Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Media Review for February 3, 2012

Ensuring Success: Four Steps Beyond U.S. Troops to End the War with the LRA
This report argues that the U.S. mission to end the Lord’s Resistance Army needs more capable troops, more robust transport and intelligence capabilities, and a two-tiered strategy to encourage defections. The report also calls for an agreement that allows regional troops to deploy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Enough Project

Congo-Kinshasa: U.S State Department., USAID Testify On Troubled Post-Election Aftermath in the Congo
Violence, potential humanitarian crisis and the post-2011 election aftermath in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were the topics at a congressional hearing Thursday held before the House panel that oversees international human rights and African issues that is chaired by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04). Chairman Smith’s statement, Deputy Assistant Secretary Donald Yamamoto statement. allAfrica

Kabila’s party loses 45% of its seats in the Congo

President Joseph Kabila’s party has lost 45 percent of the legislative seats it held before November elections that were denounced as fraudulent and chaotic, according to belated results announced Thursday by Congo’s electoral commission. Times Live

Column: Sudan and Congo savaged as world shrugs
2011 was a year of unprecedented action on behalf of freedom and human rights. When citizens flooded streets throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the U.S. and other countries dropped their long-standing presidential allies and demanded new leadership. When massive human rights abuses loomed in Libya and Ivory Coast, the international community acted decisively. That backdrop makes it all the more puzzling why the two countries where human rights abuses are worst in the world – Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo- have received such comparatively tepid international responses. USA Today

North Africa: Terrorism on the rise
The International Center for Terrorism Studies is out with a new report that should catch the attention of policymakers in the United States and elsewhere. The critical finding is this: Tragically, the Maghreb – Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia – as well as adjacent parts of the Sahel – Chad, Mali, and Niger – have emerged as one of the most worrying strategic challenges to the international community, and yet for decades these regions have mostly been overlooked by policy-makers in the West. Consider, for example, the empirical data generated since September 11, 2001. The Washington Post

Tuareg rebels take Mali town after army pullout
Mali’s Tuareg rebels took over the northern town of Menaka Wednesday after the government forces stationed there pulled out overnight, officials and witnesses said. "The Malian army contingent that was in Menaka left the town overnight. Around 40 armed rebels entered it in the afternoon," a local official said on condition of anonymity. AFP

Kenya: US Intelligence Praises Raid on Al-Shabaab
Kenya’s military operation has helped erode Al-Shabaab’s control of southern Somalia, the chief US intelligence officer said on Tuesday. The Islamist insurgents have been weakened by "internal divisions and diminished local support" due in part from military pressure from Kenya, Ethiopia, African Union forces and Somali government troops, director of national intelligence James Clapper said in an assessment of threats to US security. Daily Nation

Long Haul for U.S. to Secure Weapons Stockpiles in Libya
[...] Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of State for political-military affairs, laid out what promises to be a long haul for the effort to secure these so-called man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, in the department’s most comprehensive public assessment to date of its ongoing weapons-removal operations in Libya. National Journal

Wade dismisses protests as ‘light breeze’
Senegal’s president Abdoulaye Wade mocked protests against his bid for a third term as a "light breeze" as the opposition mulled its next move Thursday and the West distanced itself from its erstwhile ally. News 24

Controversies and Fear of Election-Related Violence Ahead of the Presidential poll in Senegal
[...] In their opposition to Wade’s candidature, opposition figures have put forth two main arguments, both of which have been rejected by the Constitutional Court. The first and the most prominent one is that Wade, having been elected for the first time in March 2000, and re-elected in 2007, would be violating the spirit of the 2001 constitutional amendment and the text of Article 27 of the constitution, which limits the presidential terms to two.. ISS

Senegal president spends $200K to lobby US
Several months before a Senegalese court was due to rule on one of the most divisive issues facing the nation, the country’s aging president took extra care to ensure that his interpretation of the law would prevail not only in Senegal, but also in Washington. The Boston Globe

SA and the AU: It’s complicated
When the African Union’s (AU’s) election rules forced South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to end her bid to become chairperson of the AU in Addis Ababa this week, local media claimed it was because South Africa’s Africa policy was weak and directionless. Mail and Guardian

How Qaqa, Boko Haram Spokesman, Was Arrested
In a joint operation involving the military and officials of the Department of State Security (DSS), the spokes-man of Boko Haram, Abu Qaqa, was arrested at about 4 O’clock Wednesday morning at Kaduna, Kaduna State. This Day

Nigeria: Never so divided, never so united
A month after an angry public launched protests across Nigeria over skyrocketing fuel prices due to the removal of a government subsidy, a measure of calm has returned and people seem to have settled into accepting a compromise. The removal of the subsidy on 1 January raised petrol prices from 65 naira to 141 naira (40 to 90 US cents) per litre, and led to sharp increases in food and transport costs. IRIN

US speaks on Nigeria’s break-up
United States of America (US) yesterday spoke about the possibility of Nigeria breaking up in 2015, saying the US did not make any such predictions. Ambassador of the United States of America to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley has said his country never predicted that Nigeria would break up by 2015 as earlier reported. The Champion

Kagame: China’s donation to AU HQ symptom of Africa’s bigger problems
Rwanda president Paul Kagame has said China’s donation to Africa – the new headquarters worth $200 million unveiled last week is a reflection of Africa’s bigger problems. He was speaking at his monthly press conference in Kigali on Thursday. The East African

Egypt’s tragedy: This is not just soccer violence
It doesn’t add up. Port Said’s Masry soccer team won 3-1 against its long-time rival Ahly. In Port Said. It was a tough victory, one that Masry won with the support of its fans. The logical question would be, then, "Why would the Masry fans attack the minority of Ahly fans among them?" Foreign Policy

Britain Vows to Step Up Fight Against Somali Terrorism, Piracy
In a visit to Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu Thursday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague promised to step up the fight against terrorism and piracy. Hague is the first British foreign secretary to visit the war-ravaged city in two decades. VOA

China’s Africa Problem
In various attacks, including this week’s kidnapping of 29 workers in Sudan, China has failed to flex its military muscle to rescue its own people. Is this how a superpower acts? The Daily Beast

Diamonds and dust: Why Angola’s capital Luanda is one of the world’s most expensive cities
When you think of the world’s most expensive cities, the dusty Angolan capital of Luanda seems an unlikely contender. Potholed, chaotic and still scarred by decades of civil war, the city has little of the glitz and glamour of Tokyo, New York or Moscow, and an estimated half of Angolans live on less than $2 a day. In Depth Africa

Africa: Fast internet is coming!
Construction of two new submarine cables will mark an important step in the development of internet infrastructure in West Africa. But all the barriers to its general distribution are far from being removed. The Africa Report

Disclaimer

Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.

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