U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs  Print     Share  

STUTTGART, Germany, 

Apr 24, 2012 — In an interview with members of various media organizations, April 24, 2012, General Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, described the U.S. military's role in what he described as an African-led endeavor to locate Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and bring him to justice.

According to Ham, the U.S. military is one component to a much larger U.S. government effort, which includes advising military members of the four African nations that are leading the effort.

Describing the challenges of finding Kony in a large geographic area, Ham said the LRA takes care to conceal their movements and limit communications.

"It's a large geographic area, heavily forested, very remote, lack of infrastructure, very few roads and bridges -- it's very rough terrain, and so it doesn't lend itself to an easy solution," he explained. "We think the Lord's Resistance Army probably numbers somewhere in the 200 range, and we don't think they're ever together. They're operating in very, very small groups."

In spite of these challenges, Ham expressed confidence that Kony will eventually be captured.

"I'm confident in the abilities of the four African countries; the level of commitment that I've seen from their senior officials, mostly from heads of state, certainly from ministers of interior and defense and chiefs of defense; the level of commitment I see from the African Union; the level of commitment from my president and from our government. I am confident this mission will be successful," Ham stated.

"And I do believe that ultimately success is the disestablishment or the rendering ineffective of the Lord's Resistance Army," he added.

The complete transcript is provided below. (See also: Commander of Special Operations Command Africa Interviewed on Counter-LRA Efforts

GENERAL CARTER HAM: Well, first of all, thanks for choosing to make this trip up. I'm a little jealous, to tell you the truth, because you're getting to go to some places that I haven't been yet, and I don't think that's fair (laughter). I think it's just one of those things.

But as the -- as President Obama mentioned yesterday, it's good -- the timing's pretty good. As he -- the president reaffirmed the commitment to continuing the U.S. support to this mission for kind of a next period of time, and then we'll do another assessment and make sure that we think our contributions are still continuing.

So I think the first thing to talk about is how we fit in -- how I see us, U.S. AFRICOM, fitting into what is, and is in my view appropriately, an African-led endeavor to try to bring Joseph Kony and the other senior leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army to justice. And that's an important component of how we look at this, and that is that this must be, in my view, African-led. This is obviously an ongoing activity, but with a little bit of U.S. support I think can make a lot of difference.

So the role of the U.S. advisors, the role of AFRICOM is --the military component to a much larger U.S. government effort to support the counter -- Lord's Resistance Army effort. We think our effort is important, but it is just one component. I think as you're well aware, we do not have an operational role, and this is I think often misunderstood, certainly amongst those who I engage with in Africa, is that there's this sense that there are American military folks out there in the (inaudible), in the forefront pursuing Joseph Kony. And so we try to educate and inform people to make sure that they understand that that's not what this is. Our effort, again, is very much a supporting role to try to encourage the militaries of the four African countries that are involved, to lead their effort.

We think that effort is consistent with our overall strategy and the priorities that the command has established. The two overarching principles for us here at U.S. Africa Command are, one, simply that a safe, stable, secure Africa is in the best interest not only of the African countries but of the United States as well. And certainly the opportunity -- the effort to bring Kony to justice fits into that category, into that priority.
The second priority is one that was espoused by President Obama in his Ghana speech in Accra in 2009, and that's simply that in the long run, it is Africans who are better able to address African security challenges. The short phrase is: African solutions to African problems. And we think the endeavor to bring Kony to justice fits into that priority quite well, and again, with us in a supporting role.

The things that we do -- where we do contribute militarily: training and assisting, advising, embedding with the military forces of the four nations involved, information and intelligence sharing, logistics planning, and a little bit of communications support as well. And I think those supporting efforts seem to be having some positive effect in enabling the Africans to conduct their operations more effectively and -- as they pursue Kony.

More recently -- and you'll hear more specifically, I think, from Admiral Losey and certainly when you're in-country, we're establishing a rewards program that we think might be useful as a useful component of the overall strategy. Some of that money is focused specifically on Kony and the senior leaders. But other monies that are available in that program help us with information dissemination, communications, leaflets and the like to more broadly share the information about Kony and about what the African nations are doing throughout the region.
Lastly, before I open it up for questions, I should mention the role of the African Union. I did have the opportunity to meet with Ambassador Madeira when I was in Algiers a few weeks ago. He's taking this mission very seriously and is seeking to coordinate the efforts, again, of the four nations involved. And his portfolio is much broader than just military, though there is a military component to it as well.

