United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

8 June 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

U.S. Vice President Embarks on State Visit To Kenya (Voice of America)

(Kenya) A leading Kenyan legislator told VOA U.S Vice President Joseph Biden is
scheduled to meet President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as well as the
leadership of parliament‘s reform caucus Tuesday. Mr. Biden arrived late Monday in
Nairobi as part of a three-day official visit to the country.

The origins of AFRICOM: the Obama administration, the Sahara-Sahel and US

Militarization of Africa (Modern Ghana)
(Pan Africa) The US inaugurated a new regional combatant command officially over a
year ago in Oct 1 2008. But the process of creation actually goes back about ten or
twelve years and reflects the dramatic escalation of US military involvement in the
African continent.

Nigerian leader lauds Bill Gates on polio, healthcare (AFP)

(Nigeria) Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met Microsoft founder
Bill Gates and hailed the contributions he and his wife have made to healthcare delivery
in Nigeria and around the world.

American denied bail in Rwanda genocide case (Reuters)

(Rwanda) A Rwandan court denied bail on Monday to a U.S. lawyer arrested ten days
ago on charges of genocide denial and threatening state security, despite pleas from his
legal team that he be freed on health grounds.

Foreign fighters gain influence in Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab militia (Washington

Post)
(Somalia) Foreign fighters trained in Afghanistan are gaining influence inside Somalia's
al-Shabab militia, fueling a radical Islamist insurgency with ties to Osama bin Laden,
according to Somali intelligence officials, former al-Shabab fighters and analysts.

A modest proposal for Liberia (Washington Post)

(Liberia) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the unsentimental, relentless president of Liberia. She
was elected in 2005, as Liberia was emerging from years of vicious civil war, and she
recently came to Washington to deliver a progress report and ask for continued
support.

May deadliest month for Darfur since 2008: peacekeepers (AFP)

(Sudan) Clashes in west Sudan's Darfur region cost almost 600 lives in May, the highest
monthly death toll since peacekeepers were deployed in 2008, according to a UN-
African Union document seen by AFP.

Zuma Has Yet to Fulfill Promises to South Africans (New York Times)
(South Africa) Despite persistent corruption charges and the taint of extramarital
affairs, Mr. Zuma is a political survivor who has risen to lead the continent‘s
powerhouse nation and will soon step onto the international stage as South Africa holds
Africa‘s first World Cup.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
UN envoy stresses need for rehabilitation of Ugandan children war survivors
UNICEF seeks to end use of child soldiers across Central Africa
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, June 11, noon; Washington, D.C.

WHAT: Cato Institute: Sudan After the Elections: Implications for the Future and American
Policy Options
WHO: Sean Brooks, Save Darfur Coalition; Marc Gustafson, Marshall Scholar, Oxford
University; Jon Temin, U.S. Institute for Peace; moderated by Justin Logan, Associate Director
of Foreign Policy Studies, Cato Institute
Info: http://www.cato.org/event.php?eventid=7192
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

U.S. Vice President Embarks on State Visit To Kenya (Voice of America)

A leading Kenyan legislator told VOA U.S Vice President Joseph Biden is scheduled to
meet President Mwai Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, as well as the leadership of
parliament‘s reform caucus Tuesday. Mr. Biden arrived late Monday in Nairobi as part
of a three-day official visit to the country.

Olago Oluoch, co-chairman of Kenya‘s parliamentary reform caucus, said his group will
present a progress report to Mr. Biden about the much-needed reforms the country has
embarked upon.

―He‘s got a series of meetings; first he is meeting the President of the Republic of Kenya,
Mr. Mwai Kibaki, and he is meeting the Prime Minister. Then, later, he is going to be
meeting the speaker of the national assembly, parliament and, lastly, he is going to meet
me and four of my colleagues who are leaders of the parliamentary caucus for reforms,‖
he said.

After addressing a joint news conference with President Kibaki, Mr. Biden is also
scheduled to visit Kenya‘s parliament, which is set to open Tuesday after a recent
recess.

President Barack Obama‘s administration has urged Kenya‘s coalition government to

reform crucial state institutions. America‘s envoy to Kenya, Ambassador Michael
Ranneberger, said ―the United States will not do business as usual with those who do
not support the reform agenda, or who support violence. Let me assure you that we will
take specific actions to back up those words.‖

But, legislator Oluoch said Kenya has taken steps to address the demand for reforms.

―We believe that (in) the agenda for the meeting today, we will brief the Vice President
of the United States (Mr. Biden) how far we have reached, what challenges we are still
facing and what our expectations are,‖ Oluoch said.

Local media reported recently that President Obama wanted to see Kenya‘s ongoing
constitutional review process to be successfully concluded. But, he added that the
United States is not pushing for either a ―yes‖ or a ―no‖ vote at the referendum
scheduled to be held on 4th August.

Mr. Obama said, "I think it's up to the Kenyan people to make a decision about the
direction of their country. But, as a great friend of Kenya and as president of the United
States, I am hoping that the Kenyan people, through a process of self-determination, are
able to take advantage of this moment."

Legislator Oluoch praised Washington‘s support for Kenya‘s constitutional review

process.

―Ambassador Ranneberger has been very positive on the need for Kenyans to be
educated of the draft (constitution). The U.S government, through its agency USAID,
has been able to reach out to the youth and reach out to women who are the
marginalized in our society in such a way that they have been mobilized to understand
the constitution, so that finally they can be able to make their own decision,‖ Oluoch
said.

