AFRICOM & SOUTHCOM: reliquaria from an earlier age.

• Author: Cotter, Michael W.
• Position: Report

AFRICOM & SOUTHCOM: Reliquaria from an Earlier Age.

http://www.afsa.org/fsj/feb09/speakingOut.pdf

By Amb. (ret.) David Passage

In this opinion article David Passage, a retired ambassador with extensive political-military experience including service as political advisor to the U.S. Special Operations Command, adds his voice to those, such as Amb. (ret.) Ed Marks in one of our current Commentary & Analysis articles (http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/0103/comm/marks_africom.html), critical of the new U.S. military command for Africa--AFRICOM.

Of perhaps greater interest because he is the first to air it, is Passage's view that the command for Central and South America--SOUTHCOM--has outlived its usefulness and should also be dismantled. While acknowledging that there were valid reasons for SOUTHCOM during the Cold War, Passage argues that a military response is not the best or most cost-efficient way to combat terrorism and narco-trafficking in Latin America.

Tucked within, and not the main point of, his analysis is a suggestion for a broader realignment of the military's regional command structure. Passage would retain the European (EUCOM), Central (CENTCOM) and Pacific (PACOM) Commands, but would transform the Northern Command (NORTHCOM), with homeland security responsibilities, into a new Western Command...