Wrong time to retreat

Terrorist violence is escalating across a broad swath of West Africa. Amid all this, Defense Secretary Mark Esper is reportedly weighing a drastic change in U.S. deployments. No, not reinforcements, such as the thousands of troops who have recently been dispatched to the Middle East. Instead, Esper is reportedly considering a major reduction of the U.S. presence, including the closing of a recently completed $110 million drone base. It’s a senseless option that would damage important U.S. alliances, open new opportunities in Africa for China, and allow the strengthening of jihadist movements that still aspire to launch attacks against the United States.

Esper’s considerations are part of a broader review of U.S. military deployments, including elsewhere in Africa. One aim is to realign U.S. resources to focus more on threats from big powers, especially Russia and China, in keeping with the national security strategy formulated by the Trump administration. That is reasonable. But West Africa is the wrong place to start.

It’s not only that the United States would be pulling out just at the moment when jihadists are surging. By doing so, it would disable the French and other international forces that are carrying most of the burden.

As a result, a U.S. drawdown could leave West African countries without effective international support against the terrorists. Five countries—Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania—are working to build a counterterrorism force of 5,000 troops, with U.S. aid. But they are not yet able to contain al-Qaida and the Islamic State on their own.

But the Pentagon chief reports to a president who is evidently eager to boast about bringing American soldiers home from “endless wars” during his re-election campaign. If such shortterm political calculations win out, it will be at the expense of long-term U.S. security interests.