The U.S. Military’s Next Shadow War

Revealed: The U.S. military’s next shadow war -- Nick Turse, Salon/TomDispatch.com

U.S. military ops -- including airstrikes, raids and proxy wars -- have surged by more than 200 percent in Africa

The numbers tell the story: 10 exercises, 55 operations, 481 security cooperation activities.

For years, the U.S. military has publicly insisted that its efforts in Africa are small scale. Its public affairs personnel and commanders have repeatedly claimed no more than a “light footprint” on that continent, including a remarkably modest presence when it comes to military personnel. They have, however, balked at specifying just what that light footprint actually consists of. During an interview, for instance, a U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) spokesman once expressed worry that tabulating the command’s deployments would offer a “skewed image” of U.S. efforts there.

It turns out that the numbers do just the opposite.

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My Comment: Africa is no stranger to wars and conflicts .... a trend that is only going to increase .... including the U.S. military/special ops/CIA/etc. footprint on the continent. With hindsight .... one can now understand why the Pentagon authorized the establishment of Africom in 2006 .... they were already predicting this trend.