United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

7 February 2011

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

AFRICOM trying to stop violent cycle among African soldiers (Stars and Stripes)
(Pan Africa) For more than six months last year, U.S. special forces worked with a
battalion of Congolese infantryman at a training camp in Kisangani. The troops worked
on a range of military tactics. But in addition to traditional combat arms instruction,
U.S. Africa Command developed a program aimed at bolstering awareness about
sexual violence in a region where rape is frequently used as a weapon of war.

Tanzanian Medical Personnel Visit Camp Lemonnier (DVIDS)

(Tanzania) Six medical representatives from the Tanzanian Peoples Defense Force
visited with representatives from Camp Lemonnier and the Combined Joint Task Force
- Horn of Africa in Djibouti, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2011 to engage in discussions on how the
U.S. military manages their medical operations in a forward deployed clinic.

The United States and China vie for influence in the Horn of Africa (Daily Caller)
(East Africa) While often under the mainstream media radar, East Africa is a national
security and foreign policy hot spot for the United States.

U.S., U.K., France Seek UN Sanctions on Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo (Bloomberg)

(Ivory Coast) The U.S., Britain and France are seeking to increase pressure on Laurent
Gbagbo to give up the presidency of Ivory Coast by imposing United Nations sanctions
on Gbagbo, his wife and three top aides.

Diplomatic climate demands collaboration, coordination (Federal Times)

(Pan Africa) The State Department's first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development
Review (QDDR), released in December, portends more possibility for progress than
critics argue.

Special forces to help fight al-Qaeda in Africa (Ottowa Citizen)

(Senegal) Canadian special forces troops from Petawawa will be soon heading overseas
to train soldiers from countries in North Africa who are fighting al-Qaeda insurgents.
The U.S.-led training exercise, dubbed Flintlock, will see troops from the Canadian
Special Operations Regiment heading to Senegal.
Lessons in Participatory Decision Making for Africans (Ghana Web)
(Pan Africa) The inferno of political uprisings that are rapidly spreading in the Arab
world has re-ignited international debate over the role of the amorphous body called
the “international community” in ensuring effective citizen participation in decision
making.

Sierra Leone becomes a model for democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa (Newstime

Africa)
(Sierra Leone) It is surprising that the quiet democratic revolution taking place in Sierra
Leone has gone unnoticed by the international media.

Somali militants may use army truck for Uganda blasts (Sunatimes)
(Somalia) As Somalia’s extremist group of Alshabaab are trying to repeatedly Uganda
after the recent tragic world cup events by using a car colored like the Ugandan military
carriers, reliable sources say.

Clashes in Sudan as southerners in army refuse to withdraw to north (McClatchy-

Tribune)
(Sudan) Clashes spread across a key border region in southern Sudan on Saturday after
a wave of mutinies among southerners in the northern army, leaving at least 41 people
dead as Sudan begins to separate into two nations following a southern referendum on
independence last month.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Countries ready to reinforce UN peacekeepers in Côte d’Ivoire amid tense
impasse
 UN disappointed by three-year extension of Somalia’s transitional parliament
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8-9, 2011; National Defense

Industrial Association, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC
WHAT: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development: Translating Policy into Operational
Capability
WHO: Keynote Speakers include ADM Michael Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff; BG Simon Hutchinson, GBR, Deputy Commander, NATO Special Operations
Forces Headquarters; ADM Eric T. Olson, USN, Commander, U.S. Special Operations
Command; Gen Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Info: http://www.ndia.org/meetings/1880/Pages/default.aspx

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, February 9, 2011; Johns Hopkins School of Advanced

International Studies
WHAT: Elections, Society and State in Guinea After 2011
WHO: Siba N'Zatioula Grovogui, director of the Department of Political Science's
International Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University
Info: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/calendar/index.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

AFRICOM trying to stop violent cycle among African soldiers (Stars and Stripes)

For more than six months last year, U.S. special forces worked with a battalion of
Congolese infantryman at a training camp in Kisangani. The troops worked on a range
of military tactics. But in addition to traditional combat arms instruction, U.S. Africa
Command developed a program aimed at bolstering awareness about sexual violence
in a region where rape is frequently used as a weapon of war. All too often, soldiers in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the perpetrators of such crimes.

There was no field manual to consult, no military doctrine to guide the way.

When Michele Wagner, an academic with U.S. Africa Command’s social science
research center, deployed to a Congolese military camp in 2010, the goal was to get the
Congolese soldiers to open up dark chapters of their past. The goal was to help them
take the first step toward breaking an ugly cycle of sexual violence and rape, which has
long been used as a tactic of intimidation by soldiers and militias in remote parts of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For the United States, creating a professional military in the DRC is seen as the best
chance at bolstering security and stability in a resource-rich country where more than a
decade of conflict has left millions dead.

While U.S. Special Forces worked with the soldiers on their infantry skills at the camp
in Kisangani as part of a six-month effort to train an elite rapid response battalion,
Wagner tried to get soldiers talking.

“There I was in the middle of a training camp with people marching and chanting and
being conditioned, and I’m sitting in a tent with crying soldiers,” said Wagner, who
developed an instructional program that more closely resembled group therapy than
the typical military PowerPoint approach to training.

As she talked with the soldiers, Wagner knew she was in the midst of soldiers who
were both perpetrators of rape and survivors of the violence.

