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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Aug 09 2010 - 06:07:25 EDT
AFRICOM and Uganda's Dance with Death
MONDAY 9 AUGUST 2010
<http://www.truth-out.org/africom-and-ugandas-dance-with-death61652>
<http://www.truth-out.org/africom-and-ugandas-dance-with-death61652> by:
Dallas Darling, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
Right after Uganda's horrendous and deadly twin bombings killed 74 people,
President Barack Obama spoke with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to
express his sadness and to offer condolences for the loss of life. But
another key part of the conversation dealt with the Somalia-based militia,
the al-Shabab, and AFRICOM. Washington considers the al-Qaeda-linked
al-Shabab (which claimed responsibility for the worst attack in Uganda in
twelve years) a terrorist group. And even while the press was busy
announcing the attacks were proof of al-Qaeda's and al-Shabab's
militant-like expansion into Africa, nothing was mentioned about AFRICOM and
its attempt to dominate the African continent. But as it often happens, the
US offers condolences and expresses sadness, and then it slowly turns and
transforms suffering and tragedies into military campaigns.
AFRICOM, or US African Command, was established in 2008. It is a unified
Pentagon command center in Africa and is presented as a humanitarian guard
in the global war on terror. AFRICOM was also heralded as a mission to
professionalize indigenous militaries and to ensure stability, security, and
to protect human rights. (
<http://www.truth-out.org/africom-and-ugandas-dance-with-death61652#1> 1)
However, its real, hidden objective, backed by US corporations and the
Pentagon's military-industrial complex, is to penetrate Africa and to
militarily control Africa's vital oil and mineral resources. More than 1,500
military officers from Africa have completed programs at US military schools
and military bases. Still, Washington is selling and supplying millions of
dollars worth of advanced weapons systems to several African nations. Some
warn AFRICOM is actually identifying and developing African governments to
function as US surrogates.(
<http://www.truth-out.org/africom-and-ugandas-dance-with-death61652#2> 2)
Although most African nations have resisted AFRICOM's overtures, Nigeria,
Ethiopia, Liberia, and, of course, Uganda, have opened their borders to US
military aid, armed personnel, and corporate security forces. These nations
have either suffered military or economic crises. Is Uganda's embrace with
AFRICOM a dance with death too? Uganda has now found itself embroiled in the
US's Global War On Terror, which has lasted for almost a decade. Since
Uganda supplies troops and arms for Mogadishu's African Union - which is
working with AFRICOM and whose soldiers have been trained at American
military bases - it has now become a victim of the two-decades-old US-Somali
Civil War. Will there be more bombings, more killings, and more
bloodshed-not to mention the US-led AFRICOM's bungled raid against a Ugandan
rebel group that killed 900 civilians?
After having been colonized by the British East Africa Company and then
dominated by a foreign imperial army, Uganda finally won independence in
1962. It was not long, though, before Uganda's economic and political
divisions from the colonial period emerged to tear the nation apart. Will
Ugandans allow AFRICOM to do the same, especially as AFRICOM has already
used Ugandan territory to launch several military operations in the
surrounding regions? Uganda may want to rethink its dance with AFRICOM, its
pact with the US-led global war on terror, and its entanglement with the
US-Somalia Civil War. Uganda is a rich and culturally diverse nation filled
with many ethnic and religious groups. Currently, it is experiencing a
rejuvenated economy and a democratic political system that is receptive to
the participation of all ethnic groups. Therefore, does Uganda really need
AFRICOM?
Perhaps the answer lies in a proverb from the Baganda People: That which
becomes bad at the outset of its growth is almost impossible to straighten
at a later stage.(
<http://www.truth-out.org/africom-and-ugandas-dance-with-death61652#3> 3)
Uganda has driven out one empire and its imperial army. It has ended the
reign of a ruthless dictator and has had to overcome a long guerilla war.
Just like most African nations which are still ravaged from past centuries
of imperialism and economic exploitation, at this moment in time Uganda is
experiencing decolonization. By embracing AFRICOM, will Uganda have to
someday experience deAFRICOMization? Ugandans must understand that where
there are US military forces and AFRICOM fighting a disingenuous war on
terror, al-Qaeda and al-Shabab will be there too. Can Uganda really afford
another dance with death?
-----
(1) Phillips, Peter and Andrew Roth. Censored 2009, The Top 25 Censored
Stories of 2007-2008. New York, New York: Seven Stories Press, 2008., p.
133.
(2) Ibid., p. 134.
(3) Gall, Timothy L. (Editor) Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life,
Volume 1-Africa. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Publishers, 1998., p. 449.
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