But his role, as charged by the leadership of the African Union and specifically of the Peace and Security commission, is to find the opportunity to synchronize, to harmonize, to coordinate the efforts of -- particularly of the four nations involved so that they're working in concert and thereby increasing the likelihood of success of this mission.

So with that, again, and the president's announcement yesterday that we'll continue this mission after the initial review, I would welcome your questions.

MR.: Sure, Jeff ?

Q: Thanks, General. A couple of questions. One, how can you tell if this has had any impact? I mean, Kony's still out there. I don't think any of the senior leaders have been captured or killed since the U.S. started helping. That's something I'd like you to address. And two, why is it so hard to get these guys?

GEN. HAM: Yeah. Well, the second question's easier than the first. The size of the area that we're talking about is about the size of California. So it's a large geographic area, heavily forested, very remote, lack of infrastructure, very few roads, bridges -- it's very, very rough terrain. And so it doesn't lend itself to an easy solution. And we're looking for essentially about -- we think the Lord's Resistance Army probably numbers somewhere in the 200 range, so it's a pretty -- and we don't think they're ever together. They're operating in very, very small groups.

So trying to find these very small groups in a very large area of difficult terrain -- and a group that has become increasingly savvy in terms of concealing their movements. They're very careful about communications. We believe most of their communications is by courier or face to face, so they don't use technology very much. All of those compound the effort to find them. And then lastly, having lived in the bush for so many years, they're pretty effective survivalists. I mean, they know how to live off the land. Obviously they do raid villages periodically. But it's, again, a very, very tough place to find people.

Just to put it in comparison, you know, the global effort to try to find Osama bin Laden took 10 years with an extraordinary level of effort from a wide variety of nations -- you know, the highest priority for the international intelligence community, and it still took 10 years to find him. And he's a much higher-profile guy than Kony. So this is a tough mission, and we should never forget that mission that the Africans have taken on.

The second question about -- actually your first question about measures of merit -- how do we know that we're having an effect? Well, obviously the ultimate measure of that is Kony and the senior leaders captured and brought to justice. That obviously is the big measure. That has not occurred yet. But there are indications that the organization is increasingly in a survivalist mode: that they are moving frequently, that they are focused more on self-preservation than they are on extending their influence in other -- into the small towns and villages across the region. That's not a bad thing.

There has been an increase in the number of defections or captures that are -- it's kind of hard to judge sometimes which they are. But there have been people, both men and women, young boys, young women, who have either been rescued or have found their way away from the organization and have provided some useful intelligence and information about the group. I think that's a good sign.

The level and range of attacks is an interesting phenomena as we watch this. But notably, over the Christmas period of 2011, despite what we saw were indications of intent by the Lord's Resistance Army to conduct fairly widespread and wide-scale attacks, they were not able to do so during this most recent Christmas season. I think that's a pretty good indicator.

And lastly I would say that the -- my sense is, the level of commitment, the level of cooperation of the four militaries involved is better today than it was a few months ago. It's not yet, in my view, where it needs to be. But I think the level of cooperation is improving. So I'd measure those as a couple of positive indicators. But really the only thing that ultimately will matter is, you know, is the organization rendered incapable? And we think the only way that'll happen in the near term is by capturing the key leaders.

Q: Craig?

Q: General, I wanted to ask you -- there have been instances in the past where there were attempts made to capture Kony that didn't turn out so well. You'll remember, I think it was 2009 that the LRA struck back, killed hundreds of civilians. And more recently, human rights groups operating in the region, while supportive of this mission, say they are concerned about the potential for backlash against civilians and that measures need to be taken to protect them, to keep Kony from lashing out.

Can you -- is the United States involved in trying to advise these local countries to do more to protect civilians, to prevent backlash? And are you personally concerned about the potential for something like that happening, that if Kony's back is against the wall he may take revenge on the locals?

GEN. HAM: I think it's a very real possibility and a very real concern that the Lord's Resistance Army -- that Kony will seek to conduct, for lack of a better term, a spectacular attack, either to -- you know, to lash out or perhaps in an attempt to weaken the collective will of the four nations and many others who are involved. So I think that it's a very real concern and one we have to watch carefully.

