{"id":234894,"date":"2023-05-08T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=234894"},"modified":"2023-05-06T09:21:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T08:21:53","slug":"us-troops-in-somalia-rise-to-900-house-votes-not-to-withdraw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/05\/us-troops-in-somalia-rise-to-900-house-votes-not-to-withdraw\/","title":{"rendered":"US Troops in Somalia Rise to 900, House Votes Not to Withdraw"},"content":{"rendered":"

The presence of US troops in Somalia helps the Islamist insurgency Al Shabaab recruit, exacerbating the very violence they claim to be fighting. But the House has voted down a resolution to withdraw.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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U.S. forces host a range day with the Danab Brigade in Somalia, April 5, 2021<\/p><\/div>\n

3 May 2023 – <\/em>On April 27, the House voted 101-321 against Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz\u2019s resolution<\/a> to remove all US troops from Somalia, even as all signs point to escalation in the fight with Al-Shabaab. AFRICOM, the US Africa Command, and Somalia\u2019s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, are both asking for more US presence, more funds, more weapons, more drones, and fewer restrictions on how they\u2019re used.<\/p>\n

The resolution did not call for an end to the drone bombing, only for the withdrawal of US troops.<\/p>\n

Gaetz had no expectation that it would pass, but he forced all 435 members of the House to go on record for or against another costly US \u201cforever war<\/a>.\u201d Conceivably they\u2019ll have to answer for their votes in 2024, perhaps to the US\u2019s tiny antiwar community, but more likely to the \u201cAmerica First\u201d political movement that Gaetz shares with Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

The vote ensures that the US will maintain a military presence in Somalia until at least after the next election cycle. At least 900 US troops have been stationed in Somalia, playing an advisory role while the national army they train takes heavy casualties on the battlefield against the Islamist al-Shabaab forces.<\/p>\n

Located in the strategically significant Horn of Africa, Somalia not only has the longest coastline in Africa, but perhaps the world\u2019s largest untapped coastal oil reserves. In 2021, the Somali government signed<\/a> a $7 million oil exploration deal with the Houston, Texas-based company, Coastline.<\/p>\n

Though congressional hawks justify the US military presence in Somalia in terms of \u201cfreedom\u201d and counter-terrorism, the country\u2019s geography and potentially massive oil wealth make it a key strategic prize for Washington.<\/p>\n

Gaetz and the co-sponsors of the resolution to withdraw from Somalia were all Republicans. Fifty-two Republicans and 50 Democrats voted in favor of a pullout, while 165 Republicans and 156 Democrats voted no. (12 House members did not vote). The vote closely resembled the results on Gaetz\u2019s failed resolution to withdraw from Syria, which brought together a left-right coalition in support while the bipartisan pro-war majority expressed vehement opposition.<\/p>\n

In his press release<\/a>, Gaetz wrote, \u201cWhen the House debated my resolution to withdraw troops from Syria, both Republicans and Democrats argued the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force<\/a> (AUMF) against Afghanistan serves as a global permission slip for every neocon fantasy. They will argue the same for Somalia.\u201d As they did, although some said it should be revisited and rewritten with a narrower scope.<\/p>\n

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JUST NOW: @RepMattGaetz<\/a> Calls for Urgent Removal of U.S. Troops from #Somalia<\/a>, Supports War Powers Resolution.<\/p>\n

Gaetz, a member of House Armed Services Committee, argued that the presence of American troops in Somalia is not only ineffective in achieving its goals, but also\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/cBG99xnXWT<\/a><\/p>\n

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) April 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n