“We talked a lot about their experiences as soldiers, what they saw, what they heard,
different days that they remembered,” Wagner said during a recent discussion with
AFRICOM leaders about the problem.
“As soldiers expressed it in interview after interview, they themselves felt so
constrained and disempowered and humiliated — they felt that they had been
sacrificed by being in the military — that they emphasized that rape was their revenge,”
she said. “That rape was a form of establishing power and domination.”

AdvertisementIn the DRC, rape has been wielded as a weapon of war for years, and
there are no signs that the problem is going away.

Just two weeks ago, several DRC commanders were arrested in connection with a series
of assaults, in which at least 67 women were assaulted during separate rape sprees
during the New Year period, according to a United Nations investigation released on
Tuesday.

But such atrocities — the government’s army is responsible for about 6 percent of the
attacks — are just a fraction of the overall problem. Militia and rebel groups are
believed to be the worst perpetrators, and America’s ability to reach those groups is
limited.

Some experts in the region doubt the U.S. government’s military programs can make
much difference.

In the DRC, corruption and lawlessness within the ranks is so widespread that
instruction on morality is unlikely to make much difference, according to Thierry
Vircoulon, project director for the International Crisis Group’s efforts in Central Africa.

“You can do moral lessons, but the problem goes much deeper. In my view, there is no
way to train the Congolese military because it is not actually an army. It’s just some
people with guns,” Vircoulon said. “There have been many attempts by many people
over many years. It doesn’t work.”

Still, for the U.S., finding ways to break the cycle of sexual violence has emerged as a
top foreign policy priority.

Since 2009, the U.S. government has dedicated more than $32 million for programs
aimed at curbing sexual violence in the DRC.

It’s new territory for AFRICOM and the U.S. military, whose troops are more
accustomed to instructing foreign militaries on combat-arms skills, not delving into
sensitive emotional territory.

Operation Olympic Chase in Kisangani — a six-month AFRICOM training initiative

that ended in October — focused mainly on various infantry skills required to prepare a
700-strong Congolese battalion for rapid-response deployments. The battalion is
intended to serve as a model for the rest of the force.
But to make the training complete, AFRICOM needed to find a way to deal with the
problem of rape in the ranks. Enter Wagner, a social scientist who tried to convey the
importance of group therapy techniques to hardened American infantrymen doing the
day-to-day training.

“That didn’t go all that smoothly,” said one AFRICOM military official involved with
the research center’s work who requested anonymity to discuss the inner workings of
the program. “There’s a lot of learning we have to do to be receptive (to these new types
of training techniques). We’re talking about a big cultural shift for a lot of guys.”

While it was understood that one-time rapists could be in the ranks, it was harder to
grasp that there also were men who had suffered themselves from that kind of violence
and had the psychological scars to show for it, Wagner said.

“Telling Special Forces people that some [of the soldiers they were training] had been
raped — that was culturally a leap for them,” Wagner said. “For me to say some of your
trainees who you’re toughening up are rape survivors, that’s just a bit shocking.”

Still, commanders at AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart are zeroing in on the issue of

sexual violence in places like the DRC and grappling with ways to best instruct foreign
military forces.

Wagner’s program was an attempt to sensitize soldiers by talking about something that
often goes unspoken. The course included four, two-hour classroom sessions and
separate evening sessions where skits and plays were performed that educated soldiers
about the law against sex crimes.

Congolese soldiers conducted the training in their local languages of Lingala and
Swahili and it was designed to get troops talk to each other with the aim of deterring
future acts of rape.

“I think what we are beginning to understand is that our old paradigm, that you take a
PowerPoint, you add a coda, train key peacekeepers for 10 minutes on SGBV (sex and
gender based violence) and prevention of SGVB, doesn’t work anymore,” said Diana
Putnam, chief of AFRICOM’s humanitarian and health activities branch during a recent
roundtable discussion among command leaders.

“We’ve begun to understand the complexity and subtleties of this.”

Despite the complexity, AFRICOM is looking for ways to engage in the region.

Last month, AFRICOM leadership consulted with Wagner and another Defense
Department researcher, Lynn Lawry, whose work is causing the military to rethink
assumptions about the nature of sexual violence in the region and prompting discussion
about the need for more strategies to break the cycle.

In a study co-funded by AFRICOM, Lawry, a researcher from the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense — Health Affairs, found that most of the sexual violence in eastern
parts of the DRC is combat related. The research, which was conducted in 46 villages in
South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri District, showed that men also can be victims of rape
and that women can sometimes be the perpetrators of the crime. The survey covered 19
territories and represented a population of 5.2 million adults.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in August,
showed that 40 percent of the women and 23 percent of the men in the region have
survived sexual violence, 70 percent of which is combat-related. In addition, 39 percent
of female victims reported female perpetrators and 15 percent of male victims reported
female perpetrators.

“We know that it existed. We just didn’t know at what rate and at what prevalence we
could find this to be happening,” Lawry said.

For Wagner, Lawry’s findings matched some of the things she was hearing in the field
back in May as she worked with DRC troops and conducted her own research at the
camp in Kisangani.

“I tried to design training in which officers and soldiers were talking with each other,”
Wagner said. “To develop ways to acknowledge and talk about the issue within the
units they were training in, to develop a precedent for talking with each other.”

But if the command is going to address sexual violence more broadly in the DRC, it also
will need to find a way to reach the various militias in the country.

