Africom – Latest U.S. Bid To Recolonise Continent
14 January 2010By Tichaona Nhamoyebonde
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
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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