He said Mr. Biden‘s visit is a demonstration of the strong bond between Washington
and Nairobi.
Oluoch also added that it was a great honor for the country to host the Vice President of
the United States at a time when Kenya needs support from her true friends.
--------------------
The origins of AFRICOM: the Obama administration, the Sahara-Sahel and US
Militarization of Africa (Modern Ghana)

As you probably know the US inaugurated a new regional combatant command

officially over a year ago in Oct 1 2008. But the process of creation actually goes back
about ten or twelve years and reflects the dramatic escalation of US military
involvement in the African continent. It is hard to get figures on military activity, but
the estimate has risen over the last ten years from about $100-200 million a year to
current level of $1 billion and a half a year. This does not involve separate funding,
which is delivered through the US Department of State for private military contractors
operating in Africa as part of AFRICOM and US military involvement in the continent
as Steven was discussing.

What is responsible for the growing US military involvement began in the late 1990s?
There are two major perceptions of US foreign policy makers. One was that the US was
becoming increasingly dependent on resources, particularly oil, coming from the
African continent. For example, today the US imports more oil from Africa than it does
from the entire Middle East. The US still imports more from the Western hemisphere —
Mexico, Canada, Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador — which has a lot to do with
explaining US policy these days towards Latin America and disputes with the Chavez
regime. But, after that Africa is the next most important source of imported oil. Nigeria
and Angola are now the US's 5th and 6th largest suppliers of US oil imports. American
policy makers began to see this happening in the late 1990s.

Another thing that they figured out was the growing involvement of al Qaeda and
armed Islamic groups in Africa, particularly with the bombing of the US embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania which took place in 1998.

I want to emphasis that these developments began before the Bush administration. This
whole process began in the second term of the administration of William Clinton and
has continued under the administration of the current president, Barak Obama. So it is
not a partisan political issue in the US. Instead it represents a bi-partisan consensus
amongst the political elite, that Africa is of growing military importance to the US and
therefore requires a growing level of military involvement on the continent and that is
what has led to the creation of the new African command.

Prior to the creation of AFRICOM, as Steven mentioned, US military activities in Africa,

which until the 1990s were relatively minimal, were actually handled by separate
Commands. Like most American military activities in Africa they were conducted
through European Command because for the most part the US thought they could rely
on their European allies to handle any crisis with their own forces. The US was busy
pursuing its global rivalry with the Soviet Union, engaged in the Korean or Vietnam
war or in other various military projects in Latin America, as well as forming new
relations with Asia. They felt Africa could safely be left in the hands of European allies.
But that began to change in the late 1990s: Africa was now of direct importance to the
US national security policy.

What is the AFRICOM mission? US policy makers have gone to great lengths to obscure
and, to put it bluntly, deceive people about what AFRICOM is for. They talk a lot abut
African peace keeping operations, humanitarian relief operations and the like, but the
people directly appointed to run AFRICOM, General William Ward, commander of
AFRICOM, and his deputy director Vice Admiral Robert Moeller, are under no illusions
about what their primary mission is. When they were first appointed and confirmed to
office it never occurred to them not to tell the truth. And so in the statement they made
in 2008, they talked about US interests in oil and concerns about terrorism in Africa.
Since that time they have been pulled to one side and told not be so honest about Africa
in public. They are now going much more closely to the official line on AFRICOM,
which is to demonstrate a benign US interest in Africa. This is the line which has been
most prominently proclaimed by the deputy Secretary of Defence for Africa, Theresa
Whelan who held office until the turn of this year and was the highest ranking person
in the defence department. She was charged with responsibility of creating AFRICOM.
In public she never said anything about the true mission of AFRICOM, but
unfortunately other members of the military didn't know that they weren't supposed to
blow the cover. So, they actually quoted in their own publication statements that she
made in a briefing to European command where all she talked about was oil, resources,
terrorism, lines of communications access to bases etc. So, people who actually run
military activities in Africa, although they will now be much more careful in public not
to say these things, were never under any illusion as to what their primary missions
were.

What is AFRICOM actually doing in Africa to fulfil these missions? Well, first of all, it's
carrying out a whole series of activities which are designed to strengthen the ability of
key African regimes to stay in power, through arm sales and providing military
training programmes by American military personnel travelling to America and
training African military forces. There are also American military training programmes
that bring African military officers to the US for training, as well as various other
security assistance programmes to strengthen the military capability of, first of all,
regimes — usually oppressive undemocratic regimes — which control countries which
are primary sources of oil and other resources. I am thinking countries like Nigeria,
Algeria, Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, (the list of major oil producing countries is
fairly long), as well as countries which have been willing and able to serve as proxies
for the US on the global war on terror, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia. With regards to
Somalia it is a primary area of concern for America. In North Africa, countries like
Algeria, Chad, Mali and Niger are known as the Trans Sahara Counter-Terrorism
region with regards to the perceived threat of terrorism.

