In a discussion with Ugandan media on May 11, 2011, General Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command, talked about his meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and touched upon a variety of topics including counter-terrorism, the Lord's Resistance Army, the situation in Southern Sudan, and Chinese presence in Africa.
While Ham was unable to get into specifics of what was discussed with the President, he said that the topics included Somalia, Libya, South Sudan, and operations in the Congo.
He also talked about AFRICOM's role in helping to build professional militaries in Africa.
"What we want to help African nations develop are military forces that are capable, militarily capable; they are subordinate to civilian control; they are respectful of the rule of law; they are protectors and viewed as protectors of the people," Ham stated. "The training and the leader development that we conduct has to be much more than simply tactical training, or technical training. It also has to get into ethical behavior, good leadership traits."
The complete transcript is below: MS. : Good morning. Welcome to U.S. mission Uganda -- (audio break) -- you all here again today despite the news things that are happening outside. We hope to get you out of here quickly so that you can cover both. Today's briefing is an on-the-record briefing except when otherwise designated. It is my distinct honor to introduce General Ham, who has served in the United States Army -- a long and distinguished career -- and has recently been named as the new commander for U.S. Africa Command, replacing the recently retired General Ward. So without further ado, I'd like to invite General Ham. GENERAL CARTER HAM: Thanks -- (inaudible) -- thank you very much. Well, thank you all for joining us this morning. And first I thank the ambassador for allowing me to come visit in my first visit to Uganda, and certainly the first of what I hope will be many visits to Uganda. This partnership that we have between the U.S. military forces and Uganda is an important one, and our nations share a number of security interests. And so we look forward to partnering together, continuing to partner together to accomplish our shared objectives. This first visit, it was all too short. But I did have the opportunity to meet with the president, with General Aronda and other officials, and look forward to certainly doing more of that in future visits, as well as the opportunity to actually visit the training sites in other places where our forces are operating together. So again, I'm very happy to be here for the first time, and hope to be able to return in the very near future, again, to continue this relationship. So with that, I would welcome your questions. MS. : OK. I'd like to ask all of you, when you are called upon to ask a question, to introduce yourselves with your name and your media outlet, please. So who has the first question? Yes. Q: Thank you, General. My name is Charles Odongtho; I work with Uganda Radio Network, a news agency. Two big questions, General: You met with the president. What is it that formed the main gist of the discussion? Anything on Somalia? What's the new development that you've taken over from General Ward? Two -- I just want to know, since the establishment of the AFRICOM -- it was in 2007 -- what is it that -- because I see in the brief here -- established aim that building stability and promoting long-term development. I just want to know what is it that Uganda has brought within that time, and maybe Africa? The last one is, I see a lot of reports about kind of an arms race in the region: Rwanda is building its arsenal, buying new jets; Uganda has just done the same even if it has had a lot of controversy. There is the same report coming from Kenya and as well as Sudan. Are you worried about this? Does it concern the U.S. in any way, or are you in any way knowledgeable about this kind of -- what is going on in the region? GEN. HAM: Thank you very much for those questions. The ambassador and I did have a very good and important meeting with the president yesterday. It, obviously again, was my first opportunity to meet with him. So while I wouldn't want to get into the specifics of a meeting with a head of state, I would tell you generally it was an opportunity for us to meet and start building a relationship. And we talked generally about the security interests that are of mutual interest to both of our countries. These -- well, the topics will not surprise you: Somalia; Libya; South Sudan; and operations in the Congo. And so again, it's not appropriate for me to talk about the private discussions we had with the head of state, but we talked about those areas where we can further our cooperation and advance our shared interests in those particular areas. But it was a very beneficial meeting for me. With regard to the benefit to Uganda in this relationship with United States Africa Command, would be more appropriate for Ugandans to speak of that benefit. What I can tell you, that there is tremendous benefit to U.S. Africa Command in the relationship with Uganda. And I think that's -- as we look to the future, we look to conduct the activities and operations that are of mutual benefit. This is not a one-way street; this is not the United States military, you know, offering to the Ugandans, you know, here is training, here are some things that we could do for you. That's not the case; that's only half of the story. The other half of the story is what we gain from this relationship. And what we gain is a better understanding of the region, certainly of Uganda. You know, most Americans, myself included, we are not African experts. So the more we can learn about the complexity and the diversity of the security challenges here, the better off that we are. So I would say from our standpoint, from the America standpoint, it's been a very productive relationship and one we certainly want to continue into the future. And that indeed is one of the reasons that Africa Command was established. Previously, as some of you know, the continent of Africa was addressed by three different U.S. military commands. And we think it's much more appropriate to have a single command focused on the majority of those issues. Your question about an arms race: I'm not sure I would use that phrase. What I think we are more interested in are, what are the ways that we can help and contribute to increase regional security? We know that the threats to our security, all of us -- those threats are regional and trans-national. To me, that argues that there must be a regional or a transnational approach to addressing those security challenges. So I think what we should look for in the future are increased ways -- or ways to increase the interoperability and the regional cooperation. The East Africa Community, I think, is