President Biden has been going down his list of campaign promises lately, and it seems like his main goal is to cross out each promise in red pen. Not because he completed his promise, but because he has done the opposite of what he promised. Yet, this is exactly what every conservative and even a lot of the leftists (not publicly) knew would happen with his administration. The failure and poor planning of his people are nothing short of extraordinary.
So, when President Biden decided to reverse President Trump’s decision to remove troops from Somalia, he does it by sending Special Forces back in. Speaking with The Hill, a senior administration official gave a statement about the situation. A statement that President Biden would likely stand behind, but it isn’t quite accurate.
“President Biden has approved a request from the Secretary of Defense to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabab, which has increased in strength and poses a heightened threat. This is a repositioning of forces already in theater who have traveled in and out of Somalia on an episodic basis since the previous administration made the decision to withdraw in January 2021.”
While the news was first broken by The New York Times, they also found information that Biden at least took the restraints somewhat off. In turn, he has given the Pentagon authority to target roughly a dozen suspects from this Somali-based terrorist group. A group that is strongly affiliated with Al Qaeda. They are each suspected of having roles in numerous attacks outside of Somalia. They also covered the number of troops going is at 450, substantially less than the 700 Trump withdrew.
During this short period, the U.S. hasn’t been there, small groups for training have been going on with Somali and African Union forces to help keep the terrorists at bay. Considering how the mission in Afghanistan ended, it’s no wonder he wanted to get back to Somalia. Since leaving Afghanistan, the Taliban has been quiet on the rhetoric about Americans or wanting to go after us. Meanwhile, al-Shabab has been rattling that saber more and more with each passing day, but nobody has been noticing on a global scale.
U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend was outspoken about these threats during a visit to Somalia back in February. “Al-Shabab remains Al Qaeda’s largest, wealthiest, and most deadly affiliate, responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents, including Americans…Disrupting Al-Shabab’s malign intent requires leadership from Somalis and continued support from Djibouti, Kenya, the U.S., and other members of the international community.” This is an organization that certainly has its hands in evil.
The problem is, that by sending assets to chase after these smaller threats, we as a nation are being left more vulnerable to a large-scale attack. One that we as a nation would have an incredibly difficult time recovering from. We have seen what happens with this great nation following an attack like that. While the sense of community, and love between one another is a great thing, the fact that it takes a massive loss like that to happen is bothersome. Even more bothersome is the idea of it happening again during our lifetime.
Given the border crisis currently going on and the propensity of Al Qaeda to send their terrorists in over the southern border, it might have been better to put some of our Special Forces guys in with the national guard units trying to keep the border closed.
