The U.S. is waging a massive shadow war in Africa, exclusive documents reveal.
Six years ago, a deputy commanding general for U.S. Army Special Operations Command gave a conservative estimate of 116 missions being carried out at any one time by Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, and other special operations forces across the globe.
Today, according to U.S. military documents obtained by VICE News, special operators are carrying out nearly 100 missions at any given time — in Africa alone. It’s the latest sign of the military’s quiet but ever-expanding presence on the continent, one that represents the most dramatic growth in the deployment of America’s elite troops to any region of the globe.
In 2006, just 1 percent of all U.S. commandos deployed overseas were in Africa. In 2010, it was 3 percent. By 2016, that number had jumped to more than 17 percent. In fact, according to data supplied by U.S. Special Operations Command, there are now more special operations personnel devoted to Africa than anywhere except the Middle East — 1,700 people spread out across 20 countries dedicated to assisting the U.S. military’s African partners in their fight against terrorism and extremism.
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More News On The U.S. Waging A Massive Shadow War In Africa
Report: SOCOM Has More Troops In Africa Than Anywhere Except The Middle East -- Task & Purpose
US Military Conducting Nearly 100 Special Ops in Africa at Any Time - Report (Sputnik)
AFRICOM: 'Terrorist groups' remain a challenge across Africa (DW)
Africom: The Remilitarisation of Africa (The Herald)
US 'running secret network' of military bases across Africa -- The New Arab
How American Special Operators Gradually Returned to Somalia (Mark Moyar, The Atlantic)
3 comments:
This is most distressing. Who authorized this? Who is overseeing it? Who could possibly oversee this?
Using military force is an act of war. Isn't Congress supposed to declare war? When did Congress declare war? When did we have an open and public debate on each and every one of these operations giving the American publuc the necessary information to weigh this carefully before authorizing their elected representatives to declare war? When did the American public get to review the military plans drawn up by the military planners before giving final approval?
Remember the concept of "blow back." Ill thought out operations and even those handled properly planned and executed can still have adverse consequenses. How exactly do these missions advance American security and economic interests? When were the American people allowed along with their Congressional Representatives to discuss this in open forum carefully weighing all known risks and benefits? When were "known unkowns" and unkown unkowns" carefully considered in a public forum by the American people and their elected representatives?
Even the most popular POTUS risks being in the dock for war crimes. With all of these operations how can he/she oversee this? How wise is it for POTUS or the American people to give wide lattitude to military personnel? After all the American people will bear the brunt of any reprisals of any misguided actions. As for POTUS, at best, he/she will have to live with the consequences of these actions. At worst, he or she eill face a war crimes tribunal.
America is already the world's most hated country. How wise is it to add "fuel to the fire." The upside or risk of doing nothing must be ENORMOUS. When did we have a public debate on this?
America's military is broken down from continuous fruitless missions around the world for going on 16 years to the point that even basic national defense is problematic. Tbe economy is in terrible shape. The infrastructure is crumbling. The national debt is massive and growing. In light of this situation how can these deployments be justified? Where and when was the public debate where this was carefully and soberly considered?
Suggestion: America's foreign military deployments need to be cut back by a bare minimum of 95% as soon as possible. This will allow us to better manage operations lessening the risk of blowback resulting from misguided or improperly executed operations. Valuable resources will now be available to upgrade our nuclear arsenal, fix our infrastructure, and improve our economy. Perhaps most importantly of all, resources will FINALLY be available to properly care for our wounded warriors.
Final questions: is it ethical to ask a country with limited resources such as America yo carry such an oversized burden? What does this say about those non Americans who would ask or expect them to do this? What does this say about Americans who would agree to try and carry such a burden that is not possible for us to carry? When do we get to be a normal country? When do we get to care for our own?
LMFAO,
I guess you havn't been paying attention for last 12 years,
Jay,
Actually I raised similar points bsck kn 1992 and again in 1998 in detailed discussions and have thought about regularly at least weekly since at lesst 1990. The problem has steadily gotten worse. I have been paying attention to this for a very long time, far longer than 12 years. This post by the editor seemed appropiate to bring this up.
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