a good step in that direction. Whether that actually builds to a security apparatus or a construct, I think, is for the East Africans to decide. And certainly in our discussions yesterday with senior leaders, Uganda is a very, very important participant in that process. Thank you. Q: Thank you very much. My name is -- (inaudible); I work with Radio One and Radio Two. My first question: I'm reading from the brief here, and it's clearly indicated that one of the key roles that you play is to ensure that African countries have professional militaries that respect the rule of law. Can you -- (inaudible) -- a bit, what does this entail? What kind of needs are you trying to fill? And secondly, one of the biggest problem on the African continent is this persistent problem of building a personal army. There seems to be a belief that actually leaders who are already in power are emphasizing building a personal army that hews more in reality to them than to the country. How are you going to -- (inaudible) -- African countries to move away from that kind of setup to ensure that they build an army that can transcend a given leader or a given political party that is -- (inaudible) -- in power at that time? Then lastly, this especially is about the war on terror. Of course, we know the challenges that have already have happened in Africa, with the bombings in Nairobi, the problem in Somalia, elements in Sudan. What is -- do you have any new approach as Africans can show that Africa has not become a harbor for terrorists? Thank you. GEN. HAM: All very good questions. The first two in my view are very much interrelated, on how do you build a professional military, and one that is an institution that serves the nation rather than a particular individual? And I think that's -- that is our goal. What we want to help African nations develop are military forces that are capable, militarily capable; they are subordinate to civilian control; they are respectful of the rule of law; they are protectors and viewed as protectors of the people. And I think -- and those, I think, are the key ingredients. If you have a military that can do those things, then that is indeed a professional military that serves the nation, which is what I think we all would like to see. The question of how do you do that is a difficult question because there isn't -- you can't sit someone in a classroom for 30 minutes or an hour and come up with that -- you know, with a military that does that. Rather, it takes a significant period of time and a significant investment in leader development, particularly the officers and the noncommissioned officers -- and I would note that I have with me today Africa Command's senior enlisted leader, Chief Master Sergeant Jack Johnson, who performs that role for us to make sure that our senior sergeants are developed, and our warrant officers are developed -- to become a professional military. So it's -- the training and the leader development that we conduct has to be much more than simply tactical training, or technical training. It also has to get into ethical behavior, good leadership traits -- what are the -- you know, what are the characteristics of a good leader -- and importantly, embedding and instilling this notion that service in the military in any nation is a privilege, a duty and a responsibility to serve the nation, to serve a greater good than one's self. And so these are ideas that we try to instill into all of our training, again, in an effort to try to build not only ourselves as a more professional force, but those that we share activities with as well. Your last point on the countering terrorism remains a very, very high priority. Your country, my country have paid the price for terrorist activities, and we should never forget that. And we should never forget that there are indeed people who wake up every day with the sole goal of harming an American or harming Ugandan interests, and we have to do -- as security forces, we have to do all that we can to protect our people, protect our countries from those who wish us harm. The best way to do that, I think -- and we look at, you know, where does terrorism take root? Well, it takes root in places that are largely ungoverned spaces, where they are able to operate outside of the rule of law, where there are not capable security forces, or there's not a functioning judiciary. And so where we find those areas -- Somalia is a great example, and Uganda is certainly playing a leading role in helping to establish conditions that do not allow these terrorist organizations to continue to grow and to develop. So it is a comprehensive effort. There is a military component to countering terrorism; it's an essential component. But I would argue it is not a decisive component. The decisive component, I think, is the establishment of good governance, good economic base so that young people who might be attracted to the terrorist or extremist way of life find that there are better alternatives for them and for their future. And then, lastly, a functioning judiciary is an important role in this as well. Unfortunately, I think this effort in countering terrorism is going to be with us for some time. It is not a short-term effort; it's a long and enduring effort, and will require all of our best efforts, again, cooperating bilaterally, regionally and internationally to counter this effort. Q: Thank you. My name is Julius Barigaba; I work for The East African newspaper. I've got three questions. The first is to seek a comment from you on the view that AFRICOM was created and deployed on the African continent to keep China from accessing African oil and mineral wealth. What is your comment on that? Number two: With all the help that the U.S. is giving the Ugandan government and the Congolese government -- why has this taken this long to capture Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army? And I would like to know whether you might be using a similar approach to the one that was used to eventually capture and kill Bin Laden? The other, third question is, when you look at the whole African continent, what specific conflict areas do you have concerns about? Thank you. GEN. HAM: Good, thank you very much. Your first question is actually a pretty easy one for me. There is kind of this misconception that United States Africa Command was established as a counterbalance, somehow, to Chinese activities on the continent. I have to tell you that in all of the preparation that I had coming to this command, that subject never came up. It's not any guidance that I have received; it's not written; it's not published; certainly, it was not given to me in that regard. And in fact, certainly in Africa, we do not see ourselves as adversaries, certainly not in a military sense. And what is -- what I think is important for us is to look for opportunities where we have shared interests throughout the continent of Africa. And the more that we can do together, I think that we will be in good shape. So I do not at all see this U.S.