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President Biden set to redeploy American troops to Somalia, reversing Trump withdrawal

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President Biden intends to redeploy troops to Somalia to counter al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab, which is a reversal former President Trump’s decision to withdraw forces from the country near the end of his term.

At the time, Trump said it was part of his efforts to end “forever wars,” and his administration stressed that the move did not signal that the U.S. was disengaging from Africa. The plan was for those troops to be reassigned to neighboring countries to allow the U.S. to still conduct operations in Somalia.

“President Biden has approved a request from the Secretary of Defense to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabaab, which has increased in strength and poses a heightened threat,” a senior administration official told The Hill in a statement.

“This is a repositioning of forces already in theater who have travelled in and out of Somalia on an episodic basis since the previous administration made the decision to withdraw in January 2021,” the official continued.

“Al-Shabab has taken advantage of Somali instability and fractious politics to become as I indicated al-Qaeda’s largest and wealthiest global affiliate,” the official said on a call with reporters. “We have seen regrettably, clear evidence of al-Shabab’s intent and capability to target Americans in the region,” the official, who declined to be named, went onto say.

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In 2020, Trump ordered the withdrawal of approximately 750 U.S. troops from Somalia by January 2021.

National security spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement to CNBC that U.S. military personnel have moved in and out of the country episodically since Trump’s decision to remove troops.

“The decision to reintroduce a persistent presence was made to maximize the safety and effectiveness of our forces and enable them to provide more efficient support to our partners,” Watson added.

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Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.

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Donald R. Laster, Jr

Until the Islam theocracy, Islam is not a religion, is eliminated no one will be safe. al Qaeda and al-Shabaab are Islam militias doing what Mohammad instructed the citizens of the theocracy he created to do. That is attack and force people to worship the god Hubal, who is associated with the moon and historically is known as Baal, as well as engage in other things most people consider wrong. People should get a Qur’an and read it to learn what Islam allows its citizens to do. And then look at the history of Islam and what it does to people. It is basically a variation of the Socialism/”Left” where those in control can do anything the want.

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