During the final year of his presidency, Donald Trump ordered a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia. However, the Pentagon continued rotating small contingents of troops in and out of the country.
Now, following the re-election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the Biden administration is re-deploying troops. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the Pentagon will “reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia.”
Mohamud was previously president between 2012 and 2017.
Since 2011, the African Union has maintained a large peacekeeping force in Somalia called The African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM]. The peacekeepers, numbering over 20,000, primarily come from Uganda, Brunei, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Nigeria, and Ghana. However, the mandate for the peacekeeping force expired on March 31, 2022. AMISOM is now being phased out, and its mission is being handed over to the Somalian security forces.
Possible effects of Biden’s redeployment:
- Billions of US tax dollars spent propping up the security forces of Somalia so they can replace AMISOM.
- Billions of US tax dollars spent to feed and care for Somalians.
- More Somalian “refugees” transplanted to the United States using federal funds.
- American wounded and KIAs.
The infamous “Blackhawk Down” incident in 1993:
