MORE CONFLICT in THE HORN of AFRICA

Let me tell you a story …there’s a “Combined Joint Task Force-Horn Africa” and it sounds a smells a lot like units positioned throughout Central and South America during the 80’s and their early 60’s era predecessors (the infamous “military advisors") in Vietnam. It’s a unit based at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti—Camp Lemonier is reportedly 88-acres of swelter on the Gulf of Aden that (and you really couldn’t make this sh#t up) was a French Foreign Legion outpost once upon a time. The camp houses around 1,800 U.S. military personal—including hundreds of special-forces operators. They’ve been stationed there since 2003 conducting missions covering seven countries in Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula—Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen. More importantly, according to the unadorned cubicle types at the Pentagon, the U.S. military presence in the Horn of Africa—even more than our wars of Afghanistan or Iraq — that will be central to the next decade of our war on terrorists.

"In the Horn of Africa, much of the task force's focus is on humanitarian projects like building schools, wells, and roads. It is not done out of altruism: The aim is to project a better image of the United States and make the ground less fertile for the seeds of Islamic radicalism. During another era, it was known as 'winning hearts and minds.' In April, when their Marine brethren were dropping bombs on Iraqis, marines in the Horn of Africa delivered 15,000 pairs of shoes to children in Djibouti city.

"There are, of course, plenty of bullets to complement the bread. Hundreds of special operations forces and CIA operatives based at Camp Lemonier have the mission of capturing or killing the biggest stars in al Qaeda's constellation and have the authority to launch covert missions throughout much of the Horn of Africa. Last November, a missile fired from a CIA-operated Predator drone killed an al Qaeda operative on a desert highway in Yemen, and intelligence officials are monitoring African airspace and dhow traffic in coastal waters to set the stage for future operations."

Before anyone leaps to conclusions and gets me wrong. I do not think the task force is a bad idea. I do wonder why we, meaning: the U.S. and our allies (meaning mainly the UK and its stable former colonies – *quip courtesy of Thomas P.M. Barnett) have made such a miserable and miniscule security commitment to an area larger than Western Europe. It’s not as if the area isn’t welter of familiar troubles just waiting to explode. For example:

“In the past week, several skirmishes have broken out between militias loyal to Ethiopia and those loyal to the Council of Islamic Courts, the movement that has taken control of the southern region of the country, including Mogadishu, the capital.

The fighting has occurred around the southern town of Baidoa, seat of Somalia's fragile but internationally recognized transitional government. Ethiopia considers the interim government a buffer against Islamic Courts leaders who have long expressed desire to create a "Greater Somalia," including ethnically Somali portions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Wednesday rejected a declaration by a leader of the Islamic movement that Ethiopia withdraw its troops or face war. Though the Ethiopian government has repeatedly denied having more than several hundred military trainers in Somalia, diplomats in the region estimate that at least 8,000 troops have poured in around Baidoa and that thousands more are gathering along the Somali border.”

You can read the International Herald’s take on this increasingly sad tale HERE.