Pentagon reviews removing Morocco as host of largest military exercise in Africa

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is looking at alternative locations for the largest military exercise in Africa amid Senate pressure to bump Morocco from its position as an annual host for the drills.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, has led the charge against having Morocco host the African Lion exercise to push back against its control of the disputed Western Sahara.

“For more than five decades, the Sahrawi people have been subjected to repeated broken promises and vicious attacks by the Moroccan government,” Inhofe said last week at a confirmation hearing for the nominees to lead Africa Command and Special Operations Command.

“I have pushed [the Defense Department] to look at alternative locations for the annual African Lion military exercise that’s been hosted in Morocco previously,” Inhofe added. “I’m pleased that [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] is in agreement with me on this issue.”

Inhofe’s office told Defense News he secured a commitment from Austin in a private meeting to look at alternative locations for the annual exercise, which the United States and 10 partner countries conduct jointly in Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal and Ghana.

The report accompanying the Senate’s version of the Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act also directs Austin to “develop a plan to rotate the hosting arrangements and locations” of all multilateral exercises, including African Lion, within AFRICOM’s purview and submit a report by December.

Lt. Gen. Michael Langley and Lt. Gen. Bryan Fenton, the nominees to head AFRICOM and SOCOM respectively, told Inhofe during their confirmation hearing they agreed with finding alternative locations for the African Lion exercises.

“I will follow up on this serious issue,” said Langley. “I know the Department of Defense has been looking at it. I think it’s time to see if Morocco’s making progress.”

Inhofe has long been critical of Morocco’s control over the Western Sahara, which pits Rabat against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front — a Sahrawi independence movement.

He called it “shocking and deeply disappointing” when former President Donald Trump upended decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara at the same time Morocco signed onto the Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel. President Joe Biden has left Trump’s policy intact.

Former Moroccan prime minister Saadeddine Othmani tweeted last year the African Lion exercise, which has been held for nearly two decades, “marks the consecration of American recognition of the Moroccan Sahara.” Othamni tweeted at the time that part of the 2021 drills would be held in the Western Sahara, but deleted the tweet after AFRICOM denied the exercise would be held in the disputed territory.

After that, the Senate added a provision to the 2022 NDAA banning U.S. forces from participating in multilateral exercises hosted in Morocco unless the defense secretary certifies the country is “committed to seeking a mutually acceptable political solution in the Western Sahara.”

Austin did not make that certification for this year’s exercises, which took place last month, and instead submitted a national security waiver permissible under the 2022 NDAA to allow the drills to proceed.

“U.S. Africa Command continues to explore alternatives to further diversify the locations of multilateral exercises and continues to consult closely with the Department of Defense and Department of State to ensure full compliance with future requirements as directed by the NDAA,” a Defense Department spokesman told Defense News in a statement.

Neither the Senate nor House versions of the 2023 NDAA contain the language banning Morocco from hosting U.S.-led exercises that Congress added to last year’s bill. However, the Senate report accompanying this year’s bill authorizes $10 million for AFRICOM to “assess alternative locations and host arrangements for multilateral exercises with African partners.”

“The committee further believes that diversifying the hosts and locations of these exercises may help the [Defense Department] expand partnerships in Africa, increase the capabilities of African partners and further U.S. access and influence on the continent,” states the report.

Other AFRICOM-led exercises include the Navy’s Cutlass Express near the Horn of Africa, Obangame Express on the west African coast and Phoenix Express in the Mediterranean.

With Inhofe retiring at the end of the year, the Sahrawis will lose one of their most powerful advocates on Capitol Hill. But Morocco’s status as a key host in the African Lion exercise may remain in peril.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., also sits on the Armed Services Committee and indicated at last week’s confirmation hearing he intends to continue pushing Morocco on its Western Sahara policy. He expressed concern the long-simmering conflict with the Polisario Front could once again devolve into open war.

“This could be a powder keg,” said Rounds. “With other outside interests priming the pump, should we not get this issue resolved, it could be another one of these hot spots that does not go away and a little bit of attention right now may go a long way.”

