale deployment of U.S. forces on the continent. Instead, they want to place "a greater mix of diplomatic, developmental and economic experts" on the ground. Current estimates are for about 1,000 personnel, on par with other regional commands.
"The goal is for AfriCom not to be a U.S. leadership role on the continent," said Ryan Henry, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, who spoke with reporters in Washington last week after returning from a "fact-finding" trip to Africa.
"We would be looking to complement rather than compete with any leadership efforts currently going on."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world...532r_page1.htm
|
Notwithstanding the pious reasons given for the establishment of this new Command, the reason is simple: it is essential to check the growing Chinese incursion into Africa, where she already has a head start.
The new Command is required and of that there is no question and there can no longer be any delay. In fact, it should have been organised much earlier and should have been in place by now. The Chinese have already made an impression on the Africans and since they are neutral without any political, military or moral baggage, and do not question the manner these govts function (corruption, human rights etc), the Chinese have ingratiated themselves to the Africans. To neutralise the Chinese will be well nigh difficult.
Africa will become another focal point for political jockeying, though it will not become a flashpoint for obvious reason. However, what would be dangerous is the churning of Islamic sentiments into a solid form. America, not being the best of friends of the Islamic fundamentalists, will be viewed with intense suspicion by the Islamic states where the fundamentalists hold the sway. It will also give reasons for the fundamentalists to close ranks and agitate the common Moslems.
Another interesting arena of rivalry and strife develops.
However, it is absolutely essential for protecting strategic interests, political, economic and military.
__________________
"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."
I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.
HAKUNA MATATA
Last edited by Ray : 04-30-2007 at 17:18 PM.
|
|
|
|
05-01-2007, 13:47 PM
|
#2 (permalink)
|
|
Postmaster General
Military Professional
Join Date: 08-20-03
Country:
|
UPDATE
This is how the AQ resurrrected.
Quote:
World > Middle East: "Monitor Briefing"
from the May 1, 2007 edition
How did Al Qaeda emerge in North Africa?
A briefing on the violent rise of a new-old jihadist group in Algeria.
Page 1 of 4
Algeria's ISLAMIC militants were finished. As recently as last summer, security officials thought they had subdued Islamic insurgents after nearly a decade of civil war. They were wrong. Nearly eight months ago, Algerian militants declared an alliance with Al Qaeda and have violently announced their resurgence with a wave of spectacular attacks. So far this year, at least 165 people have died in the ensuing political violence. The newly christened Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb presents a new challenge – and not just in North Africa. Staff writer Jill Carroll reports on the rise of this new-old group of jihadists.
How did Al Qaeda emerge in North Africa?
The Algerian militant organization Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, known by its French initials GSPC, officially joined Al Qaeda with the Sept. 11, 2006, announcement by Ayman Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2. Later, in a January statement, GSPC took on the name Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
With its new moniker and broader, global aims came increased violence. Last month, suicide bombers targeted the Algerian capital, Algiers, killing at least 33 people in the deadliest attack in that city in at least five years.
But long before the official union was announced, Algeria's radical Islamists were building ties with Osama bin Laden's group, according to terrorist experts.
The founders of GSPC fought alongside other militants in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. That battle not only gave rise to Al Qaeda, but dispersed fighters throughout the Middle East. The GSPC was formed in 1998 when its leaders split from Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, known by its French initials GIA. In 1993, a top member of Al Qaeda met with Islamist fighters starting to organize in Algeria and Mr. bin Laden gave factions of the GIA $40,000, Lawrence Wright reported in his new book, "The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the road to 9/11."
Their brutality, particularly to civilians, drew criticism from the global jihadi community, including from bin Laden, which felt they were giving "holy warriors" a bad name. By the end of the 1990s, experts say, GIA had fallen out with Al Qaeda and other jihadi groups.
Today, it's difficult to quantify the membership of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Last year, the Algerian government said 800 jihadists were active in GSPC. But the group disputed that, saying far more were involved, according to Rita Katz, director of the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute in Washington.
"What we can say for certain is that [among] the jihadists online, the support for AQIM is growing. Adopting the name Al Qaeda brought the GSPC the instant support of tens of thousands of online jihadists, many now who perceive the group as fighting on behalf of Al Qaeda," says Ms. Katz in an e-mailed response to questions.
What are AQIM's objectives?