-China as an adversarial relationship -- economic competitors, perhaps, but certainly not as adversaries. In countering the Lord's Resistance Army and the efforts to locate Joseph Kony, that is an important mission for us. Some of you are aware that my government passed a law, actually, in this regard, requiring our president to formulate a strategy and programs in this regard. We do think it's important; we think that the Lord's Resistance Army, not only do they commit horrific activities against many people, and especially young children -- that needs to be stopped just on a humanitarian effort -- but in general, it's a destabilizing effort. But as you know better than I, trying to find, you know, one man or a small group of people in a very large area is a very, very difficult endeavor. We think the areas in which the United States can help probably the most is in facilitating the cooperation of the security forces of the many nations that are interested in this particular matter, in finding ways to share information across the multiple commands that ideally will lead local people who have information about their location to give that to security forces that are then able to capture him, and again, and deny them the opportunity -- deny the Lord's Resistance Army the opportunity to continue their activities. I don't know how long that's going to take. These are kinds of things that you cannot really put a timeline on. But there is very much a concerted effort, again, of many nations to try to bring this to a conclusion as quickly as we can. And we know certainly the sooner that we can capture him and deny the Lord's Resistance Army the opportunity to continue their horrendous activities, the sooner -- the better off we will all be. And to your third point, as I look across the continent, as the new commander -- I've been there just about 60 days -- the one area, I think, that is most troubling to me is Somalia. It is largely ungoverned; we do think that there are -- the trends are not good; we have seen al-Shabaab publicly state that they would -- that they want to be affiliated with al-Qaida and international terrorist entities. We have seen their activities here in East Africa indicating their intent to expand their area of operations from Somalia. So to me, that should be our highest priority, working with Uganda and other East African partners to do all that we can to bring a comprehensive approach, a whole-of-government approach to resolving and helping Somalia re-stabilize and no longer be a safe haven for terrorists. Q: Yes. I'm -- (inaudible); I work with The Torch newspaper. And my question is about Sudan. Recently, we have had reports about clashing in southern Sudan. And some people are --(inaudible)-- independent state, and Darfur. So a nation that has not been fully developed -- what latest can you tell us, General, about these two areas? GEN. HAM: Good, thank you very much. And South Sudan is for us an important issue, again, because of the impact on regional stability. The government, the United States has -- and the president has expressed -- our president has expressed his intent to recognize South Sudan as an independent state this summer when all those activities occur. For us in Africa Command, what we're looking for are the -- what are the opportunities for us to assist South Sudan, establish the security institutions that are necessary for a newly independent state? Some of that will consist probably of tactical-level training, though Uganda and other countries are doing some of that now with great effect. And I think the U.S. role might be more effective if we focus at the institutional level. What are the -- what are the things that we can do to help the new state of South Sudan build in their defense establishment -- personnel systems, logistics systems, medical systems, administrative systems -- to help them have the ability to manage an independent ministry of defense? So those are the kinds of activities that we will look to engage with, with regional partners and certainly with South Sudan as they move toward independence. We shouldn't kid ourselves; there's lots of challenges still. And there are unresolved issues that have to be addressed again between South Sudan and Khartoum, and with the regional partners, before independence is able to move forward. I think a piece of that certainly is a clearer way ahead for the international community in Darfur. I think that the first effort has got to be in South Sudan, but certainly Darfur is an issue that remains to be addressed. I'm not sure that there is a U.S. military role there, but there probably is a U.S. role that we could play in that effort. And certainly, as the U.S. military command that overlooks that area, we'll stay keenly interested with others in our government if there is anything that we can do to help. But near-term effort focused clearly on security force assistance, as we call it in our terms, for South Sudan. Q: Raymond -- (inaudible) -- from The New Vision. I understand Uganda has become a new frontier for the U.S. in the fight against -- fight terrorism. And sometime last year, a senior U.S. government official came to Uganda and visited the laboratories in Entebbe which have a vigorous pathogens for Marburg, Ebola. But they also found these laboratories to be dilapidated state. What's the progress of the American government's -- what progress has the American government made in supporting Uganda and strengthening its facilities and programs? GEN. HAM: It's a great question, and I don't know the answer. But I can certainly check and make sure we get back through the embassy here -- a good answer -- but I don't have enough information to give you a good answer to an excellent question. [NOTE: The following written response was provided: "During a November 2010 visit to Kampala, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar was shown security and safety concerns at Ugandan biological laboratories that work with deadly viruses such as Ebola, Marburg, and Anthrax. Senator Lugar said that the United States, under the framework of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, would "serve a complimentary but unique role in helping to secure these highly dangerous diseases, expand research capabilities, and help detect and diagnose cases before they can spread."
Senator Lugar commended the Ugandan government on its efforts to improve security at its strategically important health facilities. He also commended Uganda's partnership with the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC), which has offices in Uganda. See http://lugar.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=328508.
