US Military's "Africom" Becomes Fully Operational

The US military's Africa Command becomes fully operational on Wednesday, but it still faces skepticism about its intentions as it seeks to provide security assistance to African states.

When the command was unveiled in 2007, President George W. Bush presented it as a way to channel US aid in Africa. But it still has a number of detractors, both in Africa and the United States.

African opponents of the command fear that Washington wants to spread its military might across Africa to counter the growing economic influence of China and to secure sources of energy supply.

"US Africa Command is nothing more than a device to ensure that the US oil industry will have unfettered access to Africa's vast supplies of oil," said Mark Fancher of the US-based National Conference of Black Lawyers.

"If anyone in Africa interferes with US oil operations, we suspect that they will be given the terrorist label and then targeted for military attacks," he said.

In a sign of mistrust of US intentions, several African governments, including Algeria and Nigeria, have refused to host the headquarters of the command. So instead of being based on the continent, the new command is operating for now from Stuttgart, Germany.

Africom, with about 1,300 military and civilian personnel, has also attracted opposition in the United States where some critics regard it as an attempt to militarize US foreign policy.

"State Department and US Agency for International Development officials have expressed concerns that Africom will become the lead for all US efforts in Africa rather than just DoD (Department of Defense) activities," a report by the Government Accountability Office, a congressional audit agency, said in July.

At Africom, officials deny there is a hidden agenda.