But professional military officers who run US military activities in Africa know that this
is a strategy which is likely to fail over time. You can only keep these regimes in power
for so long, as they tend to collapse with the growing movement of democratisation in
Africa or simply fragment and self destruct, which is a primary concern for the
Pentagon. The day may come when the US may have to use its own forces to intervene
directly in Africa. It is the same trajectory as we have seen in the Middle East under the
US Central Command, which was established in essentially the same way in 1979.
Central Command was created to fulfil the pledge made by President Jimmy Carter that
the United States would be willing to use military force if necessary to protect the free
flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. And the pledge that has been known as the Carter
doctrine has been the basis of US military involvement in the Middle East ever since.
Central command started out as a small headquarters based in Florida. It had no control
over or command of troops, but as I am sure you are all well aware it's now running
two major wars in the Middle East and major military bases in the region.

AFRICOM is essentially following the same trajectory. In addition to the assistance

already mentioned, there has been a dramatic build up of US naval forces off the coast
of Africa, particularly off the oil rich coast of Guinea and also off the coast of Somalia.
The US has established, essentially as part of Central Command, a base on the African
continent in Djibouti, which originally focused on US involvement in the Middle East
but is becoming increasingly focused over time on the Horn of Africa and East Africa.
It's the base from which the US launches military strikes into Somalia, for example. In
addition the US has concluded what are known as 'access agreements'. It's understood
that its not desirable for the US to build a lot of expensive highly visible military bases
around Africa. Rather, what they need is access to as many local military facilities as
possible. The US therefore concluded these base access agreements with governments
right across the continent, because it has no way of knowing which part of Africa it
might have to intervene in directly. What the US needs is access to as many different
bases as possible. And, when asked if it has a base in Botswana or Ghana, it will say 'no
we don't have bases in those countries'. And technically these people are telling the
truth, but what they aren't obviously going on to explain is that we have already
reached agreements with governments in those countries, in that anytime we want to
we can use their military bases. The US has the capability to set up very large military
bases literally in a matter of 24-48 hours and that's essentially what happens when an
American president visits an African country. They take along a US military base with
them and establish it for the duration of the trip and then remove it when they leave.
They bring in thousands and thousands of marines for security, they bring in whole
stock piles of military equipment and other supplies. They bring in their own power
generating system because they know they can't rely on local power grids; they bring
along sophisticated communication equipment systems because they need to
communicate back and forth with Washington. In addition to that they have begun
doing contingency planning and other preparations for direct military intervention in
Africa. It's not because of the fact that they want to do this, but they understand that the
time is coming when they are going to get the order to do this.

One important example of this was at what is known as a war games scenario, which
was conducted by the US Amy War College in May 2008. They had never done these
scenarios for Africa before, but it was part of the build up to the inauguration of
AFRICOM. In spring 2008 they did a total of four scenarios, with two of them for Africa.
One of those was Somalia, although we don't know very much about that because the
people involved in it didn't have much to say in public about it. But the people who
were involved in the Nigeria scenario were so disturbed by the prospects they were
facing that they went very public with a lot of detailed information about those
scenarios. First of all the scenario was set in the year 2013, five years from now, and
what it anticipated was that all oil supplies coming in from Nigeria would be coming to
an end. That would mean that the US would loose access to roughly 10% of its oil
imports. A lot of oil would still be coming to the US, but the loss of 10% of America's
total oil imports would thoroughly disrupt the US economy. People would go to their
gas station and there would be no gasoline. People would go to their stores and there
would no food because it's all brought in on trucks. More and more of it is brought in to
the US on ships. The US depends on access to petroleum, so they understood the
implications if that happened. What they were thinking in terms of was not that the
disruption was caused by MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta)
or insurgent movements in Nigeria, but by the fragmentation and destruction of the
Nigerian government, which they considered was bent on committing suicide. What
they anticipated was that the government would fragment, with the situation
degenerating into a struggle for control of the oil resources and various elements of the
Nigerian government. The Nigerian military would start fighting for control of the
Niger delta and that is what would bring Nigeria's oil production to a halt, at which
point the president of the US would essentially have two options, in their point of view.
They explored all alternatives, such as getting the South Africans to intervene, or maybe
the CIA could find a way to reach a resolution, but they eventually concluded that there
were really only two options. One is that the President of the United States could get up
in front of the American people and say there's no gasoline at the gas stations and
there's nothing I can do about it, which would of course be political suicide for any
President. The only other alternative they could see was for the US to send 20,000
American troops into the Niger Delta in the hope that somehow they could get the oil
flowing again. But these guys are not stupid people; they know that this is an
impossible mission for the military. There's no way that the military could get the oil
flowing again—it would be impossible to protect with military force. But they could see
that under these circumstances there would be irresistible pressure on any American
president to send American troops to Nigeria.
In my opinion, this is why they went very public about this kind of information. They
were really hoping, by alerting the American public about what was coming, that
somehow pressure could be brought to bear on whoever is running the US whenever
that happens to make sure that they never got that order, because they really
understand how futile and crazy such a military adventure would be. They don't want
to think about it, they don't want to be engaged in direct military interventions at that
time. They can see that day coming.

