• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Military Invests in Partner Nations' Contingency Capabilities

07 April 2006

General Jones says counterterror, maritime operations, peacekeeping top agenda

By Jacquelyn S. Porth
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Defense Department and State Department officials are promoting the importance of training and equipping allied and friendly military services as part of the war against terrorism and as an effort to prevent conflict before it erupts.

Security assistance programs help create common economic and security interests, provide mechanisms to respond to potential health crises, help emerging democracies defend their territory and foster their ability to thwart terrorist intentions.  Marine Corps General James Jones, commander of the U.S. forces in Europe and Africa, made this point during an April 7 appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, in which he also said that conflict prevention is far more cost effective than post-conflict intervention.

Investments in training and equipping military and police forces and developing interlocking relationships with like-minded nations “can yield significant long-term dividends,” Jones said.  “A critical component in fighting the global war on terrorism is putting together programs that build the capacity of foreign nations to conduct counter-terrorist operations and participate in or provide support to military and stability operations in which the U.S. is a participant,” he said.

Jones said programs such as Foreign Military Sales, Foreign Military Financing, Peacekeeping Operations, International Military Education and Training, and Direct Commercial Sales “provide access and influence; help build professional, capable militaries in allied and friendly nations; and promote interoperability with U.S. forces.”

GULF OF GUINEA STRATEGY

Jones cited two examples in which such funding can make a difference.  He said additional money could be used to help African nations address security weakness in the Gulf of Guinea where piracy, theft and unsecured ports are a problem.

“Shipping ports, transit areas, harbors, oil production, and transshipment areas are largely uncontrolled and raise concerns about vulnerability to terrorist attack,” Jones said in his prepared remarks.  Helping establish a command-and-control system as part of the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Security Initiative will improve traffic monitoring along the 2,000 nautical miles of coastline and contribute to greater stability in adjacent nations, he said.

TRANS-SAHARA INITIATIVE

Jones also pointed to the need to promote cooperation and indigenous military capacity in the Magreb and the Sahel region.  Small amounts of money are being used to counter expanding operations by Islamic terrorist organizations through the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative, he said.

“Left unattended, political instability in Africa could require reactive and repeated interventions at enormous costs, as in the case of Liberia,” Jones said.  The U.S. military is working with Algeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, and Nigeria to strengthen regional security, help those nations prepare to meet myriad contingencies and develop solid counterterror capabilities, he added.

GEORGIAN INTIATIVE REAPS BENEFITS

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman told committee members that the war on terrorism cannot be won without the help of effective partners.  The former U.S. ambassador to Turkey pointed to the benefits gained from training and equipping Georgian forces who went on to challenge terrorist networks in the Pankisi Gorge and then deployed to Iraq as part of “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs John Hillen, in separate testimony, said security assistance helps advance U.S. national security interests by supporting and rewarding key partners and also by “promoting key American values with respect to democracy, human rights and civilian rule of the military.”

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS

Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter echoed the importance of partnering by saying building a competent, professional force also requires a government standing behind it “that is not wracked with corruption … that is capable of paying and taking care of its soldiers.”  Otherwise, he said, the soldiers will not be dependable in a crisis.

If U.S. forces are teaching and helping nations “develop militaries [and police] that act in support of human rights, [in] the defense of democratically elected institutions and have a willingness to work with us and seek out our leadership and … assistance: these are good things,” Jones concluded.

For additional information about U.S. policy, see International Security.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)