Gates visits Djibouti to promote mission

Lance Cpl. David Jaime, 21, of Santa Maria, Calif., demonstrates to the gathered members of the Djiboutian air force how to use a squad automatic weapon at a joint exercise on Dec. 2 near Arta, Djibouti.


Gates visits Djibouti to promote mission
By Zeke Minaya, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, December 4, 2007

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited this small but key nation Monday to promote the U.S. military mission in the Horn of Africa, which hopes to deny anti-American extremism from gaining a foothold. The mission aims to encourage economic development and build closer ties to local leaders and communities.

Gates’ meeting with Djiboutian leaders was closed to the media and afterward he took only a few questions from reporters. He said that the efforts of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa would provide a model for the newly established Africa command.

“I think it’s a good model for AFRICOM, and also a mix of activities that I think we should be doing more as a way of preventing problems from developing,” Gates said.

AFRICOM was launched on Oct. 1 and is slated to be fully operational by 2008. The new command is presently headquartered in Germany while it searches for a permanent home in Africa.

After leaving Djibouti, Gates made his third trip to Afghanistan since becoming the Pentagon chief a year ago. He was planning to hold talks on Tuesday with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai at a time when his government has complained about U.S. and NATO strikes that have killed civilians.

The Horn of Africa Task Force approach to combating terrorism is the use of “soft power,” advocated by Gates in a speech last week at Kansas State University. According to media reports, he said the counterterrorism fight needed to evolve “beyond the guns and steel of the military” to include more diplomacy and economic development.


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