Joe Biden has actually authorized sending numerous United States troops to Somalia in order to keep a “consistent” presence in the nation. The action reverses previous President Donald Trump’s order to pull all 700 United States soldiers out of the West African nation, which has remained in a state of de facto civil war since the early 1990s with no sign of that changing.
Biden is sending out the soldiers to eliminate the al-Shabaab militant group, which has remained in conflict with the Somali federal government.
“We are proud, first and foremost, to be supporting the Somalis’ own efforts to rebuild their own state and we are working closely with other international partners,” a US official said during an organized White House call with the press, according to a report from the New York Post.
The unnamed officials went on to side-step a concern about the possibility of US soldiers needing to participate in a “forever war” in Somalia. Both Trump and Biden had campaigned against these types of foreign conflicts.
“This is a step that rationalizes what was essentially an irrational arrangement that we inherited,” the official replied. “It was irrational because it created unnecessary and elevated risk to US forces as they moved in and out of the country on a rotational basis.”
The official likewise blasted the previous president for the withdrawal which was completed mere days prior to Biden taking office.
“Against the advice of senior US military leadership, the previous administration had directed the withdrawal of approximately 750 US military personnel from Somalia. It was an abrupt and sudden transition to a rotational presence,” the official said.
“Restoring a persistent US military presence will help to increase the security and the freedom of movement for other personnel such as State Department and USAID colleagues as they conduct critical diplomatic and development missions,” the official continued. “The president made this decision to increase the safety and effectiveness of our special operators who have spent the past year-plus since the last administration’s decision moving in and out of Somalia episodically.”
Prior to Trump’s withdrawal of American soldiers, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had lobbied on Twitter to keep American soldiers in the area.
The United States military support to Somalia has enabled us to effectively combat Al-Shabab and secure the Horn of Africa. A victory through this journey and for Somali-US partnership can only be achieved through continuous security partnership and capacity building support.
— Mohamed Farmaajo (@M_Farmaajo) October 15, 2020
“The United States military support to Somalia has enabled us to effectively combat Al-Shabab and secure the Horn of Africa. A victory through this journey and for Somali-US partnership can only be achieved through continuous security partnership and capacity building support,” Mohamed wrote.
According to a report from Reuters, Trump’s view was that it was time for Somalians “to police their own neighborhood.”
In 2019, throughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Biden promised to keep America out of “forever wars,” though he just particularly mentioned the Middle East and Yemen.
Biden said during a foreign policy speech in July 2019 that military force will never stop being an alternative, however, needs to be a “last resort” with a “defined” and “achievable mission.”
H/T Timcast
