MARC PERELMAN: Hello and welcome to the France 24 interview. Today, we are welcoming Gen. Kip Ward. Gen. Kip Ward, you've served your country's military for the past four decades from Korea to Egypt to Somalia to Bosnia to Germany to Alaska. In 2005, you were in charge of coordinating security between Israel and the Palestinian Authority - very sensitive position, obviously.
Since late 2007, you are the first commander of the U.S. Africa Command, which is actually based in Germany but has jurisdiction over the whole continent, except Egypt. You're now 60 years old and you are, I believe, the only active African-American four-star general in the U.S. Army. Thank you very much for welcoming France 24 at this interview, which is being taped at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
My first question is that you're the head of this Africa Command since its creation by the Bush administration in 2007. Before that, Africa was divided between three military commands. The official mission is to ensure stability on the continent, but obviously, having a signal command has fueled suspicions that the U.S. was actually pursuing, maybe, imperialistic, new colonialist policies on the continent. What's your response?
GEN. WILLIAM E. WARD: I think the fact that we haven't done that has been a great statement that, that was not the intent. And so those suspicions have been demonstrated to be unfounded. The command was created, not to ensure, but to help promote stability through sustained security engagement to assist our African partners in their attempts to provide for their own security.
And the creation of a single command to do that as opposed to having it done as was in the past, through three separate commands, as a way of doing that in a more efficient and we think, effective way, working coherently, transparently and collaboratively with the various nations of the continent that seek our assistance, working with the regional organizations on the continent that seek our assistance and working with the African Union as it attempts to create the same condition of stability.
And I might also add, by doing it in a way that enables a single point of contact such that other international partners, that our whole of government, our interagency, can now coordinate these activities through - or with one headquarters as opposed to having three separate headquarters to do those activities as we all work to help promote stability in Africa.
MARC PERELMAN: Don't you think that on the continent, there is still this impression that America is there to fight terrorism, to secure the oil route and maybe challenge China's growing power on the continent?
GEN. WARD: Increasingly, that is not the case. I think, again, I go back to the things that we have done, our programs, what the people on the continent have seen, as opposed to what they have been - what they have read or what they might think what they have seen, has been nothing that reflects that type of an attempt.
MARC PERELMAN: Is this the reason why the headquarters are not on the African continent, as there were discussions, initially, to have it there, but now, they're in Germany. Is this one of the reasons? The perception issue?
GEN. WARD: The headquarters is in Germany because it was appropriate for it to be there. There were facilities that existed. There was an infrastructure that existed and that we were to begin to be immediately effective, the work of constructing, building a headquarters anyplace else, would have been time consuming.
So where we are was sensible from a location point of view, for travel, for the ability to move to Africa with my staff to conduct the relationships that we needed to create. And so it was a situation that was not just convenient, but sensible. And it also permitted us to begin right away - to begin adding value to our ongoing activities in a more cohesive way as opposed to not, at the time that it would have taken to try to coordinate and build a headquarters either in Africa or anyplace else, quite frankly.
MARC PERELMAN: Is this a temporary situation? Do you have plans to have headquarters there? And more broadly, do you have plans - U.S. permanent military bases on the continent?
GEN. WARD: There are no plans to relocate the headquarters. There are no plans to have additional bases or to establish bases in Africa.
MARC PERELMAN: One of the countries that has military bases in Africa is France. Obviously, you said that you want operate with the French. What kind of cooperation are you seeking? And there's one place where the French and the Americans are both based. It's in Djibouti, which is strategically located on the Horn of Africa. I mean, is this what you're hoping to achieve more?
GEN. WARD: You know, the U.S. facility in Djibouti is a facility that we inherited as the command set up. It wasn't a facility that we established. It already existed - previously existed, when the command was established. We clearly looked to partner with nations, including France, as we conduct our activities such that we work in a more collaborative and cooperative way so that our efforts are coordinated so that the effects can be, hopefully, better achieved in creating additional stability on the continent.
And so, yes, we do look to continue to work. We have been in the past. This is not new with the creation of the command, but we certainly look to make the relationship a more effective one because it's now only done through a single headquarters as opposed to in the past, three separate headquarters. And so we look to increase our international cooperation with other international partners.
And we look to continue to improve upon the cooperation with the other parts of our government who conduct activities on the continent. But also, we look to improve the coordination with the nations of Africa as well as their regional organizations as well as the African Union to continental organization.
MARC PERELMAN: What countries or what areas are you most concerned about?
GEN. WARD: Well, we have concerns that follow our national policy priorities, our national security objectives. And so it's a function of where we have relations with the country and with the nature of those relations. Are there military-to-military relations that are appropriate to have? It's a function of a country asking for our assistance. Those priorities change. They shift; they move. I would say the general sense, where we have an ability to help increase stability, to reinforce things that are moving in a positive way, we would clearly want to be concerned about those.
MARC PERELMAN: I mean, when you wake up in the morning, what countries do you think about?
