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