Pentagon officials say that they intend to withdraw several hundred troops from the various deployments across Africa over the next several years, as part of the Pentagon’s shift to focus on Russia and China.
Exact figures are not disclosed yet, but the Pentagon said it would be “about 10 percent” of the troops in Africa, and that is 7,200 per reports. The Pentagon has been known to lie about how many troops they have in Africa, however, so this is a base estimate.
This is the latest in a series of announcements over the past year from the Pentagon, about an intention to “shift” the military’s focus out of Africa and toward areas immediately around China and Russia.
Talking up their need to send more troops to those areas has been a major goal, focusing on getting more funding annually from Congress to prepare to fight two major wars at once.
Of course, as in Afghanistan, any withdrawal is subject to conditions on the ground which — son of a gun — never improve.
Stupid move, strategically speaking. Much of China’s current and future success rests in investments they’ve made in the Dark Continent. They seem to be the only people smart enough to realize that Africa is booming with untapped potential. Eurasia may own the next century but Africa could very well own the one after that if they play their cards right and climate change doesn’t murder us all.