With European Command building up huge amounts of combat troops in southern Italy with eyes on attacks against Africa, the long-term viability of US African Command (AFRICOM), which has less troops overall that the EUCOM does just in Italy, is in serious doubt.

Apparently Gen. David Rodriguez is the last to hear the news, however, insisting today that there are “no plans” to scrap AFRICOM outright and that the US have “always had an interest in Africa.”

But there very much are plans to scrap AFRICOM, and the Pentagon confirmed their existence over two months ago, a proposed realignment that hasn’t been finalized but which would aim to save money by eliminating AFRICOM outright and merging NORTHCOM and SOUTHCOM into a single command.