AFRICOM DELEGATION RECEIVES SENEGALESE INPUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 001026 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, PM, AF/W AND INR/AA ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU PARIS FOR POL - D,ELIA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2017 TAGS: MARR MASS OVIP SG SUBJECT: AFRICOM DELEGATION RECEIVES SENEGALESE INPUT Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) The interagency AFRICOM delegation visited Dakar in April, meeting with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, Senior Minister for Foreign Affairs Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Minister of Armed Forces Becaye Diop and Chief of Defense Major General Abdoulaye Fall on April 21. There was a marked contrast between the meetings between civilians and military officers, with the latter embracing the AFRICOM concept and the former having a number of questions. President Wade averred that he had already heard that AFRICOM would be headquartered in Ghana. He also again asked for military equipment, pretending that he did not know that the United States has given Senegal over USD 10 million in equipment since 2000. Using the 2005 coup in Mauritania as an example of disagreement between Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) member states, Wade cautioned that regional consensus does not exist on military issues. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The interagency AFRICOM delegation consisted of Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for African Affairs Theresa Whelan; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Affairs Linda SIPDIS Thomas-Greenfield; Walter Elliott North, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa, USAID; Ambassador Robert Loftis, Senior Advisor For Security Negotiations and Agreements, Bureau of Political Military Affairs Bureau, Department of State; Claudia Anyaso, Director for Public Diplomacy, Africa Bureau, Department of State; David Radcliffe, Regional Director for AFRICOM; Col. Patrick Mackin, AFRICOM Director For Public Affairs; Col. Jennifer Graham, Military Assistant; Rebecca Linder, Special Assistant; and Major Lloyd Jameson, International Affairs, National Guard Bureau. Mr Henry and Col. Graham had to return to Washington before the April 21 meetings in Dakar. AFRICOM: MEETING WITH SENIOR MILITARY LEADERS -------------- - ¶3. (C) General Fall assembled nearly his entire staff for a Power Point presentation to the AFRICOM delegation; then Charge Robert Jackson; Major Mark Deets, the Defense Attache; and Acting Office of Defense Cooperation Chief LCDR Robert Hopkins on the Senegalese Armed Forces, (SAF,s) reaction to the creation of AFRICOM. In attendance were the Army Chief of Staff, the Navy Chief of Staff, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and General Fall's personal Chief of Staff, as well as the deputy chiefs of staff and the division chiefs representing Operations, Logistics, Human Resources, Intelligence, Foreign Liaison, and Exercises and Training. The briefer (a colonel from the Senegalese joint staff) noted that the Senegalese view military cooperation with the United States under the three pillars of institutional training, exercises, and equipment*pillars which all support "capacity building" for the SAF. The SAF want to enhance its capacity to confront the challenges they face, such as a rebellion in the southern part of the country (the Casamance) and four primary peacekeeping operations with the UN and the African Union (AU) -- Sudan, Liberia, Cote d,Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Therefore, the Senegalese military views the creation of AFRICOM as a positive development that will further enhance these pillars, and the Power Point slide that made the point read simply, "AFRICOM IS WELCOME!" While talking about the slide, the briefer noted the overlap of U.S. and Senegalese visions for West Africa and the rest of the continent, as well as the hope that the creation of AFRICOM would mean more dialogue between the two governments. The SAF believe that AFRICOM's focus should be on crisis prevention and disaster management while supporting existing African institutions such as the AU and the sub-regional economic organizations such as ECOWAS, SADC, IGAD, etc. The Senegalese believe that the AFRICOM headquarters should look like a classic military staff and should be based, at least in part, in Senegal. The SAF support the idea of a istributed headquarters, as proposed by the U.S.delegation. ¶4. (C) While expressing Senegal's support for AFRICOM in general, the briefer also bought up some concerns, as did others later durig the question and answer session that followed. The Senegalese were concerned that AFRICOM consltations would be too shallow and not broad enough. They were also concerned that the USG might try o bring "U.S. home-made solutions" to Africa insead of listening to DAKAR 00001026 002 OF 003 the Africans about what works in Africa. The Army Chief of Staff reiterated the need to work with the existing institutions on the continent instead of creating new ones while the Navy Chief of Staff asked how AFRICOM will address the maritime security issues that Senegal and other African countries face. After the briefer noted the negative perception that Africans and others sometimes take from the U.S. map of the world showing the different territorial areas of responsibility for each U.S. unified command, the Air Force Chief of Staff asked what AFRICOM meant vis--vis U.S. grand