More War – U.S. ‘Boots on the Ground’ Headed to Somalia

The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact. The very word ‘war’, therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist.

– George Orwell, 1984

Although the U.S. already has special forces operating in Somalia (of course), Mr. “America First,” Donald Trump, figured it’d be a swell idea to add some more.

The Independent reports:

U.S. regular troops are returning to Somalia for the first time since 1993 when 18 special forces died fighting militias in Mogadishu, a battle dramatised in the film Black Hawk Down

A US military spokeswoman yesterday(SAT) said several dozen soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division would train and equip Somalia’s army to better fight al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda linked extremist group.

She offered no further details.

“For operational security issues, we will not discuss specifics of military efforts nor speculate on potential future activities or operations,” she said.

Well of course, why should the American public be clued in regarding the expansion of yet another destructive, endless imperial war.

Last month Donald Trump signed off on a Pentagon plan to step up operations against al-Shabaab, including additional air strikes, as part of an effort to give his commanders more autonomy in fighting wars around the world.

Deploying troops to Somalia is the latest sign of a more interventionist approach from a candidate who used the election campaign to criticise his predecessors for becoming bogged down in foreign wars.

Somalia, riven by war since 1991, offers a huge challenge.

At least we know America’s up to the challenge given our nation’s recent history of highly successful interventions. You know, like Hillary Clinton’s pet war in Libya.

The Guardian recently updated the world on how wonderfully that’s going…

We came, we saw, and now there’s slavery. Well done team.

Now back to Somalia.

Although a handful of US advisers and special forces teams were already on the ground, previous administrations have been reluctant to venture further into a country remembered as the scene of one of its worst recent military disasters.

But not Trump. America first baby!

Finally, take a listen to Jimmy Dore’s latest excellent segment on the Somalia war (hint, there’s a lot of oil at stake).

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In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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