Media: US struggle against terrorism in West Africa failed
Efforts to fight terrorism in West Africa, financed from the US state budget, have failed, according to The New York Times newspaper, TASS reports
The publication, exploring to US military campaigns on the African continent, reads, “In the shadow of the September 11 attacks, the United States rushed troops and military aid to a swath of West Africa to help French forces stop the spread of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. More than a decade later, and with hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance spent, that regional counterterrorism effort has largely failed.”
According to the newspaper, the US is attempting to redirect its efforts to the coastal countries of West Africa – Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire – which Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a state visit to in January. The Pentagon’s top official for special operations policy, Christopher P. Maier, told the newspaper that the US military had been successful in training local counterterrorism troops. However, some were later involved in military takeovers that led to the cancellation of military agreements with the US, as happened in Niger and Chad.
The NYT reports that the US is reconsidering its approach. Thus, instead of its own military bases and permanent presence, the United States is going to invest more in local security initiatives to fund the training of soldiers and new electrification or water projects. This is necessary because it is poor living standards and unemployment that lead to the recruitment of soldiers into the ranks of terrorists.
