Expansion of AFRICOM Forces
Over the last few years the United States has spent millions training proxy forces to combat local insurgents in Africa, resulting in a significant increase of the nation’s military presence on the continent at a time when many were hoping the opposite would occur. One example is a $500 million operation called the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative that provides training and equipment to 10 African partners. According to journalist Nick Turse, who has covered AFRICOM extensively for TomDispatch, the number of operations, programs and missions conducted by the U.S. military in Africa has increased by more than 200 percent since the command was established in 2008. In 2012 alone the United States planned 14 major training operations across the continent, including in Mali, Morocco, Uganda, Botswana, Lesotho, Senegal and Nigeria.
Obama with his Kenyan grandmother
Obama Has Been a Stranger on the Continent
Kenyans, and Africans at large, put the weight of a continent’s expectations on the new president’s shoulders, presuming his election would improve their material lot, making their power work and their crops grow. Kenyan members of parliament even called for a rural airport to be upgraded so that Air Force One would be able to land there. Because of his background and story, Obama could have played a key role in transforming Africa. But he has instead veered away from embracing his father’s home continent, according to Scott Warren, executive director of the nonprofit Generation Citizen that works with lower-income youth. That Obama’s first lengthy visit to Africa occurred in June and July 2013, a year after his re-election, underlined the continuing low priority of the continent for U.S. foreign policy, in the eyes of many observers.
