US Special Forces to help DRC fight armed militias
The US is pulling out of Afghanistan, but could its military involvement in Africa be growing? Another deadly quagmire ahead?
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has accepted temporary help from the US Special Forces to fight the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group.
Will the anti-terrorism help in the eastern DRC last longer than the several weeks envisioned? And will the size of the US forces grow? Is it possible the US should also be considering more nonmilitary means to promote stability in this mineral-rich region? Also, are certain Americans exaggerating the importance of the ADF’s Islamic ties? If nothing else, keep in mind that just a tiny fraction of Congolese people are Islamic. Complicating matters is the anti-Muslim hostility of the corrupt and tyrannical government of neighboring Uganda, whose brutal security forces have encouraged the anti-ADF efforts in the DRC.
Related: “The Bewildering Search for the Islamic State in Congo. Will a Texas hedge fund drag the US into another dangerous quagmire?” by Helen Epstein in The Nation.