A former official from President-elect Donald Trump's first administration said the possibility of withdrawing troops from Somalia comes after President Joe Biden sent troops back to Somalia, reversing President Trump's initial troop withdrawal. He said he believed it was high, Stars and Stripes reported Monday.
J. Peter Pham, who served as special envoy for Africa's Sahel region during the Trump administration's first term, said: said According to Stars and Stripes, the next president is likely to withdraw troops from the war-torn country, citing a lack of U.S. national security interest in the region. Biden went return President Trump withdrew the first 700 troops in 2020, sending 500 service members back to Somalia and maintaining a “perpetual presence” in the country.
Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“President Trump would want to reverse course and get things back to the way he intended at the end of 2020,” Pham told Stars and Stripes. “Frankly, as the corruption in supposedly elite units like the Danab makes clear, we have no effective partners in Mogadishu, and Somalia has no American treasure, much less American blood. There are no U.S. national security interests that justify risking operations from offshore or nearby bases.”(Related: Biden authorizes billions more dollars in aid to Ukraine in waning days of presidency)
U.S. forces were initially sent to Somalia in 2007 to fight the al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabab, primarily conducting airstrikes against the group. According to Go to AirWars.com.
A Somali police officer monitors a queue in front of a polling station during the 2024 Somaliland presidential election in Hargeisa, November 13, 2024 (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP)
According to Stars and Stripes, former Trump Secretary of Defense Mark Esper wrote in his book, “Sacred Oath,” that President Trump has always been skeptical of the U.S. presence in Somalia as part of the African military's mission to stabilize the region. It is written that it was.
“[He] “There was little value in having Americans, military or diplomatic, based anywhere on the continent,” Esper wrote. “The bottom line is that President Trump wanted a complete withdrawal from Africa, and Somalia appears to be the starting point.”
According to Stars and Stripes, President Trump is expected to make China a bigger issue during his administration, potentially drawing resources from elsewhere such as Somalia. President Trump recently appointed Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy, who has advocated reorienting foreign policy to focus primarily on the Pacific region.
“At the very least, there should be a clean slate review of U.S. policy toward the failed state of Somalia before investing any more U.S. resources,” Pham told Stars and Stripes.
The White House did not immediately respond to DCNF's request for comment.
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news distribution service, is available free of charge to legitimate news publishers with large audiences. All republished articles must include our logo, reporter byline, and DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
