A planned U.S. Africa Command will not mean a large presence of American troops on the continent, but rather a focus on promoting security and good government, a senior Pentagon official said Monday. Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, just returned from a tour of six African nations during which he emphasized to leaders, “We were making the effort to keep the footprints small and as unobtrusive as possible on the continent.”

Conceding there were “misunderstandings” among African nations on what the command would do, Henry said it was created because Africa “is emerging on the world scene as a strategic player and we need to deal with it as a continent.”

The new command would be operational in September 2008 and be part of a global military network that includes U.S. commands for the Middle East, Pacific and Europe.

But unlike those troop-heavy structures that focus on war planning, Africa Command, or AfriCom, would be a mechanism for promoting security.

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Al Qaeda long has eyed Africa and its impoverished societies as ripe for recruiting terrorists and for replacing existing governments with harsh Islamic rule. The terrorist group is active in Somalia, which lacks a functioning government, and has formed an alliance with a militant Islamic group in Algeria.

AfriCom would help governments police so-called ungoverned areas where al Qaeda can thrive. It would train security forces in border and port control, and attempt to instill professionalism in Africa’s standing armies, Henry said.

The goal of AfriCom is to support indigenous governments, not to assert U.S. primacy on the continent, he said.

Henry’s team visited Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal. The Pentagon has decided to put AfriCom’s headquarters on the continent, but it has not selected a country.

rscarborough@dcexaminer.com