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World News See other World News Articles Title: The next Niger What we know about America’s elite forces now operating in 33 African countries Everything we know about what U.S. special ops are doing in 33 African nations Increasingly, Americans tend to learn of U.S. military activity on the African continent only when things go wrong. And last month’s deadly ambush in the West African nation of Niger was a wakeup call for most Americans, including some senators, who didn’t know the U.S. military was operating in the country. “We don’t know exactly where we’re at in the world, militarily, and what we’re doing,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, admitted after meeting with Pentagon officials about the attack, which left four U.S. special forces soldiers dead. Advertisement Graham’s not wrong, especially when it comes to special ops forces, like the troops in Niger. Unlike conventional U.S. troops deployed in Africa, these elite forces operate in the shadows, often carrying out more low-profile, dangerous and lethal actions in line with their core skills, including unconventional warfare, small-scale strikes, special reconnaissance, and counterterrorism activities. With these U.S. commandos — including Navy SEALs and Green Berets — spread out over at least 33 African nations in 2017, it’s hard to know what U.S. forces are doing, exactly where they are doing it, and when. This lack of transparency can prove disastrous, said William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. “Secret or little-known military deployments rarely end well,” he told VICE News. “In the absence of public or congressional scrutiny, there is no way to hold U.S. forces accountable for how they conduct themselves in war zones, and there is no way to objectively evaluate their performance.” Here’s what we do know about U.S. special operations forces on the African continent. U.S. presence in Africa has grown exponentially One thing is clear: The U.S. military’s footprint on the African continent has grown exponentially in the last decade, and U.S. special operations forces have been the tip of the spear. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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