Spc. Kevin Martin provides security for a 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules during unloading operations at an unidentified location in Somalia on June 28, 2020. (Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano/Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa via AP)
Military Times: US troops now ‘commuting to work’ to help Somalia fight al-Shabab
When President Donald Trump ordered roughly 700 U.S. troops to withdraw from Somalia late last year, it decreased the American footprint there, but not the mission to help that country’s military fight back against al-Shabab, al-Qaida’s largest affiliate.
Three months after the completed drawdown, senior U.S. Africa Command leaders say that they are essentially doing the same work, but “commuting” from Europe and other East African countries to get it done.
“There’s no denying that the repositioning of forces out of Somalia has introduced new layers of complexity and risk,” Army. Gen. Stephen Townsend, AFRICOM’s boss, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. “... our understanding of what’s happening in Somalia is less now than it was when we were there on the ground, physically located with our partners.
So we’re working to make this new mode of operation work.” Al-Shabab continues to carry out attacks around Somalia, including in capital city Mogadishu.
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WNU Editor: The intent of former President Trump was to end the US military mission in Somalia and its mission. But elections have consequences, and now we are back to square one.
My gut tells me that in the coming months the White House will be green-lighting the return of US troops back into their bases in Somalia to avoid this "commuting" hassle.
3 comments:
Commuting, really!?!?
Green-lighting is what is wrong with GWOT.
1. The president and Congress should make a case.
2. While there should be no end date lest they merely wait us out, there should be periodic assessments and these should be communicated to the American people.
3. A spec ops vet said if you have not defeated your enemy in 3 years you are training them. We are training Al Shabaab. It is true that Al Shabaab is training us as well. Question is who gets trained better?
4. How can we win against a 3rd rate insurgent, while waging political war in the US, maintaining a credible deterrent against China, handing out political pork, and printing money?
5. How do we defeat Al Shabaab, when they are in Kenya, the US, Congress and elsewhere? Not by merely shooting their trigger pullers in Somalia.
If we're returning to our old base in Djibouti, we'd better not get in the way of the Chinese.
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