Pentagon Foresees at Least Two More Years of Combat in Somalia
- 6 years ago
Pentagon Foresees at Least Two More Years of Combat in Somalia
In a sign that the Defense Department does not envision a quick end to the deepening war in Somalia against the Shabab
and the Islamic State, the proposed plan is said to include an exemption to a rule in Mr. Trump’s guidelines requiring annual vetting by staff from other agencies — including diplomats and intelligence officials — of operational plans for certain countries.
"But it’s not clear to me how much it’s worth fighting over — so long as those channels for communicating and working out concerns are functioning." According to the officials familiar with it, the Pentagon plan would also exempt operations in Somalia from another default rule in Mr. Trump’s guidelines:
that airstrikes be allowed only when officials have determined there is a near certainty that no civilians will be killed.
Mr. Trump bestowed that The United States will continue to take extraordinary care to mitigate
civilian casualties, while addressing military necessity in defeating our enemy.
They removed several limits that President Barack Obama imposed in 2013 on drone strikes and commando raids in places away from the more conventional war zones
that the government labels "areas of active hostilities." Among other things, Mr. Trump dropped requirements in Mr. Obama’s rules — called the "P.P.G.," for presidential policy guidance — for interagency vetting before each offensive strike and determinations that each person targeted pose a specific threat to Americans.
Moreover, instead of interagency vetting before each strike, Mr. Trump’s guidelines call for agencies to approve an operational plan for particular countries, after which
the military (or the C.I.A., which also operates armed drones in several countries) may carry out strikes without first getting approval from higher-ranking officials.
In a sign that the Defense Department does not envision a quick end to the deepening war in Somalia against the Shabab
and the Islamic State, the proposed plan is said to include an exemption to a rule in Mr. Trump’s guidelines requiring annual vetting by staff from other agencies — including diplomats and intelligence officials — of operational plans for certain countries.
"But it’s not clear to me how much it’s worth fighting over — so long as those channels for communicating and working out concerns are functioning." According to the officials familiar with it, the Pentagon plan would also exempt operations in Somalia from another default rule in Mr. Trump’s guidelines:
that airstrikes be allowed only when officials have determined there is a near certainty that no civilians will be killed.
Mr. Trump bestowed that The United States will continue to take extraordinary care to mitigate
civilian casualties, while addressing military necessity in defeating our enemy.
They removed several limits that President Barack Obama imposed in 2013 on drone strikes and commando raids in places away from the more conventional war zones
that the government labels "areas of active hostilities." Among other things, Mr. Trump dropped requirements in Mr. Obama’s rules — called the "P.P.G.," for presidential policy guidance — for interagency vetting before each offensive strike and determinations that each person targeted pose a specific threat to Americans.
Moreover, instead of interagency vetting before each strike, Mr. Trump’s guidelines call for agencies to approve an operational plan for particular countries, after which
the military (or the C.I.A., which also operates armed drones in several countries) may carry out strikes without first getting approval from higher-ranking officials.