The U.S. Embassy in Kampala is coordinating efforts by the CDC, State Department Biosecurity Engagement Program, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to strengthen and secure Uganda's public health laboratories, including construction of perimeter fence and laboratory security upgrades at the Ugandan Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and National Animal Disease Diagnostics and Epidemiology Center (MAIFF) that will significantly increase security of dangerous pathogens. No infectious material will be stored at these facilities until bio-security upgrades are completed."] Q: Just a follow-up question of Somalia, General. It has to do with the number of troops that are available in that country -- almost 8,000 from Uganda and Burundi. In your discussions with the leaders around this topic, have you asked them to contribute more troops? And how many do you think would be recommended -- would the amount take care of that problem, al-Shabaab problem in Somalia? And the other criticism is that the money from especially donor countries, the U.S. and sometimes the EU -- the money, logistics don't come as they owed to, and this sort of brings down the morale of the forces fighting al-Shabaab. What would you want to see happen during your reign as commander of AFRICOM? How would you want to tackle that problem of money and logistics coming in as an issue? GEN. HAM: Good, thanks very much. First of all, I would be remiss if I didn't express great thanks for Uganda for leading a role, and a very, very significant role, in supporting the AMISOM forces in Somalia. It is very, very important, and it has been costly not just in terms of financial resources, but certainly in a more important resource, which is the lives of many soldiers. And the same for Burundi; and I'll have the opportunity to visit there this evening and tomorrow, and express thanks to them as well. I think the mission would benefit from increased participation for two reasons: One, the increased capacity and capability that some additional forces would offer to the command, but probably -- at least as importantly is the symbolic value of other regional nations and partners, other African nations contributing to that mission to make it clear to the Somalis and to the region and to the international community that African states take this ambition very, very seriously, and that it is African states that are seeking to solve the matters in Somalia. So certainly, we would encourage other nations to contribute to forces to that mission. The donor nation issue that you've raised is a challenge in just about every mission, whether it's a U.N. mission or an AU mission, or any other international organization mission. And that is making the -- having the actual delivery of the pledges occur on time as promised. The challenge as a military commander that I face, and that I know other commanders in AMISOM face, is that when donor nations make a statement that they are going to deliver a certain capability or a certain financial package or logistics capability, those commanders plan on that and they make their plans based on the delivery of that money or those other resources on the timeline that is expected. So when donor nations are, for a variety of reasons, not able to deliver on time, as expected, it very much complicates and can frustrate the commander's plans, causing them to have to adjust their plans, and in some cases not be able to operate as effectively as they would like to. So I think the message is clear. And I think all of our governments have been clear about that, is that, well, we certainly welcome pledges but we need follow-through on the pledges of other donor nations so that the commanders have the resources necessary to execute their missions. MS. : I'm going to have to call for the last questions. Q: Thank you. Kenneth again from Radio One. General, there were plans one time for the U.S. to establish a permanent presence -- the U.S. Army to build their base in Africa. And Uganda had been identified as one of those areas where a base would be built. I guess what I'm trying to understand whether this program is still a proposal that will likely have a U.S. military base in Uganda. Thank you. GEN. HAM: I think you're probably talking about my headquarters. Is that -- yeah, about the U.S. AFRICOM headquarters. There was discussion in the early days talking about forming United States Africa Command; there were some proposals that the command should be headquartered on the continent of Africa. And at first, we had looked at that, and it seemed to be a very logical and reasonable way ahead. But there were also a number of complicating factors, among them, certainly, cost -- cost to us. And as you know, we are in a pretty financially constrained time right now. So the decision was made by General Ward at the time that the headquarters would remain in Germany as it split apart from United States European Command, which previously had responsibility for Europe and Africa -- at least, part of Africa. And they formed the Africa Command to keep it there in Europe. That's actually worked out pretty well for us. We are generally in the same time zone as most countries in Africa; a reasonably good commercial air access into the continent, so that's worked out quite well for us. And frankly, I think just the disruption that would occur to the headquarters if we had to pick it up and move it someplace -- our view is for us to probably stay where we are. That's a long answer. To say -- I don't -- I think it is unlikely that we will see a permanent U.S. military base in Uganda or anyplace else other than a pretty large base that we have in Djibouti, which is an operational base. But I would also ask you to judge us not by the permanent basing of a headquarters; judge us rather by the enduring and sustained relationship and partnership that we wish to have to Uganda -- with Uganda. That doesn't mean that we would have to have a large headquarters here. It does mean that we have a close -- a partnership that we are open with one another, that we share security interests and that we work together to meet regional security issues. That to me is more important than a particular place or a headquarters in the country. And what I learned yesterday from interaction with the senior Ugandan officials both civilian and military is that I think that's what they want too, is this close cooperation, a commitment from us, from the U.S., that we'll be with -- we'll be with you for the long haul. This is not a one-time thing, or a one year or even two years, but an enduring and sustained relationship. So again, thank you very much. And Ambassador, again, thanks for allowing me to come visit on my first trip. And I look forward to seeing many of you on future visits to Uganda. Thank you. (END)
While Ham was unable to get into specifics of what was discussed with the President, he said that the topics included Somalia, Libya, South Sudan, and operations in the Congo.
