Okay, another African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) in Accra, Ghana. Sponsored by the U.S. Army Chief of Staff. Yawn.
"Optimizing" What, Exactly?
The theme this year is “Optimizing Land Forces for the Emerging Security Environment.” Optimizing? Let's be real, what does that even MEAN? Is it code for "selling more weapons" or "training African soldiers to fight proxy wars for American interests"? I'm just asking questions here.
Maj. Gen. Andrew C. Gainey, bless his heart, says the summit has been "vital for collaboration." Vital like oxygen is vital to fire? Because last time I checked, a lot of "collaboration" in the name of security just leads to more instability.
The press release gushes about "multinational and multidomain training opportunities." Sounds expensive. Who's footing the bill for all this "optimization"? I bet it ain't the U.S. Army privates.
And speaking of generals… you ever notice how these summits are always crawling with brass? It's like a feeding frenzy for guys who want to climb the ladder.
The Usual Suspects, the Usual Platitudes
Ghana's Minister of Defence, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, chimes in about the "volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world." Right on cue. It's like they're reading from the same script. "Collective defense strategies" and "regional stability" – give me a break. It all sounds nice, but what's the actual plan? Show me the receipts.
Ambassador Virginia Palmer says they're there to "foster interoperability" and "build crisis response capacities." Interoperability? Is that even a word? And "crisis response capacities" sounds like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi movie. I need a drink.
More than 40 African Land Force Commanders attended the opening ceremony... That's a lotta mouths to feed at the taxpayer's expense.
I saw a picture of the Ghana Armed Forces Band performing. Okay, that's nice, I guess. But is a marching band really the best way to address "shared security challenges"?
You know what I find funny? They're always talking about "African solutions to African problems." But then they hold the summit in Ghana, co-hosted by the U.S. Army. Something ain't adding up here. According to US, Ghana host African Land Forces Summit in Accra, the summit took place in Accra. Something ain't adding up here.
Tangent time: I tried ordering a pizza the other day, and the delivery guy showed up an hour late with the wrong order. He blamed it on "unforeseen circumstances." I swear, everyone's got an excuse these days.
Building What, Exactly?
The summit supposedly "intends to build upon previous summits by fostering communication, cooperation and planning among partner nations." Fostering? Like raising baby chicks? What have these previous summits actually accomplished? Has anyone bothered to track the results, or is it just another excuse for junkets and photo ops?
SETAF-AF provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe and Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe. I'm sure that makes perfect sense to someone. To me it sounds like setting up a base for projecting military power.
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