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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Aug 20 2010 - 08:50:12 EDT
U.S. Military Intervention in Africa: The New Blueprint for Global
Domination
by Paul C. Wright
http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverStoryPictures2/20708.jpg
Global Research <http://www.globalresearch.ca> , August 20, 2010
The United States' intervention in Africa is driven by America's desire to
secure valuable natural resources and political influence that will ensure
the longevity of America's capitalist system, military industrial complex,
and global economic superiority - achieved through the financial and
physical control of raw material exports. While America's prosperity may be
waning due to a number of current factors, policy makers are bent on trying
to preserve America's global domination and will pursue policy objectives
regardless of the downturn in the economy at large.
The U.S. has a long history of foreign intervention and long ago perfected
the art of gaining access to other countries' natural, human, and capital
resource markets through the use of foreign trade policy initiatives,
international law, diplomacy, and, when all else fails, military
intervention. Typically and historically, diplomatic efforts have largely
been sufficient for the U.S. to establish itself as a player in other
nations' politics and economies. While U.S. intervention in Africa is
nothing new, the way the U.S. is going about the intervention features a new
method that is being implemented across the globe.
The U.S. has followed a great deal of its diplomatic interventions with the
establishment of extensive networks of foreign military posts - designed to
influence other nations and protect what are defined as U.S. strategic
national interests. This global reach is evidenced by an extensive network
of over 737 military installations [1] all around the globe, from Ecuador to
Uzbekistan, Colombia to Korea. The model for successfully accessing these
nations and their critical financial and commodities markets is changing,
however, particularly as it relates to renewed intervention in Africa. The
new intervention is directly linked to two factors: the fast paced and
heated battle with rivals China and Russia over their access to key natural
resources, and the U.S.' declining ability to manage a bloated international
network of overseas military outposts.
I. Resources Rivalry
Access to natural resources - particularly oil and rare earth elements - is
critical for the U.S. to remain a dominant industrial and military power,
especially since the U.S. has experienced a decline in natural resource
production while China's production and foreign access to strategic
materials has only increased. A sustained increase in oil imports has been
underway since domestic U.S. oil production peaked in the 1970s, with oil
imports surpassing domestic production in the early 1990s. Strategic metals,
such as the titanium used in military aircraft, and rare earth elements used
in missile guidance systems are increasingly produced by China or under the
control of Chinese companies. The issue is of such importance that 2009 saw
the creation of the annual Strategic Metals Conference, a forum designed to
address concerns related to US access to metals with important industrial
and military uses. The second annual conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio in
January 2010, saw dozens of engineers and military personnel express
heightened concern over China's near monopoly over rare earth metals. [2]
China controls around 95% of the world's rare earth output and has decided
to restrict the export of these metals, leaving international consumers
short by approximately 20,000 tons in 2010. [3]
China's rapidly developing economy, recently over taking Japan as the
world's second largest, continues to log nine to ten percent annual growth
in Gross Domestic Product, and is fueled by a rapidly growing middle class
as well as new export markets around the world. The demand for raw materials
has led to new policy initiatives in which Africa has taken center stage for
Chinese investment. China has gained access to Africa by, in large part,
offering favorable aid packages to several nations which include loans, debt
forgiveness, and job training. [4] In contrast to Western aid packages,
Chinese aid has few if any strings attached.
China's platform for developing trade with and providing aid to Africa was
of such importance that in October 2000, the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (FOCAC) was launched. Fifty African nations participate in the
forum which serves as the foundation for building bridges of economic trade
as well as political and cultural exchange. [5] The forum, and indeed
China's Africa strategy as a whole, has been so successful that Africans
view China as an equal partner in trade and development, validating the
politically and culturally significant "South-South" economic alliance that
the FOCAC maintains is at the foundation of its engagement with Africa. This
plays on the historical disparities that Western powers created and
exploited in their former "North-South" colonial relationships with Africa
and has been a key factor in developing strong bonds and a highly favorable
opinion of China among Africans. Survey data indicates that most Africans
share the view of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade when he says:
"China's approach to our needs is simply better adapted than the slow and
sometimes patronizing post-colonial approach of European investors, donor
organizations and nongovernmental organizations. In fact, the Chinese model
for stimulating rapid economic development has much to teach Africa. With
direct aid, credit lines and reasonable contracts, China has helped African
nations build infrastructure projects in record time-bridges, roads,
schools, hospitals, dams, legislative buildings, stadiums and airports. In
many African nations, including Senegal, improvements in infrastructure have
played important roles in stimulating economic growth."