Currently, legal restrictions require AFRICOM to limit its engagements to direct

military-to-military activities.

“So how do you do awareness with the rebel groups?” Lawry asked. “USAID can’t deal
with it. State Department can deal with it but doesn’t have the capacity to actually be on
the ground to do that type of awareness. AFRICOM is poised to be able to do that.”
--------------------
Tanzanian Medical Personnel Visit Camp Lemonnier (DVIDS)

DJIBOUTI - Six medical representatives from the Tanzanian Peoples Defense Force
visited with representatives from Camp Lemonnier and the Combined Joint Task Force
- Horn of Africa in Djibouti, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2011 to engage in discussions on how the
U.S. military manages their medical operations in a forward deployed clinic.
The TPDF is increasing their participation in peacekeeping operations and enlarging
their role in assisting civilians during natural disasters.

“We are also deploying in the U.N. missions,” said Col. Juma Mwinula, TPDF director
of medical services. “In our country, we accept a number of civilians to our [military]
medical services.”

He added that it is a fragile relationship because if every civilian seeks out military
medical treatment in times of need, the capabilities of those facilities would diminish to
the point of being ineffective in supporting military operations.

The TPDF requested assistance from the U.S. government to spearhead this concern to
increase their caliber of medical care to effectively partner with global colleagues in
international operations.

Discussions focused on best practices in handling patient administration, treatment,

staffing issues, equipment and supply issues, and human resource organization.

The intent of the exchange was not the actual treatment methods of patients, but rather
to discuss the day-to-day management of a medical facility.

“I think it was time well spent,” Mwinula said. “We came here to see how a hospital
was run, the equipment and the personnel. [U.S. medical personnel] have been very
kind to let us see your facilities.”

U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Brenner, officer in charge of the Expeditionary Medical Facility
at Camp Lemonnier, said that one crucial factor in designing a hospital is
understanding your capabilities to effectively treat patients.

“We need to know and make quick decisions on how and where to treat [patients],”
Brenner said. “If we make the wrong decisions, hours of delay can really hurt them.”

He added that when the TPDF medical staff returns to Tanzania, they need to examine
their medical facilities and diagnose what type of care they can provide. That way, the
patients can either be treated at that facility or be moved to another that can provide
more specialized medical care.

One method to manage these expectations of quality care is to proactively engage in

humanitarian missions, Brenner said. The U.S. Navy is undertaking more such missions
each year to being medical care to people in need rather than having them travel to the
facilities.
“We would not be able to open our doors to all civilians. What we do instead are
[veterinary or medical civil affairs projects] where we will go to areas and give specific
levels of care,” Brenner said.

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mike Grande, deputy force surgeon for CJTF - HOA, cited several
recent humanitarian missions in South America, South Pacific and Caribbean, where the
U.S. Navy traveled to thousands of people in need of medical care. Including missions
that provide emergency medical relief, such as after the Haitian earthquake in January
2010, the U.S. Navy provides care in areas such as dermatology, optometry and other
basic medical services.

When asked if the Tanzanians found the visit to be helpful, Mwinula replied, “The
learning session has been very interesting and we have learned a lot of things, seen a lot
of things and it’s very encouraging. We are very curious to see if we can make a
hospital like yours. Mission is accomplished.”
--------------------
The United States and China vie for influence in the Horn of Africa (Daily Caller)

While often under the mainstream media radar, East Africa is a national security and
foreign policy hot spot for the United States.

African Union forces are fighting the militant Islamist insurgency Al Shabab in
Mogadishu, Somalia, where the US and UN-backed Transitional Federal Government is
attempting to establish itself. Al Shabab has responded with suicide bombings in
Uganda and has threatened other countries in the region. Combined Naval Task Force
151, led by the EU, patrols the Indian Ocean attempting to stem Somali piracy, some of
which is sponsored by Islamic terrorist groups. Yet the pirates continue to brazenly
capture ships, including American vessels, as far away as the Seychelles and
Mozambique. Terrorism experts report that all of East Africa is at high risk of Al Qaeda
terrorist activity, with Kenya and Uganda being the leading targets.

After a week of voting in the Sudan, African Christians in the South are expected to
have overwhelmingly cast their ballots for freedom from the Arab-dominated North
that currently governs the country. Despite recent hopeful signals from Sudanese
President Omar Bashir, few believe that Khartoum will allow the oil-rich South to leave
Sudan without bloodshed.

Sudan’s extensive oil reserves, new oil finds in Somalia and Uganda and the region’s
rich mineral deposits also make East Africa a key strategic region for the global
economy. As a commodities treasure chest, the region is of interest to China.

America’s key ally with respect to all of these issues is Kenya. It is from Nairobi that the
UN supports the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia. Somali pirates captured
on the high seas are turned over to Kenyan courts for trial. Kenya has been an
important supporter of the South Sudanese government and has reportedly trained its
defense forces. The Kenyan National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), which was
formed in the aftermath of the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi, has assisted
American law enforcement agencies in arresting a number of terrorists in the country.
As a member of the British Commonwealth and a parliamentary democracy, Kenya has
traditionally been an ally of the West and wary of Russian or Chinese initiatives in
Africa.

