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Africom - Latest U.S. Bid to Recolonise the Continent
by Tichaona Nhamoyebonde
political scientist based in Cape Town, South
Global Research, January 10, 2010
African revolutionaries now have to sleep with one eye open because the
United States of America is not stopping at anything in its bid to establish
Africom, a highly-equipped US army that will be permanently resident in
Africa to oversee the country's imperialist interests.
Towards the end of last year, the US government intensified its efforts to
bring a permanent army to settle in Africa, dubbed the African Command
(Africom) as a latest tool for the subtle recolonisation of Africa.
Just before end of last year, General William E. Garret, Commander US Army
for Africa, met with defence attaches from all African embassies in
Washington to lure them into selling the idea of an American army based in
Africa to their governments. Latest reports from the White House this
January indicate that 75 percent of the army's establishment work has been
done through a military unit based in Stuttgart, Germany, and that what is
left is to get an African country to host the army and get things moving.
Liberia and Morocco have offered to host Africom while the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) has closed out any possibility of any of its
member states hosting the US army.
Other individual countries have remained quiet.
Liberia has longstanding ties with the US due to its slave history while
errant Morocco, which is not a member of the African Union and does not hold
elections, might want the US army to assist it to suppress any future
democratic uprising.
SADC's refusal is a small victory for the people of Africa in their struggle
for total independence but the rest of the regional blocs in Africa are yet
to come up with a common position. This is worrying.
The US itself wanted a more strategic country than Morocco and Liberia since
the army will be the epicentre of influencing, articulating and safeguarding
US foreign and economic policies. The other danger is that Africom will open
up Africa as a battleground between America and anti-US terrorist groups.
Africom is a smokescreen behind which America wants to hide its means to
secure Africa's oil and other natural resources, nothing more.
African leaders must not forget that military might has been used by America
and Europe again and again as the only effective way of accomplishing their
agenda in ensuring that governments in each country are run by people who
toe their line.
By virtue of its being resident in Africa, Africom will ensure that America
has its tentacles easily reaching every African country and influencing
every event to the American advantage.
By hosting the army, Africa will have sub-contracted its military
independence to America and will have accepted the process that starts its
recolonisation through an army that can subdue any attempts by Africa to
show its own military prowess.
The major question is: Who will remove Africom once it is established? By
what means?
By its origin Africom will be technically and financially superior to any
African country's army and will dictate the pace for regime change in any
country at will and also give depth, direction and impetus to the US natural
resource exploitation scheme.
There is no doubt that as soon as the army gets operational in Africa, all
the gains of independence will be reversed.
If the current leadership in Africa succumbs to the whims of the US and
accept the operation of this army in Africa, they will go down in the annals
of history as that generation of politicians who accepted the evil to
prevail.
Even William Shakespeare would turn and twist in his grave and say: "I told
you guys that it takes good men to do nothing for evil to prevail."
We must not forget that Africans, who are still smarting from
colonialism-induced humiliation, subjugation, brutality and inferiority
complex, do not need to be taken back to another form of colonialism, albeit
subtle.
Africom has been controversial on the continent ever since former US
president George W. Bush first announced it in February 2007.
African leaders must not forget that under the Barack Obama administration,
US policy towards Africa and the rest of the developing world has not
changed an inch. It remains militaristic and materialistic.
Officials in both the Bush and Obama administrations argue that the major
objective of Africom is to professionalise security forces in key countries
across Africa.
However, both administrations do not attempt to address the impact of the
setting up of Africom on minority parties, governments and strong leaders
considered errant or whether the US will not use Africom to promote friendly
dictators.
Training and weapons programmes and arms transfers from Ukraine to
Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Ethiopia and the transitional government in
Somalia, clearly indicate the use of military might to maintain influence in
governments in Africa, remains a priority of US foreign policy.
Ukraine's current leadership was put into power by the US under the Orange
Revolution and is being given a free role to supply weaponry in African
conflicts.
African leaders must show solidarity and block every move by America to set
up its bases in the motherland unless they want to see a new round of
colonisation.
Kwame Nkrumah, Robert Mugabe, Sam Nujoma, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere,
Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Kenneth Kaunda, Augustino Neto and Samora Machel,
among others, will have fought liberation wars for nothing, if Africom is
allowed a base in Africa.
Thousands of Africans who died in colonial prisons and in war fronts during
the liberation struggles, will have shed their blood for nothing if Africa
is recolonised.
Why should the current crop of African leaders accept systematic
recolonisation when they have learnt a lot from colonialism, apartheid and
racism? Why should the current crop of African leaders fail to stand measure
for measure against the US administration and tell it straight in the face
that Africa does not need a foreign army since the AU is working out its own
army.
African leaders do not need prophets from Mars to know that US's fascination
with oil, the war on terrorism and the military will now be centred on
Africa, after that escapade in Iraq.
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Tichaona Nhamoyebonde is a political scientist based in Cape Town, South
Africa.
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