An excellent critique of Mbeki's presentation. Just want to add that Moeletsi's statement: ‘As in all human affairs, the use of force in the right social context does produce solutions. There is no better illustration of this fact than the history of the United States’ (referring to events in American history, ‘the war of independence, the civil war, and the civil rights revolution’) could not be more irrelevant to explaining Africom's role! The 'war of independence' was against an external force to resist external domination, and the other two were internal conflicts - Americans against Americans - in search of social justice.



Africom is an external force invading Africa. The examples from US history that ARE relevant to Africom stretch from the arrival of the 'pilgrim fathers' and settlers on the continent and their gradual decimation of the local people, through Vietnam, and numerous other invasions under pretence of 'helping', as in Nicaragua, to the most recent examples of Afghanistan and Iraq. In these examples we can see the sort of 'solutions' Africom has in mind for the peoples of Africa. 



America's record is clear - it simply wants control of land (food), water, minerals and energy resources for its own benefit, plus cheap labour. Africom is there to 'command' and prop up servile local elites who will allow American multinationals to take whatever they want. Sadly many of our leaders already eagerly follow the US example of plunder for personal profit and will be happy to get a small personal share of the spoils while their people are impoverished. 



And, of course, should there be some conflict, perhaps a little resistance to looting of local resources or a desire for social justice, well so much the better for Africom - a convenient justification for its presence, and besides, its much easier to control the hungry, homeless, wounded and disenfranchised.



Africom is 'an important initiative’ only for America. If we do not resist it, Africans will eventually have to fight another 'war of independence'!