Consequently, it was not helpful last month when Kenyan daily newspapers splashed
classified US State Department cables disclosed by WikiLeaks on their front pages.
Papers touting the “The Secret Files” and “Revealed: [US] Envoy’s Road Map for
‘Regime Change’” were hawked by newsboys and snapped up by Kenyans on busy
Nairobi traffic circles. One cable from Embassy Nairobi reportedly stated that “most of
the political and economic elite compose the vested interests that benefit from and
support impunity and the lack of accountability with respect to governance, state
resources, and the rule of law. This includes President Kibaki and Prime Minister
Odinga…”

According to the Daily Nation, just prior to the release of the cables by WikiLeaks, U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnny Carson called the Kenyan prime minister
to warn him about the leaked cables and to apologize for some of the comments
contained therein. Putting aside the merits of the Embassy’s reporting from Kenya, the
effect of the leaked cables could seriously damage American relations with its
important partner in East Africa at a critical time. Fortunately for the United States, for
now, the Kenyan government has publicly brushed the matter aside. Assistant Secretary
Carson’s telephone diplomacy may have averted a freeze in relations.

A second major story from the leaked cables describing China’s adventures in Kenya
also received significant press coverage. Although denied by the Kenyan government,
the cables alleged that China was paying Kenyan security service agents for influence
and had provided the Kenyan intelligence agency with computers and
telecommunications monitoring equipment, which were being serviced by Chinese
technicians working on site.

The Daily Nation also reported that the Kenyan Wildlife Service claims 90% of the ivory
poachers it detains are Chinese and that poaching increases whenever a Chinese labor
camp is established in Kenya. By exposing the dark side of China’s incursion into
Kenya, the leaks confirmed to ordinary Kenyans that China’s interest in the region is
not entirely benevolent.

China’s long-time support of Sudan’s war crimes-indicted leader Omar Bashir in

exchange for easy access to Sudanese oil and close association with other strongmen in
Africa demonstrates a lack of regard for human rights and democracy on the continent.
Even its motives for involvement in anti-piracy naval efforts off Somalia have been
called into question by Western naval officers, who report that China seems more
interested in learning Western naval tactics than fighting pirates.

At a time when so many key Western interests are affected by events in East Africa, it is
critically important that the United States remains fully engaged in the region and
supports our African allies. It is clear that China has recognized the importance of the
region and is looking to supplant the United States as superpower-in-residence. Should
this occur, America and Africa will be worse off.
--------------------
U.S., U.K., France Seek UN Sanctions on Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo (Bloomberg)

The U.S., Britain and France are seeking to increase pressure on Laurent Gbagbo to give
up the presidency of Ivory Coast by imposing United Nations sanctions on Gbagbo, his
wife and three top aides.

The initiative, which requires the unanimous consent of all 15 member governments of
the UN Security Council, has met resistance from Russia, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin
said.

“We didn’t say no, but maybe we are not prepared to accept them,” Churkin said.
“With this mediation effort by the African Union, my immediate reaction is that it is not
very timely. Maybe we will wait a few days, then we will assess the situation and make
a decision. Now our priority is this mission of the AU.”

The African Union on Jan. 31 appointed the presidents of Mauritania, Burkina Faso,
Chad, Tanzania and South Africa to persuade Gbagbo to relinquish the presidency,
after Ivory Coast’s Electoral Commission said he lost the presidential election on Nov.
28 to Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo had refused to cooperate with the AU’s previous
mediator, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, accusing him of bias.

The U.S., Britain and France have targeted Gbagbo, his wife, Simone, Chief of Staff
Desire Tagro, Foreign Minister Ilahiri Djedje and Pascal Affi N’Guessan, head of the
Ivorian Popular Front. They would be subject to an asset freeze and travel ban.

The U.S. Treasury Department last month barred Americans from conducting financial
or commercial transactions with the same five people.

Holed Up

Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the November election, remains

holed up in the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, protected by UN troops. At least 271 people have
been killed in clashes since the election, according to the UN, which has a peacekeeping
mission in the country.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast “may be the first peacekeeping mission
that stays put despite the de facto military authority asking us to leave,” Young-jin
Choi, head of the UN mission, told reporters after briefing the Security Council today.

Choi said that, while “humanitarian and human rights conditions are worsening,”
momentum in the crisis was swinging Ouatarra’s way due to financial pressures on
Gbagbo.

Financial sanctions are “beginning to bite” and pressure is growing to force Gbagbo to
step down, U.S. Ambassador Phillip Carter said today in Washington.

Gbagbo has been seizing bank assets, stealing money from corporations and extorting
local businesses to fund his regime in an effort to maintain power, Carter told reporters
at the State Department.

Feeling Pressure

“Gbagbo is beginning to feel the pressure,” Carter said. “Trade is slowing down.”

Calling Gbagbo “a pretender,” Carter said the president depends for his political
survival on the loyalty of his security forces. Economic sanctions, Carter said, are
beginning to weaken Gbagbo’s grip.

“He has security forces backing him up,” Carter said. “If he can’t pay them, what are
they going to do? How loyal are they going to be?”

Cocoa, used in chocolate, has climbed about 14 percent since the election. Cocoa for
March delivery fell 2.4 percent to 2,139 pounds ($3,444) a ton on NYSE Liffe today.

Ivory Coast failed to pay interest due at the end of January, after a 30-day grace period,
on $2.3 billion of Eurobonds.
--------------------
Diplomatic climate demands collaboration, coordination (Federal Times)

The State Department's first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review

(QDDR), released in December, portends more possibility for progress than critics
argue.