That brings us to what has changed or not changed since President Obama came into
office. He came into office, elected just after the official inaugurations of African
Command. All the evidence I see is that he has essentially decided to continue on the
same trajectory established under the Clinton and Bush administration. In his budget
proposal for the fiscal year 2010, which began in Oct 2009, he asked for more money for
arms to be sent to African regimes, more money for military training, more money for
the operations of AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, more money for bases
in Djibouti, more money for the naval operations off the oil rich coast of Guinea. And
that was in addition to everything else that was contained in the budget. When
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton went to Africa and made a tour of African countries, it
was significant that virtually every single country she toured was a primary recipient of
military assistance; countries like Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Nigeria. In addition,
after discussions with Nigeria and the Nigerian military, she stated that the Obama
administration would do whatever it could to fulfil its pledges within the budget
request. She came out and said, in addition to everything we have promised to the
Nigerians, if they have any more requests for military equipment to be used specifically
in the Niger Delta, the US would be perfectly willing to provide that. It gives you a
sense of how the trajectory is going to be continued and the dangers it poses for Africa,
but also for the US as well because of all its military activity. In my opinion, first of all,
this kind of military activity puts oil resources in jeopardy and strengthens the threat of
terrorism. That's what the people at the Pentagon understand. So, beyond that, it will
inevitably lead to the day when the US will be forced to go into combat in Africa and
take responsibility for the young men and women under their command, which they
take very seriously. They don't want to see them coming back in body bags from a
disastrous military intervention they foresee happening in countries like Nigeria.
--------------------
Nigerian leader lauds Bill Gates on polio, healthcare (AFP)

ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met Microsoft

founder Bill Gates and hailed the contributions he and his wife have made to healthcare
delivery in Nigeria and around the world.

"I thank you for what you are doing for the world. Thank you for all the time and
money you have been investing to make the world safer and healthier," an official
statement quoted Jonathan as saying during the meeting.
"Thank you also for what you are doing for Nigeria as a nation. We appreciate and
commend your efforts," he stated.

Jonathan welcomed the news from Gates that his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
was working on developing an effective malaria vaccine by 2015, the statement added.

He also acknowledged the reported drop in polio cases in Nigeria from 256 in 2009 to
just three so far this year, a situation he attributed to the joint efforts of the government,
the Gates Foundation and other stakeholders, it said.

Gates said that since his last visit to Nigeria in February 2009, Nigeria had witnessed a
greater reduction in polio cases than any country in the world.

The US billionaire said that he was in Nigeria for consultations on what was needed to
ensure that polio never re-emerged on a large scale in Africa's most populous nation.

Gates was in Kano on Sunday to assess the impact of polio immunisation in this once
polio-endemic state and epicentre of the transmission of the crippling viral disease
throughout the world.

"It is fantastic to be here to see so much progress... in reducing the polio burden," Gates
told a gathering of political and traditional leaders in Kano.

"The good result we have seen this year in Kano is a combination of good work and
some good luck that the virus has not come back from any of the neighbouring
countries," Gates said.

In the last 17 months Kano state, which has been a centre of the polio virus in Nigeria,
has not recorded a single polio virus transmission, according to health officials.
--------------------
American denied bail in Rwanda genocide case (Reuters)

KIGALI, Rwanda – A Rwandan court denied bail on Monday to a U.S. lawyer arrested
ten days ago on charges of genocide denial and threatening state security, despite pleas
from his legal team that he be freed on health grounds.

Peter Erlinder, the first foreigner accused under Rwanda's 2008 genocide ideology law,
pleaded not guilty at a hearing last Friday and his four-lawyer team said they will
appeal the bail ruling. He faces a minimum sentence of ten years prison.
"We thought he would be released on health conditions (but) he was denied the request
for release for bail and the order was that he'd be in custody for 30 days pending further
investigations," Ken Ogeto, one of his lawyers, a Kenyan, told Reuters.

Erlinder came to Rwanda to defend outspoken opposition presidential candidate

Victoire Ingabire, head of the United Democratic Forces movement. She was arrested
under accusations of genocide denial and belonging to a terrorist organization in April
and released on bail.

Erlinder is a law professor in the United States and has acted as lead defense counsel for
top genocide suspects at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in
Arusha, Tanzania.

In April he filed a lawsuit in the United States against President Paul Kagame on the
behalf of the wives of the former leaders of Rwanda and Burundi, who died in a plane
crash on April 1994 triggering a 100-day massacre in Rwanda.

The lawsuit accused Kagame of ordering the shooting down of the plane carrying the
two leaders. A Rwandan probe last year pinned the killing on the former Rwandan
president's own troops.

GENOCIDE IDEOLOGY LAW

Last week the United States called for Erlinder's release on compassionate grounds
because he had complained of panic attacks and heart problems that required treatment
at home.

International and Rwandan rights groups say the country's anti-genocide legislation is
vague and frequently used by the government to silence dissent.

In a statement released within minutes of the end of Monday's bail hearing, Rwanda
denied its genocide laws were political or symbolic and said revisionists who deny
genocide would be imprisoned.

"The prosecution of ... Erlinder is not a political tactic; it is an act of justice," said
government spokeswoman Louise Mushikiwabo. "Flagrant and orchestrated breaches
of our genocide ideology laws will be met with the full force of the law."
--------------------
Foreign fighters gain influence in Somalia's Islamist al-Shabab militia (Washington
Post)
Foreign fighters trained in Afghanistan are gaining influence inside Somalia's al-Shabab
militia, fueling a radical Islamist insurgency with ties to Osama bin Laden, according to
Somali intelligence officials, former al-Shabab fighters and analysts.

