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| Pentagon proposes creation of Africa Command |
| 2006-12-15 |
| The U.S. Defense Department has proposed to President George W. Bush the creation of a new command to oversee American military activities in the Africa region, the Pentagon said Thursday. The department has sent the proposal to Bush for approval, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The U.S. military has already had a number of commands that control its activities across the globe, including the Central Command, the Southern Command, the European Command and the Pacific Command. More than one of the commands currently oversee U.S. military affairs in Africa. The Central Command, for instance, controls the Horn of Africa and has set up a task force to catch any al-Qaida members that might have escaped from Afghanistan, and the European Command has sent Special Forces to do training exercises in North African countries. The African Command was expected to be set up in two months, U. S. media reported. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #15 IIUC Joint Task Force |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-15 21:26 |
| #14 For us civilians, what does JTF mean? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-12-15 21:20 |
| #13 We do not need an Africa Command. We could use a JTF Africa. This will reduce the giant command that will sit in some place like Miami and put the leadership down range where they belong. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-12-15 20:20 |
| #12 DV, most of Africa is currently part of EUCOM. Egypt and HoA belong to CENTCOM. Map |
| Posted by: exJAG 2006-12-15 17:42 |
| #11 Nigeria pumps oil at less than 50% capacity. Companies fear improvement of infrastructure, because of the Muslim threat. 100% of their oil fields are in besieged Christian, Spiritualist and Animist areas. Civilized Nigerians would like nothing better than to see US involvement in Africa. |
| Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 2006-12-15 17:01 |
| #10 Looks like our Africa operations are going to be ramping up. Had a Marine that got deployed to TF HoA say that it looked like ops were just going to keep growing and growing in that sector. And with the Ethiopia and Somalia war about to spark up, it's really no surprise. It's also mere coincidence that Marines are on the shore opposite Saudi Arabia, and essentially at a point to control Red Sea traffic, right? map (prolly just wishful thinking on my part tho) |
| Posted by: Anon4021 2006-12-15 13:02 |
| #9 This analysis from the Foreign Policy Research Institute might shed some light. Radical Islam in the Maghreb – 2005 (PDF) |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-12-15 10:54 |
| #8 I thought we already had an AFCOM.... |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-12-15 09:58 |
| #7 Hmmm..... "Commands" are headquarters elements that consume your limited manpower. They plan and coordinate but have no real military power per se rather that is composed of units assigned for operational purposes. Since your officer corps is limited by Congressional mandate that means other Commands must be cut either directly or by not filling existing requirements to divert the manpower into the new Command. Insert long discussion about the organizational tendencies on empire building and headquarters chairborne rangers HERE. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2006-12-15 09:52 |
| #6 perfect consolidation . |
| Posted by: MacNails 2006-12-15 08:58 |
| #5 And... don't forget, it provides a place for all those extra two and three stars the Pentagon has lying around. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-12-15 08:42 |
| #4 An Africa Command is a superb idea. In essence, it is the equivalent of an immense aircraft carrier to force project US power to the far side of the world. Commands cover a vast amount of area, and oceans, and most of what is projected to happen in the world is going to be in that region. It will give us overwatch of much of the world's oil supply, allow us to pursue the WoT, democratize the ME, counterbalance Russian, Iranian, and Chinese influence in the region, slow and halt nuclear and missile proliferation, smite pirates on important sea lanes, assist friendly governments to establish regional security, and just generally put us where the action is and gives us a much faster response time to trouble. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-12-15 07:48 |
| #3 #2 Why? A few military instuctors + weapons could do a lot damage to Muslim expansion into Africa. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-12-15 06:14 |
| #2 Bad idea, very bad. Stay the hell away from there and them sort it out. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-12-15 05:27 |
| #1 Should've done it yesterday, i.e. months + yarns ago. Better late than never. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-12-15 00:33 |
