Shadow Armies: The Unseen, But Real US War in Africa
21 January 2018By Ramzy Baroud
There is a real - but largely concealed - war which is taking place throughout
the African continent. It involves the United States, an invigorated Russia
and a rising China. The outcome of the war is likely to define the future of
the continent and its global outlook.
It is easy to pin the blame on US President Donald Trump, his erratic agenda
and impulsive statements. But the truth is, the current US military expansion
in Africa is just another step in the wrong direction. It is part of a
strategy that had been implemented a decade ago, during the administration of
President George W. Bush, and actively pursued by President Barack Obama.
In 2007, under the pretext of the 'war on terror', the US consolidated its
various military operations in Africa to establish the United States Africa
Command (AFRICOM). With a starting budget of half a billion dollars, AFRICOM
was supposedly launched to engage with African countries in terms of diplomacy
and aid. But, over the course of the last 10 years, AFRICOM has been
transformed into a central command for military incursions and interventions.
However, that violent role has rapidly worsened during the first year of
Trump's term in office. Indeed, there is a hidden US war in Africa, and it is
fought in the name of 'counter-terrorism'.
According to a VICE News special investigation, US troops are now conducting
3,500 exercises and military engagements throughout Africa per year, an
average of 10 per day. US mainstream media rarely discusses this ongoing war,
thus giving the military ample space to destabilize any of the continent's 54
countries as it pleases.
"Today's figure of 3,500 marks an astounding 1,900 percent increase since the
command was activated less than a decade ago, and suggests a major expansion
of US military activities on the African continent," VICE reported.
Following the death of four US Special Forces soldiers in Niger on October 4,
US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, made an ominous declaration to a Senate
committee: these numbers are likely to increase as the US is expanding its
military activities in Africa.
Mattis, like other defense officials in the previous two administrations,
justifies the US military transgressions as part of ongoing
'counter-terrorism' efforts. But such coded reference has served as a pretense
for the US to intervene in, and exploit, a massive region with a great
economic potential.
The old colonial 'Scramble for Africa' is being reinvented by global powers
that fully fathom the extent of the untapped economic largesse of the
continent. While China, India and Russia are each developing a unique approach
to wooing Africa, the US is invested mostly in the military option, which
promises to inflict untold harm and destabilize many nations.
The 2012 coup in Mali, carried out by a US-trained army captain, Amadou Haya
Sanogo, is only one example.
In a 2013 speech, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned against
a "new colonialism in Africa (in which it is) easy to come in, take out
natural resources, pay off leaders and leave." While Clinton is, of course,
correct, she was disingenuously referring to China, not her own country.
China's increasing influence in Africa is obvious, and Beijing's practices can
be unfair. However, China's policy towards Africa is far more civil and
trade-focused than the military-centered US approach.
The growth in the China-Africa trade figures are, as per a UN News report in
2013, happening at a truly "breathtaking pace", as they jumped from around
$10.5 billion per year in 2000 to $166 billion in 2011. Since then, it has
continued at the same impressive pace.
But that growth was coupled with many initiatives, entailing many billions of
dollars in Chinese credit to African countries to develop badly needed
infrastructure. More went to finance the 'African Talents Program', which is
designed to train 30,000 African professionals in various sectors.
It should come as no surprise, then, that China surpassed the US as Africa's
largest trading partner in 2009.
The real colonialism, which Clinton referred to in her speech, is, however,
under way in the US's own perception and behavior towards Africa. This is not
a hyperbole, but in fact a statement that echoes the words of US President
Trump himself.
During a lunch with nine African leaders last September at the UN, Trump spoke
with the kind of mindset that inspired western leaders' colonial approach to
Africa for centuries.
Soon after he invented the none-existent country of 'Nambia', Trump boasted of
his "many friends (who are) going to your (African) countries trying to get
rich." "I congratulate you," he said, "they are spending a lot of money."
The following month, Trump added Chad, his country's devoted
'counter-terrorism' partner to the list of countries whose citizens are banned
from entering the US.
Keeping in mind that Africa has 22 Muslim majority countries, the US
government is divesting from any long-term diplomatic vision in Africa, and
is, instead increasingly thrusting further into the military path.
The US military push does not seem to be part of a comprehensive policy
approach, either. It is as alarming as it is erratic, reflecting the US
constant over-reliance on military solutions to all sorts of problems,
including trade and political rivalries.
Compare this to Russia's strategic approach to Africa. Reigniting old
camaraderie with the continent, Russia is following China's strategy of
engagement (or in this case, re-engagement) through development and favorable
trade terms.
But, unlike China, Russia has a wide-ranging agenda that includes arms
exports, which are replacing US weaponry in various parts of the continent.
For Moscow, Africa also has untapped and tremendous potential as a political
partner that can bolster Russia's standing at the UN.
Aware of the evident global competition, some African leaders are now laboring
to find new allies outside the traditional western framework, which has
controlled much of Africa since the end of traditional colonialism decades
ago.
A stark example was the late November visit by Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir
to Russia and his high-level meeting with President Vladimir Putin. "We have
been dreaming about this visit for a long time," al-Bashir told Putin, and "we
are in need of protection from the aggressive acts of the United States."
The coveted 'protection' includes Russia's promised involvement in modernizing
the Sudanese army.
Wary of Russia's Africa outreach, the US is fighting back with a military
stratagem and little diplomacy. The ongoing US mini war on the continent will
push the continent further into the abyss of violence and corruption, which
may suit Washington well, but will bring about untold misery to millions of
people.
There is no question that Africa is no longer an exclusive western 'turf', to
be exploited at will. But it will be many years before Africa and its 54
nations are truly free from the stubborn neocolonial mindset, which is
grounded in racism, economic exploitation and military interventions.
- Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle.
His forthcoming book is 'The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story' (Pluto Press,
London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter
and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International
Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. His website is
www.ramzybaroud.net.
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