The foreigners, who include Pakistanis and Arabs, are inspiring the Somali militants to
import al-Qaeda's ideology and brutal tactics from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. A
significant number of Americans are also being drawn to the Somali conflict. Two New
Jersey men were arrested in New York on Sunday and charged with planning to travel
to Somalia to join al-Shabab.

In April, suicide bombers drove a white truck filled with explosives into an African
Union peacekeepers base, mirroring recent bombings in Baghdad or Kabul. Within
hours, a grainy photo emerged on local Web sites of a young, gap-toothed man
clutching a sign in Arabic over the words "Distributed by al-Shabab." It declared the
operation revenge for the U.S.-aided killings of Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al-
Baghdadi, the top leaders of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

"The foreign jihadists were once in the shadows," said Rashid Abdi, a Somalia analyst in
Nairobi with the International Crisis Group, a conflict research organization. "Now,
there is no doubt they have taken control of the movement."

Foreigners are increasingly foot soldiers in Somalia as well.

The two New Jersey suspects, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo
Almonte, 24, appeared in U.S. District Court in Newark on Monday on charges of
conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap people outside the United States. They told a judge
they understood the charges against them, and they were ordered held pending a bond
hearing Thursday, officials said. Their attorneys did not immediately return phone calls
Monday. The two men face up to life in prison if convicted.

In September, a Somali American from Seattle drove a truck bomb into an African
Union base in Mogadishu, killing 21 peacekeepers. In December, a Dane of Somali
descent blew himself up at a hotel in the capital, killing 24 people, including three
government ministers.

In February, al-Shabab formally declared ties to al-Qaeda. The militia has received
praise from bin Laden and radical Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, who has
been linked to the suspect in last year's shootings at Fort Hood, Tex., and the suspect in
an attempted attack aboard a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day. Aulaqi has been
cited as inspiration by the Pakistani American held in last month's attempted bombing
in Times Square.
Al-Shabab's main rival, Hezb-i-Islam, also has proclaimed bin Laden welcome. "We are
both fighting the Christian invaders in Somalia," said Mohamed Osman Aruz, a
spokesman for the group, referring to the West and to Somalia's mostly Christian
neighbors who back the government.

The rise of the foreign fighters suggests a growing internationalization of the conflict,
part of a trend emerging from Yemen to Mali, where al-Qaeda's regional affiliates are
showing increasing ambitions nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Today, U.S. officials consider the vast, ungoverned lands of the Arabian Peninsula and
Africa the second-biggest terrorism threat after Afghanistan and Pakistan. As the
United States focuses its military muscle in those regions, there is concern that more al-
Qaeda-linked fighters could migrate to this part of the world.

"The lesson of the last 10 to 15 years of counterterrorism is that as pressure goes on the
network in one place, it moves elsewhere," Michael Chertoff, former Department of
Homeland Security chief, said during a recent visit to Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.

'Brainwashing our people'

Suicide bombers struck this African Union base in Mogadishu last month. The al-
Shabab militia linked the attack to events in Iraq. (Sudarsan Raghavan/the Washington
Post) Network NewsX Profile

Somalia is where the United States and the West are quietly engaged in the most
ambitious effort outside the theaters of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to halt the
spread of radical Islam and al-Qaeda's influence.

The United States and its allies are providing weapons, training, intelligence and
logistical support to the fragile government. They are also funding the African Union
peacekeeping force that protects -- many say props up -- the government. Yet al-Shabab,
or "The Youth" in Arabic, now controls large patches of south and central Somalia. The
government, divided by political infighting, controls less than five square miles in
Mogadishu.

In the capital, al-Qaeda-inspired tactics have altered the landscape. Hotels are tucked
behind steel gates. Peacekeepers use high-tech gadgets to frisk visitors for explosive
belts. Ordinary Somalis avoid empty, parked cars.

The foreign fighters in Somalia number 300 to 1,200, according to Somali and U.S.
intelligence estimates. Most are from neighboring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania,
Yemen and Sudan. But they include Afghans, Pakistanis and Arabs, say former al-
Shabab fighters. At least 20 Somali Americans have joined the militia, including a top
field commander, Omar Hammami, an Alabama native whose nom de guerre is Abu
Mansoor al-Ameriki. He has starred in propaganda videos to attract more foreign
fighters.

"The foreign fighters are brainwashing our people," Mohammed Sheik Hassan, the head
of Somalia's National Security Agency, said in a recent interview in Mogadishu. "They
want one Islamic nation under the leadership of bin Laden. But the ambition of Somalis
is only to gain power locally."

Al-Qaeda operatives who perpetrated the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and
Tanzania that killed hundreds use Somalia as a haven, according to U.S. and Somali
officials. "There's a parallel, converging interest between the al-Qaeda operatives in East
Africa and al-Shabab," said a U.S. intelligence official. "There certainly is collusion,
cooperation, probably training and some operational level of support."

'Orders from outside'

Foreigners in Somalia are the main link to al-Qaeda's central body, said Somali officials
and former al-Shabab fighters. They train new recruits, both in weapons and ideology.
Somalis who waged jihad in Afghanistan with bin Laden now lead the al-Shabab
militia, which is loosely knit of at least 100 clan-based cells. Over cups of sweet Somali
tea in Mogadishu recently, a group of clan leaders said the foreign fighters were turning
al-Shabab against them, eroding the traditional authority of the clans, Somalia's most
important social unit.

