Media Review for October 19, 2012

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

Today’s News

Obama to nominate Army Gen. Rodriguez to lead AFRICOM
President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. David Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday. Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate. Stars and Stripes

Panetta: Obama to nominate Africa Command leader with extensive Iraq, Afghanistan experience
[...] Panetta said Rodriguez played a critical role in the surge of U.S. forces to Afghanistan and was a key architect of the military campaign plan now being implemented there. Rodriguez was the No. 2 U.S. commander in Afghanistan from 2009-2011. Panetta said Rodriguez would be taking over a challenging job that has been involved in some very recent important missions. The Washington Post

Europe’s African War
Yes, you read that right: The European Union is preparing an invasion. It is small scale. But the EU is very concerned about radical Islam’s growth in North Africa. While Syria and Iran grab the world’s attention, Europe is marshaling its African allies and preparing to send in a small force to tackle radical Islam. The Trumpet

African and EU leaders to hold Mali summit
African and European leaders will meet in Bamako to work on plans for a military intervention to seize back Mali’s desert north from armed Islamist groups who control the region. Friday’s summit comes a week after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution asking West African nations to speed up preparations for the intervention, giving them 45 days to lay out detailed plans. Al Jazeera

Intervention against al-Qaida in northern Mali months away
Senior United Nations, African and European officials will try on Friday to accelerate sluggish efforts to remove al-Qaida and its allies from the Saharan nation of Mali, where they control an area the size of France. But even if the sensitivities impeding intervention can be overcome at the meeting in the Malian capital Bamako, it is highly unlikely a credible military force could go into action to oust al-Qaida and retake the territory before next March. The Vancouver Sun

Mauritanian mystery deepens as speculation grows about coup cover-up
The Mauritanian government stands accused of a cover-up as further claims emerge of events surrounding the shooting of the president, with growing allegations of an attempted coup. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was rushed to hospital last weekend after having been shot in the stomach by military guards, apparently by accident, after passing through a checkpoint 25 miles from the capital, Nouakchott, following a trip into the desert. The Guardian

Few to Take On Mali Militants
A prospective military campaign against al Qaeda and its allies in the vast desert of this West African country has hit an obstacle: Neither Mali nor its neighbors appear ready to send soldiers into a land war, against war-hardened militants, in the world’s largest desert. The Wall Street Journal

African force set for northern Mali
An army of 6,000 African troops will be mobilised to wrest the deserts of northern Mali from al-Qaeda’s control, with European countries providing intelligence and logistics, according to a senior French official. The Telegraph

Mali: : Islamists lure back northerners
Hundreds of displaced northerners in southern Mali are risking life under Sharia law to return home, lured by the prospect of jobs, free water and electricity, and in some parts, relatively cheaper food, Malians in the north and south told IRIN. Islamist groups have removed taxes on many basic goods, say traders in the region, provide erratic electricity and water services at no charge, and have fixed the price of some basic foods. They are also paying youths to join their ranks, as talk of intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mounts. IRIN

Malians protest foreign intervention plans
At least 2 000 people took to the streets in the Malian capital on Thursday to protest plans for a foreign military intervention to reclaim territory seized by armed Islamist groups in the north. The march was organised to support Mali’s own army and to protest plans by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to send in a regional force, but failed to match the numbers of a pro-intervention march a week ago, which drew about 10 000 people. News 24

The Welsh Security Contractor Behind America’s Benghazi Consulate Guards
[...] the story of what happened with the consular security in Libya is continuing to come into view as journalists, such as a most excellent team at Reuters, have dug into the practices of Welsh security contractor the Blue Mountain Group, which was brought on by the State Department to oversee the new and potentially temporary consular compound in Benghazi. What the reporters found is astonishing, considering how many armed guards one finds in much less dangerous environs in the United States: “Blue Mountain guards patrolled with flashlights and batons instead of guns.” The Atlantic

Terrorism, Salafi Jihadism, and the West [By Tariq Ramadan]
When will it ever end? Month after month, year after year we are assured that extremist and terrorist networks have been uncovered and/or dismantled in the United States, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Headline news and spectacular arrests carry a powerful symbolic impact. But our troubles are far from over; despite the killing of Usama bin Laden, fully operational cells remain capable of striking highly symbolic targets: public places, schools, religious institutions, sometimes specifically Jewish ones. “Islamic terrorism” is the specter that haunts our era, and is likely to do so for a long time to come. OnIslam