The group's leader, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, whose given name is Abdelmalek Droukdel, made clear in the January statement that the group planned a high-profile campaign of violence against Algerian security forces and foreign targets under the new banner of Al Qaeda.
Mr. Abdel Wadoud praised the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan and railed against the US, France, Israel, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He also called Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika "an ally to this nation's enemies" that has "trampled over" and "desecrated" Islamic sharia law, according to a translation of the communiqué on the website of Evan Kohlmann, a New York-based international terrorist expert.
Mr. Kohlmann says the group is "seeking headlines. They are clearly targeting foreigners."
For Abdel Wadoud – believed to have been radicalized while attending university – the alliance with Al Qaeda gives his group world recognition and credibility. "Al Qaeda remains the most important brand name among the jihadists," says Katz.
In southern Algeria, there is another grouping of GSPC that has not joined Al Qaeda. Its leaders have been killed or imprisoned in recent years. The relationship between Abdul Wadoud's group and the southern faction is unclear, Katz says.
How is the Algerian government handling this new threat?
Algerian security forces have a reputation of being tough, and their experience with infiltrating and breaking up the GIA insurgency in the '90s could be useful.
Since the recent spate of bombings and attacks claimed by AQIM, Algerian security services have been fighting militants in the mountains and forests outside Algiers. Exact details of the battles have been kept secret by the government.
Many media reports say about a dozen soldiers and a dozen militants have been killed in the sporadic battles. Reuters reported on Monday, for example, that at least 28 Islamist militants were killed in April.
Just last week Algerian security services said they killed the second in command of the group, Samir Saioud, who also went by Samir Moussaab. AQIM disputed in a statement that he was a high-ranking member but confirmed he was killed.
Algerian security forces claimed last year to have killed or imprisoned 750 to 800 militants, Katz says. But, she notes, such numbers are difficult to verify and, regardless, the "strength of the group has not diminished."
"However, much action is taken against these groups. Because they have staying power the battle waged against these groups must be a very long [war]," says Rohan Gunaratna, author of a book on Al Qaeda and associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
What are the implications for security in North Africa and Europe?
There have been links between various North African militant groups for years. AQIM seeks to unite them.
Bringing radical Islamists under a common umbrella with the intent to strike at Western targets spells trouble for the regional regimes who have long tried to keep Islamist parties at bay.
A briefing on the violent rise of a new-old jihadist group in Algeria.
Page 4 of 4
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | 4
"Traditionally the North African [militant] groups have been important, but now they have increased importance because they have an alliance [that facilitates] an exchange of personnel, technology, and financing," says Mr. Gunaratna.
North Africans have risen in the ranks of Al Qaeda around the world, analysts say. The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group also helped broker the alliance between the GSPC and Al Qaeda, says Gunaratna.
The GSPC has been active in Europe, particularly against its old colonial ruler, France. In September 2005, French police uncovered a group of militants linked to the GSPC that were planning to attack various sites in Paris.
Several suicide bombings in Morocco as well as a rare shootout between Tunisian police and militants recently raised concerns about the groups crossing the porous desert borders in the region and exchanging expertise and resources. But Moroccan authorities insist recent suicide bombings and the cells of militants that produced them are not linked to outside groups.
The evolution of Algeria's Islamic militancy
1992: The Armed Islamic Group (known by its French initials, GIA) begins attacking the Algerian government after it cancels elections to keep an Islamic coalition from power. Some 150,000 die in a decade-long civil war.
1998: The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) separates itself from GIA and its brutal tactics. Over time it surpasses GIA in popular support and membership – 28,000 at its peak.
2006: Though ties with Al Qaeda go back many years, GSPC – now with just hundreds of members – officially merges with Osama bin Laden's global network in September. Some analysts see GSPC’s calling on outside support as a sign of weakness.
2007: GSPC renames itself "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM) and steps up bomb attacks on foreigners and state targets; the government in turn launches operations in cities and hard-to-reach mountain hideouts to quash AQIM.
How did Al Qaeda emerge in North Africa? | csmonitor.com
The GIA launched a brutal insurgency against the Algerian government in 1992 after the government canceled elections because an Islamist party was set to win. The GIA crumbled under intense pressure from Algerian security services and amid internal divisions about their harsh tactics, but not until at least 150,000 people had died.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
| Thread Tools |
|
|
| Display Modes |
 Linear Mode
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 20:09 PM.
|
| 
Similar Threads