"It is a telling sign of the post-colonial mindset that some donor
organizations in the West dismiss the trade agreements between Chinese banks
and African states that produce these vital improvements-as though Africa
was naive enough to just offload its precious natural resources at bargain
prices to obtain a commitment for another stadium or state house." [6]
In fact, opinion polls clearly reveal that Africans see Chinese influence as
being far more positive than U.S. influence. [7] China has clearly gained a
substantive advantage in working with dozens of African nations as U.S.
influence continues to wane.
Russia has also taken a renewed interest in Africa, reminiscent to some in
the U.S. media as a revision of the Soviet Union's Africa Strategy in which
the Soviet Union created numerous "Soviet Treaties of Friendship and
Cooperation" as a counterweight to Western capitalism and institutions like
the United States Agency for International Development. [8] Russian
President Medvedev, and Prime Minister Putin have been making their rounds
in Africa with "legions of Russian businessmen, targeting diamonds, oil,
gas, and uranium" and have been establishing commodities production
agreements with several nations. [9] Putin's push to restore Russia's
international stature, power, and prestige has led Russia to purchase in
excess of $5 billion of African assets between 2000 and 2007. [10] Russia's
investments in and trade with Africa are quite small when compared with both
the U.S. and China. Still, Russia has made an increase in trade and the
acquisition of African raw materials a geostrategic imperative.
Chinese and Russian influence is quickly spreading and is seen in many cases
as a viable and preferable alternative to the Western model which,
particularly considering Africa's colonial past, is seen to attach
unfavorable conditions to aid and development that are designed to enrich
the West at the expense of the people of Africa. Africans have in effect
identified what sociologist Johan Galtung considers to be a "disharmony of
interests" that the U.S. is trying to manage through new diplomatic efforts.
The U.S. continues to lose influence in Africa to China and Russia, both of
which are increasing their influence at a steady clip, and continues to be
branded as imperialist in the eyes of Africans. The U.S. is well aware that
it needs to improve its image in Africa in order to realize its strategic
goals.
II. The Weight of Empire
While there is no reliable data on the precise cost of maintaining the
United States' network of over 700 military bases, it is estimated that the
cost is $250 billion per year. [11] This is 38% of the entire disclosed 2010
budget for the Department of Defense of $663.7 billion. The cost includes
facilities, staff, weapons, munitions, equipment, food, fuel, water, and
everything else required to operate military installations.
In 2004, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that the U.S
global military presence had to change and adapt to the post-cold war world.
The post-cold war world did not require large garrisons of heavy armor
throughout the European theater - garrisons stocked with enough soldiers and
armament to challenge the massive Soviet military and Warsaw Pact nations on
the borders of Eastern and Western Europe. The new military would be
lighter, faster, rely more on light infantry and special-forces, and would
used to fight multiple smaller scale wars across the globe in what was
branded as an eternal Global War on Terror (GWOT). In Rumsfeld's opinion,
the U.S. would save up to $6 billion of its annual operating budget by
closing (or realigning) 100 to 150 foreign and domestic bases [12] and save
$12 billion by closing 200 to 300 bases. [13] Clearly, the cost of
maintaining America's legions was central to the Rumsfeld's transformation
initiative and to the U.S. military's new role.
This military transformation would reduce the number of heavy garrisons
abroad and would increasingly rely on pre-positioned war materials managed
by smaller staffs at foreign military installations. These military
installations would be available for a massive influx of U.S. troops if
needed. Bilateral treaties and Status of Forces Agreements created by the
Department of Defense and host nations would ensure that these installations
would be available, to the extent required, to the American military and
would ensure that the American military could operate freely with few
constraints on its activities, legal or otherwise.
