After Biden's decision, the return of the Marines to Somalia reminds the Americans of the "Black Hawk Down" tragedy

Washington

- In 2011, before the September 11 attacks, American cinema screens showed the movie "Black Hawk Down" to remind Americans of one of their darkest days in the history of their relationship with the African continent.

Many Americans remembered the scene of their dead soldiers running and fleeing in the streets of Mogadishu, which African experts consider the most important turning point as one of the most important and prominent features of the determinants of American-African relations.

In October 1993, elite US forces launched a disastrous raid in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, with the aim of capturing key allies of the powerful Somali warlord at the time, General Mohamed Farah Aidid.

The United States was leading a United Nations mission to end the civil war and famine in Somalia, but the American forces faced fierce resistance from Aidid's militia, and two American Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and the transmission of images angered many in the world.

In the fighting that followed the downing of the two planes, it was estimated that hundreds of Somalis were killed, while about 18 Americans were killed, and within 6 months Washington withdrew its forces from Somalia, and the painful experience of the United States represented an obstacle to any new American intervention in the Horn of Africa.

But the American awareness of the sources of threats from East Africa grew after the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and then the September 11 attacks prompted Washington to launch its global war on terrorism, of which neither Africa nor Somalia was an exception.

Washington kept nearly 700 soldiers inside Somalia until former President Donald Trump decided to withdraw them in December 2020.

Biden agreed to re-establish a continuing US military presence in Somalia (Reuters)

Pentagon strategy

Last week, US President Joe Biden signed an order allowing hundreds of special operations forces to be redeployed to Somalia, more than a year after his predecessor, Donald Trump, ordered them to be withdrawn.

A senior official in Washington was quoted as saying, "President Biden agreed to a request from the Secretary of Defense to re-establish a continuing US military presence in Somalia, so that the fight against Al-Shabaab would be more effective."

Intelligence officials estimate that al-Shabab has about 10,000 fighters, and some members are sometimes said to have ambitions to strike the United States.

Biden's decision to redeploy those forces coincides with the election of former Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president after he overcame outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in the third round of voting in Parliament.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Cameron Hudson, former director of the Office of the US Special Envoy to East Africa and currently expert at the Center for Strategic and International Policy "CSIS" (CSIS) in Washington, explained that "it is likely that returning troops to Somalia will be a useful tool to assist Somali and African partners." the locals on the ground who are fighting al-Shabaab.”

Hudson said the move came at the direct request of the Pentagon, which has repeatedly argued that it was less effective in combating al-Shabab or helping local partners.

Although the United States has not had forces inside Somalia since January 2021, the American army has carried out strikes there from time to time and has forces in neighboring countries, especially in Kenya and Djibouti, in addition to the military naval presence near the entrance to the Red Sea.

The site of a suicide attack in the capital Mogadishu (Anatolia)

Deliberations and warnings

For months, US military leaders have warned that limiting Washington's security relations with Somalia to short-term training missions by special operations forces in Somalia since Trump withdrew most of the forces in January 2021 has not worked well.

During a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last March, the head of US Africa Command, Gen. Stephen Townsend, acknowledged that "our periodic engagement in Somalia by training local forces has created new challenges and risks for our force, and it is my assessment that it is an ineffective strategy."

General Townsend visited Somalia last February, where he warned of the growing threat posed by al-Shabab to the region.

"Al-Shabab remains the largest and richest branch of al-Qaeda, and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, including Americans," Townsend told a news briefing.

A force of the Somali army in the streets of the capital (Al-Jazeera)

blurry and absence

President Joe Biden arrived at the White House pledging to end "wars forever", a policy that culminated in a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, but the move to return hundreds of American soldiers to Somalia is an admission by Washington that it cannot continue to ignore the volatile security conditions and terrorist threats in the country. Horn of Africa region.

Some experts also link the US move to a broader confrontation and a struggle for influence with China and Russia, in addition to the traditional risks associated with terrorism and maritime piracy at the entrance to the Red Sea.

But Hudson noted that, “in the absence of any kind of broader strategy or clear definition of the threat that al-Shabab poses to the United States, this decision appears to be less effective than President Trump’s decision to withdraw these forces, until we can understand how this security approach fits significantly.” With a broader development and diplomatic strategy for the country - which includes support for civilian and democratic governance and the strengthening of institutions - it gives the impression that Washington's policy toward the region is once again being conducted by military officers rather than civilian diplomats.

He concluded his speech to Al Jazeera Net by questioning the feasibility of sending troops to Somalia, and said, "This policy seems somewhat reactionary. The American forces have remained in Somalia for a decade without any kind of fundamental review of the strategy we use to confront threats."

He added that there is a growing debate about whether Al-Shabaab really represents some kind of threat to American interests to require sending American ground forces to Somalia, and until this assessment is fully made, it is difficult to support or appreciate the rationale behind the move to send hundreds of American forces. to there.