U.S. Military Forces In Africa Are Stretched Thin

Les Neuhaus, Observer: US Military Stretched Thin in 50 African Nations

The recent attacks by militants who killed four American commandos in Niger and detonated a truck bomb that left more than 350 civilians dead in Somalia—events that happened more than 3,000 miles from each other—remind us that terrorism is a real and constant threat that reaches the farthest corners of our planet.

Because of that, and certainly in the post-9/11 global context, the American military presence has increased exponentially abroad. The Pentagon now has troops in countries many average Americans never would’ve dreamed of sending our forces to two or three decades ago.

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WNU Editor: On a continent that is lager than Europe, this is the U.S. presence ....

.... the Pentagon has between 5,000-6,000 servicemen and women stationed across 50 of 54 countries, according to civilian spokesperson for the American military’s Africa Command, or AFRICOM, Robyn Mack, who told the Observer on Thursday that the bulk of those troops are in Djibouti (roughly 4,000), which borders Somalia in the Horn of Africa, and Niger (roughly 800), which straddles the Saharan Desert and Sahel.

So yes .... on a continent with multiple insurgencies, terror groups, and instability .... 5,000-6,000 U.S. soldiers is just a drop in the bucket.