Chadian soldiers march during Flintlock 2014, a U.S.-led international training mission for African militaries, in Diffa. Reuters
U.S. Training Elite Antiterror Troops in Four African Nations -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — United States Special Operations troops are forming elite counterterrorism units in four countries in North and West Africa that American officials say are pivotal in the widening war against Al Qaeda’s affiliates and associates on the continent, even as they acknowledge the difficulties of working with weak allies.
The secretive program, financed in part with millions of dollars in classified Pentagon spending and carried out by trainers, including members of the Army’s Green Berets and Delta Force, was begun last year to instruct and equip hundreds of handpicked commandos in Libya, Niger, Mauritania and Mali.
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More News On U.S. Special Forces Training Counterterror Teams In Four African Countries
Report: US commandos training counterterror teams in Africa -- Stars and Stripes
U.S. trains counter-terrorists in Africa -- UPI
US Special Units 'Training African Commandos' -- SKY News
U.S. Special Ops Adds to African Presence for Secret Price Tag of $70 Million -- Defense One
Why Is The US 'Training Anti-Terror Troops in North Africa to Fight Al-Qaeda'? -- Jack Moore, IBTimes
2 comments:
Time for my personal theory about Africa and the radicals. Africa has always been a softer target for them and I'm surprised they haven't been more active sooner. I believe that strategically they are going for a closing of the Med or close to it. All they need to do is be on the entrance to the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Dardanelles, the Straits of Gibraltar. They've done the first three and are only one country away from Morocco (Algeria from the east and Mali and Mauritania from the south.
Can you imagine the reaction in sea shipping to the threat of missile attack at these points. Ok, off with the tin foil hat and back to regular commentary.
In 1980 I wrote a paper for a Soviet foreign policy publication that outlined how the reforms of Deng Xiaoping would help China in becoming a major economic powerhouse in the 21rst century. As my reward (or as some said at the time .... my punishment) .... I was shipped a few years later to China to see if my thesis would come true. About a decade ago I wrote a similar analysis on Africa .... that by 2050 Africa will be a major focal point for global economic development, instability, wars, and terrorism.
Your analysis is spot on James. There is nothing tin foil about it.
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