Militarization of US Africa policy, 2000 to 2005.

• Author: Hartung, William D.
• Position: Black Struggles for Justice - Essay

In the wake of September 11, and in keeping with its interest in securing access to oil and other key natural resources, the Bush Administration has been rapidly expanding US military involvement in Africa. While most recent increases in US arms sales, aid, and military training in Africa have been justified as part of what the administration refers to as the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT), oil has been a major factor in the administration's strategic calculations from the outset. In his first few months in office, President Bush's first Secretary of State, Colin Powell, stressed the need to improve relations with oil producing nations like Nigeria and Angola. Similarly, the report of Vice-President Cheney's Energy Task Force stressed the importance of gaining and maintaining access to African oil resources, which US intelligence assessments expect to increase to as much as 25% of US oil imports by the year 2020. [1]

A look at last year's Congressional Budget Justification for FY05 Foreign Operations underscores the strong pull of oil interests in Bush administration decision making. The entry on Equatorial Guinea notes that "Over the course of the past five years, US companies have invested approximately $5 billion" in the country's oil sector. The entry for Sao Tome and Principe is more forward-looking, noting that "In the coming decade, US companies are expected to participate in the development of petroleum resources in Sao Tome's territorial waters." Nigeria is cited for its large oil and gas reserves, while the entry on Angola stresses the need to "help ensure US private-sector oil access to a source of 7% of US petroleum imports, a figure likely to rise in the coming years."

Beyond oil, US military officials have cited "a growing terrorist threat" in northern and sub-Saharan Africa to justify a program of stepped up military engagement in the region. General James Jones, head of the US European command, has suggested the need to create a "family of bases" across Africa. These bases would range from forward operating locations, which would include an airfield and facilities to house 3,000 to 5,000 US military personnel, to "bare-bones" bases that US Special Forces or Marines could "land at and build up as the mission required." [2]

These new facilities would not be considered "formal" bases like the growing US base in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, which has a regular deployment of 1,800 to 2,000 troops. While new basing...