On or shortly before December 4, Donald Trump orders the Pentagon to pull U.S. troops out of Somalia where they have been fighting against Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate, for 13 years.
The roughly 700 troops stationed in Somalia would move to bases in Kenya and Djibouti and enter Somalia to conduct shorter counterterrorism missions against al-Shabaab, as well as a smaller force of Islamic State militants. The U.S. troops are expected to leave the country by early next year, the officials said.
Wall Street Journal
The decision is supported by (and possibly decided by) Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller who illegally filled the position three weeks ago.
There’s been reporting for years that Trump’s State Department has been pulling the US out of Africa, and that Putin and China—Russia and China—have been filling the vacuum across Africa. So, the shrinking of a US presence there of course, would be something that Putin would appreciate.
There’s a way to do troop reductions. You don’t rush them… These situations are complicated, and there is a way to do troop withdrawals, and Trump is showing how not to do them.
Andrea Chalupa, Gaslit Nation
Trump’s removal of troops from Germany this summer also benefitted Russia and China.
Sources
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-will-move-nearly-all-u-s-troops-out-of-somalia-11607114195
Photo: Public Domain
