U.S. Military Expansion In Africa Aimed At China
US expanding military aid to Africa - for what end?
by Boris Volkhonsky
http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverStoryPictures2/31670.jpg
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http://www.globalresearch.ca> Global Research, June 29, 2012
[In] recent years have witnessed a radical shift of Africa's role - not as a
new important global player, but rather as an important playing ground for
the new "Great Game". And the country that has really changed the global
attitude towards the continent is China.
The big difference in China's attitude as compared to the West, and
primarily the U.S., is that it used the so called "soft power" creating a
positive impression of itself rather than twisting the arms of its partners
and expanding military presence...Feeling that they might lose the
competition with China if it continues to move along economic rails only,
the West has resorted to the time-tested tactics of increasing its military
presence.
[W]hile shifting the focus of its strategy to the Asia Pacific (i.e. to
China's immediate neighborhood) , the U.S. is ready to start a scramble for
influence on "distant playgrounds" as well.
As reported by The Associated Press, speaking this week at a conference
attended by representatives from African nations, General Carter Ham, head
of U.S. Africa Command, said that the U.S. is carefully expanding efforts to
provide intelligence, training and at times small numbers of forces to
African nations, to help counter terrorist activities in the region. He also
said that coordinated moves by several Africa-based terrorist groups to
share their training, funding and bomb-making materials are worrisome and
pose a threat to the U.S. and the region.
"Do we collect information across Africa? Yes, we do," said Ham, singling
out the Lord's Resistance Army and its leader Joseph Kony operating in
Uganda and in neighboring countries. "To have some intelligence collection
capability that has the ability to monitor the areas in which we believe the
Lord's Resistance Army is operating, to be able to see, to be able to
listen, to be able to collect information which we then pass to the four
nations, four African nations, which are participating, I think is a good
way ahead."
General Ham also made special reference to Libya where "Al Qaeda and other
terror groups want to establish a foothold", and where "the U.S. is seeking
a partnership - not a large military presence." He also briefly mentioned
Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, where the U.S. has a military base
stationing about 2,000 U.S. troops, and "small, temporary" troop presences
in other nations, like Liberia, Morocco and Cameroon.
Altogether, Ham said, the U.S. has trained as many as 200,000 peacekeepers
and enforcement personnel from about 25 different African nations.
The General's statement at the conference came only a couple of weeks after
The Washington Post published a lengthy article on the U.S. military
expanding covert intelligence operations in Africa. According to that story,
the US military is expanding its secret intelligence operations across
Africa, establishing a network of small air bases to spy on terrorist
hideouts from the fringes of the Sahara to jungle terrain along the equator.
At the heart of the surveillance operations are small, unarmed turboprop
aircraft disguised as private planes.
The operations have intensified in recent months, as part of a growing
shadow war against Al Qaida affiliates and other militant groups. The
surveillance is overseen by U.S. Special Operations forces but relies
heavily on private military contractors and support from African troops.
In fact, both reports reflect the changing reality in the African continent
which for many years was regarded as "forgotten land." While the global
economy and politics were focused elsewhere, the countries of the continent
(most of which gained formal independence in early the 1960s) were by and
large neglected by leading world powers and looked upon only as a source of
cheap mineral resources.
But recent years have witnessed a radical shift of Africa's role - not as a
new important global player, but rather as an important playing ground for
the new "Great Game". And the country that has really changed the global
attitude towards the continent is China. In recent years China has become
the main trading partner for quite a number of African countries. In terms
of investment, it still lags behind the U.S. and the European Union, but is
swiftly narrowing the gap. The big difference in China's attitude as
compared to the West, and primarily the U.S., is that it used the so called
"soft power" creating a positive impression of itself rather than twisting
the arms of its partners and expanding military presence.
In any case, such developments have posed a serious threat to Western
interests in Africa. Feeling that they might lose the competition with China
if it continues to move along economic rails only, the West has resorted to
the time-tested tactics of increasing its military presence.
The pretext may be any - the anti-terrorism fight as in the case of Africa,
or even "humanitarian operations" and search for the remnants of U.S. pilots
killed in World War II like the one the U.S. is planning to launch in the
Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China and disputed by the
latter. But the long term goal is clear - that is, pressing China out of all
spheres of vital interest.
Whether such development and the substitution of China's "soft power" by the
U.S. "hard power" is in vital interests of the affected countries
themselves, is for the latter to judge. But one thing is clear - while
shifting the focus of its strategy to the Asia Pacific (i.e. to China's
immediate neighborhood) , the U.S. is ready to start a scramble for
influence on "distant playgrounds" as well.
Boris Volkhonsky, senior research fellow, Russian Institute for Strategic
Studies
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Received on Fri Jun 29 2012 - 17:30:29 EDT
