US President Donald Trump is continuing to focus resources on implementing his National Defense Strategy, which involves more muscle flexing in his attempts to compete with Russia & China who seem to be hell-bent on staring another arms escalation. With the Marcon championed European Intervention Initiative also in the news it seems that the efforts to stem terrorism is taking a back seat.
The US Department of Defense said that 700 counter-terrorism troops will be removed over the next few years, a significant figure considering only 7,200 US soldiers are currently based in African countries. The removals could affect both Cameroon & Mali according to a Reuters report. Niger may also be affected in the light of the October 2017 attack which left 4 US troops dead. With rising tensions in the Middle East and terrorist groups aplenty in Africa, this military saber-rattling may just make the world a more dangerous place.
