WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2009 – U.S. Africa Command is hitting its stride as it works with African nations to confront common security challenges, a Pentagon official said. The command’s main mission is to build the security capacity of partner nations throughout the continent, Vicki Huddleston, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, said in a recent interview. The command also works with the African Union and other regional alliances. “All this folds into the administration’s commitment to democracy, overall stability and to working with Africans as partners,” said Huddleston, who has extensive experience in Africa, having served in Mali, Ethiopia and Madagascar. On the threat side, the command works with African nations on common security challenges, which she said “are generally coming from nonstate actors.” The two areas of most concern are the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region, the east-west band that stretches along the southern border of the Sahara desert, Huddleston said.Al-Qaida is operating in Somalia and in Algeria. Somalia is a classic failed state, and the piracy along its coast is only one manifestation of that. Al-Qaida is operating in the country, and indications are that Somali members may try to export terrorism from the area, she said. In the Sahel, al-Qaida in the Maghrab is believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths in Algeria. The group moves between that country and safe havens in ungoverned parts of the Sahel, she said. But Africom is about more than just countering threats, Huddleston said. The command works with the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan and Darfur by providing logistics and transportation to peacekeepers in the region. “You can’t have secure environments -- for democracy, education, health, development, or for opportunities for individuals -- if you have failed or failing states,” Huddleston said. “We need to assist states as they try to build out of conflict.” Liberia is a prime example, she said. The West African nation is recovering from a brutal civil war. Africom experts are in Liberia to help train the military, not just on combat skills, but also on human rights and the meaning of having civilian control of the military, Huddleston said. “This also includes working with their civilian leaders so they understand how they should relate to the military -- what they should do, how they should do it, and how they can control and give political guidance to their military,” she said. Accomplishing the command’s mission requires a joint effort with the State Department, which trains police and needs more resources in countries recovering from civil war, Huddleston said. “It really calls on the State Department and [Defense Department] to work together in a particularly integrated fashion through the National Security Council, and we’re doing that,” she said. ..more..WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2009 – U.S. Africa Command is hitting its stride as it works with African nations to confront common security challenges, a Pentagon official said. The command’s main mission is to build the security capacity of partner nations throughout the continent, Vicki Huddleston, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, said in a recent interview. The command also works with the African Union and other regional alliances. “All this folds into the administration’s commitment to democracy, overall stability and to working with Africans as partners,” said Huddleston, who has extensive experience in Africa, having served in Mali, Ethiopia and Madagascar. On the threat side, the command works with African nations on common security challenges, which she said “are generally coming from nonstate actors.” The two areas of most concern are the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region, the east-west band that stretches along the southern border of the Sahara desert, Huddleston said.
Al-Qaida is operating in Somalia and in Algeria. Somalia is a classic failed state, and the piracy along its coast is only one manifestation of that. Al-Qaida is operating in the country, and indications are that Somali members may try to export terrorism from the area, she said. In the Sahel, al-Qaida in the Maghrab is believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths in Algeria. The group moves between that country and safe havens in ungoverned parts of the Sahel, she said. But Africom is about more than just countering threats, Huddleston said. The command works with the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan and Darfur by providing logistics and transportation to peacekeepers in the region. “You can’t have secure environments -- for democracy, education, health, development, or for opportunities for individuals -- if you have failed or failing states,” Huddleston said. “We need to assist states as they try to build out of conflict.” Liberia is a prime example, she said. The West African nation is recovering from a brutal civil war. Africom experts are in Liberia to help train the military, not just on combat skills, but also on human rights and the meaning of having civilian control of the military, Huddleston said. “This also includes working with their civilian leaders so they understand how they should relate to the military -- what they should do, how they should do it, and how they can control and give political guidance to their military,” she said. Accomplishing the command’s mission requires a joint effort with the State Department, which trains police and needs more resources in countries recovering from civil war, Huddleston said. “It really calls on the State Department and [Defense Department] to work together in a particularly integrated fashion through the National Security Council, and we’re doing that,” she said. WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2009 – U.S. Africa Command is hitting its stride as it works with African nations to confront common security challenges, a Pentagon official said. The command’s main mission is to build the security capacity of partner nations throughout the continent, Vicki Huddleston, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, said in a recent interview. The command also works with the African Union and other regional alliances. “All this folds into the administration’s commitment to democracy, overall stability and to working with Africans as partners,” said Huddleston, who has extensive experience in Africa, having served in Mali, Ethiopia and Madagascar. On the threat side, the command works with African nations on common security challenges, which she said “are generally coming from nonstate actors.” The two areas of most concern are the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region, the east-west band that stretches along the southern border of the Sahara desert, Huddleston said.
Al-Qaida is operating in Somalia and in Algeria. Somalia is a classic failed state, and the piracy along its coast is only one manifestation of that. Al-Qaida is operating in the country, and indications are that Somali members may try to export terrorism from the area, she said. In the Sahel, al-Qaida in the Maghrab is believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths in Algeria. The group moves between that country and safe havens in ungoverned parts of the Sahel, she said. But Africom is about more than just countering threats, Huddleston said. The command works with the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan and Darfur by providing logistics and transportation to peacekeepers in the region. “You can’t have secure environments -- for democracy, education, health, development, or for opportunities for individuals -- if you have failed or failing states,” Huddleston said. “We need to assist states as they try to build out of conflict.” Liberia is a prime example, she said. The West African nation is recovering from a brutal civil war. Africom experts are in Liberia to help train the military, not just on combat skills, but also on human rights and the meaning of having civilian control of the military, Huddleston said. “This also includes working with their civilian leaders so they understand how they should relate to the military -- what they should do, how they should do it, and how they can control and give political guidance to their military,” she said. Accomplishing the command’s mission requires a joint effort with the State Department, which trains police and needs more resources in countries recovering from civil war, Huddleston said. “It really calls on the State Department and [Defense Department] to work together in a particularly integrated fashion through the National Security Council, and we’re doing that,” she said. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=55465
U.S. Military Command Aims to Help Africans Help Themselves - General
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