In the case of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, a key military outpost and
strategically important piece of real-estate in the Horn of Africa,
precisely where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, the United States
government entered into an agreement [14] with the government of Djibouti
that has several striking features:
. U.S. military personnel have diplomatic immunity
. The United States has sole jurisdiction over the criminal acts of its
personnel
. U.S. personnel may carry arms in the Republic of Djibouti
. The U.S. may import any materials and equipment it requires into the
Republic of Djibouti
. No claims may be brought against the U.S. for damage to property or loss
of life
. Aircraft, vessels, and vehicles may enter, exit, and move freely
throughout the Republic of Djibouti.
Such an agreement allows the U.S. to maintain a small permanent presence in
Djibouti, but staff and stock up with as many military personnel and weapons
as it deems fit for any particular operation inside or outside of Africa as
needed. Additionally, the agreement gives the U.S. the flexibility it wants
to operate freely without interference from or liability to the people and
government of Djibouti.
III. The New Model - AFRICOM
With all of the concern over U.S. access to key natural resources, it is
hardly a surprise that United States conceived of and finally launched
United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in 2007. The unveiling AFRICOM was
done under the auspices of bringing peace, security, democracy, and economic
growth to Africans. The altruistic rationale for the creation of a new
military command was belied by the fact that from the start it was
acknowledged that AFRICOM was a "combatant" command created in response to
Africa's growing strategic importance to the United States; namely, "the
size of its population, its natural resource wealth, its potential". [15]
Africans were aware of U.S. described strategic national interests in their
oil and gas fields, and raw materials long before most Americans were had
any idea that renewed intervention in Africa was being planned. In November
2002, the U.S. based Corporate Council on Africa held a conference on
African oil and gas in Houston, Texas. The conference, sponsored by
ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco among others, was opened by United States
Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Walter Kansteiner. Mr. Kansteiner
previously stated that, "African oil is of strategic national interest to us
and it will increase and become more important as we go forward," while on a
visit to Nigeria. [16] In fact, President Fradique de Menezes of Sao Tome
and Principe said at that time that he had reached agreement with the United
States for establishment of a U.S. naval base there, the purpose of which
was to safeguard U.S. oil interests. [17] The U.S. Navy has in fact
proceeded with its basing plans in Sao Tome and recently reported on its
activities in that nation on its website in July, 2010. [18] Since the
establishment of AFRICOM, numerous training exercises have been carried out
in Africa by U.S. military forces, and basing agreements have been worked
out with several African partners across the continent - even in the face of
strong dissent from the citizens of several countries. The U.S. has been
able to create these relationships through the careful structuring of its
operations, size and make-up of its staff, and public relations efforts.
The structuring of AFRICOM was a critical component in making AFRICOM
palatable to Africans. After several nations objected to the presence of a
physical headquarters in Africa, AFRICOM's commander, General William E.
Ward, went on record several times to say that a physical command presence
was not needed in Africa (even though the U.S. initially did try quite hard
but unconvincingly to establish a permanent headquarters there). The command
is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany, and will remain there for the
foreseeable future, mainly in deference to African objections.
AFRICOM's size was also an important factor. It has no large garrisons, no
sizeable staff beyond the headquarters in Germany and the small number of
forces and civilian support personnel based at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti as
part of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and no large
armory to sustain division or brigade sized operations. The small size and
staff of U.S. basing operations like CJTF-HOA is the new model for U.S.
foreign intervention. Instead of large garrisons, the U.S. has is created a
series of Forward Operating Locations (FOLs). FOLs are "smaller, cheaper,
and can thus be more plentiful. In short, the FOL can lie in wait with a low
carrying cost until a crisis arrives, at which point it can be quickly
expanded to rise to whatever the occasion demands." [19] Arrangements have
been made with several countries, north, south, east, and west, including
Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, Sao Tome, Senegal, Uganda,
Ethiopia, and Zambia. [20]
AFRICOM's staffing structure is a military-civilian hybrid for two reasons:
to convey the message that the combatant command does not have an exclusive
military purpose, and to gain influence over African nations' domestic and
foreign policies. AFRICOM has a civilian deputy commander and a large
civilian staff, in part made up of U.S. State Department personnel. These
civilian personnel include foreign policy advisors from the U.S. Bureau of
African Affairs, humanitarian assistance advisors from the U.S. Agency for
International Development, as well as advisors from the U.S. Department of
Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. [21] Africa's burgeoning
relationships with China are seen as undermining Western "efforts to bolster
good governance, improve respect for human rights, and reduce corruption,"
[22] hence the need for civilian subject matter expertise to help the
Africans manage their civil affairs and security.
