Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 26-MARCH 3, 2020 UCW 11 e Pentagon is reviewing whether there needs to be a troop withdrawal in Africa. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, united against a Trump administra- tion plan to withdraw U.S. troops from part of Africa, pushed back in an exchange with Defense Secretary Mark Esper during a recent meeting. Graham and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., led the charge telling Esper that Con- gress would not support a U.S. troop withdrawal from the Sahel region in Africa, laying out the reasons to keep the troop presence there. At one point, Graham allegedly told Esper that he could "make your life hell." Graham denied making the comment. Several other lawmakers laid out their case forcefully. "From a broad security standpoint, the Sahel is a tinderbox of terrorist activity and where violent extremist organizations look to use the space to recruit, adapt and evolve," AFRICOM spokesman Air Force Col. Chris Karns said. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, AFRICOM commander, is on record saying that violent extremist group ac- tivity in the region has increased 250% since 2018. e Sahel is the geographic zone in sub-Saharan Africa between the Atlan- tic ocean and the Red Sea. It includes several nations plagued by interna- tional terrorist groups, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria. More than a dozen terrorist groups with links to the Islamic State or al-Qaida, like Boko Haram and al Shabaab, are operating there and other parts of Africa. e upsurge in violence from extremist groups in West Africa is moving south from Mali into Burkina Faso, a former French colony that suf- fered more than 2,200 civilian deaths in 2019 — a steep increase from the nearly 300 civilian deaths in 2018. ousands of people in Burkina Faso have been displaced because of the violence. Most recent estimates from the United Nations Office for the Co- ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in- dicate that more than 500,000 people were displaced between January 2019 and January 2020 in Burkina Faso. Graham and Coons argued that the number of American troops there is small, the cost to deploy them is low and withdrawal would abandon a major ally in France, whose army is leading the fight against the terror- ists there. e U.S. has approximately 6,000 troops in Africa, including 1,000 special operations troops in the Sahel, the region where four Fort Bragg Green Berets lost their lives two years ago. American forces train local troops, provide aerial refueling to French military planes and collect intelligence. e senators noted that this is the exact model the Trump administration has been pressing for, where another country leads militarily while the U.S. backs the effort. Graham said it would make no sense to abandon an area where that arrangement is working. Esper explained that he is trying to carry out the National Defense Strat- egy, which cites Russia and China as the biggest strategic competitors to the U.S., and is attempting to shift Ameri- can troop priorities accordingly. U.S. troops in Africa by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS The Sahel is the geographic zone in sub-Saharan Africa between the Atlantic ocean and the Red Sea. More than a dozen terrorist groups with links to the Islamic State or al-Qaida, like Boko Haram and al Shabaab, are operating there and other parts of Africa. Buy Tickets Now at CACFayNc.org Thank you to all our generous sponsors. For a complete list, please visit CACFayNC.org. Saturday, March 21, 6-10pm crown Ballroom Tickets on sale now! Presented by Horne Brothers �� Con structio n, Inc. www.hbc-inc.com 1.800.998.0320 Rock Stars Platinum Champions for Children Benefactors Build a better Murchison Creating Impactful Change in Our Community 1100 block of Murchison Road will be transformed into a community oriented place for everyone to socialize and enjoy! To Learn More or Volunteer Visit SATURDAY 12-5PM March 7, 2020 w w w . b e t t e r b l o c k f a y n c . c o m