The way to mitigate that is the recognition that civilian protection is a necessary precondition to any success in this mission. It is the first step, I think. The populace has to believe that they are secure. And once they believe they are secure from attacks from the LRA, and you start to deny the LRA the opportunity to attack towns and villages to get people, to get food, to get medicines and what have you, you start to weaken the organization, but you also start to build the confidence of the people in their local governments and in their security forces. So it's a little bit of chicken and egg, of -- you know, which comes first. But I would argue that protection of the civilians is an essential step.

We are seeing some of that in -- beyond just the four countries. I was very pleased to see the U.N. mission in South Sudan over the past few months, for example -- again, when there were reports that -- of the Christmas 2011 attack planning -- that the U.N. mission in South Sudan took on some of that responsibility, deployed forces into the southwestern portion of South Sudan specifically to provide added civilian protection. I think measures like that are very helpful.

We're seeing Central African Republic military forces -- and they're pretty small, and you know, they don't have the same capability as some of their other regional partners to conduct long-range, extended patrols. But they do have the capability to protect their towns and villages, and they're starting to do that. And I think that's worthwhile.

The efforts, both government and nongovernmental organizations, to provide a communications network, an early warning network, if you will, I think is a good step in that direction as well. But ultimately it's about policing. It's about a judicial system that's effective, and the establishment of good governance and that local people have confidence. And if that starts to take root, then I think there's a real chance for forward progress.

Q: All right. Thank you, sir.

Q: General, it's a question of expectations as much as anything, isn't it?

GEN. HAM: Sure.

Q: And although you emphasize that this is a partnership, Africans must solve their own (chellenges). In the case of the LRA, when the Americans turned up with all of their fabled technology, the people thought, this is it. They can read headlines on a newspaper in Moscow from 30,000 feet, so they can do this. How do you answer the fact that there -- now there's some disappointment?

GEN. HAM: Yeah, there -- expectation management is, I think, a reality. There's a little bit of the -- what I call the "man on the moon" effort here, you know, that -- you, the U.S., you're able to put a man on the moon. What do you mean, you can't find this guy, you know, wandering around in Central Africa? But it is very, very complex. All we can try to do is -- and what I try to do in my engagement with senior leaders is to lay out as clearly as I can what our role is, what we think we can bring to assist the Africans who are committed to this mission, and again, and establish realistic security -- realistic expectations.

If this was easy, he would already have been brought to justice. They -- there's, you know, the Ugandans, the Congolese, the South Sudan, Central African Republic, the African Union, the United Nations, lots of nongovernmental organizations, the United States and many others want nothing more than to bring him to justice. So it's not for lack of will. It is the complexity of operating in this environment. All we can do, I think, is continue to do the best we can to enable those who are operating in the field to try to bring this to conclusion.

I'm confident that the mission will be successful. But I can't give you a timeline and what that time -- when that's going to occur. Obviously if my crystal ball was that good, I would probably be in a different line of work than I -- (chuckles) -- than I am right now. But expectation management's tough.

Q: Can I just follow up?

GEN. HAM : Sure.

Q: One quick question on that. So you say the mission will be successful. But do you define that as capturing or killing Kony? Do you --

GEN. HAM: Yes.

Q: So you think, no matter what, that's going to happen?

GEN. HAM: I do. That's my personal belief, is that I'm confident in the abilities of the four African countries; the level of commitment that I've seen from their senior officials, mostly from heads of state, certainly from ministers of interior and defense and chiefs of defense; the level of commitment I see from the African Union; the level of commitment from my president and from our government. I am confident that this mission will be successful.

Again, I can't predict a timeline, but I think that the level of commitment that's being applied to this I think there will be success. And I do believe that, you know, ultimately success is the disestablishment or the rendering ineffective of the Lord's Resistance Army. I do believe that it is one of those organizations that if you remove the senior leader and a small number of those who surround him -- I believe this is one of those organizations that will not be able to regenerate. It will not sustain itself if the senior leaders are removed.

Q: Also something of a follow-up here. You had mentioned -- (inaudible) -- mentioned the ability to, you know, read a newspaper from 30,000 feet, that sort of thing. Do you envision -- obviously not the U.S. patrols walking through the jungle looking for Kony themselves, but a greater involvement of relying on U.S. technology, maybe drones in the air or other kinds of surveillance? And then also, once this is through, do you see this mission as something that can be used as a blueprint for training missions elsewhere?