Ambassador Rice at U.N. Debate on Somalia
Remarks by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, at UN Security Council Debate on Somalia, October 16, 2012 State.gov

Somali territorial waters disputed in case
A federal judge may have to rule how far Somalia’s territorial waters extend to determine whether the U.S. has the jurisdiction to prosecute three Somalis with the murders of four Americans aboard their pirated yacht. NavyTimes

Seven West African nations form “network” to fight against drug trafficking
At the end of a two-day regional seminar in Conakry to discuss ways to fight against trafficking of cocaine in West Africa, seven countries from the region agreed on Wednesday to form a dynamic “network” for fighting against this scourge, a well placed source has said. The seven countries include Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Togo. Xinhua

Rwanda admitted to UN Security Council
Rwanda along with Australia, Argentina, South Korea and Luxembourg has won a seat on the UN Security Council, despite accusations by a UN expert panel that the Rwandan defence minister is commanding a rebellion in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Al Jazeera

Pressure grows on UK to halt Rwanda aid after damning UN reports
Pressure was mounting on Britain yesterday to withdraw its backing for the government in Rwanda after a UN report said the country was running an armed rebellion guilty of massive human rights abuses in neighbouring DR Congo. The M23 rebels, who use child soldiers and have attacked UN peacekeepers in Eastern Congo, are being directly commanded by Rwanda’s Defence Minister, according to a confidential report to the UN Security Council. The Independant

5 000 rapes as unrest engulfs eastern DRC
At least 5 000 women have been raped this year in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern province of North Kivu as a new rebellion has sown fresh unrest in the conflict-prone region, a local hospital said on Thursday. “The number of rapes has risen dramatically: we have registered around 5 000 women raped since the start of the year in North Kivu. It’s very dramatic,” said Justin Paluku, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Heal Africa hospital in Goma, the provincial capital. News 24

Politics of War Crimes Trials Under Spotlight
Ten years after the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened its doors in The Hague, the United Nations Security Council held its first open discussion on the role of the court, with some nations reiterating complaints that its docket is highly politicised and has unfairly singled out African nations for censure. The ICC is the only permanent international court with a mandate to prosecute individuals accused of the most heinous crimes – genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. IPS

Kony2005: tales from Uganda
I didn’t pay much mind to the #Kony2012 kerfuffle when it first surfaced back in March. I couldn’t be bothered to watch the film and was a bit blasé about the re-emergence (as it seemed to me) of the Lord’s Resistance Army as a topic of wide international interest. But now Invisible Children has released another film that promises the unleashing of a new wave of activism (they’re promising to take over the US capital in mid-November) and awareness-raising. The new film is an ode to martyrdom but I otherwise found no reason to add to the blogosphere’s thorough deconstruction of the phenomenon. The Guardian

Nigeria: The Need to Prepare for a Rainy Day
Over the past few weeks, the worst flooding Nigeria has seen in at least half a century has led to deaths of hundreds of Nigerians, the displacement of over a million people, and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland. Huge swathes of the country have been affected, particularly in central and south-eastern regions, with houses, bridges and roads devastated. Many displacement camps are now overcrowded and aid materials scarce, certain areas and cities are starting to suffer from shortages of food staples, some predict the loss of farmlands will endanger Nigeria’s food security in the longer-term, while others fear waterborne diseases could spread to epidemic levels. Think Africa Press

Uganda to vet all foreign oil workers
Uganda’s ministry of Energy will vet all foreigners for jobs in the oil and gas companies before they are hired, the petroleum commissioner has said. Mr Ernest Rubondo, the commissioner for Petroleum Exploration and Production, gave the assurance when he appeared before the Parliamentary ad hoc committee investigating the oil sector. The East African

Rawlings’ wife disqualified from Ghana presidential polls
The wife of Ghana’s ex-leader Jerry Rawlings, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, was on Thursday disqualified from running in presidential polls over problems with her nomination forms, an official said. Radio Netherland