America is adjusting our Africa policy. America has an interest in economic development and rule of law in Africa, which would reduce the need for our military action and strengthen resistance to Chinese or Russian influence.
There is blatant interference in the very possibility of voting and violence and inflammatory language to sway voters if they make it to polls. Plus disease and lingering conflicts (even if this one looks promising lately) that distract from development. Plus ethnic hatreds. And that's on top of the jihadi threat that plagues a number of states in Africa.
And we really don't want African states playing America and West off against the Chinese and Russians to simply extort more money from both sides. Although perhaps we should tell them they need to choose America or North Korea, too.
But while the UN peacekeeping has not worked, just keeping a lid on the conflicts to prevent them from getting worse is worth the money. So I disagree with ideas to cut peacekeeping funding for Africa. If we do that, how long will it be before odious governments ask China to replace UN troops to deal with opposition. Then it will get really brutal.
The 10% drawdown of American forces in AFRICOM's area of responsibility will disproportionately affect special forces direct action. What could replace them?
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., argued that Africa’s sheer size makes small, individual deployments like the kinds that are being cut inefficient anyway. He is pushing for the permanent stationing of a Security Force Assistance Brigade, or SFAB, that he says would offer flexibility of mobility on a continent that is so geographically enormous and culturally and politically diverse.
“You don’t know if it’s going to be a Zimbabwe problem or an Ethiopia problem, but wherever it is, it’s going to be a long way from the last one, so if you have a dedicated troop ready to spring that could actually get people there better—if you can respond by quicker by using that method, it could be an improvement,” he said.
Something must be done because we don't want Africa to deteriorate and compel us to send resources that would otherwise be directed to opposing China and Russia (and North Korea and Iran to lesser extents). That is the reason for pulling special forces from Africa, keep in mind.
If mobility is the answer to fewer troops, The AFRICOM Queen is ideal.
I've figured with fewer special forces such an auxiliary cruiser could help with a mobile reserve.
Further, my idea for AFRICOM was based on a whole-of-government platform that could project power to kill and build.
If enabling local forces is how we will compensate for fewer special forces in Africa, would The SFAB Queen be the best form for The AFRICOM Queen?
