U.S. Africa Command cleared the air about the nature of the operations currently taking place in Africa after activist David Hogg accused them of military imperialism on Tuesday.
Hogg, a survivor of last year's high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., was responding to an article from Yahoo News detailing the 36 operations that are ongoing or have just been completed:
Alexa, what does US military imperialism look like? https://t.co/p0awbnnDgO
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) April 23, 2019
"What’s most important to know is that our command is dedicated to assisting partner nations in their efforts to bring stability and security to their people. We view our mission through a whole-of-government lens, and strive to enable capable, responsive African governments that serve the interests of their citizenry," Major Karl Wiest, a spokesperson for U.S. AFRICOM, told the Washington Examiner.
"U.S. Africa Command, with our partners, strengthens security forces, counters transnational threats, and conducts crisis response in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity," he explained. "A recent, concrete example of our crisis response efforts is the humanitarian relief operations that our command supported recently in Mozambique."
WyoGuard #Army National Guard Medical Detachment trained alongside their foreign ally counterparts Exercise African Lion in April. This annual exercise allows many allies from around the world to train together, which took place in #Tunisia & Morocco this year. @USAfricaCommand pic.twitter.com/OHBxIgrKEt
— Wyo. National Guard (@wyoguard) April 20, 2019
Wiest pointed to when members of AFRICOM helped delivered essential food, medicine, and other supplies to assist the Mozambican people after Cyclone Idai swept through in March.
"Ultimately, the core mission of U.S. Africa Command remains one of helping our partners to strengthen defense capabilities. We concentrate our efforts on helping African nations and regional organizations build capable and professional militaries that respect human rights, adhere to the rule of law, and more effectively contribute to stability in Africa," he added.
The very Yahoo News article Hogg responded to does back up AFRICOM's response, as many operations deal with peacekeeping, supporting and training with host nations, along with conducting anti-terror operations.
U.S. confirms airstrike against ISIS-Somalia’s Abdulhakim Dhuqub - https://t.co/93ZxZRdlB8 pic.twitter.com/kAuhc0SoUp
— US AFRICOM (@USAfricaCommand) April 15, 2019
Most were unaware of American military involvement in Africa until four American soldiers were killed in an Islamic State ambush in Niger in 2017.