179 days isn't so bad, and we'll be TDY. Back to Okinawa in no time at all. This shouldn't last long.| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Africa Horn | |
| U.S. military secretly sent team of advisors to Somalia | |
| 2014-01-12 | |
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military secretly sent a small team of advisors to Somalia last month to assist with operations against militants, the first time U.S. troops have been stationed there since two helicopters were shot down and 18 American soldiers were killed in 1993. The three-man advisor detachment is based at the airport in Mogadishu.
The Americans also are helping Somalia’s fledgling security forces, which have struggled to assert control beyond Mogadishu and have often been the target of fierce attacks from the Shabab, an Islamic militant group with ties to Al Qaeda that ruled large parts of southern Somalia before being driven from power by the African force. Though the initial advisor presence is small, a senior Defense Department official said the U.S. was hoping to expand it in the coming year. “This is something that’s been in the works for a while,” said the U.S. official, who was speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss details of the U.S. effort. Eventually, troops will be on six-month rotations, deploying from a U.S. base in nearby Djibouti, he said. The advisors “liaise with Somali security forces and provide planning and advisory support to” the African Union troops, according to a statement issued by the Pentagon. It was unclear whether U.S. Africa Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Somalia, was planning to increase the equipment provided to the African troops and whether the U.S. would eventually take on a direct role in the stabilization effort. Concern about the Shabab has led the U.S. to pay close attention to Somalia, with drone flights from the base in Djibouti and periodic raids by special operations troops. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 ...Glenmore, with the current class of A$$-Clowns now running our foreign policy "show," Vu Déjà (the feeling you have never seen something before) is more like it... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-01-12 18:25 |
| #4 They weren't advisors, they were there to see if they could copy the culture to raise the standard of living in Detroit. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-01-12 15:44 |
| #3 On a good day, the Somali government exercises true sovereign authority and control of many city blocks of Mogadishu. To aid its "government" in any way is essentially a way to pour money into another African shi*£hole with utterly meaningless effect on strategic US interests. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2014-01-12 12:54 |
| #2 1950, Truman, MAAG, Vietnam....deja vu? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2014-01-12 08:46 |
| #1 179 days isn't so bad, and we'll be TDY. Back to Okinawa in no time at all. This shouldn't last long. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-12 03:13 |