strategy, i.e. why now? DASD Whelan responded that U.S. thinking is evolutionary; AFRICOM Is not a new concept; threats can now come from anywhere, including from non-state actors; and AFRICOM represents good risk management. ¶5. (C) The Senegalese believe that a reinforced media effort may help counter some of the negative perceptions of AFRICOM's creation. General Fall concluded by noting that the SAF's primary weaknesses were funding, critical intelligence, planning, and strategic airlift/logistics. Finally, he lauded the multi-dimensional nature of the AFRICOM Consultation Team, with representatives from the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development in addition to their Defense Department colleagues, and asserted that Africans could learn from this example of interagency teamwork. MEETING WITH MINISTER OF ARMED FORCES -------------- ¶6. (C) Next, Minister of Armed Forces Becaye Diop, civilian Director of Cabinet Rene Emmanuel Moise, and military Director of Cabinet Captain Ahmedine Fall received the delegation for 30 minutes. DASD Whelan discussed AFRICOM,s objectives, including an integrated structure to work on security and stability, good governance, economic opportunity and the rule of law. Minister Diop said that as Senegal looked at AFRICOM, African integration and collective defense are key issues. Senegal will consult with ECOWAS partners before providing definitive views on AFRICOM. MEETING WITH PRESIDENT WADE -------------- ¶7. (U) During the subsequent meeting with President Abdoulaye Wade, Senior Minister for Foreign Affairs Chiekh Tidiane Gadio, Minister of Armed Forces Diop, and Captain Mohamed Sane, General Fall,s Chief of Staff, at Wade,s official residence, Wade was somewhat more positive. After an exchange of greetings and condolences on the April 1 deaths of five Senegalese peacekeepers in Darfur, DASD Whelan explained that the interagency delegation was visiting Senegal to consult with African partners pursuant to President Bush,s decision to establish a unified command for Africa. ¶8. (C) True to form, Wade responded by asking a number of probing questions: Why did President Bush make this decision when the United States has only intervened in Africa twice ) in LIBERIA and Somalia? How many and what type of troops might be involved? What would be the role of African partners, hosts in operational planning? Is AFRICOM going to be located in Ghana? DASD Whelan said the decision to establish AFRICOM was based on changes in the international environment since the end of the Cold War and was founded on the belief that having a command that would focus exclusively on Africa would increase effectiveness. She assured President Wade that no decision had been made about AFRICOM,s final location beyond a decision to have more than one headquarters. She explained that this would be a unique command with no U.S. troops based in Africa but rather only headquarters to promote peace and security. She noted that AFRICOM would support the State Department and USAID in Africa, working with African security institutions and striving to be a good neighbor and good guest. ¶9. (C) Wade told the delegation that AFRICOM must recognize that regional consensus does not exist. He said he nonetheless favors regional approaches because they address linguistic challenges and are generally less complicated. He said he would like to see a continental African army broken down by regions, with the army headquartered in Mali and the air force in Senegal for example. He stressed that such an army would require major allies, support and that the biggest challenge would be selecting a commander. MAURITANIA -------------- ¶10. (C) Keeping with the regional theme, Wade noted that he DAKAR 00001026 003 OF 003 had met with Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in Nouakchott two days earlier. He called the Mauritanian inauguration and the elections preceding them &extraordinary,8 noting that his insistence that ECOWAS and the AU should not intervene after Col. Val,s coup had proven to be the wisest policy toward a country with many challenges and problems. WHERE,S MY EQUIPMENT? -------------- ¶11. (C) As he had done with European Command (EUCOM) Deputy Commander General William Ward, Wade then stated that he has repeatedly asked the United States for equipment and has received nothing. DASD Whelan and other members of the delegation responded that we had provided thousands of M-16 rifles, trucks and other equipment, but Wade was very dismissive, saying some of the trucks were so old that they were only fit to pass on to Guinea-Bissau, which had nothing. DASD Whelan and PDAS Thomas-Greenfield attempted to politely close the discussion by acknowledging Senegal,s equipment challenges and promising to look into what had been provided. COMMENT -------------- ¶12. (U) The contrast between these meeting and the meeting with General Abdoulaye Fall and his senior staff could not have been more striking. On April 23, then Charge sent letters to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces again reminding them that the United States has provided over USD 10 million in the equipment to Senegal under Foreign Military Financing and the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance programs since 2000, including 14,000 M-16 rifles, 1,452 M-60 machine guns, over 300 trucks and pick-up trucks. END COMMENT. ¶13. (U) OSD has cleared this message. ¶14. (U) Visit Embassy Dakar,s SIPRNET website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar. JACOBS