"Don't let me be misunderstood!"

What a hoot!

Gen William Ward said Africom's intent had been misunderstood

The BBC reports that:

The US military has decided to keep the headquarters of its new Africa Command in Germany, after only one African nation, Liberia, offered to host it.

Most African countries have been wary of plans to base the command, Africom, on the continent.

Africom's commander, Gen William Ward, said there were no plans to create large US garrisons on the continent.

The military command was created last year to unite responsibilities shared by three other US regional commands.

No one in Africa wants to host the US Military, except for Liberia the country that was colonized by freed African American slaves in 1822 who, with the support of the United States founded the country in 1847.

What a surprise!

There has been concern that Africom is really an attempt to protect US oil and mineral interests in Africa, amid growing competition for resources from Asian economies, says the BBC's Alex Last in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Then there are fears about the continent being drawn into the US war on terror, our correspondent ads.

Gen Ward said Africom was not about militarisation but consolidating existing operations under one single command, while helping Africans with military training and supporting peacekeeping and aid operations.

Does anyone out there actually believe this? Apparently not locally!

Now that the US is virtually persona non grata in it's own previous 'sphere of influence' namely Latin America, it's apparently looking further afield.

People are looking at Americans helping with their military training and support for peacekeeping and they immediately think about Korea, Vietnam, and more recently Afghanistan and Iraq, where there is now a chorus of a familiar refrain that sounds something like:

"Yankee Go Home!"

The Africans are chanting a different tune. This may refer to the "Yankee dollar", but without strings attached.