Modeled after the Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review, the QDDR lays
out State's strategies and priorities. More importantly, it outlines the intersecting
agendas of the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development, as
well as that of DoD.
It sends a strong signal: Collaboration and coordination anchor a successful 21st century
national security strategy.

Some say the QDDR will add to the complexity of labyrinthine organizational charts
that misdirect interagency work. They allege that, absent current budget authority,
Cabinet-level secretaries will not be able to accomplish much. And on the heels of
WikiLeaks' release of State Department cables, we hear collaboration comes with too
many risks.

These are mischaracterizations. The QDDR provides strategic vision; now is the time to
enact the organizational change across government that is critical to fostering authentic
collaboration and coordination central to meeting U.S. national security objectives.

And that's before budgets are locked in.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, among others,
describe applying the collective forces of defense, diplomacy and development to
today's geopolitical challenges as Smart Power. One example is the Global Alliance for
Clean Cookstoves.

The program draws on the strengths of federal agencies, from the State Department to
the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as nonprofits, industry and others, to
mitigate the harmful effects of dirty cookstoves on health, the environment and
women's safety. As the alliance reaches out to DoD counterparts, such as U.S. Africa
Command, and foreign governments, the potential to translate Smart Power concepts
into strategic planning and action grows.

What can be done to overcome obstacles to greater interagency collaboration?

First, we must extend understanding of how solving problems collectively can help the
government function more effectively. Clinton, Gates, Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah are among those at the highest levels
who have embraced collaboration and coordination across agency boundaries under the
banner of Smart Power. Junior staff also should be empowered to coordinate with their
counterparts.

Second, we must acknowledge that the "civilian power" Clinton describes in the QDDR
looks much different than it did at the height of the Cold War.

Today's younger diplomats are comfortable with a collective approach to problem-

solving. The model of reaching out to solicit the best ideas, solutions and power of the
collective — modeled in much of today's social networking tools — should not be lost.
Finally, we must establish simpler policies on interagency coordination and clear
directives on reaching beyond the government to channel the skills, capabilities and
insights of civil society and the private sector.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, military and State Department personnel regularly step out of
their traditional roles to work with agency counterparts at all levels. Transitioning back
from these missions can be difficult — and results in a loss of collaboration and
coordination due to organizational charts that do not quite line up.

We should look to foster these relationships and establish a more fluid yet defined
system that capitalizes on them.

The QDDR validates that no agency can promote national security objectives in
isolation. We must open communication and implement clear policies that improve
cross-agency effectiveness and enhance partnerships with nongovernmental
organizations and industry.

Only then can we use the QDDR's strategic vision as the guidepost, building the
coordination needed to execute Smart Power and reaping the rewards: efficiencies at
home and improved mission effectiveness abroad.
--------------------
Special forces to help fight al-Qaeda in Africa (Ottowa Citizen)

Canadian special forces troops from Petawawa will be soon heading overseas to train
soldiers from countries in North Africa who are fighting al-Qaeda insurgents.

The U.S.-led training exercise, dubbed Flintlock, will see troops from the Canadian
Special Operations Regiment heading to Senegal.

Other countries besides the U.S. and Canada involved in the exercise include Spain,
France, The Netherlands and Germany, as well as soldiers from Burkina Faso, Chad,
Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal, according to a statement released Thursday by
U.S. Africa Command.

This is the first time that Canada has participated in Flintlock, an annual special forces
training exercise held in Africa. Governments in North Africa have been fighting a
group that calls itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM.

The organization traces its roots back to Islamist insurgents fighting the Algerian
government.

But insurgents have since become associated with al-Qaeda and have branched out to
conduct attacks in other countries in the region, as well as kidnapping westerners.
Canadian diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay were held by AQIM after being
kidnapped in December 2008. They were released 130 days later amid claims by
government officials in Mali that four AQIM detainees were set free in return. The
Canadian government has said it played no part in any such deal and did not pay any
ransom for the release of the two diplomats.

On Wednesday, the Mauritanian army announced it had killed three AQIM insurgents
who had planned to assassinate Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. In
early January, AQIM was in the news after two Frenchmen were executed during an
attempted rescue mission by troops from France and Niger. The two had been
kidnapped by gunmen in Niamey, Niger.

The Flintlock exercise runs from Feb. 21 to March 11.

The contingent of Canadian trainers will number around 15. The African troops will be
taught small-unit tactics.

In addition, the exercise will focus on improving the sharing of information and
increasing co-ordination between the various countries.

Participants in Flintlock will also help the indigenous population by providing medical
and veterinary programs. In total, around 800 military personnel will take part in the
exercise, according to Africa Command.

The Canadian Special Operations Regiment, or CSOR, was created in 2006. Its soldiers
have conducted operations in Afghanistan, but the details are secret.

In 2008, the Citizen reported that CSOR helped train the Jamaican counter-terrorism
team that stormed a hijacked CanJet airliner in Montego Bay and captured a mentally
troubled gunman without firing a shot. The hijacker had earlier allowed 159 Canadian
passengers and two crew members to leave the chartered aircraft. CSOR members did
not take part in the raid. In a previous interview with the Citizen, special forces
commander Brig-Gen. Mike Day said CSOR will continue to send small training teams
to Jamaica and that missions to additional countries could be organized.