"All of us have been targeted," said Mohamed Hassan Haad, a senior figure of the
powerful Hawije clan. "They are getting orders from outside."

Sheik Mohammed Asad Abdullahi, a former top al-Shabab commander who defected in
November, said that bin Laden never gave direct orders but that al-Shabab
commanders regularly consulted with al-Qaeda's central body. Literature and CDs on
al-Qaeda tactics and ideology were regularly handed out to the rank and file, he said.

"I believed I was part of al-Qaeda," Abdullahi said.

He defected because he could no longer bear the suicide missions, which he described
as orchestrated by the foreigners.

"If they conquer Somalia, they will not be satisfied," he said. "They will cross the
borders."

With the United States expanding its counterterrorism operations in Yemen, U.S. and
Somali officials said they are worried that al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and al-Shabab
could join forces. Still, many Somalis interviewed said they felt a growing anger toward
the foreign fighters.

At the scene of last month's truck bombing, police commander Abdi Fatah Hassan
stared at the damage and lamented the violence brought by outside radicals bent on
martyrdom on Somali soil. "What kind of people believe they will enter paradise by
killing poor Somalis?" he said.

A few days later, Abdullahi Abdurahman Abu Yousef, a top commander of a moderate
Sufi Islamist militia fighting al-Shabab, echoed that sentiment in a rousing speech to his
militiamen. "They are destroying our home for the sake of Iraqis?" he bellowed. "The
foreign devil is leading them."
--------------------
A modest proposal for Liberia (Washington Post)

A recent Post editorial told how U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing wealthy cotton farmers
not only in America's Deep South but in the even Deeper South, too -- meaning Brazil.
That made me think about Liberian children who still have to do their homework while
squatting under street lamps, because they have no electricity at home.

That may seem an odd connection, but after you've had a visit from the formidable
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, almost anything can make you think of Liberia.

Johnson-Sirleaf is the unsentimental, relentless president of that impoverished West

African nation. She was elected in 2005, as Liberia was emerging from years of vicious
civil war, and she recently came to Washington to deliver a progress report and ask for
continued support.

To get a sense of the challenge she faced when she took over, consider this: Eighty-five
percent. That was Johnson-Sirleaf's reply when I asked about unemployment in her
capital of Monrovia. No, I said, assuming she had misheard; I said unemployment rate,
not employment rate. "Eighty-five percent," she insisted grimly. But, she said, thanks to
foreign investment, improvements in infrastructure and efforts to combat crime and
corruption, it has decreased to 50 percent today. Imagine celebrating an employment
rate of 50 percent.

What had really stuck with me from the president's last visit, in 2006, was the image of
children gathering on street corners to do their homework. "We have a city that's dark,"
she had said, setting electrification as one of her first goals.

And today? The president reported, with little satisfaction, that 18 percent of the capital
now is wired -- this despite a partnership of the World Bank, the International Finance
Corp., the United States and Norway aimed at bringing electricity to the city.
What's taking so long? During the war, every single wire had been taken down and
sold or destroyed, she said. The World Bank contracting process grinds slowly. But the
main factor: The solution to the problem is a planned hydroelectric plant that will cost
$300 million, and $300 million is a lot of money.

Unless you're in the American cotton business.

As that Post editorial said, the U.S. government has been paying cotton growers more
than $3 billion per year since 1991, with most of the largess going (as the Environmental
Working Group has demonstrated) to big agribusiness in the South. The subsidies are
so out of whack that the World Trade Organization ruled them an unfair trading
practice -- and rather than reform, the United States is now forking over another $147
million per year to Brazilian cotton farmers, who lodged the complaint.

Obvious solution: Turn off the spigot to Balmoral Farming Partnership of Louisiana
($18 million in cotton subsidies from 1995 to 2009, according to EWG), Gila River Farms
of Arizona ($16 million) and the other welfare queens of cotton for just one month -- one
month! -- and let Liberia have its hydroelectric plant. Monrovia schoolchildren could do
their homework. As adults, they might earn more than the average $500 per year that
their parents earn. West Africa would be stabler. America would be more secure. And
so on.

Except, of course, that any interruption in cotton subsidies would be unacceptable to

the fiscal hypocrites of Louisiana, Arizona and other agribusiness states who would
howl at a reduction in subsidies and, no doubt, at any increase in foreign aid. I'm
thinking here of statesmen like Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, running for
reelection with "Fighting Wasteful Government Spending" listed as his top issue -- but
who merrily joined eight other Republican fiscal hypocrites in a letter to President
Obama in March opposing any cuts to the "farm safety net." ("While we agree that fiscal
restraint is necessary and spending in the Federal budget should be reduced, doing so
in this manner places a disproportionate burden on the backs of farmers, ranchers and
rural communities and fails to recognize the recent sacrifices these constituencies made .
. . . ")

Johnson-Sirleaf, now 71, recently announced that she will run for reelection next year.
Liberia has more foreign investment for the size of its economy than any other country.
Its six years of peace are a major achievement. Young men who knew nothing but guns
are being gradually reintegrated into society. But, she says, with a sigh, "It's all taking a
little bit longer than we had anticipated."
--------------------
May deadliest month for Darfur since 2008: peacekeepers (AFP)
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Clashes in west Sudan's Darfur region cost almost 600 lives in
May, the highest monthly death toll since peacekeepers were deployed in 2008,
according to a UN-African Union document seen by AFP.

