Washington File April 26, 2006
U.S. Fighting Terrorism Through Security Partnerships in Africa
Defense review says Horn of Africa task force mirrors future operations
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington -- Fighting international terrorism "indirectly" through security partnerships with regional entities is a growing trend for Pentagon strategists, who see operations like the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) as the most effective way to employ U.S. military resources stretched thin by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That was a major theme of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), compiled by the senior military and civilian leadership of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and issued in February.
Basically, it is a guide for "adjusting the U.S. global military force posture" to respond more flexibly to the post-9/11 environment of global terrorism. The document projects a strategy for four years into the future, with the next review scheduled to take place in 2010. (See related article.)
Part of that strategy involves wider use of unconventional troops called special operations forces as well as joint task forces combining ground troops with air and naval power, working with regional forces to counter terrorists in places such as the Sahel and Horn regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
SECURITY PARTNERSHIPS
"Using military power in a low-key way became a hallmark of U.S. policy toward Africa after terrorists attacks back in August 1998 that destroyed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," said former Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Herman Cohen, who now runs a consulting firm, Cohen and Woods International.
"The strategy of working with regional partners in East Africa on mutual security issues is very important to Africans as well as us because they also have a lot to lose if al Qaida-type movements take root. After all more Africans than Americans were killed in the embassy attacks," the former U.S. ambassador to Senegal added.
In addition, Cohen said "our military and political relations with allies like Britain and France in Africa have improved and we are working better on all levels to coordinate military and peacekeeping operations on the continent as never before."
A good example of the QDR strategy at work in Africa is the CJTF-HOA, where a combined U.S. force of approximately 1,300 soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen has been stationed at a former Foreign Legion post in Djibouti, working "to deny safe havens, external support and material assistance for terrorist activity," according to the GlobalSecurity.org Web site.
Responsible for the areas of Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia, as well as Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, the task force command center at Camp Lemonier has also helped train more than 1,000 members of regional security forces.
In addition, CJTF-HOA has employed civilian contractors, as well as military personnel, to help clear land mines, to renovate 33 schools, eight clinics and five hospitals and to dig 11 wells.
"Operating across large areas but using only small detachments, CJTF-HOA is a prime example of distributed operations and economy of forces," the QDR says. "Military, civilian and allied personnel work together to provide security training and to perform public works and medical assistance projects, demonstrating the benefits of unity of effort."
TRANS-SAHARAN COUNTER-TERRORISM INITIATIVE
Another Defense Department Africa program mentioned in the QDR is the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative, a multimillion-dollar operation with 10 countries that has had some success battling terrorists in the Sahel region.
The QDR states, "In Niger, for example, a small team of combat aviation advisers has helped Niger's Air Force hone its skills to prevent the underdeveloped eastern part of the country from becoming a safe haven for transnational terrorists."
The joint task force strategy also was successfully employed in Liberia in 2003, according to the QDR. To prevent "a full-blown humanitarian crisis" in the war-torn West African nation that year, it said, "a U.S. European Command [EUCOM] joint task force accompanied a force from the Economic Community of West African States [(ECOWAS] throughout the mission.”
In addition, "the U.S. team, working with regional partners, secured and reopened the country's major seaport to permit the flow of humanitarian assistance." This U.S. and ECOWAS effort helped stabilize the country, "permitting a rapid turnover of humanitarian assistance responsibility to the United Nations in support of the new interim Liberian government," the review said.
Significantly, the QDR also targeted support for the African Union as an important part of its defense strategy.
"The Department [DOD] supports the African Union's development of a humanitarian crisis intervention capability, which is a good example of an international organization stepping up to the challenge of regional stabilization," the review concluded.
More information on the QDR is available on the Defense Department Web site.
For additional information, also see Africa and 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)
