The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), launched by President Bush in February 2007 becomes fully operational today (Wednesday) when it takes over all U.S military operations in Africa. Supporters say AFRICOM is expected to focus primarily on war prevention rather than war fighting as well as working with African countries and organizations to build regional security and crisis response capacity in support of United States government efforts in Africa. But some skeptics are reportedly worried over a possible hidden agenda disguised as the war on terror and a self-interested scramble for the continent's resources.Rico asks isn't 'badly bungled' redundant, or is there a good way to bungle something?
Before AFRICOM was created more than a year ago, American military programs on the continent had reportedly been divided among three other commands concerned with NATO and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But AFRICOM is also facing skeptical US lawmakers who slashed its budget by a third last week and said the command's rollout over the last year had been "badly bungled".
The new command is inheriting responsibility for the United States Central Command-run base in Djibouti, where 1,800 troops are deployed to keep Horn of Africa terror networks in check. It also takes over European Command's Trans-Sahara Counter-terrorism Initiative and dozens of other military and maritime training programs.
01 October 2008
New acronym; cool
The US military has formed a new command structure, AFRICOM, and the Voice of America has the story by Peter Clottey:
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