America’s Forever War Must Go On
AtlanticSep 08, 2021
On Mon., Pres. Biden approved the redeployment of up to 500 troops to Somalia in an effort to help the country's military counter the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab.
This reverses an order by former Pres. Trump to withdraw nearly all 750 US troops stationed in Somalia by Jan. 2021. Subsequently, the troops were moved to neighboring countries and deployed back into Somalia on a rotational basis.
Despite Biden's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and pledge to end Washington's endless wars, US troops are now returning to Somalia without any clear strategic objective. It's highly questionable whether the Somali security crisis can be resolved militarily this time, after several years of failure by the US and its regional and international allies.
The US cannot evade its international responsibility by simply declaring its "forever wars" to be over. In the fight against terrorism, the world depends on the US military's strength. In Somalia, the goal is not to win the war on terror, but to manage it in a way that minimizes security risks and ensures a degree of stability.