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| October 21, 1999 |
| October 21, 1999 |
Neglecting Africa
By Rachel Stohl, Research Analyst, rstohl@cdi.org
As Secretary of State Madeline Albright travels through Africa this week, the majority of Americans do not even know where Guinea, Sierra Leone or Mali are. Albright's trip has received little attention from the media. This is not surprising. According to the State Department, many of the countries Albright is visiting have little effect on U.S. national security. But some of these countries have seen some of the most inhumane and horrific examples of human behavior in the past decade.
The United States has stood by while these tragedies occurred, choosing not to get involved. President Clinton has said that the United States "cannot respond to every humanitarian catastrophe in the world." However, while it may not be appropriate for the United States to be the world's policeman or moral force, that does not negate U.S. responsibility in preventing violence or assisting with conflict resolution.
Before she left for Africa, Secretary Albright said "we have to recognize the truth that there are times, not only when we can act, but when we absolutely must act." However, Albright continued that the United States must "resist the temptation to use our forces in every dispute that catches our eye or our emotions." While foreign policy governed by emotions is certainly not a feasible or productive strategy, the U.S. cannot and should not stand idly by as innocent civilians have their limbs and tongues hacked off by rebel forces, as was the case in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone is one stop on Albright's tour of Africa, which also takes her to Guinea, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. During her visits, Albright has committed significant aid packages to advance the democratic process. However, as she left Nigeria, Albright was confronted by a man who observed that administration promises do not translate into U.S. policy. Albright's response was, "I believe that our administration has spent more time, attention and money on Africa than any other administration. The fact that we haven't accomplished everything we want is unfortunate. But it's not there yet."
Part of the reason the U.S. isn't "there" yet is because promises made by President Clinton during his Africa visit in 1998 have not been realized. Clinton assured Africans that they were not alone in resolving years of conflict. West Africa, which has been burdened by decades of war has created its own peacekeeping force, ECOMOG. But the United States has given ECOMOG less than $12 million in aid over the past three years, an amount insufficient to address the security needs of the region. While it is understandable that the U.S. was wary of committing resources to a Nigerian-led force, given Nigeria's problem with corruption, alternative support could have been provided.
The U.S. is supporting UN troops and activities in Africa, but is slow to commit U.S. lives or dollars to the efforts. The blame for failing to provide Africa resources cannot be placed solely on Clinton or Albright. Congress has disproportionally allocated resources to places like Kosovo, even though more lives were lost in one month in Sierra Leone than during the entire Kosovo conflict. Further complicating the issue, Congress is often wary of committing U.S. resources to foreign countries, choosing instead to fund domestic programs. Thomas L. Friedman from the New York Times quoted Representative Sonny Callahan during the House debate on the current foreign aid bill: "Back home in Alabama when I say, 'Folks, I voted against increasing foreign aid,' they seem to like that." With attitudes such as this, assisting countries that are not considered vital to U.S. interests will be increasingly difficult.
In the last decade, U.S. policy has been to let Africans solve African problems. If this is the strategy the U.S. will continue to follow in the next decade then the United States must commit the resources necessary to combat the problems that have fueled the continent's conflicts. This goes beyond military training and arms transfers for transition democracies, both of which the U.S. is quick to offer. Instead, the U.S. should fulfill its promises for food, development assistance, and healthcare resources. Supporting international peacekeeping efforts is noble and necessary, but it requires more than rhetoric and empty promises.
Pentagon Studying Lessons of Kosovo
Christopher Hellman, Senior Analyst, chellman@cdi.org
Last week Defense Secretary William Cohen and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry Shelton testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the conclusions of the most recent "after action" report on NATO's air operations against Yugoslavia.
In making their presentation to the Committee, General Shelton pointed out that "after action" reports focus on lessons learned from a particular conflict and tend to emphasize the negative aspects of an operation. He cautioned that it was important to keep in mind that "Operation Allied Force was a conclusive NATO and American military success." Secretary Cohen called the operation "a very decisive victory."
The report highlights a number of structural and organizational problems that hindered the conducting of a multinational military operation. It concluded, among other things, that the U.S. and its NATO allies need to improve the alliance's planning process for conducting "non-Article V operations," that is, non-defensive military operations. The alliance also needs to develop a comprehensive command and control policy, and improve "political-military interfaces" -- the relationship between political leaders involved in the decision-making process and the military units tasked to carry them out.