U.S. officials have long been cognizant of African hostility to any efforts
that could be perceived as neo-colonialist and imperialist. A number of
missteps to rectify were (and continue to be) identified as the new command
took shape. Several contradictory statements were made with respect to
AFRICOM's role, whether with respect to terrorism, natural resources, China,
or the militarization of the continent. Even the timing of the command's
creation was criticized, it being created during a dramatically
deteriorating time of war in Iraq. The actions of the U.S. government sent
"mixed signals" [23] and fueled anti-Americanism among the citizens that
would eventually become unwilling hosts of American forces. To overcome poor
public relations, the command built several activities into the structure of
AFRICOM, to include the building of schools in poor villages, air and sea
port construction projects, the distribution of medicine and textbooks to
children, military-to-military training programs, and legal operational
support. Military personnel have also taken a more deferential tone in
speaking about the way AFRICOM interfaces with African nations. Vice Admiral
Robert T. Moeller explained: "We do not lead or create policy . . . . Our
programs are designed to respond to what our African partners have asked us
to do." [24]
Public relations efforts have been of such importance to the military, the
U.S. Army War College published a research paper in March 2008, entitled
"Combating African Questions about the Legitimacy of AFRICOM". The paper
expressed Africa's strategic importance to the United States, yet offense
that the creation of AFRICOM prompted a "hostile" response from African
leaders. [25] It urged the U.S. to learn more about African institutions and
to engage them rather than ignore them. It also advocated that U.S.
personnel gain a stronger understanding of Africa's colonial past while
pushing for African nations to become more multilateral in working towards a
common goal. It called for the increased use of "soft power that could be
leverage by the U.S. Department of State in winning the public relations
fight for Africa. [26]
AFRICOM has certainly run into a number of roadblocks but it appears that
the new command will flourish as a result of intensive diplomatic and public
relations efforts by the United States government. The structure and
domestic operations of AFRICOM also makes it more palatable to African
leaders who can more easily claim that they have a harmony rather than a
disharmony of interests with the U.S. while the U.S. is building roads,
training military forces, and passing out textbooks to children. A leaner,
smaller, less intrusive, and more culturally engaged network of military
outposts is America's new blueprint for foreign intervention and global
domination.
Paul C. Wright is an attorney, business consultant, and legal researcher who
has practiced both military and civil law. His legal practice areas have
included criminal, international, insurance, and consumer law.
Notes
[1] Johnson, Chalmers, "737 U.S. Military Bases = Global Empire," Global
Research , March 21, 2009. Mr. Johnson continues: "The Pentagon continues to
omit from its accounts most of the $5 billion worth of military and
espionage installations in Britain, which have long been conveniently
disguised as Royal Air Force bases. If there were an honest count, the
actual size of our military empire would probably top 1,000 different bases
overseas, but no one -- possibly not even the Pentagon -- knows the exact
number for sure."