He also talked about AFRICOM's role in helping to build professional militaries in Africa.
"What we want to help African nations develop are military forces that are capable, militarily capable; they are subordinate to civilian control; they are respectful of the rule of law; they are protectors and viewed as protectors of the people," Ham stated. "The training and the leader development that we conduct has to be much more than simply tactical training, or technical training. It also has to get into ethical behavior, good leadership traits."
The complete transcript is below: MS. : Good morning. Welcome to U.S. mission Uganda -- (audio break) -- you all here again today despite the news things that are happening outside. We hope to get you out of here quickly so that you can cover both. Today's briefing is an on-the-record briefing except when otherwise designated. It is my distinct honor to introduce General Ham, who has served in the United States Army -- a long and distinguished career -- and has recently been named as the new commander for U.S. Africa Command, replacing the recently retired General Ward. So without further ado, I'd like to invite General Ham. GENERAL CARTER HAM: Thanks -- (inaudible) -- thank you very much. Well, thank you all for joining us this morning. And first I thank the ambassador for allowing me to come visit in my first visit to Uganda, and certainly the first of what I hope will be many visits to Uganda. This partnership that we have between the U.S. military forces and Uganda is an important one, and our nations share a number of security interests. And so we look forward to partnering together, continuing to partner together to accomplish our shared objectives. This first visit, it was all too short. But I did have the opportunity to meet with the president, with General Aronda and other officials, and look forward to certainly doing more of that in future visits, as well as the opportunity to actually visit the training sites in other places where our forces are operating together. So again, I'm very happy to be here for the first time, and hope to be able to return in the very near future, again, to continue this relationship. So with that, I would welcome your questions. MS. : OK. I'd like to ask all of you, when you are called upon to ask a question, to introduce yourselves with your name and your media outlet, please. So who has the first question? Yes. Q: Thank you, General. My name is Charles Odongtho; I work with Uganda Radio Network, a news agency. Two big questions, General: You met with the president. What is it that formed the main gist of the discussion? Anything on Somalia? What's the new development that you've taken over from General Ward? Two -- I just want to know, since the establishment of the AFRICOM -- it was in 2007 -- what is it that -- because I see in the brief here -- established aim that building stability and promoting long-term development. I just want to know what is it that Uganda has brought within that time, and maybe Africa? The last one is, I see a lot of reports about kind of an arms race in the region: Rwanda is building its arsenal, buying new jets; Uganda has just done the same even if it has had a lot of controversy. There is the same report coming from Kenya and as well as Sudan. Are you worried about this? Does it concern the U.S. in any way, or are you in any way knowledgeable about this kind of -- what is going on in the region? GEN. HAM: Thank you very much for those questions. The ambassador and I did have a very good and important meeting with the president yesterday. It, obviously again, was my first opportunity to meet with him. So while I wouldn't want to get into the specifics of a meeting with a head of state, I would tell you generally it was an opportunity for us to meet and start building a relationship. And we talked generally about the security interests that are of mutual interest to both of our countries. These -- well, the topics will not surprise you: Somalia; Libya; South Sudan; and operations in the Congo. And so again, it's not appropriate for me to talk about the private discussions we had with the head of state, but we talked about those areas where we can further our cooperation and advance our shared interests in those particular areas. But it was a very beneficial meeting for me. With regard to the benefit to Uganda in this relationship with United States Africa Command, would be more appropriate for Ugandans to speak of that benefit. What I can tell you, that there is tremendous benefit to U.S. Africa Command in the relationship with Uganda. And I think that's -- as we look to the future, we look to conduct the activities and operations that are of mutual benefit. This is not a one-way street; this is not the United States military, you know, offering to the Ugandans, you know, here is training, here are some things that we could do for you. That's not the case; that's only half of the story. The other half of the story is what we gain from this relationship. And what we gain is a better understanding of the region, certainly of Uganda. You know, most Americans, myself included, we are not African experts. So the more we can learn about the complexity and the diversity of the security challenges here, the better off that we are. So I would say from our standpoint, from the America standpoint, it's been a very productive relationship and one we certainly want to continue into the future. And that indeed is one of the reasons that Africa Command was established. Previously, as some of you know, the continent of Africa was addressed by three different U.S. military commands. And we think it's much more appropriate to have a single command focused on the majority of those issues. Your question about an arms race: I'm not sure I would use that phrase. What I think we are more interested in are, what are the ways that we can help and contribute to increase regional security? We know that the threats to our security, all of us -- those threats are regional and trans-national. To me, that argues that there must be a regional or a transnational approach to addressing those security challenges. So I think what we should look for in the future are increased ways -- or ways to increase the interoperability and the regional cooperation. The East Africa Community, I think, is a good step in that direction. Whether that actually builds to a security apparatus or a construct, I think, is for the East Africans to decide. And certainly in our discussions yesterday with senior leaders, Uganda is a very, very important participant in that process. Thank you. Q: Thank you very much. My name is -- (inaudible); I work with Radio