Should the US Help Fight Terrorism in Africa’s Sahel?

 

What, if anything, should the United States be doing in the fight against violent extremism in a part of Africa where few people live?

Experts on Africa are asking that question after the deaths of four U.S. Special Forces soldiers in Niger last month.

At least four Nigerien soldiers also died in the attack.

Before the violence, some members of Congress knew about U.S. operations in Niger. But other lawmakers say they did not know American troops were on the ground in the African nation. They include Senator Lindsey Graham, of the Republican Party, and Chuck Schumer, the leader of Democrats¹ in the Senate.

The U.S. Department of Defense² says more than 800 American troops are in Niger. It also confirms the existence of two bases for drone aircraft there.

Niger and Burkina Faso want the United States to do more to support African governments in their fight against extremism. They want financial support for a new task force made up of troops from five African countries. It is estimated that about $500 million will be needed for the first year of operations of the force. The United States is considering giving $60 million.

Ten years of involvement

The United States military began increasing its presence in the Sahel area in 2007 by creating the U.S. Africa Command, known as AFRICOM. It is based in Stuttgart, Germany.

AFRICOM works with African countries to strengthen security on the continent.

Since at least 2013, U.S. forces have carried out operations to train, advise, and assist Niger’s military. The two sides work with local officials to fight armed extremists.

Niger has been an important partner. During the presidency³ of Barack Obama, the U.S. military built drone bases in the capital, Niamey, and in the northern city of Agadez.

Lisa Mueller is an assistant professor of political science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She says because “Niger has been a strong ally to the counterterrorism efforts, it has been natural for the United States to station its counterterrorism forces in that country.”

But the death of the American troops has caused an examination of U.S. partnerships⁴ in the Sahel. It is not clear if, or how, President Donald Trump⁵ or his administration will change its policy in the area.

Some activists⁶ and U.S. lawmakers do not like the fact that some of the African partners have authoritarian⁷ governments.

Brandon Kendhammer is an associate professor and director of the International Development Studies Program at Ohio University. He says even the government of Niger is, in his words, “problematically democratic.” But he says the U.S. involvement is helpful.

“It’s pretty clear that these investments do make a real difference in the ability of the region to provide its own security,” he said.

Kendhammer says an important part of that success has come from asking partners for their opinion about what should be done and how. He notes that some observers believe the U.S. African command makes its own decisions without asking the opinions of African leaders. But he says AFRICOM has a history of working with local officials and asking for their advice.

Soldiers’ deaths

U.S. military officials expect to complete their investigation⁸ into the Niger attack in January. Kendhammer says it appears that the American soldiers were involved in the kind of work that troops based in the Sahel must do: training local forces in everything from basic operations to advanced tactics, including reacting quickly to terrorist attacks.

Kendhammer says the U.S. military wants to have a long-term effect on the area, so it follows the “train the trainer” model: American soldiers train local forces, who then share their knowledge and skills with other troops.

No one has claimed responsibility for the October attack, but the U.S. military suspects militants¹¹ linked to the Islamic State group were involved. The group is one of several extremist organizations operating in the Sahel.

The extremists are usually local militants who promise to support an international organization like Islamic State or al-Qaida. This “affiliation¹²” might be nothing more than being mentioned in an IS publication or could involve repeated contacts with the larger organization.

Whether the involvement is limited or ongoing¹³, partnering with an established terrorist organization can be more practical than ideological¹⁴, says Kendhammer. He notes the group that may have carried out the attack in Niger was at one time allied¹⁵ with al-Qaeda, but changed in 2015 or 2016 to find a better partner.

Local militants use methods designed to weaken American efforts for fighting terrorists.

As VOA reported earlier, it is likely that villagers in Tongo Tongo, where the October attack took place, helped trap the American and Nigerien forces. The villagers’ apparent willingness to help militants may be the result of their efforts to build trust with local populations while denouncing America.

Philip Obaji, Junior reported on the Daily Beast website earlier this month. His report said that people living in Tongo Tongo blamed the United States for a grenade attack in 2016 that killed six children. No evidence has linked the U.S. to the incident. But Obaji wrote that local militant¹⁰ groups have blamed it on America as a way to gain the support of the local population.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

drone – n. an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by a computer or someone at a distance

counterterrorism – n. measures designed to fight or prevent terrorism

authoritarian – adj. expecting or requiring people to obey rules

tactic⁹ – n. a method or device

affiliation – n. a close connection to someone or something

mention – n. the act of calling attention to someone or something

practical – adj. relating to what is real; likely to be successful

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

12 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

13 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

14 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

15 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。