GEN. HAM: There are technologies that are useful in this area. You know, we do have a pretty good signals capability, but this organization's not using phones and radios and the like -- at least not very often or not that we're aware of. So that technology, while useful in some areas, may not be the right technology here.

We are working with folks in the U.S. intelligence community and others to look for technologies that might be more effective for wide-area search. Again, you know, the complexity of this, of looking for a few individuals, who essentially look like most other individuals operating in the area, over a very wide expanse, is pretty difficult. So we are looking at things like, you know, change technology, you know, that looks at a particular area to note if there's any changes -- you know, people have been there that haven't been there before, people not some place where they have been before, movement indicators, river crossings and the like. So those kinds of capabilities are what we hope to -- we are bringing to bear and hope to continue to look for ways that improved technology might be of assistance.

Having said that, though, my sense is, in this particular mission, human intelligence is probably going to be the key to this. And that goes -- it goes a little bit back to Craig's question there, this is --how do you get confidence amongst the local populace so that they're first of all willing, and secondly, have the means to report to local authorities any information or indications that they may have. So I think -- again, at the end of the day, human intelligence in this mission will probably prove decisive.

Q: Did you say, just to be clear, that there's -- you're already using some of these technologies, like seeing -- or the change technology like you talked of, where something's changed overnight or -- (inaudible)?

GEN. HAM: Sure. I mean -- I mean, we're looking -- I mean, we're looking now to better understand the operating area, to try to better understand the patterns of the senior leadership of the LRA, how they -- how they operate, where do they go, you know, do they -- you know, are there any discernible patterns to their movements -- those kinds of things to try to better enable our operation -- or the Africans' operations.

Q: Sir, thank you -- (off mic).

GEN. HAM: Yeah.

Q: (Off mic) -- they would like to know if you won't really want to capture him, and perhaps you have some interest to stay in the region. And people in the region ask themselves this question: What are your -- (inaudible) --

Q: Preconceptions -- what's the intent, the real intent?

GEN. HAM: Yeah, I'm aware that people have these -- that some people have these other concerns. All I can try to do is to convey what I believe, what instructions that I've been given from my president and from my secretary of defense.

There are I think, two primary issues that we try to address. The first is specific to the LRA. The president, our president, my president talked about this yesterday, that when there is an organization such as the Lord's Resistance Army, a man such as Joseph Kony who so egregiously violates the human rights of others, and we have an ability to assist, then I think my president believes we also have an obligation to assist. And so we're trying to do that. There are people who are at risk; they are under threat by Kony. The local -- the host nation governments, again, of the four countries have asked for a little bit of assistance, and so we're trying to do that.
That's the first issue.

More broadly, why does America care about this part of Africa? I think because we have a great interest in regional stability and regional security. We know -- we feel that, as Americans, that our security is enhanced when other parts of the world are stable and secure as well.

There's been a lot of conflict in this part of Africa. And if removal of the Lord's Resistance Army helps contribute to stability and security, if it affords the opportunity for better government, for better economic development, for education and health care to be extended to people, that will bring a broader sense of security and stability. And while that's certainly good for the people who live in that part of Africa, ultimately it's also good for us. It builds regional stability. And I think that's really our overall goal, is to help contribute to regional security.

We certainly don't have any military desire to remain in the region. We do have very good relationships, to include military relationships, with the four countries that are involved. We hope that those will continue. We'd like for those to continue even beyond the Lord's Resistance Army effort. But nothing beyond that; we don't need a -- we have U.S. military in enough places today. We don't need to find a new place to go.

Q: And you have six months more? In six months you will catch Kony? You will -- (inaudible)?

GEN. HAM: (Chuckles.) I hope -- I wish I could tell you with certainty that in six months or in two months or in one year -- it's too uncertain to be able to put a specific timeline on it. We will continue our efforts to the best of our ability to assist the four nations involved and the African Union. As I said, I'm confident that those -- that that support will ultimately help those countries achieve the success of bringing Kony to justice.

