Noteworthy statements by AFRICOM’s Commander General David M. Rodriguez Share This /

General David M. Rodriguez, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, was making the rounds throughout the month of October to talk AFRICOM to various audiences.  On Wednesday October 23rd, he held a press briefing for African journalists to discuss U.S. foreign policy and security cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa (Transcript). That same day, he also spoke at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) to security sector professionals taking part in the three week course “Next Generation of African Security Sector Leaders” (Watch the event here). And earlier this month, General Rodriguez gave an exclusive interview to All Africa. This post is a round up of some of the points made by General Rodriguez.

During the ACCS speech, General Rodriguez laid out his perspective of the Strategic Environment in Africa at Large:

• “While many of the region’s deadliest conflicts have been largely resolved in recent years, insecurity remains a significant challenge.” General Rodriguez noted that eight out of the world fifteen peacekeeping missions are in Africa,  confirming that U.S. training of peacekeeping missions will remain important.
• China, India and Turkey are all establishing themselves as major powers on the continent, and the U.S. is lagging behind.
• “The influence of non-state actors is increasing, most notable the recent, rapid growth and increased connectivity of the violent extremist organizations in North and West Africa.”
• “Al-Qaeda and its affiliates and adherents in Africa have evolved into an interconnected, syndicated, and diffused network that threatens African, U.S., and other international efforts.”  (Video)

AFRICOM’s Accomplishments:

During the press conference, General Rodriguez lauded some of AFRICOM’s accomplishments, including the influence of U.S. training on our regional partners’ fight against the Lord Resistance Army in Central Africa:

• “Our strategy is to develop partner-security capacities, strengthen relationships, and enhance regional cooperation… In Central Africa, regional operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army, combined with the activities of civilian agencies and non-governmental organizations, have reduced the threat to civilian populations.“(Transcript)

He also upheld AFRICOM’s progress against piracy in East Africa:

• “In East Africa, we’ve seen major progress in maritime security. Maritime crime continues to be a major challenge though in the Gulf of Guinea, where our programs are helping partners to strengthen maritime security and counter illicit trafficking.” (Transcript)

General Rodriguez emphasized U.S. efforts to support peacekeeping across the continent:

• “We back American–African peace support operations primarily by helping the State Department train and equip forces from countries in east and northwest Africa that contribute to regional peacekeeping and security mission.” (Transcript)

Whole of Government Approach

At several points General Rodriguez highlighted a “whole-of-government approach.”. First, he emphasized that U.S. security assistance is an inter-agency approach, inline with the U.S. policy directive on U.S. Security Sector Assistance Policy:

• “We conduct all of our military activities in close coordination with our African partners and our partners in the U.S. Government. Every team has a leader. And in the countries where we operate, that leader is the U.S. ambassador.” (Transcript)

General Rodriguez also pointed out that a whole of governance approach is necessary to combat terrorism, acknowledging that a security approach alone will not address the threat:

• “The solution to terrorism in the region is a long-term, broad, whole-of-government approach by all our partners as well as all the international community, because it’s not solved just by military operations. As the Assistant Secretary talked about, it’s about the economic development, it’s about the improvement in governance, it’s about the rule of law and law enforcement.” (Transcript)

General Rodriguez emphasized that AFRICOM is guided by additional policy directives, including the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance, the Presidential Policy Directive on Sub Saharan Africa and the Presidential Policy Directive on Middle East and North Africa.

U.S. Special Operations in Africa

General Rodriguez confirmed that the U.S. would continue special operations raids in Africa:

• “[We] will continue [special] operations. And it’s all about staying after the international terrorists that threaten both the people of the African region as well as others. And the war against – or the getting after these terrorists is hugely important, because again, we’ve got to understand that terrorism is a common interest to finish that and protecting the people, because the ones who are hurt most from the terrorism are the African people themselves.” (Transcript)

AFRICOM’s Humanitarian and Development work

Finally, General Rodriguez also championed AFRICOM’s development and humanitarian work:

• “We work with the militaries on disaster relief, on HIV/AIDS prevention and other health issues, and that has expanded tremendously over time. Quite frankly, that's one of the main ways we make inroads with our partners. They see we're really there to help build their capacity and take care of their populations when they have challenges. We build trust and confidence with these activities.” (All Africa)