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

华盛顿——由于参议院施压要求取消摩洛哥作为非洲最大规模军事演习年度主办国的地位，国防部正在寻找其他地点进行此次演习。

参议院军事委员会资深成员、俄克拉荷马州共和党参议员詹姆斯·英霍夫带头反对摩洛哥主办“非洲雄狮”军演，以对抗其对有争议的西撒哈拉的控制。

“五十多年来，撒哈拉人民一直遭受摩洛哥政府一再违背承诺和残酷攻击，”英霍夫上周在非洲司令部和特种作战司令部领导人提名确认听证会上说。

“我一直敦促国防部寻找其他地点来举办以往在摩洛哥举行的年度‘非洲雄狮’军事演习，”英霍夫补充道。“我很高兴国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀在这个问题上与我意见一致。”

英霍夫的办公室告诉《防务新闻》，他在一次私人会晤中获得了奥斯汀的承诺，将考虑为这项年度演习寻找替代地点。这项演习由美国和 10 个伙伴国家在摩洛哥、突尼斯、塞内加尔和加纳联合举行。

参议院版本的《2023 财年国防授权法案》附带的报告还指示奥斯汀“制定一项计划，轮换非洲司令部管辖范围内所有多边演习（包括“非洲雄狮”演习）的举办安排和地点”，并在 12 月之前提交一份报告。

被提名为非洲司令部司令的迈克尔·兰利中将和被提名为特种作战司令部司令的布莱恩·芬顿中将，在确认听证会上告​​诉英霍夫，他们同意为“非洲雄狮”演习寻找替代地点。

兰利说：“我会跟进这个严肃的问题。我知道国防部一直在关注此事。我认为现在是时候看看摩洛哥是否取得了进展了。”

英霍夫长期以来一直批评摩洛哥对西撒哈拉的控制，这使得拉巴特与阿尔及利亚支持的波利萨里奥阵线（撒哈拉独立运动）对立起来。

他称，前总统唐纳德·特朗普承认摩洛哥对西撒哈拉的主权，而与此同时摩洛哥也签署了《亚伯拉罕协议》，实现了与以色列关系正常化，此举颠覆了美国数十年的政策，令人“震惊且深感失望”。乔·拜登总统则维持了特朗普的政策。

摩洛哥前首相萨阿德丁·奥斯曼尼去年在推特上发文称，已举行近二十年的“非洲雄狮”联合军演“标志着美国正式承认摩洛哥撒哈拉”。奥斯曼尼当时还发推文称，2021年的部分演习将在西撒哈拉举行，但在美国非洲司令部否认演习将在该争议地区举行后，他删除了这条推文。

之后，参议院在 2022 年国防授权法案中增加了一项条款，禁止美军参加在摩洛哥举行的多边演习，除非国防部长证明该国“致力于寻求西撒哈拉问题上双方都能接受的政治解决方案”。

奥斯汀没有为上个月举行的今年的演习进行认证，而是根据 2022 年国防授权法案提交了一份国家安全豁免申请，允许演习继续进行。

美国国防部发言人在一份声明中告诉《防务新闻》：“美国非洲司令部将继续探索各种替代方案，以进一步丰富多边演习的地点，并继续与国防部和国务院密切磋商，以确保完全遵守《国防授权法案》指示的未来要求。”

参议院和众议院版本的2023财年国防授权法案均未包含禁止摩洛哥主办美国主导的联合军演的条款，而国会已将该条款添加到去年的法案中。然而，参议院今年随附该法案的报告授权拨款1000万美元给非洲司令部，用于“评估与非洲伙伴开展多边联合军演的替代地点和主办安排”。

报告指出：“委员会还认为，使这些演习的举办国和地点多样化，可能有助于（国防部）扩大在非洲的伙伴关系，提高非洲伙伴的能力，并进一步扩大美国在非洲大陆的影响力。”

非洲司令部主导的其他演习包括海军在非洲之角附近举行的“弯刀快车”演习、在西非海岸举行的“奥邦加梅快车”演习以及在地中海举行的“凤凰快车”演习。

随着英霍夫年底退休，撒哈拉人将失去他们在国会山最有力的支持者之一。但摩洛哥作为“非洲雄狮”联合军演关键东道国的地位可能仍然岌岌可危。

南达科他州参议员迈克·朗兹也是参议院军事委员会成员，他在上周的确认听证会上表示，他打算继续就摩洛哥的西撒哈拉政策向其施压。他担心与波利萨里奥阵线之间长期存在的冲突可能会再次演变成公开战争。

“这可能是一个火药桶，”朗兹说。“在其他外部势力推波助澜的情况下，如果我们不解决这个问题，它可能又会成为另一个挥之不去的热点地区，而现在给予一点关注或许就能起到很大的作用。”

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。