Is Obama following in the disliked footsteps of Bush in East Africa?

The Obama administration is seeking substantial increases in military aid to East African countries, leading some analysts to argue that the new president’s handling of perceived threats to US interests closely resembles that of his predecessor, George W Bush.

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President Barack Obama “is essentially on the same path” as was Bush in regard to counter-terrorism initiatives in the Horn, says Daniel Volman, director of the Washington-based African Security Research Project. Mr Volman views such an approach as “not justifiable” because it reflects “a fundamental error of analysis in defining terrorism as a military threat rather than as a law-enforcement issue.”

Echoing comments made recently by US Senate Africa subcommittee chairman Russell Feingold, Mr Volman urges that the increases President Obama seeks in weapons financing and military training for Kenya should be withheld pending improvements in the Kenyan government’s record on human rights.

“US counter-terrorism programmes in Kenya have mostly served to strengthen the ability of the Kenyan government to repress internal dissent,” the head of the non-governmental research institute asserts. “Until there’s some assurance that the money won’t involve the US in human rights abuses, all of that should be put on hold.”

President Obama’s budget requests for Africa for fiscal year 2010, which begins in October 2009, do not reflect the Africa policy review that his administration has been undertaking, Mr Volman says.

He thus suggests that the Obama administration’s priorities could change over time to become less military-oriented.

During the presidential campaign, Mr Volman notes, “President Obama did take some good positions on what the US should do in Africa.”

But it seems clear that the Obama administration intends to further develop the Africa Military Command (Africom) established during Bush’s tenure. Johnnie Carson, the new assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told a Washington forum last week that “Africom isn’t going away.”

Indeed, President Obama is asking Congress to approve more than $500 million for Africom’s operations as well as for communications and airlift capabilities in the coming fiscal year.

The president is also proposing that a total of $451 million be spent on upgrading or replacing facilities associated with either Africom or the US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Gulf and central Asia.

Some Africa-focused activists have criticised Africom as reflecting a growing emphasis on the military aspects of US policy toward the continent. African leaders have been conspicuously cool toward the new command, worrying that it could embroil their countries in the US’ worldwide war on terrorism.

Washington’s focus on containing Islamist militancy in East Africa is apparent in Obama’s requests for more than $200 million to support a US military base in Djibouti and to train and equip counter-terrorism units within the armed forces of Kenya and neighbouring countries.

Specifically, Obama wants Congress to authorise a $170 million operating budget for the Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa detachment that patrols the air and waters of the Horn while also carrying out civic-engagement projects on land.

The White House is also asking for $30 million as a lease payment to Djibouti for the use of Camp Lemonier where the 1,800-member US military contingent is stationed.

Obama meanwhile wants to double US funding for what is known as the East Africa Regional Security Initiative.