The surge in violence follows the breakdown of peace talks between Darfur's main rebel
group and the Khartoum government and contradicts an August pronouncement by the
former chief of the UN-AU force's military operations, Martin Agwai, that the civil war
is over.

"The parties to a much-applauded Framework (peace) Agreement (in February) could

now be defined as 'belligerents' and it is not anticipated they will convene peacefully in
the short term," said the confidential document.

It said 440 people died in fighting last month between Darfur rebels and government
forces, 126 in tribal violence, and 31 in other violence, including murder.

In May, fighting broke out anew between the Justice and Equality Movement, Darfur's
main rebel group, and the government after the JEM walked out of peace talks in the
Qatari capital Doha.

The document of the hybrid UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) did not
give a breakdown of the two sides' losses.

The failure of the February agreement between Khartoum and JEM "culminated in
military confrontations leaving in its wake the biggest number of fatalities ever
recorded in a single month: 597," including the tribal deaths, it said.

Two rival Arab tribes, the Rezeigat and Misseriya, have also clashed in Darfur since
March.

Darfur, an arid desert region the size of France, has been gripped by a civil war since
2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UN
figures. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.

UNAMID was deployed in January 2008.

Last month, Sudanese army forces dislodged JEM rebels from their Jebel Moon
stronghold in West Darfur on the border with Chad, through which the JEM had
previously been supplied before support from Ndjamena was cut off.

"JEM's ability to move from Jebel Moon to locations including el-Daein, Adila, Umm
Sauna, Abu Darmilla -- and Babanosa in Southern Kordofan, possibly a current
headquarters -- confirms the extent of their knowledge of the terrain," the document
said.

"More importantly this suggests some local support along the way," it said, whereas the
government's authority was being restricted to the towns of Darfur.

The document voiced concern over human rights abuses against civilians, a "total lack
of humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas," and "indications that the already tense
situation is likely to escalate further."

On Monday in Doha, the Sudanese government resumed peace talks with a minor rebel
group in Qatar's capital, in the absence of JEM.

Sudan's chief negotiator Amin Hasan Omar said Khartoum was "optimistic" about
signing a final agreement with the Liberation and Justice Movement, a rebel group that
is an alliance of splinter factions.

Meanwhile, Qatari mediator and minister of state for foreign affairs, Ahmad Abdullah
al-Mahmud, called on other rebel groups to join in the negotiations.

JEM had signed the framework accord in February that was hailed by the international
community as a major step toward bringing peace to the region devastated by seven
years of war.

But there was no final, comprehensive peace agreement by a March 15 deadline and
JEM broke off from the talks that same month, claiming ceasefire violations and
resumed attacking government.
--------------------
Zuma Has Yet to Fulfill Promises to South Africans (New York Times)

Finally, like a glowering patriarch, he lectured and scolded them, threatening to leave.
―This means you will live forever in poverty!‖ he exclaimed. ―If we do not listen to each
other, how can we fix anything?‖

Suddenly, the rage of the throng dissipated. There was a chorus of apologies. A voice
shouted, ―Sorry, Baba!‖ Then a cry arose for the president to sing his trademark song
from the anti-apartheid struggle, ―Bring Me My Machine Gun.‖

―You want it?‖ he asked.

―Yes!‖ they shouted. And like an aging entertainer obliging with a golden oldie, Mr.
Zuma, 68, crooned and boogied onstage.
It was a moment that encapsulated both the promise and the unfulfilled potential of Mr.
Zuma, who has raised the hopes of the dispossessed but not yet delivered the better life
they are demanding. Despite persistent corruption charges and the taint of extramarital
affairs, he is a political survivor who has risen to lead the continent‘s powerhouse
nation and will soon step onto the international stage as South Africa holds Africa‘s first
World Cup.

With his rumbling laugh and habit of dancing onstage, Mr. Zuma has a gift for
connecting with the country‘s impoverished black majority, who are impatient for the
better life promised by the dawning of democratic rule 16 years ago.

―I‘ve never seen a president in Africa in direct dialogue with his citizens like Jacob
Zuma,‖ said Zakhele Maya, 26, an activist in Siyathemba who, like most in the
township, is jobless.

But that connection has not quelled the discontent. After an earlier visit, last year, Mr.
Zuma ordered the government to improve the township‘s health and housing services,
yet frustrations continued to rise. In February, residents burned down the library. The
books are now charred scraps, the library a pile of blackened rubble.

A year into his five-year term, Mr. Zuma recently signed performance contracts with his
ministers, setting out specific results for them to achieve. But analysts are urging action,
not aspirations, on South Africa‘s core challenges: a failing education system, staggering
levels of joblessness and the widening chasm between rich and poor. There is already
open speculation about whether his party, the African National Congress, in power
since the end of apartheid, will pick him for a second term.

