U.S. Army leaders gather in Ethiopia today with chiefs of defense from more than 30 African nations to show support in the fight against terrorism despite expected budget cuts to U.S. Africa Command.
The African Land Forces Summit in Addis Ababa that runs through Friday comes on the heels of an al Shabab ambush Jan. 5 that killed three Americans at the air base in Manda Bay, Kenya. In 2017, four Americans were killed in an attack by the Islamic State’s Sahara affiliate in Niger.
“Al Shabab is one of the biggest threats on the continent, and they have aspirations to attack the homeland,” Army Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr. told reporters on a press call Wednesday, underscoring the terrorist threat in Africa.
“My message to our African partners is: We’re not walking away,” he said.
The same day that Cloutier reassured journalists about the United State’s commitment to Africa on a call from Italy, Air Force Lt. Gen. Mark Kelly was halfway around the globe telling a group in Arlington, Virginia, how important the Air Force is in supporting special operations forces on the continent.
“Frankly, we can be places at a speed, with a capability, that nobody else can be at,” he said at an Air Force Association event in response to a question from the Washington Examiner about potential cuts to AFRICOM.
Kelly highlighted the use of MQ-9 Reapers, unmanned aerial drones that depart from a $100 million base built by the Air Force in Niger.
“We can put an MQ-9 … 20 hours over a force, and we don’t need a base in that smaller country as the case may be and put aviators at risk or drive overland or create a port,” Kelly said of operations that include counterpiracy in the Indian Ocean.
The Pentagon has been mum about whether the recently completed Niger Air Base 201 near Agadez will be abandoned as part of an ongoing review of AFRICOM’s budget. But commanders like Cloutier say the U.S. will remain in Africa fighting terrorism alongside the partner nations it is training.
Cloutier highlighted AFRICOM’s more than 300 security cooperation events planned this year alone.
“We’re still here. We’re the preferred partner of choice,” he said.
America’s training and summits such as African Land Forces are meant to strengthen relationships with African leaders, counter Russian and Chinese influence, and help prevent the establishment of new terrorist safe havens.
The statements from Cloutier and Kelly follow less reassuring comments from Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who spoke alongside French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly at a Pentagon press briefing Jan. 27.
“My aim is to free up time, money, and manpower around the globe,” he said when asked about scaling back the U.S. presence in Africa. “My aim is to adjust our footprint in many places.”
Parly called U.S. support in the terrorist fight in the Sahel region of Africa “really critical to our operations.”
France has 4,500 troops in Africa as part of its Operation Barkhane, which supports G5 Sahel, a group of African nations fighting terrorism.
Esper’s comments seemed to foreshadow a passing of the mantle to Europe.
“I think it’s time for other European allies to assist, as well, in the region,” he said at the January press conference. “That could offset whatever changes we make as we consider next steps in Africa.”
