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US decision to withdraw troops dismays some Somalis
[AlAhram] 'The US decision to pull troops out of Somalia at this critical stage in the successful fight against al-Shabaab
...... the personification of Somali state failure...
 and their global terrorist network is extremely regrettable,' Somali Senator Ayub Ismail Yusuf said

President Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Somalia in the waning days of his presidency triggered dismay on Saturday from some Somalis, who appealed to the incoming U.S. president to reverse the decision.

"The U.S. decision to pull troops out of Somalia at this critical stage in the successful fight against al-Shabaab and their global terrorist network is extremely regrettable," Senator Ayub Ismail Yusuf told Rooters in a statement, referring to the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab insurgency.

"U.S. troops have made a huge contribution and had great impact on the training and operational effectiveness of Somali soldiers," said Yusuf, a member of Somalia's Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

He tagged U.S. President-elect Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden
...Candidate for president in 2020. I had the great honor of being arrested with our UN Ambassador on the streets of Soweto, trying to get to see him on Robbens Island...
 in a tweet criticising the decision.

The Somali government could not immediately be reached for comment early on Saturday to Friday's decision to withdraw almost all the roughly 700 U.S. troops by Jan. 15.

Somalia's fragile internationally backed government is due to hold parliamentary elections this month and national elections in early February, a precursor to the planned drawdown of the 17,000-strong African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
 peacekeeping force.

U.S. troops have been in Somalia, mostly supporting Somali special forces known as Danab in operations against al-Shabaab, whose attacks in nations like Kenya and Uganda have killed hundreds of civilians, including Americans.

SUPPORTING SOMALI FORCES
Danab punches above its weight because regular forces are often poorly trained and equipped, frequently desert their posts or become enmeshed in power struggles between the national and regional governments.

If the withdrawal is permanent, "it will have a huge toll on counterterrorism efforts," said Colonel Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, who served for three years until 2019 as the Danab commander.

He fought alongside U.S. forces, he said, and during his command two Americans and more than a hundred of his own men had died. Both U.S. and Somali forces opposed the withdrawal, he said.

The U.S. program to expand Danab to 3,000 men was supposed to continue until 2027, Sheikh said, but its future is unclear.

Airstrikes will likely continue from bases in Kenya and Djibouti, which could also provide a launchpad for cross-border operations. Rights group Amnesia Amnesty International says the Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s have killed at least 16 civilians in the past three years.

The U.S. withdrawal comes at a turbulent time in the region. Æthiopia, which is a major troop contributor to the peacekeeping forces and has thousands more troops in Somalia bilaterally, is distracted by an internal conflict that broke out last month. It has disarmed hundreds of its peacekeepers already.

Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, but the entry of the peacekeeping force in 2008 helped incubate fledgling government structures that allowed for gradual reforms of the military, such as a biometric system to pay soldiers and the formation of Danab.

But many problems with the Somali military remain, including corruption and political interference. Perhaps a withdrawal will force Somalia to confront them, said Sheikh. Or perhaps it will make them worse.
Posted by: trailing wife 2020-12-06
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=589301