The big headlines overnight: two U.S. special forces raids in different countries in Africa -- Yemen and Somalia -- one of which led to the capture of a long-wanted al-Qaeda terror leader and the other of which may have failed. Both here, however, are seen in a vacuum and so their impact little understood. We’re dealing, after all, with two countries that U.S. interventions, repeated ones in the case of Somalia (even if largely by proxy), had a major hand in destabilizing both countries, turning them into increasingly stateless, lawless places. Such raids, whatever their immediate aims, undoubtedly only further destabilize those lands, even as they take U.S. forces ever further into Africa, and get Americans used to the idea that we can launch military operations anywhere on that continent with impunity. These will undoubtedly be painted as – on balance – a successful set of U.S. actions, but in the larger context they are bad news indeed.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 05:16:10 +0000
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