AFRICOM Chief: No Plans to Scrap AFRICOM

Pentagon Confirmed Plans Drawn Up Two Months Ago

With European Command building up huge amounts of combat troops in southern Italy with eyes on attacks against Africa, the long-term viability of US African Command (AFRICOM), which has less troops overall that the EUCOM does just in Italy, is in serious doubt.

Apparently Gen. David Rodriguez is the last to hear the news, however, insisting today that there are “no plans” to scrap AFRICOM outright and that the US have “always had an interest in Africa.”

But there very much are plans to scrap AFRICOM, and the Pentagon confirmed their existence over two months ago, a proposed realignment that hasn’t been finalized but which would aim to save money by eliminating AFRICOM outright and merging NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM into a single command.

The plans are a testament to the command’s inability to establish a serious foothold in Africa, repeatedly focusing on PR and training efforts before scrapping them quickly and promising a focus on combat, which now seems to be undercut by lack of bases inside Africa, leading the administration to plan their wars from inside Europe.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.