US officials are continuing to emphasize that ISIS poses a “global threat,”
even though it lost all its territory in Syria and Iraq. While that
continues the narrative of an open-ended fight across the planet,
officials are also clear the focus right now is on Africa.
It’s not clear exactly why ISIS is being chosen as the immediate focus
for US anti-ISIS operations, with so much of a deal being made
previously of the group in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the US is hoping to get global support for the Africa fight.
US officials are emphasizing the substantial number of ISIS-affiliated
factions inside Africa in their narrative, though of course, not all
ISIS are created equal, and nowhere is that more apparent than in
Africa.
Africa has a lot of long-standing Islamist factions that have long
struggled to garner international notoriety. During the rise of ISIS,
many groups just added the ISIS-affiliate tag to their names as to try
to appear more substantial, even if the connection was purely
theoretical.
US Officials Say ISIS a ‘Global Threat,’ But Focus on Africa
Officials seek international support for Africa fight
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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