U.S. Assists in African Conflicts from Afar

A B U J A, Nigeria, Aug. 25 -- A month before Bill Clinton entered theWhite House in 1993, U.S. Marines stormed ashore in Somalia seekingto halt a devastating famine and cast the model for futurelife-saving interventions in convulsed African states.

Now in the twilight of his presidency, Clinton is making aweekend journey to Nigeria, home to the latest version of U.S.peacekeeping efforts in Africa. An advance party of 14 U.S.soldiers from North Carolina’s Fort Bragg touched down hereWednesday to train Nigerian soldiers for duty in beleaguered SierraLeone.

Limited U.S. Peacekeeping Role

Africa has endured more ruinous wars than any other region overthe past decade, yet the United States and other Western nationshave largely retreated from the continent. An overstretched UnitedNations has struggled to patch together peacekeeping forces made upmostly of African armies and soldiers from other poor nations.

“There is an unspoken policy that the United States won’t sendtroops to Africa,” said Salih Booker, head of the Africa PolicyInformation Center in Washington. “Africans are concerned that theUnited States has abandoned peacekeeping roles that are supposed tobe a shared international responsibility.”

More U.S. military trainers are coming to Nigeria, but they arenot expected to top a few hundred, and there may be fewer. Theyplan to work with several battalions of Nigerians at a base inIbadan, north of Lagos.

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The United States has allocated $20 million to help train theNigerians, who have the most powerful army in West Africa andextensive experience as peacekeepers — and combatants — in SierraLeone and Liberia.

However, the Nigerians also have a reputation for ruthlessness;human rights groups have accused them of frequent abuses. The U.S.trainers plan to stress human rights, according to Major Ed Loomis,a U.S. military spokesman in Germany.

Critics: U.S. Effort Small Scale

The Americans have helped prepare several African armies forregional peacekeeping missions since 1996 in the belief that troopsalready on the continent could respond rapidly and would have abetter understanding of local disputes.