What’s Happening In Africa
As I was looking for a new global topic to write about this week a headline on the Vice News website peaked my interest. It was a wide shot of American troops in Africa with bold type writer text spread out across the image “U.S. Military conducting secret missions all over Africa.” After being drawn to the visual and text I immediately wanted to know more pertaining the US’s involvement in Africa. As of 2017 it’s is recorded that US troops will be conducting over “3,500 exercises/programs/expeditions” a year in Africa. 
US Military Posts Within Africa
The reason for all of these exercises and expeditions is due to the increased attention on counterterrorism. In contrast to what the AFRICOM or United States Africa Command, a security cooperation focused on spreading diplomatic relations in Africa have been quite different. In fact a quote highlighted in the article by William Hartung, Director of Arms Security Project, stated that the increased in US military presence in Africa, “represents nothing less than a shadow war being waged on the continent.” He later says that this will draw the US into greater interstate conflict of African nation states. The amount of presence in Africa has caused a deeper state of dependency due to the strong military presence in civilian life. It prevents the ability for civilian run organizations and governments and creates a reality of a militarized government. This pressure on African nation states can cause certain terror groups to act out against the US Military’s presence. This can lead to the recruitment of certain Islamist groups in the African Basin along with other present militant groups such as al Shabaab (Somalia) and Boko Haram (Chad). Another aspect of these of the military expeditions is to the train soldiers of these particular African Countries such as Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon while gaining intelligence. Donald Bolduc, US Army general that runs the Special Operations Command in Africa, was quoted by Vice saying that the “situation in Africa will get worse without our assistance.” Now this can prove to be valid; however it is our own US troops that are risking their lives within this “shadow war.” When a US troop is deployed to Africa it is considered a safe mission. In contrast, these missions can turn into militarized combat very quickly. An example of this would be when U.S. Special Forces were carrying out an expedition in Niger and were ambushed on October 4th and four special ops were killed. These types of scandals are not uncommon within African operations and will only continue to rise with the increased military presence.
Special Forces Training Soldiers in Malia
When first reading about the military’s presence in Africa I was surprised at the volume of expeditions/operations being carried out everyday. Reading more about the SOCAFRICA’s (Special Ops Command In Africa) mission in Africa and how it is commissioned to promote stability, counter terror, and protect U.S interests in the continent, generate questions. Will the US ever be fully able to leave the continent? How can the US help African countries reach stability with overarching military presence? How long will the fight on terror last in Africa?
Works Cited
https://news.vice.com/story/us-military-secret-missions-africa
October 26, 2017 at 4:21 pm
Lots of people, myself included, were completely unaware of America’s presence in Africa, and I was shocked to find that it was much more pervasive than previously perceived. Good choice of topic and well written.
October 26, 2017 at 4:24 pm
The questions at the end of your entry really piqued my own curiosity. It’s sucks hearing about the US taking advantage of Africa and exploiting it, and it’s scary to think that terror groups could have another reason to attack the US.
October 26, 2017 at 4:25 pm
I agree that the United States gets involved with way too many foreign military affairs. The presence of our troops overseas may help some countries but it puts our soldiers at risk for a battle that isn’t ours to fight. The United States has always been a controlling country in foreign affairs and doesn’t usually let other countries figure out problems for themselves.
October 26, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Everything about the massive military presence that you are describing seems sketchy. The first thing that came to mind is the massive amount of tax dollars that this must entail. Secondly I was very curious about the utility of these operations, and if there was any coherent logic behind it other than dominating other societies.