NYT: Cuts in African Military Aid Thwart U.S. Goals

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Cuts in Africa Aid Thwart U.S. Goals
By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: July 23, 2006

WASHINGTON, July 22 — The Bush administration and Congress have slashed millions of dollars of military aid to African nations in recent years, moves that Pentagon officials and senior military commanders say have undermined American efforts to combat terrorist threats in Africa and to counter expanding Chinese influence there.

Since 2003, Washington has shut down Pentagon programs to train and equip militaries in a handful of African nations because they have declined to sign agreements exempting American troops from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

But the policy, which was designed to protect American troops, has instead angered senior military officials, who say the cuts in military aid are shortsighted and have weakened counterterrorism efforts in places where the threat of international terrorism is said to be most acute.

Some cite this as a case where the unintended consequences of the go-it-alone approach to foreign policy that Washington took after the Sept. 11 attacks affected the larger American efforts to combat terrorism.

The cuts have also prompted outrage in Latin America, where several nations that have refused to sign the agreements have been cut off from certain military aid programs....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/world/africa/23terror.html?hp&ex=1153627200&en=c16efe83bb2ca27f&ei=5094&partner=homepage