Championing The Principles of Liberty

We’re thrilled to share some fantastic news! We have secured $10,000 in matching funds, offering a unique opportunity for our supporters to double their impact. Donate Today!

$15,541 of $60,000 raised

Over 1 Million Somali Children Near Starvation as Pentagon Plans New Troop Deployment

by | Mar 16, 2022

Over 1 Million Somali Children Near Starvation as Pentagon Plans New Troop Deployment

by | Mar 16, 2022

The Pentagon wants to send troops back into Somalia on a permanent basis just 14 months after they were ordered to leave. The push for a new deployment comes as the African nation faces a serious drought, with the UN warning that 1.4 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition in the coming months. 

Speaking to the Senate on Tuesday, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) head General Stephen Townsend warned that Somali jihadist faction al-Shabaab is seeing a resurgence after American troops pulled back a little over a year ago, calling it “among the world’s fastest-growing, wealthiest and deadliest terrorist groups.”

“Our willingness to work together with African partners creates a huge demand for US engagement and partnership [in] Africa,” Townsend said, adding that the current American policy of “periodic engagement” has created “new challenges and risks for our troops.”

The general went on to argue that US forces are not putting “sufficient pressure” on militant groups like al-Shabaab, and said he had “submitted advice” for a new deployment.

After losing the 2020 election, outgoing President Donald Trump gave the order to remove the 700 special forces troops then stationed in Somalia. Most of the soldiers were simply redeployed to other countries in the region and continued the same mission, however, with AFRICOM stating they were now ‘commuting to work’ – or what Townsend dubbed “periodic engagement.” 

It is unclear how a larger military footprint will solve the problems outlined by the AFRICOM chief. Far from creating a crack anti-terrorism force, the US mission in Somalia has more often fueled local power struggles between what amount to warlords – with one CIA-trained commando unit halting its fight against jihadist groups altogether last year to clash with other Somali troops. 

The growing extremist movement in the Horn of Africa has been helped in no small part by foreign meddling and attempts to dictate political outcomes from far-away capitals. Before breaking away and declaring allegiance to al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab was once the youth wing of the comparatively moderate Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which took power in Mogadishu in 2006 after driving out local warlords. 

Refusing to accept a Somalia ruled under Islamic Law, however, the George W. Bush administration backed an Ethiopian invasion to oust the ICU, but ultimately agreed to let the group remain in power in the form of a US-created “transitional federal government” after a brutal bout of fighting. The ICU’s youth faction refused to accept the American diktat and continued fighting, becoming increasingly radical before ultimately transforming into the jihadist outfit it is today.

As in the early 2000s and 2010s, economic instability, lack of opportunity and famine continue to inflame the situation in Somalia, with the UN’s World Food Program now reporting the worst drought in the region in four decades. Should the dry conditions persist, up to 1.4 million children under the age of 5 could face acute malnutrition by the end of 2022, a WFP spokesperson said.

In the wake of the Ethiopian incursion, a previous famine killed nearly 260,000 Somalis between 2010 and 2012, around half of them children, according to UN estimates. Ongoing fighting with local militants only worsened the humanitarian calamity, making it that much harder for Somali farmers to get their crops to market.

Despite years of US involvement, Somalia may face worse conditions now than it did prior to the 2011 drought, with 2.9 million Somalis currently internally displaced – nearly double the number reported in 2011 – and an armed extremist element larger than ever.

Now considering yet another troop deployment when Somalis are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, Biden is the sixth consecutive US president to attempt to fix the country with military might, beginning with a 28,000-soldier mission under George HW Bush in 1992. While the current administration has carried out far fewer strikes than Trump did, a recent drone attack on an al-Shabaab base was alleged to have killed 200 militants, per the claims of local officials, suggesting the US military presence in Somalia is set to continue with or without ‘boots on the ground.’

About Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter

Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. Will Porter is the assistant news editor of the Libertarian Institute and a staff writer and editor at RT. Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter host Conflicts of Interest along with Connor Freeman.

Our Books

10books 2023facebookcoverphoto 02

Related Articles

Related

News Roundup 12/8/2023

News Roundup 12/8/2023

Venezuela The US military said Thursday that it would conduct flight operations in Guyana amid tensions between the Caribbean nation and its neighbor Venezuela over the disputed Guayana Esequiba region. AWC Russia Ukrainian and Eastern European Officials Travel to...

read more
News Roundup 12/8/2023

News Roundup 12/6/2023

US News Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has hit out at Americans who prefer a less interventionist foreign policy, smearing them as isolationists who want to see the US “retreat from responsibility.” AWC Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has scheduled a...

read more
News Roundup 12/8/2023

News Roundup 12/4/2023

US News Sen. Wyden Threatens to Block Vote on NSA, US Cyber Command Nominee. The Hill Ukraine Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed reports that the US was pushing Ukraine towards negotiating an end to the war with Russia during a meeting of NATO foreign...

read more
News Roundup 12/8/2023

News Roundup 11/30/2023

US News Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed in a letter to his colleagues to bring a bill to the Senate floor as soon as December 4 to fund military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. President Biden has requested the funding as part of a massive $105...

read more
News Roundup 12/8/2023

News Roundup 11/27/2023

US News The Senate Plans to Hold a Vote on Ukraine and Israel Aid as Early as Next Week. Politico Russia David Arakhamia, a high-ranking member of Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People political party, said that Kyiv could have ended the war with Russia after a...

read more
News Roundup 12/8/2023

News Roundup 11/24/2023

Russia 45% of Americans Say the US Is Spending Too Much in Ukraine. Chicago Tribune  Turkey Says Sweden Will Not Be Admitted Into NATO Before Next Week's Summit. Reuters Newsweek reports that the US may send Ukraine a modified HIMARS launcher capable of firing...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This