U.S. defense contractors expanding business in Africa

By Daniel Volman | 31 October 2008

In Business Week:

Many experts are critical of the contractors working in Africa and of the rising U.S. military presence there. “If you look at the record for these programs in terms of teaching respect for human rights, professionalizing militaries, and preparing African armies for peacekeeping operations—all of which are perfectly laudable goals—the end result of the programs doesn’t contribute very much to those,” says Daniel Volman, who directs the African Security Research Project in Washington. “It’s much more likely to be used for purposes not intended by the U.S. government: counter-insurgency warfare, terrorizing populations, repressing internal dissent, etc.”

Read the rest in Business Week