African Defence and Sovereignty in Dangerous Foreign Hands

Presidents Bush and Obama understood the strategic need to follow any and every activity in Africa. President Bush created AFRICOM and President Obama made sure the African Command had a more relevant presence in the continent. Now we just need to see if the Trump Administration understands the importance of continuing the legacy of the two previous administrations when it comes to Africa-oriented policy.

Last week, Scott Morgan spoke of the Sahel region (and he was even quoted in a Senegalese article on the matter) and Nigeria; and I reiterate that America needs to follow Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Namibia. These countries represent a threat to International Security.

For a long time, we have grown used to discussing African countries from a purely economic, charitable and cultural perspective; and for that reason the international community contributed to the present set of problems that afflicts the continent:

• Corruption (taught and nurtured by the Soviet Union) is depleting the continent
• Islamisation (rooted in corruption) – in exchange for monetary incentives, elements stemming from the Middle East were allowed to indiscriminately build mosques and madrasas training thus the African department of Global Jihad
• Jihadist Laundry Mats – Al-Qaeda & Cº and Hezbollah use African dignitaries (and their families) as fronts. They use them to launder money: the dignitaries and family will buy businesses in the West, put money in western banks, invest in corporations, become stockholders, invest and buy western media networks, buy properties etc with AQ and Hezbollah funds  
• Weapon trade –  the word in the streets is that certain former Portuguese colonies have been over purchasing weapons allegedly to prepare for any eventuality in a volatile region. But there's one detail: most of those weapons end up travelling to North Korea (a close business partner of Iran) through Namibia 
• Lebanese enterprises controlling the defence industry of certain African nations – this is a very highly delicate matter not only to the West but mainly to the African Union (the sovereignty and defence of some of its member-states is under foreign control and it urgently needs to be taken back). 

This is a very serious matter. The Trump administration has stated that its number one Foreign Policy objective is to counter Islamic Terrorism; therefore, Africa is the place to focus upon – not the Middle East.

United States Africa Command, in concert with interagency and international partners, builds defense capabilities, responds to crisis, and deters and defeats transnational threats in order to advance US national interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity. - AFRICOM 

This will not be an easy task because African leaders are supported by a network that is deeply embedded with Islamic elements that foster chaos in Africa so that they proceed with their corrosive dealings. It is increasingly obvious that it's urgent to clean house but the question is: where to start from? Who are the real players and who are the frontmen? Who to target first? How will the clean-up affect the local economy and the common people?

(Image: Leopard by the Water [Ed.] - Google Images)

[The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dissecting Society]