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This article appearsed in the November 7, 2008 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

AFRICOM and Control Over
Africa's Resources

[PDF version of this article]

General Kip Ward, commander of President Bush's newly created United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), speaking to the International Peace Operations Association in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27, defined the command's mission as, "in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international partners, [to conduct] sustained security engagements through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support of U.S. foreign policy." However, what General Ward would not discuss, is one of the "key strategic interests which drives American policy in Africa," according to a paper circulated at the event by J. Peter Pham, an expert in Africa defense policy.

In addition to fighting terrorism, disease, and "dictatorships," Pham lists the objective of "protecting access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance ... a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as China, India, Japan, or Russia, obtain monopolies or preferential treatment" (emphasis added).

Pham's formulation echoes that of Henry Kissinger's 1974 National Security Study Memorandum (NSSM-200), which, as far as this news service knows, has never been repudiated by the U.S. government. This memorandum stated that U.S. requirements for "large and increasing amounts of raw materials" gave it an "enhanced interest" in ensuring "stability" in the supplying countries, including through decreased population growth.

EIR asked General Ward about this attempt to control Africa's raw materials, reading from Pham's article about AFRICOM's mission to "protect" Africa's resources from other foreign nations. Ward would not respond to that issue.

Lawrence Freeman

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