But we constantly evaluate our mission, always looking for ways that we can improve our support to the four nations that are involved. And if we were ever to get to the point where I felt that our contribution -- our military contribution, along with the rest of the U.S. government's contribution, which is financial, diplomatic, economic -- if I didn't think our contribution was making a difference, then I have an obligation to go back to my secretary of defense and my president to say, we're not making a difference. We should either do something different or we should come out. But I --

Q: What is a difference, practically?

GEN. HAM: I think the practical difference is, are the militaries of the four countries involved -- are they better able to accomplish their -- the missions, because it's their mission. If our support better enables them to accomplish that mission, then I think we should continue this. If at any point the Africans come back to us and say either we don't want your help anymore or you're not helping us, then that's probably time for us to go.

Q: Hey, General, we can't let you out of this room without asking you about the Kony video.

MR. : Yeah.

Q: What do you think of it, and how has it generated interest in this issue, helped or not helped your efforts?

GEN. HAM: Well, I think -- I was just telling Bruce -- (inaudible) -- I have a Kony 2012 poster that I got -- I was in Heidelberg last weekend, so I have one of those. I think --

MR. : On his door.

GEN. HAM: I think the fact that millions more people across the world know about Kony than did before, that's -- overall that's a good thing. So I think that's OK. It certainly has had a mobilizing effect with -- particularly with youth around the globe, to include in my own country. I think that's a good thing. I think it has brought awareness to governments. I believe that it has been -- I know that it has been noted by the African Union and by the -- again, the four countries of the region. So overall I think it's a good thing that they brought attention to a very evil man and a bad organization.

MR. : We have time for a few more questions -- (inaudible).

Q: General, over the past six months, what would you say is the single most effective capability that your forces have brought to the table in this mission? And conversely, what do you think is the biggest challenge remaining in terms of coordination among the different countries?

GEN. HAM: Yeah, I'd probably point out, Craig -- if I could -- two things I think that our contribution brings. One is, we do bring some collection of capabilities that were not previously applied to the -- to the mission. Some of those I suspect you'll see during your travel. So that's I think a good plus. The second positive impact has been the establishment of a specific rewards program. And again, I think Admiral Losey and others will probably talk about this with you. So I think those are two concrete positives -- steps in the direction to bring Kony to justice.

The challenge is -- again, this is the proverbial needle in the haystack. This is, you know, again, 200 people. But really -- we're really looking for about five people, you know, Kony and his most senior leaders in extraordinarily tough terrain. So I -- that is the big challenge. And I think the next -- I think the area where we need to focus our efforts and help the Africans focus their efforts is building this human intelligence network -- because again, I believe that that's going to be the key to success here.

Q: Would you take a question on South Sudan?

GEN. HAM: Sure.

Q: A country whose military you're training and equipping and whose capabilities you're building is under air attack. I wonder what will be the process by which you might do more than you're currently doing?

GEN. HAM: Yeah, I think that, you know, our -- again, my president has spoken pretty clearly about this conflict between Sudan and South Sudan recently. In my view it's the most dangerous situation on the African continent today, because there really are two nation-states in a very tough conflict right now over a large number of issues.

So I think that the pressure that the international community needs to bring to both presidents to step back from the brink of war, to find some way to find a negotiated settlement to the many outstanding issues that were unresolved from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and independence of South Sudan, I think is vitally important.

Having said all that, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, the South Sudan's army, have actually been quite supportive and very good on the LRA mission. Different part of the country, obviously; this is most -- the counter-LRA is mostly in the southwestern portion of the country, and the conflict with Sudan is mostly along the border in the oil-producing regions. So they're a little bit geographically separate, which is -- I think has been helpful for us. South Sudan has been quite helpful. They've allowed basing. They've provided support, and they're full participants in the information-sharing realm, and I think that's all positive.

As far as long-term military cooperation with (South) Sudan, that process remains under development. We think it is important for them to come to a negotiated settlement with Sudan. We think that's a necessary ingredient. We're not -- we're doing really a pretty modest level of training and equipping right now. I should acknowledge the presence of Ethiopia trainers. They are funded by the U.S. State Department, but it's principally Ethiopians who are conducting the military training for the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, and they're doing quite well.

Q: The -- again, just a follow-up on what I asked before. Back to the training event for the AU mission. Is this something that -- once it is wrapped up, that you see could be applied somewhere else?

