Introduction
Internal conflicts in Congo and Yemen relate to much greater security threats to the citizens of the countries than envisaged. This has posed a question of focus to the American counterterrorism efforts. Conflicts, insurgencies, or organized rebellions in Congo tend to cause destructive havoc on the citizens. They also cause an enormous threat to national stability. There are various militias in eastern Congo, who are being targeted by the International Criminal Court for various crimes they have committed against humanity.
The United States African command has listed various armies that have opposed the idea of joining forces with the army of their country. For instance, the Congolese armed group known as the National People’s Congress (Congrès National du people- CNDP) was blacklisted for not cooperating with the efforts being developed to establish regional stability.
Analysis
Yemen has been faced with conflicts since the year 2004 in the region of Saada. The rebellions seem to have spread to other neighboring regions. These conflicts have had an enormous impact on civilians. They have also caused extensive destruction of property in main towns. Conflicts in the country are as a result of a rebel group, known as the Huthis, against government military forces. Effective measures have to be developed to ensure conflicts are stopped so as to prevent their impacts from spreading across borders. The country should make use of its traditional instruments, and it should also receive assistance from the United States to develop strategies that will reduce sectarian stigmatization and defeat the Huthis.
The United States should invest its intelligence resources in the conflict areas. The United States should provide assistance to the Congo military in its efforts to apprehend CNDP commanders, and at the same time protect citizens. These efforts will require the United States’ intelligence and support in aerial mobility. The United States should support operations of the regional military forces against the rebel groups by providing intelligence assistance.
It should also increase intelligence gathering on rebel army commanders by creating a wide coverage aerial surveillance capacity. A State Department’s reward, based on a justice program, should be developed to reward civilians who provide useful information on militia activity and rebel commanders’ whereabouts. This support will improve offensive apprehension operations as well as ensure the protection of civilians (Clauser, 2008).
The United States should invest in early warning systems and infrastructure in conflict areas of Congo and Yemen. A regional early warning system will provide information regarding rebel activity in remote communities. Moreover, it will assist in the development of appropriate plans for responding to threats from the rebel groups. Improved intelligence and military operations, as well as the deployment of the United States’ advisers, can be an effective method of mitigating attacks by rebel groups. Such a move will also help protect citizens from rebel attacks (Clauser, 2008).
The deployment of predator drones in Yemen by the United States will boost efforts in hunting for possible strikes planned by the militants. The country will be able to attain actionable intelligence regarding the whereabouts of the militants. The Yemeni government will be able to establish air attacks against operations of Al Qaeda, as they will have obtained information about their whereabouts and operations from the predator drones. Leaders of militia groups will be defeated after they are constantly attacked by Yemeni forces and their operations constantly destroyed.
Intelligence resources should be established in investigative areas, since the Joint Intelligence and Operations Centre, based in Dungu, lacks the capacity to carry out thorough investigations (Renton, Seddon, & Zeilig, 2007)). A new intelligence center should be developed. This center will go a long way towards improving coordination between the United States military advisors and the United Nations peacekeepers. The developed intelligence center should be able to carry out thorough investigations into the activities of these rebel groups. It should also have the capacity to determine the perpetrators of rebel attacks. This ability will enable the military to develop an understanding of the joint operational plans of rebel groups.
The United States should expand its diplomatic capacity for addressing conflicts. In light of this, the US should develop a comprehensive strategy and also deploy military advisers to conflict areas of both Congo and Yemen. These efforts will strengthen internal interagency coordination. At the same time, it will assist the United States’ embassies to place considerable emphasis on ensuring stability in the two conflict-prone countries. The US should strengthen the capacities of the Congo army and the Yemen government to resist rebel violence.
Intelligence gathering networks, that will ensure rapid response capacities, should be established in the affected regions. Military groups should have helicopters to be used in transporting tactical troops. This will ensure active pursuit operations as well as the improved ability to send out military patrols to track reported rebel groups. In addition, it will be of substantial assistance in searching the regions where rebel groups are most likely to travel. Military units should also have communication facilities that will ensure troops remain in contact with their commanders, especially when they have been sent out on these missions. The presence of intelligence on activities, plans, as well as the location of the rebel army commanders will make it easy to protect civilians and pursue rebel commanders.