Countries that could qualify for such training would be selected based on Canadian
government policy needs and economic and various other ties between Canada and the
nation in question, said Day, head of the Canadian Special Operations Forces
Command, also known as CANSOFCOM.

CANSOFCOM was created in 2006 to oversee Joint Task Force 2, the special forces and
counter-terrorism unit based at Dwyer Hill, CSOR and the 427 Special Operations
Aviation Squadron, both at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa and the Canadian Joint
Incident Response Unit at CFB Trenton. The response unit deals with weapons of mass
destruction.

CSOR has around 450 people. It is slowly growing with a goal of having 690 personnel
in its ranks, but the military does not have a set timetable on when that number would
be reached
--------------------
Lessons in Participatory Decision Making for Africans (Ghana Web)

The inferno of political uprisings that are rapidly spreading in the Arab world has re-
ignited international debate over the role of the amorphous body called the
“international community” in ensuring effective citizen participation in decision
making. Not since the end of the Cold War have there been so much citizen uprisings
against regimes that were hitherto thought to be invincible. Watching television these
days leaves no one in doubt about the wave of anger and resentment that are only now
being fearlessly expressed on the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Amman and Algiers.

A seemingly harmless self-immolation of a young Tunisian frustrated at his inability to

get a job and his subsequent death exploded into a popular uprising, leading to the
overthrow of President Ben Ali, in power since 1987. The repercussions of the Tunisian
popular uprising have been phenomenal. In nearby Egypt, three people set themselves
ablaze, in an apparent warning to the government of impending danger. At this stage,
most international commentators doubted the potency of this action and its potential to
cause a regime change in Egypt. They cite the strong influence of the army and the
support of the United States for the regime of President Hosni Mubarak who has been
in power since 1981. But later events have proven that no matter how strong or well
equipped an army is they cannot withstand the force of a group of determined people
desirous of change.
Interestingly, the Arab world was transfixed on events in Egypt with trepidation to
gauge the direction of these popular uprisings. Once President Mubarak addressed the
nation and appointed a Vice-President for the first time since 1981 and went ahead to
promise political reforms, the stage was then set for a massive shake-up within the
ruling political elite in the Arab world. Jordan’s King Abdullah bowed to popular
pressure and appointed a new Prime Minister. In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh,
in power for the past 34 years gave in to protesters’ demands and went ahead to
announce that he would not seek re-election after 2013. He also appointed a new Prime
Minister. Though unsatisfactory to protestors who are calling for nothing less than his
resignation, they mark a significant shift in the response of the regime to popular
demands.
The response of the international community to these waves of protests has been
interesting. French and American leaders called for “restraint” in Tunisia, and urged
the government to “respect the rights of the Tunisian people”. In Egypt, President
Obama, in a telephone call to his Egyptian counterpart, called for a “smooth transition”.
A careful analysis of all the countries currently undergoing these revolutions indicates a
commonality that cannot be ignored.
Let us start from President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. He came to power in 1987 on the
back of popular agitations against then President Habib Bourguiba who was accused of
being mentally unsound to rule. For the next 23 years President Ben Ali ruled Tunisia
with an iron fist, clamping down on popular protests and imprisoning political
opponents. Basic human rights like freedom of speech and assembly were denied the
ordinary Tunisian. Whiles all these human rights abuses were going on, the West
looked on quietly, because of President Ben Ali’s clampdown on Islamist extremists.
After the September 11th attacks, Ben Ali became a pawn of the West, receiving massive
assistance to flush out suspected militants. So while the ordinary Tunisian was being
suffocated under a repressive regime, the US, France, UK, UN all kept quiet, loudly
sending a message that the fight against terrorist was more paramount than the rights
and freedoms of the individual.
In the case of Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak came to power in 1981 following the
assassination of President Anwar Sadat. Sadat had become the first Arab leader to sign
a peace agreement with Israel, under the aegis of the United States. Whiles the West
applauded this agreement as being progressive, for President Sadat, it became a banana
peel, eventually leading to his assassination. Vice-President Hosni Mubarak was then
sworn in as President, vowing to deal with Islamist militants and improving relations
with the West. True to his word, political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood were
banned for almost his entire Presidency. Political opposition was stifled, press freedoms
were curtailed and the country was ruled like a military dictatorship. All these
happened under the watchful eyes of the United States which continued to provide
military assistance to this repressive regime. With time, Egypt became the third largest
recipient of American foreign aid and largest in Africa. It became apparent that the
American government kept propping up this regime.
Yemen became significant to the international community after the September 11th
terrorist attacks. Once reviled for its oppressive regime, the Bush administration
provided military assistance to the country due to concerns that militants that had been
flushed out in nearby Saudi Arabia had found refuge in that country. For the fight
against terrorism to be successful, President Ali Abdullah Saleh needed to be supported
at all cost, even it meant the Yemeni leader using the foreign assistance he received to
suppress his own people.
Clearly the West cannot deny complicity in the gross misrule that has become
characteristic of regimes in the Arab world and parts of Africa. In pursuit of very
parochial political agenda, despotic regimes have been imposed on Africans. On the
back of halting the spread of Communism, Prime Minister Patrice Lumuba was brutally
murdered by President Mobutu Sese Seko at the instigation of Belgium. For more than
two decades, this dictator impoverished his people whiles becoming a darling boy of
the West. President John F. Kennedy referred to this man as “a great friend of the
American people”. In Belgium, President Mobutu was a regular guest of King Leopold.
In Ivory Coast President Houphouet Boigny made himself life President and imposed a
one party state on the country. Throughout his life, he was a friend of the French and
Americans. Interestingly enough, next door, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
overthrew Kwame Nkrumah for making himself life president and creating a one party
state. Down south in Angola, the American CIA provided support for rebels fighting
the regime of Eduardo dos Santos because he was deemed to be communist. That
support led to one of Africa’s most intractable civil wars, ending only with the death of
rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. Why were the Bush and Obama administrations prepared to
cope with the political and religious intolerance in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt
and Tunisia but were quick to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe for the same “offences”?
Why has the Obama administration been quick to condemn the attack on gays and
lesbians in Uganda and Zimbabwe but continue to remain silent over the repression of
Christians, gays and lesbians in Saudi Arabia?
Unfortunately, Africa has never learnt its lessons as evidenced by the approach that
ECOWAS and AU have adopted to deal with the Ivorian crisis. The need for an African
response is an absolute imperative. Africans do not need France, the US and Britain,
under the guise of international assistance, to dictate any response planned by the
African Union to deal with the Ivorian crisis. It is disappointing that already a
Presidential delegation has gone to Europe to “confer” with the “international
community”. The obvious question is: what interest does the West have in the Ivorian
crisis?

