Civil war produces devastation and refugees.
Drought produces famine and disease.
When crises arise, grief-stricken faces appear on television news broadcasts, pleading for help. U.S. special forces are now training African military forces to respond within 30 days when such regional humanitarian disasters strike. The goal of the African Crisis Response Initiative is to create effective, rapidly deployable units that can operate together in a humanitarian or peacekeeping operation, Ambassador Marshall F. McCallie said at a Pentagon press briefing, July 29. McCallie is the State Department's special coordinator for the initiative. He stressed the program is a training initiative.