US anti-Islamist special forces operations in Africa have been a dismal failure

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

What a SHOCKING development!

 

Stunning Classified Memo Details How U.S. Commandos Are Getting Beaten By Terrorists in Africa

WWW.VICE.COM

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Halfway through their four year campaign, the U.S. military is already failing at combating “violent extremist organizations” in Africa, according to a recent Pentagon report and formerly secret plans.

 

Quote

But halfway through their campaign, America’s commandos are already failing, according to a recent Pentagon report. That analysis, authored by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research institution, paints a troubling portrait of the security situation on the continent, showing a 43 percent spike in militant Islamist activity and sharp increases in violence in 2020 as part of a steady and uninterrupted rise over the last decade. 

 

Quote

Experts have also questioned the very premise of U.S. counterterrorism efforts on the continent, some telling VICE World News that money allocated to American commandos in Africa would be more effectively spent on humanitarian aid and economic development in countries where extremist violence is on the rise. “The reported 43 percent spike in violent terrorist extremism on the continent points toward a lack of progress by the Special Operations Command Africa in degrading and disrupting terrorist groups,” Temi Ibirogba, a program and research associate with the Africa Program at the Center for International Policy, told VICE World News. The fact that militant Islamist group violence increased during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when economic hardship and border closures should have constrained terrorist groups, she said, “shows that SOCAFRICA did not effectively adapt their counterterrorism capability plan to reflect the changing dynamics of the world in 2020.”

 

[Jason]

[SimpleG]

Obviously our we are not spending enough

Why Military Spending Is More Than You Think It Is

WWW.THEBALANCE.COM

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US military spending is $934 billion for FY 2021 once you add components hidden in other budgets. Here's the breakout since 2003.

Second is $69 billion in overseas contingency operations for DoD to fight the Islamic State group.

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Love how much money we give the military and we still suck at it because it's fundamentally am American institution

[Jason]

15 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Love how much money we give the military and we still suck at it because it's fundamentally am American institution

 

Were we actually good at it during WWII, or did we just look good by way of the fact that we jumped in after we let everyone else beat the shit out of each other for a couple of years?

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

21 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

Were we actually good at it during WWII, or did we just look good by way of the fact that we jumped in after we let everyone else beat the shit out of each other for a couple of years?

Dunno but I'm willing to stake that our ability to effectively manage the administrative state has, uh, lessened in the 70 years since

[SuperSpreader]

We suck at everything!

[Fizzzzle]

On 3/18/2021 at 8:21 PM, Jason said:

 

Were we actually good at it during WWII, or did we just look good by way of the fact that we jumped in after we let everyone else beat the shit out of each other for a couple of years?

You're talking about the America that managed to do things like build the interstate system, build Liberty Ships in 40 days, turned entire industries from domestic to military production in a matter of months and then back again, etc.

 

Imagine doing any of that today.

 

America may have bumbled a lot tactically during WWII, but our supply chain logistics were basically top notch from jump. Especially compared to Germany and Japan (the Soviets are a different story, they managed to basically move their entire war industry east of the Urals in a matter of months, it's really impressive)

[Brick]

US anti-Islamist special forces operations in Africa have been a dismal failure

 

Fixed the title for you. 

[Uaarkson]

“One German Panzer tank is equivalent to four American Shermans. But the Americans always had five.”

 

We McDonalds’d our way through both World Wars 

[Fizzzzle]

2 hours ago, Uaarkson said:

“One German Panzer tank is equivalent to four American Shermans. But the Americans always had five.”

 

We McDonalds’d our way through both World Wars 

It's important to note that the Americans only had a major commitment of ground forces during WW1 for about 6 months. During that time, the casualty rate was higher than that of the civil war, which you'll note we tend to count casualties on both sides. If the US had been involved in WW1 from the beginning, it would be by far the deadliest conflict in US history. So it's not necessarily an apt comparison for WW1.

 

WW2, though... We basically had most of our fleet destroyed or damaged by the Japanese, and we basically responded by getting to a point where we could build a warship in as little as a couple months. Destroy one, two will take its place. The Soviets don't get enough credit in their industrial ingenuity, but nothing matched the Americans ability to just out produce everyone. Tactically, the Japanese were far superior to the Americans, especially until late 1942. The defense of the philippines was a joke (the defense of the entire southeast asian theater was a joke by all allies, but I digress).

 

The Japanese took over southeast asia for its resources, but it turns out they didn't understand basic economics the way those who were experienced in good old fashioned colonialism were. What they found is that, given that they had to operate almost entirely within their own trading a sphere, there wasn't the demand for rubber, and with no one to buy their industrial goods since they were at war with basically everyone, the newly expanded resource network just stagnated and died.

 

The Japanese had a policy of self sufficiency in their military units. They wanted units to be as independent as possible. Had they centralized their resource management more, we might be speaking a different language today.

 

Sorry, I'll stop now.

[cusideabelincoln]

3 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

 

 

Imagine doing any of that today.

 

 

Definitely wouldn't happen because "free market". People would be too worried about government overreach.

 

Regardless, it's hilarious we're failing at the modern day Crusades.

[CitizenVectron]

1 hour ago, Fizzzzle said:

 

 

The Japanese had a policy of self sufficiency in their military units. They wanted units to be as independent as possible. Had they centralized their resource management more, we might be speaking a different language today.

 

Sorry, I'll stop now.

 

I don't think there is any credible scenario where the Japanese defeat America in WWII (in terms of conquest, especially). They didn't even have a real atomic program, so nuclear weapons weren't coming.

[Fizzzzle]

1 hour ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

I don't think there is any credible scenario where the Japanese defeat America in WWII (in terms of conquest, especially). They didn't even have a real atomic program, so nuclear weapons weren't coming.

That's what I was getting at. Their approach to supply chain was basically based on medieval philosophy. If they built a centralized infrastructure, they might have managed it. That doesn't take into account the nuclear program, though. Just that the nuclear program may have been unimportant if the Japanese pressed their advantage in the pacific rather than try to conquer SE Asia. But then you start opening up rabbit holes.

[Zaku3]

11 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

That's what I was getting at. Their approach to supply chain was basically based on medieval philosophy. If they built a centralized infrastructure, they might have managed it. That doesn't take into account the nuclear program, though. Just that the nuclear program may have been unimportant if the Japanese pressed their advantage in the pacific rather than try to conquer SE Asia. But then you start opening up rabbit holes.

 

It's not even that. Small island nation isn't beating 2 out of the 3 world super powers while bogged down in China. The only idea worse then that is fighting the British empire, US, and Soviet Union at the same time.

 

The basic idea of their war was flawed. I understand why they did it but it was literally the best idea out of all the bad ideas they had.