Trump Continues U.S. Use of Special Forces, Keeping Wars at Arm’s Length
Troops Djibouti Niger Cameroon Somalia Kenya Chad Morocco 4,000 400 300 200-300 50 40 20 BOTSWANA Cooperative security locations MOROCCO NIGER SENEGAL BURKINA FASO
Agadez Dakar DJIBOUTI CHAD Niamey Ouagadougou N’Djamena Chebelley GHANA CAMEROON SOMALIA Accra Douala UGANDA Libreville KENYA Manda Bay Entebbe GABON Mombasa U.S.
Troops Djibouti Niger Cameroon Somalia Kenya Chad Morocco 4,000 400 300 200-300 50 40 20 BOTSWANA Gaborone Cooperative
security locations MOROCCO BURKINA FASO SENEGAL DJIBOUTI NIGER CHAD UGANDA GHANA SOMALIA CAMEROON KENYA GABON U.S.
Troops Djibouti Niger Cameroon Somalia Kenya Chad Morocco 4,000 400 300 200-300
50 40 20 BOTSWANA Gaborone Cooperative security locations MARCH 19, 2017
Many African soldiers and security forces said they would welcome an even larger
United States military presence to help combat myriad extremist threats.
By ERIC SCHMITTMARCH 19, 2017
MARA, Chad — From Yemen to Syria to here in Central Africa, the Trump administration is relying on Special Operations forces to intensify its promised fight against the Islamic State
and other terrorist groups as senior officials embrace an Obama-era strategy to minimize the American military’s footprint overseas.
Sharing an unusual window into the private conversations between Mr. Trump
and his senior commanders, Army Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of the military’s Special Operations Command, said the president had made clear his urgent priority for counterterrorism missions conducted by the military’s elite forces during a visit to military headquarters in Tampa, Fla., last month.
