Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe, left, and AFRICOM’s first Commander, William “Kip” Ward, are pictured in an April 2009 report on the U.S. Africa Command website, “Ward Leads Africa Command Delegation to Rwanda.” The latest U.N. experts’ report on Congo included a chain-of-command chart that shows Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe commanding the M23 militia in eastern Congo. The 2009 report quoted Ward as saying, “These [the Rwandan Army] are professional forces. Where we can come and provide the sort of assistance that they ask us to do to complement what they do, then this (visit) helps me understand that.” The same report quoted Rwandan Defense Force (RDF) spokesman Major Jill Rutaremara saying that the U.S. military and RDF share a robust military-to-military relationship.
December 24, 2012
![Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe, left, and AFRICOM’s first Commander, William “Kip” Ward, are pictured in an April 2009 report on the U.S. Africa Command website, “Ward Leads Africa Command Delegation to Rwanda.” The latest U.N. experts’ report on Congo included a chain-of-command chart that shows Rwandan Defense Minister James Kabarebe commanding the M23 militia in eastern Congo. The 2009 report quoted Ward as saying, “These [the Rwandan Army] are professional forces. Where we can come and provide the sort of assistance that they ask us to do to complement what they do, then this (visit) helps me understand that.” The same report quoted Rwandan Defense Force (RDF) spokesman Major Jill Rutaremara saying that the U.S. military and RDF share a robust military-to-military relationship.](http://i2.wp.com/sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Rwandan-Defense-Minister-James-Kabarebe-AFRICOMs-first-commander-Gen.-William-‘Kip’-Ward-0409.png)