One and Radio Two. My first question: I'm reading from the brief here, and it's clearly indicated that one of the key roles that you play is to ensure that African countries have professional militaries that respect the rule of law. Can you -- (inaudible) -- a bit, what does this entail? What kind of needs are you trying to fill? And secondly, one of the biggest problem on the African continent is this persistent problem of building a personal army. There seems to be a belief that actually leaders who are already in power are emphasizing building a personal army that hews more in reality to them than to the country. How are you going to -- (inaudible) -- African countries to move away from that kind of setup to ensure that they build an army that can transcend a given leader or a given political party that is -- (inaudible) -- in power at that time? Then lastly, this especially is about the war on terror. Of course, we know the challenges that have already have happened in Africa, with the bombings in Nairobi, the problem in Somalia, elements in Sudan. What is -- do you have any new approach as Africans can show that Africa has not become a harbor for terrorists? Thank you. GEN. HAM: All very good questions. The first two in my view are very much interrelated, on how do you build a professional military, and one that is an institution that serves the nation rather than a particular individual? And I think that's -- that is our goal. What we want to help African nations develop are military forces that are capable, militarily capable; they are subordinate to civilian control; they are respectful of the rule of law; they are protectors and viewed as protectors of the people. And I think -- and those, I think, are the key ingredients. If you have a military that can do those things, then that is indeed a professional military that serves the nation, which is what I think we all would like to see. The question of how do you do that is a difficult question because there isn't -- you can't sit someone in a classroom for 30 minutes or an hour and come up with that -- you know, with a military that does that. Rather, it takes a significant period of time and a significant investment in leader development, particularly the officers and the noncommissioned officers -- and I would note that I have with me today Africa Command's senior enlisted leader, Chief Master Sergeant Jack Johnson, who performs that role for us to make sure that our senior sergeants are developed, and our warrant officers are developed -- to become a professional military. So it's -- the training and the leader development that we conduct has to be much more than simply tactical training, or technical training. It also has to get into ethical behavior, good leadership traits -- what are the -- you know, what are the characteristics of a good leader -- and importantly, embedding and instilling this notion that service in the military in any nation is a privilege, a duty and a responsibility to serve the nation, to serve a greater good than one's self. And so these are ideas that we try to instill into all of our training, again, in an effort to try to build not only ourselves as a more professional force, but those that we share activities with as well. Your last point on the countering terrorism remains a very, very high priority. Your country, my country have paid the price for terrorist activities, and we should never forget that. And we should never forget that there are indeed people who wake up every day with the sole goal of harming an American or harming Ugandan interests, and we have to do -- as security forces, we have to do all that we can to protect our people, protect our countries from those who wish us harm. The best way to do that, I think -- and we look at, you know, where does terrorism take root? Well, it takes root in places that are largely ungoverned spaces, where they are able to operate outside of the rule of law, where there are not capable security forces, or there's not a functioning judiciary. And so where we find those areas -- Somalia is a great example, and Uganda is certainly playing a leading role in helping to establish conditions that do not allow these terrorist organizations to continue to grow and to develop. So it is a comprehensive effort. There is a military component to countering terrorism; it's an essential component. But I would argue it is not a decisive component. The decisive component, I think, is the establishment of good governance, good economic base so that young people who might be attracted to the terrorist or extremist way of life find that there are better alternatives for them and for their future. And then, lastly, a functioning judiciary is an important role in this as well. Unfortunately, I think this effort in countering terrorism is going to be with us for some time. It is not a short-term effort; it's a long and enduring effort, and will require all of our best efforts, again, cooperating bilaterally, regionally and internationally to counter this effort. Q: Thank you. My name is Julius Barigaba; I work for The East African newspaper. I've got three questions. The first is to seek a comment from you on the view that AFRICOM was created and deployed on the African continent to keep China from accessing African oil and mineral wealth. What is your comment on that? Number two: With all the help that the U.S. is giving the Ugandan government and the Congolese government -- why has this taken this long to capture Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army? And I would like to know whether you might be using a similar approach to the one that was used to eventually capture and kill Bin Laden? The other, third question is, when you look at the whole African continent, what specific conflict areas do you have concerns about? Thank you. GEN. HAM: Good, thank you very much. Your first question is actually a pretty easy one for me. There is kind of this misconception that United States Africa Command was established as a counterbalance, somehow, to Chinese activities on the continent. I have to tell you that in all of the preparation that I had coming to this command, that subject never came up. It's not any guidance that I have received; it's not written; it's not published; certainly, it was not given to me in that regard. And in fact, certainly in Africa, we do not see ourselves as adversaries, certainly not in a military sense. And what is -- what I think is important for us is to look for opportunities where we have shared interests throughout the continent of Africa. And the more that we can do together, I think that we will be in good shape. So I do not at all see this U.S.