The US should provide finances to purchase aerial surveillance flights that use infrared technology to search for indicators of rebel activities. Similarly, the US should deploy unmanned reconnaissance vehicles to conflict regions as these are able to cover vast portions of affected regions. Moreover, these vehicles can still be used at night unlike flights, whose utility of infrared sensors is limited in the dark.
The United States military advisors deployed in Congo and Yemen should develop intelligence infusion cells in the affected towns with the county’s military forces. This will go a long way towards reducing the time used to collect aerial intelligence, as well as the time used to transmit collected information to military planners. Intelligence cells ensure an efficient transfer of information between civilians and the military. These cells provide a framework for militaries to analyze gathered information and intelligence. This can then be used to coordinate operations.
Civilian early warning systems are effective intelligence resources that can be used to mitigate the effects of rebel attacks and reduce the fighting capacities of rebel groups (Lowenthal, 2011). These resources provide civilians with ample opportunities for proactively responding to crises. At the same time, the civilians will be able to protect themselves and their families in cases of rebel attacks. Additionally, the United States should provide support for early warning systems by providing mobile phone networks and high-frequency radio in conflict areas. They should also expand mobile phone services in the affected areas, as this will facilitate communication between the army and the United States advisers regarding militia activity.
Roads should also be rehabilitated, as this will ensure effective information flow in the remote towns. High-frequency radio distribution should be expanded as this will improve contact with remote communities. Remote communities that have high-frequency radios will be able to contact regional centers, as this is regarded as a great strategy for improving the centralized collection of information. It will also enable radio operators to listen to news concerning rebel activity from the remote communities as well as other neighboring towns.
A greater United States action should be developed to stop conflicts and prevent activities of the rebel groups. The US should move quickly to expand current efforts to ensure rebel army commanders do not outlast developed strategies for defeating the rebels. Various activities should be conducted, by both the United States and the governments of Congo and Yemen, to ensure rebels are defeated. For instance, regional cooperation should be rebuilt by engaging the DRC so as to allow military forces from neighboring countries, such as Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Zambia, and Angola, to establish operations against rebel groups in the DRC territory.
The African Union should work closely with regional governments to establish a transparent process that will be used to review counter-rebel deployments. This will ensure that appropriate efforts are utilized to achieve stability in the affected areas.
Intelligence resources established by the US in both Congo and Yemen should ensure further attacks by rebel groups are prevented, and that stability is achieved in both countries. The territorial integrity of Congo and Yemen should be restored, and civilian participation in the economic and political aspects of Congo and Yemen should be encouraged, as this will ensure peace is attained. Democracy and wide participation will be meaningful when a fair, national dialogue is held in Congo, and Yemen establishes a peaceful agreement between the country’s populations in the South and Northern elites. This will ensure threats from violent groups with links to Al Qaeda are reduced or eliminated altogether.
Various consequences could emerge from these conflict areas that could potentially impact on the American national security. The most likely consequence is a disagreement arising from US military operations within the conflict areas, which may provoke an armed response, especially from the Yemeni militia. Militia groups in Yemen, more so the Al Qaeda, insist that military activities established without knowledge violate international and domestic law.
Militia groups intercept US military efforts conducted in conflict areas in aggressive ways, which may increase the risk of a war erupting. This consequence will have a direct impact on American national security due to the diffusion of destructive technology that will provide the militia with an enormous potential of posing catastrophic threats that will impact on security and prosperity of the nation (Jordan, Meese, Nielsen, & Taylor, 2009).
Conclusion
Relationships between the United States and Asian allies will determine the future growth and stability of the nations. Poor relationships between the nations will, therefore, hinder efforts to establish an economic anchor as well as provide security in conflict regions. Changes in the regime and a strong emphasis on Yemeni militants to reform will create tension, and at the same time introduce uncertainty in the future of American national security.
References
Clauser, J. (2008). An Introduction to Intelligence Research and Analysis. Maryland: Scare Crow Press.
Jordan, A. A., Meese, J. M., Nielsen, C. S. &Taylor, J. W. (2009). American National Security. Maryland: JHU Press.
Lowenthal, M. M. (2011). Intelligence from Secrets to Policy. New York, NY: CQ Press.
Renton, D., Seddon, D. & Zeilig, L. (2007). The Congo: Plunder and Resistance. New York, NY: Zed Books.