Word: centcom
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Africom would be front and center in battling the piracy now rampant off Somalia's coast. But in fact Africom deals only with African territory, and not the seas surrounding it. Those are monitored by U.S. Central Command, also responsible for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This disconnect - Centcom if by sea, Africom if by land - highlights the challenge facing the Pentagon as it tries to grapple with 21st century pirates who thrive amid chaos...
...Africom's only role in battling pirates is helping Centcom hand over the captured ones - 130 so far this year - to East African nations for trial. Africom still has a lot of kinks to work out. At that House hearing on March 19, Ward acknowledged that he has only a "very small command" - headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany - to deal with Africa, and not a soul on Somali soil. But things are getting better. "Every day improvements are made," Ward said. "I count it a victory when I can pick up the phone or send an e-mail and it goes...
...element in President Barack Obama's Afghanistan strategy is getting Pakistan to fight the Taliban on its side of the border. But despite the Administration's demanding a more concerted effort against militants on Pakistani soil as a condition for further aid to Pakistan's military - and warnings by Centcom commander General David Petraeus and others that the Taliban threatens to destroy Pakistan as a state - many in Washington and beyond are skeptical that Pakistan will cooperate...
...General David Petraeus, with whom he has disagreed over Iraq policy: I'm glad Petraeus is in CENTCOM ... I think he's ... not just an astute soldier, but I think he's somebody who cares about facts and cares about the reality on the ground. I don't think he comes at this with an ideological predisposition. That's one of the reasons I think he's been successful in moving the ball forward in Iraq. And I hope that he's applying that same perspective to what's happening in Afghanistan...
...shocked would be an understatement. I had never seen any approved CENTCOM campaign plan, either conceptual or detailed, for the post?major combat operations phase. When I was on the ground in Iraq and saw what was going on, I assumed they had done zero Phase IV planning. Now, three years later, I was learning for the first time that my assumption was not completely accurate. In fact, CENTCOM had originally called for twelve to eighteen months of Phase IV activity with active troop deployments. But then CENTCOM had completely walked away by simply stating that the war was over...