<http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12824>
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12824
[2] Schoenberger, Robert, "Developing a U.S. supply of strategic metals is
on the agenda at Cleveland Conference, The Plain Dealer , February 1, 2010,
<http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/developing_a_us_supply_
of_stra.html>
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/developing_a_us_supply_o
f_stra.html
[3] Zhang, Yajun, Vincent, Lee, and Jung-Ah, Lee, "China Dangles Rare-Earth
Resources to Investors, The Wall Street Journal , August 16, 2010,
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703321004575427050544485366.h
tml>
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703321004575427050544485366.ht
ml
[4] In Angola, for example, China secured future oil production rights by
offering $2 billion in loans "for Chinese companies to build railroads,
schools, roads, hospitals, bridges, and offices; lay a fiber-optic netword;
and train Angolan telecommunications workers." Hanson, Stephanie, "China,
Africa, and Oil," Council on Foreign Relations , June 6, 2008,
<http://www.cfr.org/publication/9557/china_africa_and_oil.html>
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9557/china_africa_and_oil.html
[5] Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, <http://www.focac.org/eng/>
http://www.focac.org/eng/
[6] Cooke, Jennifer G., "China's Soft Power in Africa and its Implications
for the United States," p.31,
<http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/090310_chinesesoftpower__chap3.pdf>
http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/090310_chinesesoftpower__chap3.pdf
[7] Ibid, p. 41
[8] Cohen, Ariel, "Russia's New Scramble for Africa - Moscow tries to
rebuild its sphere of influence on the African continent," The Wall Street
Journal , July 2, 2009,
<http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB124639219666775441.html>
http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB124639219666775441.html
[9] Ibid
[10] Matthews, Owen, "Racing for New Riches - Russian and Chinese investors
are battling for African resources to fuel their growing empires," Newsweek
, November 8, 2007,
<http://www.newsweek.com/2007/11/08/racing-for-new-riches.html>
http://www.newsweek.com/2007/11/08/racing-for-new-riches.html
[11] Feffer, John, "How Much Does the U.S. Empire Cost?" Huffington Post ,
July 14, 2009,
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-feffer/how-much-does-the-us-empi_b_23190
3.html>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-feffer/how-much-does-the-us-empi_b_231903
.html
[12] Colonel Schwalbe, Stephen, "Overseas Military Base Closures," Air &
Space Power Journal , January 4, 2005,
<http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/schwalbe2.html>
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/schwalbe2.html
[13] Vine, David, "Too Many Overseas Bases," Foreign Policy In Focus ,
February 25, 2009,
<http://www.fpif.org/articles/too_many_overseas_bases>
http://www.fpif.org/articles/too_many_overseas_bases
[14] "Agreement Between The Government Of The United States Of America And
The Government Of The Republic Of Djibouti On Access To And Use Of
Facilities In The Republic Of Djibouti," February 19, 2003,
<http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/97620.pdf>
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/97620.pdf
[15] See remarks of Ms. Theresa M. Whelan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense (DASD) for African Affairs, "Foreign Press Center Briefing on U.S.
To Establish New U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)," US Fed News Service,
Including US State News , Washington D.C., Feb 9, 2007. Ms. Whelan
foreshadowed the structure of national vertical integration into the AFRICOM
framework by stating that "AFRICOM isn't going to be used to protect natural
resources in Africa. To the extent that AFRICOM through its interaction with
other African countries and through whatever help we can provide in terms of
developing their capacities to promote security in their own country and in
the region, if they will be able to protect their natural resources more
effectively, then that will be a good thing."
[16] Akosah-Sarpong, Kofi, "Touting West African Oil In The U.S.," Modern
Ghana , November 10, 2002,
<http://www.modernghana.com/news/27789/1/touting-west-african-oil-in-the-us.
html>
http://www.modernghana.com/news/27789/1/touting-west-african-oil-in-the-us.h
tml
[17] Ibid. See also, "US naval base to protect Sao Tome oil," BBC News ,
August 22, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2210571.stm in which
President Menendez revealed the new model for U.S. military outposts abroad.
He stated, "It is not really a military base on our territory, but rather a
support port for aircraft, warships and patrol ships so that they can come
to this port and stay for some time."
[18] Kennon, Yan, "NMCB 7 Detail Deploys to Sao Tome in Support of Exercise
West Africa Training Cruise," Navy.mil , July 27, 2010,
<http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=54908>
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=54908
[19] Fillingham, Zachary, "U.S. military bases: a global footprint,"
Geopolitical Monitor , December 9, 2009,
<http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/us-military-bases-a-global-footprint-1/>
http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/us-military-bases-a-global-footprint-1/
[20] Volman, Daniel, "Why America wants military HQ in Africa," New African
, London: January 2008, Iss. 469 (ProQuest)
[21] Schaefer, Brett D. and Eaglen, Mackenzie M., "U.S. Africa Command:
Challenges and Opportunities," Backgrounder , The Heritage Foundation, p.4,
November 19, 2008
[22] Ibid, p.7
[23] Stevenson, Jonathon, "The U.S. Navy: Into Africa," Naval War College
Review , Washington: Winter 2009, Vol 62, Iss.1 (ProQuest)
[24] "AFRICOM Helps Nations Build Secure Future," US Fed News Service,
Including US State News , Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2010
[25] Dr. Putman, Diana B., "Combating African Questions about the Legitimacy
of AFRICOM," U.S. Army War College , March 19, 2008, pp. 1-2
[26] Ibid, p. 21
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