White House Announces $100+ Million in Largely Military Aid to Central African Republic

The
French-led intervention in the Central
African Republic isn’t something the United States wants to be
left out of. US military flights in support of the intervention
began
last week, and now the White House has
pledged up to $116 million in mostly military aid to the
country, in addition to the $24 million in aid the federal
government was planning on spending there this year.

From USA Today:

The United States plans to provide more than $100
million in security and humanitarian assistance to the war-torn
Central African Republic, the White House announced Thursday.

“The CAR faces extraordinary challenges to restore security and to
ensure protection of the civilian population,” the White House said
in a statement.

It added: “We are actively working to help end the violence,
protect civilians, prevent atrocities, provide humanitarian
assistance, and help create an environment that allows
constitutional and democratic governance to be
restored.”

See the White House’s  full  statement and “fact
sheet”
here. Up to $60 million of the aid will be for “defense
services” and “defense articles” for the French forces that arrived
in the Central African Republic earlier this month as well as the
African-led mission deployed in the country. Another $40 million
will go to “Peacekeeping Operations funding” for the African-led
portion of the intervention in the Central African Republic.

No word from the White House if it’ll decide to spend money on
the crisis in nearby South
Sudan, too. President Obama has also deployed military
personnel across the continent,
from the Niger to Uganda, but today’s announcement did not
mention troops.

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