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Reuters
Dec 13
U.S. military's Africa command alarms aid workers
By Andrew Gray
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mary Yates is deputy to the commander of the U.S. military's new Africa Command. But she has no stars on her shoulder and does not wear a uniform.
Yates is a career diplomat who has served as U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Burundi. Her appointment symbolizes the military's effort to make its newest command very different from the others and a possible model for the future.
The command, responsible for U.S. military operations in Africa, will include more diplomats, aid experts and other civilians than headquarters for other parts of the world. And they will be integral to the organization, not just advisers.
The U.S. government bills that change as an effort to make sure all its branches work together.
But the structure has alarmed aid agencies, who see the military encroaching into traditionally civilian areas such as aid work and economic development and believe armed forces should have a minimal role in those efforts.
Yates says putting more civilians in a military command is an attempt to learn from the past. The Pentagon, State Department and other U.S. agencies have often been accused of failing to cooperate or working at cross purposes.
"Clearly we have all learned a lot in the last decade from the Balkans to Afghanistan to Iraq that we need work together," she said in a telephone interview.
"Instead of having to do it ... in a battleground, we have a chance to build this structure from the ground up," Yates said from the command's current home in Stuttgart, Germany. The headquarters hopes to have a presence in Africa later.
REGIONAL COMMANDS
The U.S. military divides the world into regional commands. Previously, responsibility for Africa was split between European Command, Pacific Command and Central Command, which is the headquarters for the Middle East.
In February, President George W. Bush announced the creation of Africa Command. Known as Africom, it is being set up under European Command in Stuttgart but should become a fully independent command by October.
Some African states have criticized the move. Many Africans suspect an effort to secure mineral resources and assert U.S. interests. Major nations such as South Africa and Nigeria have said they do not want Africom on their soil.
U.S. officials have said the command's main mission will be to work with African militaries, helping them train and modernize.
But they have also said it will play a role in humanitarian operations. Bush said the command would work with Africans to "promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth in Africa."
That is the kind of language that concerns aid agencies, who say development and aid efforts should be undertaken for humanitarian reasons and not tied to a military agenda.
Aid workers also say putting civilian officials inside a military command sends the wrong signal to African nations, where military forces have a history of staging coups and riding roughshod over civilian institutions.
"Our fundamental belief is that U.S. development aid towards Africa should be civilian-led," said Paul O'Brien, director of aid effectiveness at Oxfam America.
"We're worried that Africom may put a military face on what should be a non-military goal -- long-term development."
U.S. officials insist Africom has no intention of taking over the work of other agencies, it just wants to work in harmony with them. But analysts say the Pentagon unnecessarily stoked many concerns in the way it launched the headquarters.
"The command was presented as this massive integrated platform," said Jennifer Cooke, codirector of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
She said greater coordination between U.S. agencies was a good idea but even the appearance that the Pentagon was in charge of that process sent the wrong signals.
The command should concentrate on the core mission of building relationships with African militaries to allay concerns about its role, Cooke said.
"The military needs to stick with its value-added, what it does best," she said. "There's just plenty to be done on that front."
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)