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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Pan African intervention force begins training |
| 2015-11-02 |
| Lohatlha, South Africa: As the sun rose over South Africa’s dry and sparsely populated Karoo west of Johannesburg, more than 5,000 multinational troops launched a mock attack heralding a long-awaited African Union strike force for the troubled continent. Men in fatigues peered through binoculars and crouched over maps, coordinating the movements of soldiers from more than a dozen African countries taking part this week in the first field exercise of the African Standby Force (ASF). The script called for rapid deployment in response to reports of genocide in a fake country called Carana — a war game with a bitter touch of reality on a continent that has suffered the bloodshed of Rwanda and Darfur. First proposed in 1997, the ASF aims to have forces from one of the continent’s five regional economic blocs on standby at any time, ready to respond swiftly to crises across Africa, with an overall force size of 25,000. “Given our experiences, specifically in response to conflict in the past, the AU felt the international community very slow to respond,” the African Union’s head of peace support operations, Sivuyile Bam, told AFP. “It takes time between the mandate being passed and the forces arriving on the ground — the rule of thumb is usually nine months. “The types of conflicts we are dealing with simply do not allow for the luxury of time.” The ASF aims to be able to move in and take action within 14 days of being mandated by African Union headquarters in Ethiopia, and it was that capacity that was being tested on a Karoo farm six hours west of Johannesburg. But even as it strains for institutional independence, the AU remains heavily dependent on foreign donors — including for part of the estimated $15 million cost (Dh55 million) of the war games from October 19 to November 7. “The current reality is that AU (peacekeeping) operations are funded above 90 per cent by partners including the United Nations, the European Union, the US and the UK,” said Bam. The AU has estimated it will cost $1 billion for the standby force to be fully operational, and has proposed a model that would see it raise 25 per cent of the funds of an operation and then rely on the UN to fill the gap. But for the standby force to be truly “on standby”, the funding behind it needs to be more predictable, said Bam. The troops’ ability to respond rapidly is also constrained by the continent’s insufficient airlift capabilities, said defence analyst John Stupart. More at the link |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #7 No. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-11-02 18:41 |
| #6 So, are these suppose to be like the 'good' Syrian rebels we trained? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-11-02 16:08 |
| #5 Totally opvokked! Putting it rather mildly. And it's closer to fifteen years than ten, if my memory serves right |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-11-02 15:10 |
| #4 Well it *is* funded largely by the Useless Nitwits SteveS. Did you expect any difference? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2015-11-02 10:51 |
| #3 I like the name - African Standby Force. Please stand by while we debate taking action. But in the meantime, do continue sending money. Thanks! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-11-02 08:23 |
| #2 Totally opvokked! Has been from the start. Ten years to reach test and evaluation, and no established letters of agreement btwn stakeholders or dedicated airlift. Another attempt at "Afri solutions for Afri problems." What could possibly go wrong ? No worries! Please continue to send money. More than 90% of AU peace and security efforts are funded by the likes of the EU and the US, although AU member states have pledged to provide a quarter of the funding for operations by 2020. However, the concern remains that if Africa does not control the purse strings of the military force, it cannot control the outcomes. Underlining the problem, the EU is even bankrolling this month’s exercises, casting a shadow over the "African solutions for African problems" mantra espoused by politicians in national capitals and the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. Related story and link. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-11-02 01:34 |
| #1 I'll wait for Besoeker's comment. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-11-02 00:54 |