―By 2013, the questions arise: Who will govern beyond 2014?‖ asked Trevor Manuel,
who heads the National Planning Commission in Mr. Zuma‘s office and was finance
minister for the previous 13 years. ―And the intense period has to be 2011, 2012, into
2013. Those are the middle years of the term of government, and I think the foundation
is now well laid. Now you‘ve got to drive the change.‖

Mr. Zuma‘s highly personal, consensus-building style has helped him lead a sweeping
new attack on AIDS after almost a decade of failed leadership under his predecessor,
Thabo Mbeki. But even some in his party say that tackling the nation‘s deep economic
problems will probably require angering allies who put him in office, especially Cosatu
— the powerful trade union federation that is part of the governing alliance — and the
A.N.C.‘s youth wing. It is led by the incendiary Julius Malema, 29, regarded by many
here as a demagogue who plays on racial antagonisms and who was recently sent to
anger management classes by the party.
The dry kindling of resentment is here to be ignited. The ranks of the jobless have
grown by more than a million in the past year and a half, and South Africa, population
49 million, already had among the highest rates of chronic unemployment in the world.
More than a third of the work force, including those too discouraged to seek work, is
jobless. Studies have found that most of the unemployed have never held a job.

Mr. Zuma announced in February that proposals would be put forward to subsidize the
wages of inexperienced workers, to help them get a foot in the door. But Cosatu, the
Congress of South African Trade Unions, which represents those who already have
jobs, opposes the idea — and debate within the government continues.

Another point of tension is education. Last year, Mr. Zuma said teachers and principals
— whose union is also part of Cosatu — must be held accountable for whether they
show up and do their jobs. In an interview, Mr. Zuma reiterated the need for such a step
and said it would be taken by the end of his second year in office.

―There‘s no teacher who‘s going to hide behind the school,‖ he said.

But critics question whether Mr. Zuma has the support to follow through on these
difficult decisions, the vision to address the country‘s daunting challenges or the
standing to root out corruption. Worries deepened when it surfaced that Mr. Zuma,
who already had three wives and a fiancée, had fathered a child, his 20th, out of
wedlock with the daughter of a family friend.

―The biggest danger we face as a country is the use of office for personal gain, and it is
becoming so, so normal, and nobody‘s arresting that,‖ said Mondli Makhanya, a
newspaper editor whose reporter broke the story about Mr. Zuma‘s child in The
Sunday Times. ―He lacks the leadership strength at this point to turn against people
who supported him, and he lacks the moral authority to say, ‗No, you can‘t do that.‘ ‖

More fundamentally, making choices that would divide the governing alliance goes
against Mr. Zuma‘s instincts as an African traditionalist who seeks to settle conflicts by
gathering his coalition under a metaphoric marula tree to talk for days or weeks until
they reach a consensus, said Allister Sparks, a veteran commentator here. ―Action dies
in the process of eternal, everlasting debate,‖ Mr. Sparks said.

Manuel, the former finance minister, says the president‘s style is to keep everyone in
the tent, recalling Mr. Zuma‘s efforts to mediate Burundi‘s complex civil war. ―He‘d sit
in Dar es Salaam for tens of days, and he has the most remarkable patience to do that
kind of thing,‖ Mr. Manuel said.
―So perhaps he needs the support of ministers who are going to push and shove and try
to get things done.‖ On issues including teacher accountability, Mr. Manuel said,
―Instinctively, I would take a much harder line on some of these things.‖

Mr. Zuma‘s political resilience should not be underestimated. After a decade as a

political prisoner, he rose to lead the A.N.C.‘s underground intelligence operation
during the anti-apartheid struggle. As president, he has filled important police and
prosecutorial posts with loyalists, making it unlikely he will face further corruption
charges.

In an interview, he told a story that suggested the roots of the cool calculation beneath
his warm, amiable style. ―If you are angry, you can‘t think properly, and the other boys
will really beat you up,‖ he said of his days learning stick fighting with other Zulu boys.
―You‘ve got to be sober so that you can be able to defend yourself and also hit the other
boy.‖

As the debate over Mr. Zuma swirls, the man himself has fun on the hustings. He
recently basked in the adulation of a vast crowd at a township stadium in the Free State
for a World Cup prayer service sponsored by the A.N.C. The event was an ecstatic,
incantatory fusion of sports, religion and politics that would not have seemed out of
place in Texas.

Thousands of churchwomen ululated for him and the South African soccer team,
Bafana Bafana. ―Long live Jacob Zuma!‖ one cried. ―Long live!‖ the crowd responded.
A small smile flickered across Mr. Zuma‘s face as the premier of the Free State said:
―We are not talking succession. We are just saying the president should be president
again and again and again!‖

White dignitaries mounted the stage. A blanket imprinted with the South African flag
was laid on the floor; Mr. Zuma knelt on it as preachers placed their hands on his head.
People gathered around and raised their hands to God, a tableau of racial harmony.

―Let us receive our visitors warmly with love,‖ Mr. Zuma said of the coming games.
―Let us embrace them.‖ And with a mischievous glint, he added, ―Those who at times
are not good, let them for just four weeks be good.‖
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

UN envoy stresses need for rehabilitation of Ugandan children war survivors

7 June – Survivors of the brutal conflict that has wracked northern Uganda for two
decades, most of them young people, must be helped back on their feet by supporting
their efforts to acquire skills that will help them reintegrate into society, a United
Nations envoy has said after spending a week in the country.

UNICEF seeks to end use of child soldiers across Central Africa

7 June – The United Nations Children‘s Fund (UNICEF) is helping to find ways to
ensure that children do not serve as soldiers in Central Africa, a region plagued by
conflicts in which minors have been fighting on behalf of both militias and national
armies.