-China as an adversarial relationship -- economic competitors, perhaps, but certainly not as adversaries. In countering the Lord's Resistance Army and the efforts to locate Joseph Kony, that is an important mission for us. Some of you are aware that my government passed a law, actually, in this regard, requiring our president to formulate a strategy and programs in this regard. We do think it's important; we think that the Lord's Resistance Army, not only do they commit horrific activities against many people, and especially young children -- that needs to be stopped just on a humanitarian effort -- but in general, it's a destabilizing effort. But as you know better than I, trying to find, you know, one man or a small group of people in a very large area is a very, very difficult endeavor. We think the areas in which the United States can help probably the most is in facilitating the cooperation of the security forces of the many nations that are interested in this particular matter, in finding ways to share information across the multiple commands that ideally will lead local people who have information about their location to give that to security forces that are then able to capture him, and again, and deny them the opportunity -- deny the Lord's Resistance Army the opportunity to continue their activities. I don't know how long that's going to take. These are kinds of things that you cannot really put a timeline on. But there is very much a concerted effort, again, of many nations to try to bring this to a conclusion as quickly as we can. And we know certainly the sooner that we can capture him and deny the Lord's Resistance Army the opportunity to continue their horrendous activities, the sooner -- the better off we will all be. And to your third point, as I look across the continent, as the new commander -- I've been there just about 60 days -- the one area, I think, that is most troubling to me is Somalia. It is largely ungoverned; we do think that there are -- the trends are not good; we have seen al-Shabaab publicly state that they would -- that they want to be affiliated with al-Qaida and international terrorist entities. We have seen their activities here in East Africa indicating their intent to expand their area of operations from Somalia. So to me, that should be our highest priority, working with Uganda and other East African partners to do all that we can to bring a comprehensive approach, a whole-of-government approach to resolving and helping Somalia re-stabilize and no longer be a safe haven for terrorists. Q: Yes. I'm -- (inaudible); I work with The Torch newspaper. And my question is about Sudan. Recently, we have had reports about clashing in southern Sudan. And some people are --(inaudible)-- independent state, and Darfur. So a nation that has not been fully developed -- what latest can you tell us, General, about these two areas? GEN. HAM: Good, thank you very much. And South Sudan is for us an important issue, again, because of the impact on regional stability. The government, the United States has -- and the president has expressed -- our president has expressed his intent to recognize South Sudan as an independent state this summer when all those activities occur. For us in Africa Command, what we're looking for are the -- what are the opportunities for us to assist South Sudan, establish the security institutions that are necessary for a newly independent state? Some of that will consist probably of tactical-level training, though Uganda and other countries are doing some of that now with great effect. And I think the U.S. role might be more effective if we focus at the institutional level. What are the -- what are the things that we can do to help the new state of South Sudan build in their defense establishment -- personnel systems, logistics systems, medical systems, administrative systems -- to help them have the ability to manage an independent ministry of defense? So those are the kinds of activities that we will look to engage with, with regional partners and certainly with South Sudan as they move toward independence. We shouldn't kid ourselves; there's lots of challenges still. And there are unresolved issues that have to be addressed again between South Sudan and Khartoum, and with the regional partners, before independence is able to move forward. I think a piece of that certainly is a clearer way ahead for the international community in Darfur. I think that the first effort has got to be in South Sudan, but certainly Darfur is an issue that remains to be addressed. I'm not sure that there is a U.S. military role there, but there probably is a U.S. role that we could play in that effort. And certainly, as the U.S. military command that overlooks that area, we'll stay keenly interested with others in our government if there is anything that we can do to help. But near-term effort focused clearly on security force assistance, as we call it in our terms, for South Sudan. Q: Raymond -- (inaudible) -- from The New Vision. I understand Uganda has become a new frontier for the U.S. in the fight against -- fight terrorism. And sometime last year, a senior U.S. government official came to Uganda and visited the laboratories in Entebbe which have a vigorous pathogens for Marburg, Ebola. But they also found these laboratories to be dilapidated state. What's the progress of the American government's -- what progress has the American government made in supporting Uganda and strengthening its facilities and programs? GEN. HAM: It's a great question, and I don't know the answer. But I can certainly check and make sure we get back through the embassy here -- a good answer -- but I don't have enough information to give you a good answer to an excellent question. [NOTE: The following written response was provided: "During a November 2010 visit to Kampala, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar was shown security and safety concerns at Ugandan biological laboratories that work with deadly viruses such as Ebola, Marburg, and Anthrax. Senator Lugar said that the United States, under the framework of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, would "serve a complimentary but unique role in helping to secure these highly dangerous diseases, expand research capabilities, and help detect and diagnose cases before they can spread."
Senator Lugar commended the Ugandan government on its efforts to improve security at its strategically important health facilities. He also commended Uganda's partnership with the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC), which has offices in Uganda. See http://lugar.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=328508.
