The East African Response Force, A Creation of the Pentagon
Growing instability in East and Central Africa will be the focus of Washington’s intervention
Over the last two months developments in Central and East Africa
has dominated the news coverage of the continent. The split within the
ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA), a close ally of
Washington, and the deployment of French and African troops in the
Central African Republic, has brought the escalation of Pentagon troops
in these states.
Recently the Department of Defense announced the formation of an East
African Response Force. This new unit is part of the United States
Africa Command (AFRICOM) which has been strengthened and enhanced under
the administration of President Barack Obama.
A recent drone attack in southern Somalia is representative of the
growing aggression of Washington in Africa. The government of Djibouti, a
former French colony where the U.S. has a military base with over 4,000
soldiers at Camp Lemonnier, released a statement saying that such
strikes are “vital” in the so-called war on terrorism.
The drone strike was launched from the Pentagon military
installations in Djibouti. Prior to the creation of the East African
Response Force Washington operated in the region under the framework of
the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA).
U.S. Brigadier-General Wayne Grigsby, who is the commander of
CJTF-HOA, says that his forces are in East Africa only to assist
governments in their military campaigns to defeat the so-called
terrorist threat posed by Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based guerrilla
organization which has fought the Washington-backed regime in Mogadishu
for the last six years.
“Our mission here is to enable our East African partners to actually
neutralize violent extremists throughout eastern Africa,” Grigsby said.
Yet if this was the case then why would it be necessary to have such a
formidable military force in the Horn of Africa region that conducts
periodic bombings and commando raids in Somalia. (Shabelle Media
Network, Feb. 7)
However, Brigadier-General Grigsby does say that “It also enables
strategic access and freedom of movement. The purpose is to protect the
United States and its interests abroad.”
Consequently, even the military leaders themselves must acknowledge
that the underlying reasons for the build-up in Africa are clearly
related to the economic and class interests of Washington and Wall
Street. East and Central Africa is a vast repository of oil, natural gas
and strategic minerals.
The U.S. Role in South Sudan and the Central African Republic
The East Africa Response Force has been utilized in the current
conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. A contingent of the unit was
deployed to the country to evacuate U.S. embassy personnel and to guard
their economic interests.