#ISIS #alQaida - "#Africa is providing them that venue, that safe haven where they can establish themselves" @USSOCOM #Africa Commander MajGen Dagvin Anderson tells @AEI
#AfricaCrossroad_AEI
#AfricaCrossroad_AEI
"We see Islamic State core really needing these affiliates" in #Africa, per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson, adding #alQaida in Africa is even more dangerous, learning from the mistakes #ISIS made in #Iraq #Syria
"They stay below that threshold"
"They stay below that threshold"
#alShabaab "has become more aligned w/#alQaida...more responsive" per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson
"This is not a threat that one nation can take care of on its own" @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson says of #ISIS #alQaida "We should not underestimate what they're doing"
Says both are threats to the current international order
Says both are threats to the current international order
"They have come in and galvanized these localized groups that were disparate" per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson
#ISIS #alQaida "have the ability to transform the local grievance into an int'l one" he says
#ISIS #alQaida "have the ability to transform the local grievance into an int'l one" he says
US has less than 1,000 personnel working w/#Somalia's forces to fight #alShabab-most of that to help build the #Danab forces, per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson
Also focusing on #alShabaab in #Juba River Valley, where al Shabaab's leadership & external planning ops are
Also focusing on #alShabaab in #Juba River Valley, where al Shabaab's leadership & external planning ops are
US African partners being forced to invest 15-20% of their GDP in security due to terror threats, which means they are not able to invest that money in other areas like health, education, the economy - #ISIS #alQaida trying to take advantage of the shortfalls, per MajGen Anderson
"The US flag helps build trust. It also builds confidence" in #Africa, per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson
"We're having great effect with a small investment" per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson, also praisinf French forces
#France "has put a lot of blood & treasure into the #Sahel"
#France "has put a lot of blood & treasure into the #Sahel"
"The French are carrying the heavy burden of the fight in the #Sahel" adds per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson
"DoD has continued to conflate competition w/deterrence" in #Africa, Mark Mitchell, ex @DeptofDefense Principal Deputy Asst Sec for Special Ops/Low-Intensity Conflict tells @AEI
"We need to do a much better job of integrating our overall military efforts w/the diplomatic..."
"We need to do a much better job of integrating our overall military efforts w/the diplomatic..."
"Where we excel, what special ops' niche is, is enabling out partners" per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson
"That is what other soc-called great powers are unable to do"
"That is what other soc-called great powers are unable to do"
"These lines of influence aren't set. They're very fluid" in #Africa, per @USSOCOM Africa's MajGen Anderson
"We have the will & values to engage w/our partners a equals, not to make them feel second class" per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson "That matters"
"If we don't want corrosive dictatorships...then we have to be willing to go out an engage" per @USSOCOM #Africa's MajGen Anderson, adding it cannot be just the US military
"I can't think at any time the VEOs [violent extremism organizations] have benefited from #China or #Russia" in #Africa, per @USSOCOM's MajGen Anderson "That's not in anyone's interest"
"There are places to cooperate" w/#China in #Africa, per MajGen Anderson "I do see opportunities if they are willing to play by the rules"
"We need more energy...We need a coherent narrative & a coherent strategy to engage" in #Africa, per MajGen Anderson "We were brilliant at this during the #ColdWar"
"I think what [#RadioFreeEurope]...#VoiceofAmerica did was absolutely critical" per MajGen Anderson "I know that for a fact..."
"Having unbiased news that we push, that we send out around the world is absolutely vital to what we do" per US Special Ops #Africa Commander MajGen Anderson
"We have the ideals & values that transcend borders that people immigrate to America for"
"We have the ideals & values that transcend borders that people immigrate to America for"
"Whenever I go to #Africa, there isn't a partner that doesn't ask about how to come study in America, how do I get my kids to America, how do I get there?"
per MajGen Anderson "It's because they believe in what America stands for"
per MajGen Anderson "It's because they believe in what America stands for"
"We've become reticent, I think, to engage in information operations, to engage in news & broadcasts that matter" per MajGen Anderson "That's where as a nation we need to look & not be afraid to talk about who we are as a people"
"That is the strength of America & that is what our founding fathers established & that's what the Statue of Liberty stands for" per US Special Ops #Africa's MajGen Anderson "I don't defend that statue. I defend the words at her feet & the intangibles that that beacon stands for"
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