07 September 2004
U.S. Military Receives Education on Terrorism in Horn of Africa
Former U.S. envoy to Ethiopia speaks to Air Force special operations class
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The threat of terrorism in the Horn of Africa is real, longstanding and growing, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn told military officers learning more about political conditions in Africa, but he added that U.S. programs are in place to counter the immediate threat to the region.
"The Horn of Africa has been especially susceptible to conflict in the past half century and much of the region is awash in small arms," Shinn explained September 2 to those attending the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command School at Hurlburt Field in Florida, and the result is "instability that hinders governments from exercising full control over their territory and provides terrorists with easy access to weapons."
Shinn's lecture highlighted the Bush administration's new emphasis on working with African governments to stop terrorism on the continent before it can be exported to other regions of the world. The Defense Department has made a special effort to educate its officers on political and social conditions in Africa, a region that for too long was neglected by defense intellectuals.
"Heightened concern about terrorism in the Horn of Africa," said Shinn, "led to the creation in October 2002 of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) outside the capital of Djibouti. It has responsibility for fighting terrorism in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen and in the coastal waters of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Its stated mission is to detect, disrupt and defeat transnational terrorism and to enhance long-term stability in the region." At any given time, he said, there are between 1,400 and 1,600 American military and civilian personnel at CJTF-HOA.
On the diplomatic side, the State Department's Office of Counterterrorism began an additional program in 2003 known as the East Africa Counter-terrorism Initiative, Shinn told his audience. The $100 million program includes military training for border and coastal security, programs to strengthen control of the movement of people and goods across borders, aviation security, assistance for regional programs to curb terrorist financing, police training and an education program to counter extremist influence. There are separate programs to combat money laundering.
Shinn said both Defense and State department efforts are aimed at places like Somalia, which, as a failed state since 1991, "poses a special dilemma" and has received special attention in U.S. government anti-terrorism efforts.
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh testified before the 9/11 Commission (the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States) that al-Qaida soldiers sponsored and directed attacks against American soldiers in Somalia in 1993 during Operation Restore Hope, Shinn said. Later, in 1996, Osama bin Laden took credit publicly for helping the Somalis in those attacks.
"Although Somalis are not particularly attracted to extremist Islam, the country remains a vacuum and is prey to any terrorist with money and a plan," Shinn said.
Sudan, much in the news because of the conflict in Darfur, poses a special case "because of its long history of tolerance toward and support for terrorist groups," he said.
Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, "Khartoum concluded it was in its interest to increase cooperation with the U.S. on counterterrorism. This provided the Bush administration an opportunity to advance the war on terrorism and make progress on ending the long-standing civil war in Sudan," the diplomat explained.
"Sudan's cooperation on counterterrorism reportedly has been excellent," Shinn said. "With American prodding, the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) have also made enormous progress in ending the civil war in the country. Secretary Powell announced last May that the U.S. had removed Sudan from a blacklist of countries deemed not to be cooperating fully on counter-terrorism. There is still in place, however, a maze of American sanctions, including the listing of Sudan as a ‘state sponsor' of terrorism.
"Unfortunately, Sudan's mishandling of the political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur in western Sudan threatens to stop progress on a final peace agreement with the SPLM and halt the improvement in relations with the U.S.," Shinn concluded.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=September&x=200409071717371EJrehsiF0.830929&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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