Military Operations

Honoring the commitment, sacrifice and courage of our all-volunteer military, especially on the Fourth of July, should never be considered controversial or divisive. The U.S. military pledges its loyalty to the U.S. Constitution based on the Declaration of Independence’s “self-evident truths” that all men are created equal and endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The military’s participation in this year’s celebrations is an important reminder to all Americans that our freedoms are being protected by less than 1 percent of our population.  But we fail our volunteer military, and our fallen heroes, if we think parades, laudatory presidential speeches and just saying “Thank you for preserving our freedoms” is enough. Our leaders and the 99.5 percent of Americans who do not serve in uniform owe it to those who do to fulfill our democratic responsibilities – our part of the democratic social contract — to uphold and continue to strengthen our democracy, its institutions and its foundational principles of honoring human rights.  The U.S. military is upholding its end of that contract, with unquestioning courage, to secure and defend our freedoms. But Americans — civilian leaders and citizens alike — are failing to uphold their end of the bargain.  The American military continues to fight in the longest wars in our history, and continues to deter and defend against threats to our interests and security worldwide. Yet, at home, our politics and democratic institutions have become divisive, hyper-partisan and dysfunctional.  The U.S. military remains at the top of the institutions in which Americans have confidence and trust, while the executive branch, Congress and the press are at the bottom. Public trust in government is at historic lows, according to Pew Research, with only 17 percent of Americans today who say they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right either “always” or “most of time.” The president, members of Congress and the press, the central pillars of our democracy, are clearly failing in their leadership responsibilities. The strength of democracy is built, first and foremost, on the right and responsibility of each individual citizen to vote. As President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who knew the high price of freedom and the vital importance of fighting for it, said: "The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter."  Only 60 percent of Americans have voted in the last two presidential elections, with just 49 percent of millennials turning out in 2016. And, while the 2018 midterm elections had record voter turnout, it still was only 40 percent of the voting population. The most important way to say “thank you” to our volunteer military is to vote.  The right to vote also comes with the responsibility to be informed. That has only become more difficult as the press, in large part, has retreated to its corners of the political arena and social media giants continue to fall short in their efforts to control fake content from their platforms. While many Americans – 68 percent, according to Pew Research – say that made-up news and information greatly affects American confidence in government and institutions, Americans at the same time seem to have become unwilling or unable to listen to one another—another key pillar of a sound democracy. According to Pew Research, many Americans find their own conversations about politics have become stressful experiences that they prefer to avoid.  The issue this Fourth of July is not whether the military should be part of the celebration of our nation’s independence and values of freedom. Their mission is to deter and defend those freedoms, and their pledge is to defend the Constitution. The issue is whether we, the 99.5 percent on the civilian side, are doing enough, as leaders and as citizens, to fulfill our obligations to preserve and strengthen our democracy.   If we really want to say “thank you” to our military service members, we need to fulfill our part of the social contract to strengthen, not weaken, our democracy, from the grassroots up and from our highest leadership down.

Khalifa Haftar’s march on the Libyan capital is a bid for control of a fragmented state. Backed by a set of powerful governments, he could carry on the fight for a long time.    

The Trump administration has made bold gestures in support of Taiwan, including more frequent movement of U.S. ships in the Taiwan Strait. They come at a time of growing anxiety about the U.S.-China relationship.

400 American troops can't accomplish anything. 

If the president wants to withdraw from Syria, he might as well just withdraw.

The answer to Venezuela’s crisis is not military intervention. The United States and neighboring countries should instead focus on a widespread diplomatic, financial, and humanitarian response.

The Pentagon plans to withdraw its special operations forces in Africa, but major cutbacks could threaten recent efforts to counter terrorism threats across the region.

The U.S. military is currently at war with itself, and a casualty may be a valuable Army institution that protects not only U.S. interests, but also the lives of U.S. service members.

Nearly all nuclear weapon states, as a matter of policy, remain ready to use their weapons without having first suffered a nuclear attack.

In the context of the “war on terror,” many American friends of sub-Saharan Africa’s have been concerned that Washington has been tilting away from supporting the continent’s economic, social, and political development towards a focus on security issues. Though the U.S. military presence has always been small—Djibouti hosts the only U.S. base on the continent—the presence of the Africa Command (AFRICOM), which is based in Europe, has grown. The number of Special Forces operatives has also increased, with their stated focus being to help train indigenous forces to counter extremist groups with links to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. In January, however, a new national security strategy unveiled by Secretary of Defense James Mattis signaled a shift away from countering terrorism to responding to threats from Russia and China. Secretary Mattis said, “We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but great power competition—not terrorism—is now the primary focus of U.S. national security.”  In October 2017, indigenous fighters ambushed a joint U.S.-Nigerien operation in western Niger, killing four American soldiers and a similar number of Nigerien soldiers. At the time, especially in Congress, there was concern about the U.S. presence in Niger and personnel's involvement with fighting rather than exclusively with training and advising. The Department of Defense subsequently conducted a thorough investigation, which, according to the New York Times, will likely result in a reduction of the number of Special Forces in Africa. AFRICOM has reportedly been asked to develop scenarios for counterterrorism operations in Africa if Special Forces were reduced by 25 percent over 18 months and 50 percent over 36 months. Citing Defense Department sources, the Times also reports that there is concern that Special Forces, numbering about 7,300 in 92 countries around the world, are over-stretched. There are about 1,200 Special Forces personnel currently in Africa.  For friends of Africa, it is important to note that a shift of Washington’s priorities away from terrorism does not necessarily mean a revitalization of traditional U.S. government involvement in health, economic development, education, or democracy promotion. Despite deprecating rhetoric from the Trump administration, however, these activities have largely continued because they have strong Congressional support. In fact, Congress blocked the Trump administration’s proposals for a draconian cut in funding for USAID, and Congressional funding for some USAID programs actually increased over last year.  

The New York Times reports that the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) is taking concrete steps to ensure that its troops operating in Niger “plan missions to stay out of combat or do not go.” The Times also reports that the Army Special Forces Group that has been in Africa since 2016 may close two outposts, one in Niger, the other undisclosed. In addition, U.S. military operations now must be approved at a higher level than in the past. AFRICOM is taking these steps following an extensive investigation of the ambush and death of four U.S. troops in western Niger in October 2017. Coming out of the investigation is public acknowledgement for the first time that there were ten additional attacks on U.S. troops in West Africa from 2015 to 2017. The location of those attacks has not been made public.  Niger is in a rough neighborhood. Radical Islamist groups operate in Chad, Mali, Nigeria, and Libya. Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou is following a policy of close security cooperation with the United States. This year, Niger hosted a major AFRICOM military exercise, Operation Flintlock, involving some two thousand special forces from some twenty countries, eight of which are African. Niger also hosts U.S. drone bases. However, under Issoufou, Niger is subject to much of the same domestic instability found elsewhere in the Sahel. There is public anger over rising taxes and rising prices in what is one of the poorest countries in the world. There is also the perception that official corruption is on the rise, and Issoufou uses security forces to arrest human rights activists. World Politics Review notes that Western countries are so concerned about “regional security” that they pay little attention to poor governance in Sahelian countries. In fact, repression is even worse in Chad than it is in Niger. Internal instability could reduce Niger’s viability has a security partner in the future. AFRICOM’s decision to rein-in U.S. participation in actual fighting is wise. Though there is little public information, the U.S. military presence at present does not appear to be transformative. Furthermore, public and congressional uproar in the United States over the October ambush and deaths of four American soldiers show that there is little stomach for military involvement in a remote part of the world that many Americans see as peripheral to their concerns.