The inferno in the Arab world is a clear statement to the west to back off Arabian
affairs. The people are clearly making a case for participatory decision-making in
national affairs. They have shown that they are more than capable of punishing regimes
that ignore their interests in favour of Western powers. The next destination of this
wave of revolution is unknown. But what is certain is that by now despotic regimes in
Africa are watching and listening with baited breath.
--------------------
Sierra Leone becomes a model for democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa (Newstime
Africa)

On the streets of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, it will be difficult for visitors to
ignore the newspaper headlines as vendors showcase attention grabbing front pages
mostly from the disgruntled opposition media, with venomous attacks on the president
and top government officials. Some newspaper publishers even break away completely
from the tenets of the profession and engage in personal attacks on the Head of State.
Since the quiet and somewhat unpredictable figure of Ernest Bai Koroma assumed the
presidency, the political climate has completely changed in Sierra Leone. It is surprising
that the quiet democratic revolution taking place in Sierra Leone has gone unnoticed by
the international media. It would have been exciting to read classified information filed
to the State Department in Washington, by June Carter-Perry, former U.S. Ambassador,
describing the current political tolerance that has been the highlight of the Koroma
administration. Looking through recent Wikileaks revelations, it seems the former U.S.
Ambassador had other priorities. She was more concerned about presenting a distorted
picture of what the true reality was on the ground. And these acts of blatant abuse of
diplomatic privilege must have cost Sierra Leone much needed financial assistance.

Sierra Leone’s democratic initiatives should be nurtured and supported. It can provide
a model the west can use in promoting its own foreign policy interests within the
African context, and by lending a hand to the Sierra Leone president to achieve his
government’s aspirations, such success can be exported across the region and help
establish much needed change in Africa. But misguided diplomatic cables are not
helping. They threaten to destabilize and derail the on-going efforts to bring an end to
the misery of a people who have already suffered a terrible experience in the hands of
barbaric rebel warlords who tore apart and dismantled the country’s infrastructure. The
changes happening around Sierra Leone are visible, only unpatriotic individuals with
self-serving interests would make you believe otherwise. But for a country that has
always been taken for granted by its leaders, the potential to rise once more is ever
more apparent.

Sierra Leone under President Ernest Bai Koroma has transformed itself from an
autocratic State to one where democracy defines the political moment. Newspaper
Editors who have suffered brutal experiences in the hands of the previous SLPP
government, will tell you that the APC-led administration has set the pace for
establishing democratic institutions, maintaining the rule of law and protecting press
freedom. It seems there has become a thriving realisation that Sierra Leone would soon
become the beacon of hope in a region that has often seen only tyrants and dictators at
the helm of government. President Ernest Bai Koroma has employed an extremely wide
tolerant atmosphere that has not hindered human rights and that has given the print
and broadcast media the free will to operate with little or no interference.

This is indeed remarkable, and should be encouraged and commended. It shows

statesmanship at the very top of government and it demonstrates maturity so
desperately needed in how Africa governs its people. Tony Blair, the former British
Prime Minister was quick to recognise the amazing will and character the Sierra Leone
president has shown in the way he governs his people and endorsed the remarkable
leadership qualities of the Head of State by offering to get involved in providing a
transparent corridor to enhance government functioning by introducing his Africa
Governance Initiative, offering first hand assistance with presence of a team on the
ground at the very seat of government.

