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Africa Military Moves by U.S. Reflect Iraq, Afghan Wars
[Bloomberg] BLUF: Islamic State If Libya continues to unravel, it could provide an opening for the Islamic State, the Sunni militant group whose leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, last month declared a caliphate in territories captured by his group in Syria and Iraq, according to Julia McQuaid, an analyst at the Arlington, Virginia-based CNA Corp., a U.S.-funded research group. One could imagine a situation where a group in Libya sees success in the Islamic State and pursues a similar path - essentially declaring a physical territory part of the Islamic State, pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi, McQuaid said in an e-mail. Shes the author of a report titled Reviving the Caliphate: Fad, or the Future? The U.S. militarys role in helping African countries battle militancy and civil wars in the continent is essential because we have to get away from the romanticism that these are local squabbles with their government, and if we accommodate them they might harmlessly leave us alone, OHanlon said. That may be true for some groups, but not for al-Qaeda affiliates. Posted by: Besoeker 2014-08-03 |
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