The report also raises a number of logistical and tactical problems that complicated combat operations. Precision munitions, in-air refueling, and electronic jamming all played larger roles in the operation than anticipated, and shortfalls in these assets quickly became evident, as did the need for additional transport. Other problems resulted from the fact that in certain areas, particularly in Macedonia and Albania, facilities were unable to support complex combat operations. Further, the report points out the growing disparities between the United States and other NATO members in their combat capabilities.
Other statements in the prepared report raise some troubling questions. For instance, in discussing non-military methods of influencing the Yugoslav government, the reports says "this experience has taught us that our plannning must better reflect the full range of instruments at our disposal, including the use of economic sanctions, public diplomacy, and other information efforts." One is forced to wonder whether too much emphasis may have been placed on a military response, without sufficiently utilizing other options.
At other points the report states "[DoD's] systems for planning and executing transportation of its forces were strained by the rapidly evolving requirements of Operation Allied Force." Yet surely the transportation requirements of U.S. operations in Kosovo posed simpler challenges than did the massive force on force conflict that has been the cornerstone of NATO planning for nearly five decades.
Similarly, the report's assertion that "the lack of interoperable secure communications forced reliance on non-secure methods that compromised operational security" reflects an inability to solve a longstanding problem. Twenty years ago the alliance's "rationalization, standardization and interoperability" initiative was an attempt to address such issues, which clearly remain unresolved.
This congressional presentation is only the latest in a series of U.S. and NATO reviews of the air campaign. A more thorough DoD review is still underway.
The prepared joint statement by Secretary Cohen and General Shelton on the Kosovo "after action" review is available on the internet.
US-Norway Joint Statement on Destruction of Small Arms -- Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and President Clinton released a joint statement after a day of meetings on October 15, 1999. The statement mentioned the "growing dangers to international security posed by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in areas of conflict and post-conflict. " The two leaders announced "the establishment of a Norway-U.S. working group to marshal support for nations which agree to destroy surplus small arms." Representatives from the two countries will meet next week to organize the particulars of the working group.
Pentagon Releases Report on Viesques -- A Pentagon report this week recommended that the U.S. Navy shut down its bombing range at Viesques, Puerto Rico, within five years. The base has become a major issue since the accidental death of a civilian in an accident in April. Yet the panel also recommended that live fire training there should continue in the interim. For background, see "U.S. Navy an Unwelcome Neighbor in Puerto Rico," Weekly Defense Monitor, August 26, 1999, Volume 3, Issue #33.
Liberia Completes Weapons Destruction, UN Turning to Sierra Leone -- The United Nations (UN) announced that Liberia has completed the destruction of over 20,000 weapons and 3 million rounds of ammunition left over from Liberia's seven year civil war. The final phase of the destruction took place in Tubmanburg, in western Liberia. Liberia's destruction program began July 26 in Monrovia, the capital. The UN has said it is now turning its attention to beginning the disarmament process in Sierra Leone. (For more information on Liberia's destruction program see "Liberia Destroys Civil War Arms; Part of New Global Trend," By Rachel Stohl, Weekly Defense Monitor, July 29, 1999.
Air Force Considering Multi-Role ICBM -- With its current inventory of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) expected to reach the end of their projected lives in 2020, the Air Force is looking at replacement options. While maintaining a nuclear capability is the service's primary focus, the Air Force is also looking at developing an ICBM with a conventional capability. The new missile would allow the U.S. to attack targets worldwide, and the higher speed of the reentry warhead would allow the Air Force to attack targets buried underground.
Cohen Says U.A.E. F-16 Deal Near -- Secretary of Defense William Cohen has announced that the U.S. is close to finalizing a deal with the United Arab Emirates for 80 F-16 fighter jets worth $80 billion. Cohen said some financial details still needed to be worked out, but declared that technical issues, including the release of software codes that identify if an aircraft are hostile or friendly had been resolved. How those issues were resolved was not made clear. Cohen hopes the sale will be announced before the Dubai air show slated for mid-November.
Britain Destroys Last Landmine -- The British government announced that it has destroyed its last anti-personnel landmine, three years ahead of the deadline set forth in the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction, known as the Ottawa Landmine Treaty. British contractors dismantled the last HB876 mine, used to destroy airplane runways, earlier this week.
This week on America's Defense Monitor: "Small Arms and Failed States"
In Albania, thousands of guns taken in raids on state-owned arsenals, created chaos. In Angola, the proliferation of light weaponry has triggered the collapse of a fragile peace accord. From Kosovo to Somalia, from Sierra Leone to Northern Ireland, the link between small arms and political collapse poses one of the true challenges to peace in the 21st century. In many regions stopping the flow of small arms is a first step toward peace and stability.
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