Trump Pulls Troops From Somalia, Gnashing of Teeth Follows

Bonchie reporting for RedState

Who knew that troop deployments in far off countries were totally the left’s bag these days? But as I wrote a while back, Democrats are all about forever war now because the orange man is bad (see Media and Democrats Decide They Love Forever War Now Because Orange Man Bad). They might as well be all in for troops in Africa as well.

On that note, Trump pulled troops from Somalia in the last few days, somewhere most Americans probably weren’t even we had troops in. What followed was the ritual gnashing of teeth.

The Daily Caller has the report.

President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal Friday of most of the U.S. military’s 700 troops currently stationed in Somalia.

U.S. troops are stationed in the African nation to combat the Al-Qaida-linked terror organization Al-Shabab. The troops will be redeployed in East Africa and other neighboring countries, Politico reported.

“While a change in force posture, this action is not a change in U.S. policy,” the Pentagon said in a statement to Politico. “The U.S. will retain the capability to conduct targeted counterterrorism operations in Somalia, and collect early warnings and indicators regarding threats to the homeland,” it added.

In reality, not much is even changing here. As far as I can tell, these troops will still be in the region, and they will still be capable of quick reaction in case Al-Shabab steps out of line. This is more of a symbolic move than anything. It would hit closer to the mark if the troops were being brought home completely.

Here’s Democrat Rep. Langevin pulling his hair out over the decision per CBS News.

Representative Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat, criticized the Trump pullback in Somalia as a “surrender to al-Qaida and a gift of China.” Langevin is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee.

“When U.S. forces leave Somalia in response to today’s order, it becomes harder for diplomats and aid workers to help people resolve conflicts without violence and loss of life,” Langevin said. “With upcoming elections in Somalia and conflict raging in neighboring Ethiopia, abandoning our partners could not come at a worse time.”

Why stop at Somalia? Why not deploy troops to another 50 countries or so to help with their elections and ensure Americans are safe there? There are plenty of needy recipients out there, and Somalia has taken up a lot of resources over the last three decades. Let’s spread the love around since it’s apparently our job to fix every screwed up country on earth. As to Langevin’s musings about China, if he were concerned about that, he’d have opposed Joe Biden, one of the most pro-China politicians of the last half century.

Meanwhile, the conspiracy theories are flowing because in the minds of the left, it’s simply not possible for Trump to do something without it being evil incarnate.

You’ll probably recognize Erik Prince’s name as he’s been at the center of several conspiracy theories involving Russia propagated by the left since 2016. Everything always comes back to Putin for the Democrats. That’s not surprising, but it doesn’t make it any less pathetic.

Trump is doing the right thing here, just as he did the right thing drawing down in Afghanistan. If our leaders want to actively make the case for why these deployments should continue, they should do that with clarity and a real plan. Abiding 20 year wars without re-authorization and fresh justification is not how any of this should work.