African Wars

by Thom, William G.

• ISBN13: 9781552382738
• ISBN10: 1552382737
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-30
• Publisher: Univ of Calgary Pr

Summary

During the past forty years, Africa south of the Sahara has been the most conflict-prone region of the world. Yet in spite of its growing geopolitical importance, both as a resource base and as an emerging factor in the U.S.-led 'war on terror,' it remains one of the least understood. This book provides a concise summary of four decades of warfare in sub-Saharan Africa, with expert commentary by an experienced and highly respected senior U.S. intelligence officer. As a defence analyst and eventually senior Africa specialist in the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, William Thom acquired unique in-depth knowledge of conflict in this vast and troubled region. Ranging from postcolonial insurgency in Rhodesia to ongoing strife in the Horn of Africa, from the horrors of Rwanda and the Congo to devastating civil wars in Angola, Mozambique, and Liberia, the book tracks seventeen different conflicts, many of which have a continuing influence on the continent's political-military affairs today. Thom complements his penetrating and often gripping accounts of specific wars with valuable wide-ranging impressions, in particular the often surprising adaptability of combatant groups to their material and political environments, and the frustrating marginalisation of Africa within security circles during this period. This is also a lively memoir, as Thom brings a wealth of detail, personal insight, and wit to the story of his training and education as an intelligence officer, the difficulties and oddities of travelling in Africa, and his skirmishes with the intelligence bureaucracy. Anyone interested in African security issues, contemporary warfare, or military intelligence will find this book a vital and timely discovery.

Author Biography

William G. Thom is retired professional intelligence officer who spent thirty-five years with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA); from 1987 to 2002 he was Defense Intelligence Officer for Africa, the senior Africanist in the DIA. An educator, consultant, and public speaker on African issues, Thom lives in Woodbrige, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Prologue: The World of Defense Intelligence	p. 1
Non-Combat Realities
The Making of a Defense Intelligence Analyst	p. 9
Growing Up in the 1950s	p. 11
The Great Leap into Sub-Saharan Africa	p. 13
Two Out of Three Is Not Bad!	p. 14
Assignment EUCOM J-2, 1977-1980	p. 15
Hitting the Ground Running at EUCOM	p. 17
The EUCOM Experience Pays Dividends	p. 18
Generals Haig and Huyser and the Soft Underbelly of NATO	p. 19
Traveling through Africa	p. 21
The War for Resources - and Briefing VIPs	p. 27
Unfavorable Pairings	p. 28
Out of Africa	p. 30
Africa Just Doesn't Make the Cut	p. 31
"Something New Is Always Coming Out of Africa" - Pliny the Elder	p. 32
What We Have Learned	p. 33
Briefing People in High Places	p. 34
Threats to Internal Security: Optimists versus Pessimists	p. 39
The Optimists	p. 40
The Pessimists	p. 40
The Bottom Line	p. 41
Domestic Analogies	p. 42
African Wars I Have Known
Counter-insurgency in Southern Africa, 1961-1974	p. 47
Portugal's Counter-insurgency in Africa	p. 49
Learning on the Job	p. 53
Insurgency in Southern Rhodesia, 1965-1980	p. 55
Lancaster House Marks a New Beginning	p. 60
Civil War in Angola	p. 63
The Angolan Civil War, Phase One, 1975-1976	p. 63
The Angolan Civil War, Phase Two, 1980-1992	p. 72
The Angolan Civil War, Phase Three, 1992-2002	p. 84
South Africa: The White Redoubt	p. 89
South Africa's Evolving Defense Strategy, 1960s-1980s	p. 89
Surprise in Angola	p. 94
The Receding White Redoubt	p. 96
South Africa's Defense Industry	p. 97
Apartheid South Africa: A Challenge for U.S. Intelligence	p. 102
Mozambique: The RENAMO War, 1978-1992	p. 105
RENAMO: From an Insurgent Seed, a Monster Grows	p. 106
U.S. Policy Slightly Out of Tune	p. 107
The War Winds Down: The Times They Were a-Changin'	p. 109
Photo Gallery	p. 111
Two Surprising East African Wars	p. 125
The Ogaden War, 1977-1978	p. 125
Tanzania-Uganda War, 1978-1979	p. 130
Two Antagonistic Regimes Collapse	p. 135
Somalia's Civil War, 1980s-1991	p. 135
The Ethiopian Civil War: Collapse of the Mengistu Regime, 1988-1991	p. 139
Somalia, Ethopia, Eritrea, and Sudan in the 1990s	p. 145
UN and U.S. Intervention in Somalia, 1992-1995	p. 145
The Ethiopia-Eritrea Border War, 1998-2000: All in the Family	p. 153
War in Sudan: The Enigma on the Nile	p. 159
Two Improbable Conflicts: Zaire (Congo) and Chad	p. 165
The Shaba I and Shaba II Incursions into Zaire, 1977-1978	p. 165
Chad's "Toyota Wars," 1986-1987	p. 170
The Great Lakes Crises: Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo	p. 179
Rwanda's Civil War and Genocide Crisis, 1990-1994	p. 179
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Implodes, 1996-2002	p. 187
Burundi's Civil War, 1993-2006	p. 195
Vicious Civil Conflicts in West Africa	p. 199
Liberia's Civil War, 1989-1997	p. 199
Sierra Leone's Civil War, 1991-2001	p. 209
African Wars I Did Not Get to Know	p. 219
The Congo Crisis	p. 219
The Nigerian Civil War	p. 220
Other African Conflicts	p. 220
Other Wars since Independence	p. 221
Some Final Observations	p. 221
Epilogue	p. 227
Glossary of Acronyms	p. 231
Bibliography	p. 241
Index	p. 247
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