The challenges facing Sierra Leone are no more democratic in nature. They are more
about how a government can harness the country’s new found resources and mineral
wealth to create a working and productively responsive economy. It is not even about
how it can be achieved, because the Koroma-led administration has put all the
mechanisms in place, with an agenda for change at the very heart of it, to institute
changes much needed across the development and economic spectrum of the country.
The priorities of the government have been well documented to be, Agriculture,
Education, tackling corruption and health. The government has indeed not failed in all
these areas. And the country has never seen such a hardworking Head of State, who
with every passing week shuttles from one region to another in the country, ensuring
that the implementation of the development agenda Is well on target and that no region
is left out in the well managed process of lifting the country out of poverty. His
colleagues in the African Union and ECOWAS have clearly recognised and endorsed
his amazing credentials by recently appointing him to lead mediation efforts in trying
to bring an end to the political impasse in Ivory Coast, where a dictator is belligerent in
handing over power to a democratically elected president

Diplomats and representatives of world organisations on the ground in Sierra Leone,

are urged to be mindful of the efforts of the government in its strive to promote and
sustain a democratic atmosphere, and support the Head of State by engaging their
home governments and stakeholders, to provide more in financial assistance and direct
support as an incentive to a government that has already demonstrated the will and
have so clearly shown its credentials as a government of the people and for the people.
--------------------
Somali militants may use army truck for Uganda blasts (Sunatimes)

KAMPALA – As Somalia’s extremist group of Alshabaab are trying to repeatedly

Uganda after the recent tragic world cup events by using a car colored like the Ugandan
military carriers, reliable sources say.

Uganda, one of East Africa’s growing economy countries have deployed powerful
peacekeeping forces in Somalian as parts of AU peacekeepers’ mission known as
(AMISOM) which denied the Somali militants from seizing whole Somali capital.

Some intelligence information being received by us, say that the car (truck) which was
recently bought by a Somali trader in Kampala will be decorated like the Ugandan
military cars’ uniform and will be used for rampage attack soon.

Asked about the information, a senior Ugandan military has rejected the report saying
they are watching closely any attempt to hit Uganda by ‘terrorists.

Ugandan officials have assured that they will thwart any attack, as the veteran army
intelligence keep vigilant eyes on any possible attacks in the country.

For Ugandans, we ought to keep our country safe and watch the terrorists trying to
destroy our country like Somalia! We must stay attentative.
--------------------
Clashes in Sudan as southerners in army refuse to withdraw to north (McClatchy-
Tribune)
JUBA, SUDAN - Clashes spread across a key border region in southern Sudan on
Saturday after a wave of mutinies among southerners in the northern army, leaving at
least 41 people dead as Sudan begins to separate into two nations following a southern
referendum on independence last month.

Official results show that 99 percent of southerners who voted backed forming their
own country, and full independence is set to take effect in July. The referendum was the
core provision of a U.S.-brokered 2005 peace deal between Sudan's Arab and Muslim
north and the rebellious African and largely Christian south, ending a 22-year war that
led to the deaths of 2 million people.

The recent violence broke out Thursday in Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, as
the northern army, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), began withdrawing its remaining
contingents in the south.

Former southern militiamen in the northern army mutinied against other southern
soldiers and northern commanders, refusing to relocate to the north with all their
weaponry. The fighting continued throughout the day Friday. At least 22 are confirmed
dead, mostly soldiers, according to a U.N. official, who said the fighting had mostly
stopped by Saturday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not
authorized to speak to the media on the matter.

Similar uprisings within the SAF ranks erupted Saturday in the Upper Nile towns of
Melut, Paloich and Maban, said Malaak Ayuen, head of information in southern
Sudan's army, the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

"The fighting has spread across Upper Nile," said Ayuen, who said he could not yet
give total casualty figures. The SPLA has stepped in to try to quell the fighting but was
not part of the original clashes, according to officials.

On Saturday, the uprising began at Paloich, the base of Sudan's most productive oil
fields, before spreading 20 miles to the SAF base in the town of Melut. There, at least 18
soldiers were killed, said Akuoc Teng Diing, the Melut County commissioner.

"The bodies are still being collected, and the number is rising," said Akuoc, speaking by
phone from the clash site midday Saturday.

Although part of the northern army, the vast majority of the SAF soldiers in these bases
are southerners. Many are longtime veterans who fought in the national army against
the southern rebels.

But others only officially integrated into the SAF after the peace deal. During the war,
they were part of a patchwork of tribal militias that controlled most of Upper Nile,
supported by the northern Sudanese government in Khartoum to wage a proxy war
against the SPLA and keep the key border region open for oil exploration.

According to officials, it is these former militiamen who are behind the uprisings.

With all SAF forces now required to withdraw to the north and the southerners in its
ranks disarmed and discharged back to the south, the ex-militia elements are resisting
the move.

The mutineers also are fighting to keep some of the heavy weaponry in the south - and
in their hands. "SAF is saying 'No, this is ours. We can take it if we want,' " the U.N.
official said.

In Melut County, the mutineers have grabbed the upper hand.

"The pro-north group of 100 to 120 men has been evicted from the barracks, they are at
large, they are armed," the U.N. official said.

SAF bases are spread across the south in major towns and oil fields, and the troops
stationed there must all have withdrawn to the north by April.

Large contingents of the SPLA remain in the north, as well, especially in the flashpoint
border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. The SPLA says it has no plans to
immediately withdraw from those areas.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website
Countries ready to reinforce UN peacekeepers in Côte d’Ivoire amid tense impasse
4 February – Several countries are ready to provide reinforcements for the 9,000-strong
United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire, where the former president’s
refusal to step down despite his electoral defeat has led to violence and the
displacement of tens of thousands of people, a top UN official said today.

UN disappointed by three-year extension of Somalia’s transitional parliament

4 February – The top United Nations official for Somalia voiced disappointment today
at the transitional parliament’s extension of its mandate by three years beyond the
August deadline by which it was to enact a new constitution and hold general elections
in the war-torn country.