GEN. WARD: I think about the same ones you think about. These are countries that are there that pose opportunities as well as challenges. We think about Sudan. We think about Somalia. We think about Guinea. We think about the Great Lakes region from the Congo, Central African Republic, where things are going on.
And so we think about the north of Africa, the Sahel, where al-Qaida operates. We think about areas where there is illegal trafficking. It's a large, large continent and we think about most of those areas. What we do with those areas is a function, again, of what goes on the nature of the relationship on a diplomatic level as well as the nature of the relationship, military-to-military that reflects our foreign policy.
MARC PERELMAN: Does this involve military interventions, even like Special Operations or things like that?
GEN. WARD: Now or -
MARC PERELMAN: Drones striking in Africa, for example.
GEN. WARD: Our primary line of conducting our effort is through sustained security assistance as we work with our African partners and friends to help them increase their capacity to provide for their own security. That's our primary military effort.
MARC PERELMAN: In doing so, you have military-to-military relationships that you're trying to build. In some cases, you see military attempts - coups - in Africa. So isn't there a risk of being associated with those, like U.S. has been, for example, during the Cold War in places like Latin America? Is this a concern?
GEN. WARD: We are concerned about those sorts of things. There are no guarantees, but I think what we have is an opportunity through a closer, professional relationship to have as a part of our relationship, a sort of training and sort of professionalization (sic) that would cause the behavior of those militaries to be aligned with behavior that we see as more appropriate, where militaries function as legitimate elements of their society, as institutions that are responsive to and reflective of the established - the duly elected leadership, that are responsive to civil authority and conduct themselves in ways that reflect that, as opposed to not.
MARC PERELMAN: For example, you wouldn't cooperate with Guinea or let's say, Zimbabwe, for example?
GEN. WARD: Again, that is reflective of national policy decisions that are taken and as such, we do not have a relationship with those countries.
MARC PERELMAN: But you would not hesitate to cut relationships if, like, democracy is being threatened.
GEN. WARD: Not my decision. Again, that's a reflection of a national policy decision that I, then, would take, based on the decision made by our policymakers, were that to occur.
MARC PERELMAN: Is the Sahel region really the most dangerous in terms of al-Qaida-related groups?
GEN. WARD: The Sahel region is an area, that because of its vastness, if it's left unchecked - if it is left without governance, clearly is an area where al-Qaida can take refuge to conduct its -
MARC PERELMAN: Is it happening?
GEN. WARD: We know that there are al-Qaida elements there in the region. They have said it. They have professed it. There have been kidnappings, so it is happening. They are there.
MARC PERELMAN: And is it part of your mandate to address this?
GEN. WARD: We are addressing it, not in direct way. We address it because the nation of the Sahel has said that they want to take steps to reduce, to remove this threat of terror that exists in their borders. We address it through providing assistance to them as they take those steps to provide for their own security.
MARC PERELMAN: Okay, we have time for one last question, maybe a more personal one. As I said, you're the only active African-American four-star general, you head the U. S. military command in Africa and you're commander-in-chief now happens to be the first African-American president. Any special feelings about all this happening?
GEN. WARD: Well, I think we are where we are as a function of our credentials, as a function of our experiences. In my case, prior to this job, I was a deputy commander of the United States European Command, one of the commands that had responsibility for conducting activities in Africa. I had spent time there and I think my selection to be AFRICOM's first commander was a function - a reflection of that having been the case as opposed to not.
The United States of America has elected President Barack Obama as its president. As a career soldier, I have done what I've done for now, as you mentioned, over 38 years, that is, support and protect the Constitution of the United States. And that Constitution also talks about how our nation and its citizenry elects, every 4 years, its president, who I serve loyally and I'm happy to do so today as well.
MARC PERELMAN: Thank you very much, Gen. Kip Ward, for taping this interview with France 24. Thank you very much.
GEN. WARD: Thank you.
Q: Excuse me, can we have one more? Sorry, we just need to tape - (inaudible).
(Off-side conversation.)
STAFF: It needs to be quick because he's got another thing he has got to do.
MARC PERELMAN: Okay.
Q: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't worry.
MARC PERELMAN: Just a question about France and following up. (In French.) Yes, I just want to ask you about France has retained a number of troops in Africa from the station there for many years - decades, actually. And there are questions about scaling down those troops and closing down some of the bases there. Do you have a position on whether you think the French should actually scale down their presence, especially in terms of permanent militaries?
GEN. WARD: Well, obviously, that's not my decision. That's for the French government and its people to determine. I will say that I'm very much appreciative of the relations that we have with the French military.
The cooperation that exists is one that I'm very thankful for and we work every day with the French who are there, in not a direct way, but to do our best to coordinate our activities so that we are working as harmoniously as we can. And the experiences - their expertise and their understanding and knowledge is something that we richly appreciate as we continue to do what we do in support of our African friends.
MARC PERELMAN: Okay, thank you very much.
(END)