The U.S. Embassy in Kampala is coordinating efforts by the CDC, State Department Biosecurity Engagement Program, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to strengthen and secure Uganda's public health laboratories, including construction of perimeter fence and laboratory security upgrades at the Ugandan Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and National Animal Disease Diagnostics and Epidemiology Center (MAIFF) that will significantly increase security of dangerous pathogens. No infectious material will be stored at these facilities until bio-security upgrades are completed."] Q: Just a follow-up question of Somalia, General. It has to do with the number of troops that are available in that country -- almost 8,000 from Uganda and Burundi. In your discussions with the leaders around this topic, have you asked them to contribute more troops? And how many do you think would be recommended -- would the amount take care of that problem, al-Shabaab problem in Somalia? And the other criticism is that the money from especially donor countries, the U.S. and sometimes the EU -- the money, logistics don't come as they owed to, and this sort of brings down the morale of the forces fighting al-Shabaab. What would you want to see happen during your reign as commander of AFRICOM? How would you want to tackle that problem of money and logistics coming in as an issue? GEN. HAM: Good, thanks very much. First of all, I would be remiss if I didn't express great thanks for Uganda for leading a role, and a very, very significant role, in supporting the AMISOM forces in Somalia. It is very, very important, and it has been costly not just in terms of financial resources, but certainly in a more important resource, which is the lives of many soldiers. And the same for Burundi; and I'll have the opportunity to visit there this evening and tomorrow, and express thanks to them as well. I think the mission would benefit from increased participation for two reasons: One, the increased capacity and capability that some additional forces would offer to the command, but probably -- at least as importantly is the symbolic value of other regional nations and partners, other African nations contributing to that mission to make it clear to the Somalis and to the region and to the international community that African states take this ambition very, very seriously, and that it is African states that are seeking to solve the matters in Somalia. So certainly, we would encourage other nations to contribute to forces to that mission. The donor nation issue that you've raised is a challenge in just about every mission, whether it's a U.N. mission or an AU mission, or any other international organization mission. And that is making the -- having the actual delivery of the pledges occur on time as promised. The challenge as a military commander that I face, and that I know other commanders in AMISOM face, is that when donor nations make a statement that they are going to deliver a certain capability or a certain financial package or logistics capability, those commanders plan on that and they make their plans based on the delivery of that money or those other resources on the timeline that is expected. So when donor nations are, for a variety of reasons, not able to deliver on time, as expected, it very much complicates and can frustrate the commander's plans, causing them to have to adjust their plans, and in some cases not be able to operate as effectively as they would like to. So I think the message is clear. And I think all of our governments have been clear about that, is that, well, we certainly welcome pledges but we need follow-through on the pledges of other donor nations so that the commanders have the resources necessary to execute their missions. MS. : I'm going to have to call for the last questions. Q: Thank you. Kenneth again from Radio One. General, there were plans one time for the U.S. to establish a permanent presence -- the U.S. Army to build their base in Africa. And Uganda had been identified as one of those areas where a base would be built. I guess what I'm trying to understand whether this program is still a proposal that will likely have a U.S. military base in Uganda. Thank you. GEN. HAM: I think you're probably talking about my headquarters. Is that -- yeah, about the U.S. AFRICOM headquarters. There was discussion in the early days talking about forming United States Africa Command; there were some proposals that the command should be headquartered on the continent of Africa. And at first, we had looked at that, and it seemed to be a very logical and reasonable way ahead. But there were also a number of complicating factors, among them, certainly, cost -- cost to us. And as you know, we are in a pretty financially constrained time right now. So the decision was made by General Ward at the time that the headquarters would remain in Germany as it split apart from United States European Command, which previously had responsibility for Europe and Africa -- at least, part of Africa. And they formed the Africa Command to keep it there in Europe. That's actually worked out pretty well for us. We are generally in the same time zone as most countries in Africa; a reasonably good commercial air access into the continent, so that's worked out quite well for us. And frankly, I think just the disruption that would occur to the headquarters if we had to pick it up and move it someplace -- our view is for us to probably stay where we are. That's a long answer. To say -- I don't -- I think it is unlikely that we will see a permanent U.S. military base in Uganda or anyplace else other than a pretty large base that we have in Djibouti, which is an operational base. But I would also ask you to judge us not by the permanent basing of a headquarters; judge us rather by the enduring and sustained relationship and partnership that we wish to have to Uganda -- with Uganda. That doesn't mean that we would have to have a large headquarters here. It does mean that we have a close -- a partnership that we are open with one another, that we share security interests and that we work together to meet regional security issues. That to me is more important than a particular place or a headquarters in the country. And what I learned yesterday from interaction with the senior Ugandan officials both civilian and military is that I think that's what they want too, is this close cooperation, a commitment from us, from the U.S., that we'll be with -- we'll be with you for the long haul. This is not a one-time thing, or a one year or even two years, but an enduring and sustained relationship. So again, thank you very much. And Ambassador, again, thanks for allowing me to come visit on my first trip. And I look forward to seeing many of you on future visits to Uganda. Thank you. (END)