AFRICOM could add Marine Air Ground Task Force

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AFRICOM could add Marine Air Ground Task Force
By John Vandiver and Warren Peace, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, December 16, 2009

STUTTGART, Germany — A 1,000-strong Marine combat task force capable of rapidly deploying to hot spots could soon be at the disposal of the new U.S. Africa Command, which up to now has stressed training partnerships and security cooperation to wary African governments suspicious of U.S. military intentions on the continent.

AFRICOM and Marine officials confirmed that adding a Marine Air Ground Task Force is now under review, but they emphasized that no decision has been made on whether to incorporate such a fighting force into the command.

But analysts predict that any plan to dedicate combat troops to AFRICOM, coming just a few months after U.S. Special Forces staged a daring daylight raid deep inside southern Somalia to take out a much-wanted al-Qaida operative, will only increase the anxieties of African leaders who are concerned about entering into military cooperation agreements with the U.S.

“At the moment, I would steer clear of that one until their bona fides get established, and that is not now,” said Richard Cornwell, a South Africa-based senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies. “Africa doesn’t want to get turned into a new operational zone.”

Other experts suggest that a public relations crisis could be averted if AFRICOM is effective at explaining its intentions to leery Africans.


Rest of Africom article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66690