We do not need a US military base

Recently, there have been unconfirmed reports that the United States could be setting up a military base in Botswana for peacekeeping purposes in Africa. The base is supposed to operate under the Africa Command (Africom) initiative. Foreign Affairs Minister Mompati Merafhe has answered questions on the matter during a radio call-in programme.
He said a US base responsible for the African continent is currently in Stuttgart, Germany but the Americans want to move it to the continent. The US is looking for a location and Botswana is one of the countries that are being considered. However, the minister could not shed light on whether Botswana is amiable to such a proposal. We hope the good minister, being a chief diplomat that he is, was just being diplomatic by not disclosing that we have turned down the American proposal.

Admittedly, we have had a long and fruitful cooperation, mainly developmental, with the various US administrations over the years. And we are grateful for this. We are nevertheless concerned about the American security arrangements that of late are becoming part of our lives. For instance, Batswana publicly opposed the agreement that the government signed with the US on June 30, 2003.
That legal instrument, known as Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) prevents Botswana from prosecuting or handing over American military personnel for prosecution by any tribunal. As it is, that agreement has not complimented Botswana's standing with its neighbours. We therefore shudder to think that the increasingly paranoid government considers hosting a permanent American military base here.
We foresee no benefit from such an arrangement. It is likely to complicate Botswana security problems. Even those not conversant with international geo-politics would attest to the fact that the presence of an American military personnel, particularly in the developing world, attracts nothing else but heightened insecurity.
This is for the simple reason that war-monger US administrations, such as the current one of George W. Bush, have created more enemies than is morally and practically permissible. Some of these 'enemies' will stop at nothing when they want to harm US military personnel wherever they may be. Being a small country, we are convinced the presence of an American base in our midst will just bring us misery and insecurity. We appeal to Botswana government to be sensible, at least this time around, to politely tell the Americans to look elsewhere.

- Adlai E. Stevenson