Although it is likely Maj. Gen. Samuel Helland was trying to highlight the important mission of his command–the US Combined Joint Task Force based in Djibouti–covering Kenya , Somalia , Sudan , Eritrea , Djibouti , Yemen , and Ethiopia , as well as the coastal waters of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean–the tone of his December 27, 2004 report actually suggests a certain amount of confusion and dismay. Add to that the US State Department Advisory of December 29 (Advisory), and it appears that President Bush?s US$100 million East Africa Counterterrorism Initiative launched this past summer (WAR Report) is not yet as effective as planned. References in the Advisory are clearly made to the dual hotel bombing and stinger missile attack in Kenya of November 2002 attributed to the al Qaida-linked Al-Ittihad al-Islami .

The US initiative has, thus far, deployed more than 1,000 American troops into Djibouti who have conducted counter-terrorism training for police and military, border control, law enforcement and criminal investigation, and airport security as well as fostered the development of improved local intelligence collection capabilities and regional intelligence sharing. Additionally, the Joint Task Force has coordinated joint exercises with Ethiopian and Eritrean troops and is patrolling with Djiboutian and Kenyan forces to help secure their borders with Somalia. American security-building measures are being augmented by regional intergovernmental organizations such as the African Union?s series of High-Level Intergovernmental Meetings on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism in Africa, as well as steps taken by The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)–a group of east African nations comprised of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, (the nominal governing authority of) Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. For example, progress has been made toward securing peace in southern Sudan, but the inability to assure the return of Somalia?s recently elected Transitional Federal Government from Kenya signals a significant disappointment.