US ‘is not seeking African bases’

Mr Bush said the idea that he was currently visiting Africa looking for sites for US bases was “baloney”.

Mr Bush is on the second-to-last stop of a five-country Africa tour.

He said the new command, Africom, was to provide African states with military training and assistance so they could handle Africa’s problems better.

“It is a command structure that is aiming to help provide military assistance to African nations so African nations are more capable of dealing with Africa’s conflicts - like peacekeeping training,” he said.

Critics say Africom is designed to protect strategic American interests on the continent such as oil.

Africom is a benign command structure that will both ensure the security of strategic American interests, and teach American-style problem solving techniques to a continent that sorely needs them.

Huzzah!

J.K.