‘A really bad idea right now’
Karen Attiah,
The Washington Post: “Two weeks after four U.S. Green Berets were killed in a mysterious ambush in Niger, it appears that the U.S. counterterrorism machine may be ramping up in Africa. ... We still aren’t sure which armed group was responsible for the attack (or) whether the American troops were adequately armed. ... In the absence of answers, and a lack of a clear and coherent Africa strategy to begin with, ramping up U.S. military aggression in Africa sounds like a really, really bad idea right now. ... African nations and Western powers need to be asking the right questions and setting clear counterterrorism objectives before embroiling themselves in unwinnable shadow wars.”
Stephen L. Miller,
Fox News: “U.S. special forces arrived in Niger in January 2013 on the orders of President Obama. They were then followed by about a 100 military personnel and advisers with the intention of conducting unmanned reconnaissance missions over Mali in conjunction with French military forces to continue a broad-based escalation of operations in the region from as early as 2005. ... If the news media and lawmakers want to debate the continued presence of troops in Niger and the African continent, that’s a debate worth having. (It) will have to include a very uncomfortable discussion for Democrats and the anti-war left, who sleepwalked through eight years of escalating military presence in that region.”
David A. Andelman,
CNN: “On Sept. 24 (the) Trump administration suddenly and inexplicably added Chad to the list of countries whose citizens would be included in the latest iteration of the president’s travel ban. Chad and its leaders were utterly blindsided as there was no sense whatsoever that this nation has harbored or even encouraged terrorists. ... Au contraire, Chad’s troops have for some time served as an effective ally in the region — the best fighting force deployed in nearby Niger and Mali, with the best intel and best-trained warriors. ... Barely a week after the announcement of the new travel ban, the Chadian government suddenly began pulling hundreds of their fighters from Niger. ... Troops from Niger and Mali are now all that stand between the forces of ISIS and, further afield, Boko Haram and our own military.”