GEN. HAM: Perhaps. I mean, the conditions are somewhat unusual, I think, with the Lord's Resistance Army. It's such a long-standing organization. You do have the African Union consent and willingness to take on this mission. You have the four nations committed to it. I'm not sure there's another extremist organization in Africa that would perhaps bring together that kind of collaboration.

But it could be. I mean, there -- I could see other circumstances where a little bit of U.S. assistance might be an enabling factor to allow others to form an African coalition, if you will, to address a security problem. And if those situations arise, then certainly we would look at that. It does, I think, fit pretty neatly into the idea of us as a supporting effort, whether it's a supporting effort to other branches of the U.S. government which are more involved in development and formation of good governance, or whether it's in support of African militaries who are operating jointly. And I think it's a pretty good model.

MR. : Thank you, sir. (Inaudible) -- questions here?

Q: (Off mic.) (Laughter.) (Inaudible) -- the feeling that AFRICOM present a low profile in this operation. It's anti-Iraq; it's the contrary of Iraq Ã?

GEN. HAM: Yeah. But I think that's right for us. I think that's -- if we tried the other way, if we -- if we said, the U.S. military is in the lead; we're going to take the lead for this mission -- I don't -- we wouldn't be successful. We don't know that part of Africa. We don't know the terrain. We don't know the languages. We don't know the culture. It would be a very, very difficult place for us to operate.

What I think is very important about this particular mission is that the -- specifically the four nations involved have said, this is our responsibility. The four nations, it's their responsibility. And they've asked for a little bit of assistance, and we're glad to provide that little bit of assistance. But they acknowledge that they have the responsibility. That's a really good thing, I believe. And --

(off mic discussion)

Q: Why put soldiers now on the ground?

GEN. HAM: Because we felt that -- first of all, in discussion with the countries involved, we felt that they felt that we could best assist by having a small number of forces with them to help plan and coordinate logistics, intelligence and information-sharing, communication, medical recovery, those kinds of activities. Sometimes it's just easier and more effective to do that if you're together on the ground than trying to do that from a long distance. I believe, even in the short time that this mission has been under way, that that presence of American advisors and assistance has been effective. But I think it will become more effective over time.

MR. : Thank you, sir. We have just a couple minutes for a couple of follow-ups, if anybody has any follow-ups that they would like to -- (inaudible).

Q: Could I ask a general AFRICOM question?

GEN. HAM: Sure.

Q: When they first stood up AFRICOM, there were general concerns in Africa that this was, you know, U.S. military coming to Africa. And that was one of the reasons why AFRICOM didn't get initially a base in Africa, I think that there was some question about where it would be hosted. In your experience, now that you've been down there visiting with people and because there being this type of mission, has that perception changed at all and is AFRICOM ever going to move from Stuttgart down to Africa or do you find its working well this way?

GEN. HAM: There was -- I think -- I was at the joint staff at the Pentagon as AFRICOM was formed. And there was -- there were concerns voiced about the militarization of U.S. foreign policy. You know, I turn to my Foreign Service colleague to say I -- you know, I don't think there's any fear of that happening anymore. I think people recognize that we are -- we, Africa Command, the military -- is but one component, again a supporting component, to overall U.S. foreign policy towards the countries in Africa. And I think that's generally well-understood.

As we were talking on the way down, I think I've been now to 33 of the 54 countries in Africa. I have yet to go to the place where the response has been, General, thanks for coming, but we don't really need any more help. We don't really want to see you anymore. It's always -- it's been a very welcoming approach and relationship. We don't always agree with all of the countries that we engage with. That's OK. Families don't always agree about things. But the relationship, I think, has been very positive and very open.

I don't -- there are no plans -- no plans -- to relocate the headquarters to the African continent. Some of that is the legacy from the early days when there was misunderstanding and mistrust about where the headquarters would be based and who we were. But today it really is a practical answer. Even if we thought it was a good idea to move the headquarters, the cost of doing so -- the cost of building a new headquarters someplace in Africa would be prohibitive. And I think in this fiscal environment that would not be a responsible use of the U.S. taxpayer monies.

So I find that we are very well-situated here in Stuttgart. We have great facilities. We have a host nation that provides great support for our service members, our families, our civilian employees. We are approximate to a good international airport so commercial travel, which is how most people from the headquarters travel to Africa, is well supported. As you know, you can fly from Stuttgart to Paris or to Frankfurt and -- or to Brussels and then on to Africa with good effectiveness.

