29 October 1998
MILITARY SPECIALISTS SAY AFRICAN DEFENSE MUST REMAIN AFRICAN
(Woods and Walker discuss ACRI) (780) By Jim Fisher-Thompson USIA Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- Donor nations can help African militaries upgrade technical skills needed for peacekeeping and specialized roles like anti-poaching operations, but decision-making on security issues must remain in African hands, two noted U.S. defense specialists said October 29. Ultimately, the ways in which military enterprises like the U.S.-backed African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) are deployed "are questions that must be left to the Africans to decide themselves," according to former Defense Department official James Woods. Woods, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs now associated with an international consulting firm, emphasized that "security is in the hands of the African national authorities and African regional organizations, not the United States." The defense specialist made his comments on "Africa Journal," an interview program televised worldwide by the U.S. Information Agency's (USIA's) Worldnet satellite broadcast service. Viewers phoned in questions from Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, and Benin. Woods said the response by African governments to ACRI has been "enthusiastically positive." The program "has its critics," he added, but "a number of African countries [six] have been early joiners and others are now examining it." "I think it [ACRI] will be fully subscribed in its planned quota of 10 to 12 participating countries, and that they will get to the brigade level," he said. Another "Africa Journal" guest, Nancy Walker, director of the Africa region in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, noted that while "the funding for ACRI training programs...is provided to our U.S. soldiers, who conduct training with our African military partners," the main thrust of the program is to "enhance the indigenous capabilities" of Africans to conduct peacekeeping operations more effectively. Walker explained that actual deployment of ACRI African forces "would come in the context of a United Nations-authorized operation, an operation authorized by the OAU [Organization of African Unity], an operation perhaps authorized by ECOWAS/ECOMOG [Economic Community of West African States/ECOWAS Monitoring Group] or by SADC [South African Development Community]." The ACRI initiative was first suggested by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher in 1996. According to a recent ACRI document, it is "a training initiative intended to work with various African states to create highly effective, rapidly deployable peacekeeping units, which can operate jointly in the event of humanitarian crisis or a traditional peacekeeping operation." Training is conducted by soldiers of the U.S. Army's 3rd Special Forces Group, stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Logistics and other related military support have been organized by the U.S. European Command, headquartered in Germany. African countries whose militaries have undergone ACRI training so far are Senegal, Uganda, Malawi, Mali, Ghana, and Benin. Altogether, more than 2,000 troops have been trained in communications, convoying, and related skills involved in providing security for relief operations. While the United States funds ACRI training, Walker emphasized that "in discussions with our African partners over the last several years, we have heard over and over again that our African friends would like to deploy to peace operations more effectively and efficiently, which is the goal of ACRI and other military assistance programs" offered by the United States. Asked about a possible U.S. military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Walker noted if the time comes "when the forces on either side of the conflict in Congo/Kinshasa reach an agreement and look to a cease-fire, that is when the international community needs to look to the United Nations or other multilateral bodies to authorize such an intervention. It is not a decision made by the U.S. military." According to Woods, a major reason the U.S. government has not sent forces into the Congo or elsewhere in Africa traces to the U.S. policy decision that Africans are best at solving African problems. Since the entangling crisis in Somalia and the complex situation during the Rwandan genocide, Woods said, "we [Americans] have been very reluctant to support peacekeeping operations. So I think there is a sort of policy crisis for the international community -- not just the United States -- as to whether we are going to be actively engaged in trying to solve these problems or not. At the moment, the answer is we are not." As for ACRI, Woods reiterated that "it is a good program because it builds capacity and develops professional skills. The key question for the Africans is how are they going to use this asset themselves -- because the United States is no longer in the business of calling the shots in Africa anymore."
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