Skepticism Greets New US Africa Command

Senegalese port workers prepare for the arrival of the USS Fort McHenry, a landing dock ship on a half-year training exercise through the Gulf of Guinea, at the port in Dakar, Senegal Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. Just a few years ago, the U.S. military was all but absent from the oil-rich waters of West Africa's Gulf of Guinea. This year, it plans to be there every day. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (Rebecca Blackwell - AP)

Moeller said Africom will bring no new U.S. military bases to the continent and no substantial changes in America's military role here for the foreseeable future. Its aim is to help Africans with military training and support peacekeeping and aid operations crucial to stability and the prevention of conflict, he said.

Regional powers including Libya, Nigeria and South Africa have expressed deep reservations, partly because they believe Africom could undermine their influence, analysts said. So far, only Liberia has publicly stated a willingness to host Africom, though even critics like Nigeria welcome the continuation of the U.S. training programs.

Led by Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, Africom is expected to be fully operational within a year, spending the next 12 months getting ready.

With a budget of $50 million this fiscal year, Africom is responsible for 53 countries in Africa and the island nations surrounding it _ everything except Egypt, which will remain under the U.S. Central Command because of its proximity and importance to the Middle East.

Kurt Shillinger, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said the Pentagon has failed to allay concerns of Africans who see "this as a Trojan horse through which the U.S. will pursue and defend its key interests in Africa."

African nations supply the United States with more than 24 percent of its oil _ more than the Persian Gulf, at 20 percent, the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration says. Much of that crude comes from or through the Gulf of Guinea.

Moeller said increasing security in the gulf is partly an issue of open markets. The U.S. wants to work with "African partners to make sure the resources that emanate from the continent are available to the global community," he said.

Internal conflict in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, has sporadically disrupted the flow of its crude, and offshore platforms along the western coast are little-protected because most countries have only small navies.

The U.S. naval presence in the Gulf of Guinea _ measured by "ship days" _ has increased more than 50 percent since last year, said Lt. Brian Badura, a spokesman for the 6th Fleet in Naples, Italy, which commands American warships in these waters. From just a handful of days in 2004, the Navy expects to have a daily presence over the next year.

In a first for America's global combat commands, Africom will have a deputy commander who is a civilian responsible for overseeing civil-military affairs and coordinating with other U.S. government agencies.

Africom officials say that post highlights the importance of humanitarian operations to U.S. goals in Africa, but even that has spurred controversy.

"Why should they be using the military to promote development when they already have institutions within the U.S. government that are better capable and more acceptable?" asked Okumu at the Institute for Security Studies.