We have great communications. We're in the same time zones generally as the countries that we interact with. That means, you know, that we're talking to each other during normal business hours, which is more important than I thought it would be, but it is pretty good. And lastly, we are being co-located with U.S.-European Command. And in the midst of many of our European allies and partners and close to the European Union, all of those individual states and organizations have lasting relationships and interests in Africa.

So it's the ease of coordinating our efforts with them that is, I think, also a valuable factor. I've gone to the European Union. Next week we'll go with to the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit with them and their African interests. So it's -- there's a synergy that derives from us being located in Europe that's pretty powerful.

Q: It's just -- doesn't this operation against the LRA and the AFRICOM project -- it's a new strategy for America -- (inaudible) --

(Off mic.)

Q (translated): The U.S. mission in counter-LRA, particularly, is that a model, versus the way we did it in Iraq or Afghanistan? Is that going to be in the future the model of what -- the kind of involvement we will have?

GEN. HAM: I'm hesitant to say that any particular military activity will be a model for the future. It is, I believe, the right model for this mission. We'll learn from this. We'll adapt. We'll probably make some changes as we move forward in partnership with the Africans on countering the Lord's Resistance Army. And what we learn from this activity will inform us, it will educate us, it will help us for future operations. But I wouldn't go so far to say that this is the model for a future operation.

Q: I think she is also asking -- touching on whether AFRICOM has a new strategy for Africa.

Q: Yes. Yeah.

GEN. HAM: Yeah.

Q: That goes along with the U.S. new strategy -- (inaudible).

GEN. HAM: Yeah. So there is -- there was, in January -- yeah, in January my government announced a new strategic guidance for the military, focused on the future years. And it indicated a rebalancing of the U.S. military and U.S. strategic interest to the Pacific and to the Middle East. Some argue that because in that strategic guidance the word Africa only appears once that -- you know, does this mean that Africa is now less important to the U.S. strategically than it was before?

And I take exception to that. First of all, I was very involved in the development of that strategic guidance. We had numerous meetings with the secretary of defense and his staff and meetings with the president where we could voice our concerns and our issues. Inside the strategic guidance it lists a number of priority objectives for the Department -- for the U.S. Department of Defense.

And in that there are many missions that are our missions. The number one mission is countering violent extremist organizations that threaten America, American interests and Americans. Well, that's what we do in Africa as our highest priority mission. You talk about ensuring access globally. Well, that's an important part of our mission.

It articulates the necessity of working with partners and allies to not only assure that we have the ability to cooperate with one another, but to use U.S. military capabilities to enable and enhance the military -- the defense capabilities of other nations. Again, that's a leading mission for what we do in U.S. AFRICOM.

So I think our missions -- U.S. Africa Command's missions -- fit very nicely in the revised strategic guidance. Where I think we can improve and where I think we must improve is our relationship not only with other elements of the U.S. government to make sure that our efforts are very closely synchronized, but I think Ambassador La Lime leads this effort for us, to make sure that our efforts are more closely synchronized with other nations and with other organizations -- both governmental and nongovernmental -- to make sure we're trying to -- that we are best and most effectively applying the resources and the capabilities that we have to achieve the desired objectives.

Q: Thank you very much, sir.

Q: Thank you, General, very helpful.

Q: Could I -- could I jump in? I just have one small gloss.

GEN. HAM: OK.

Q: Defining success -- how we define success of this -- the deployment of the American troops? Clearly, capturing or removing from the battlefield Joseph Kony is a great indicator of success, but I think there are others that are important to us. Helping improve the coordination among the four African militaries who are leading this effort is very important. Giving them additional technical and intelligence and logistical skills is one; improving their ability to work professionally, including their relationships with local populations. And then finally, I think, increasing the security of citizens in that part of the world. These are all indicators that the deployment of those American soldiers is being -- will be successful. So I just -- I don't want to define it strictly as the capture or removal of Kony. I think we need to look sort of at the broader range of successes.

Q: General, would you take one question on video outside, because there's no light in here?

GEN. HAM: Sure.

Q: Thank you very much.

Q: Sir, thank you very much for your time.


(END)