Our troops don’t belong in that hell hole.
It’s amazing that the French have decided they can’t keep several battalions’ worth of troops in Africa. Just decades ago, this was the France on which the sun never set.
No, no, no. And again, No.
I’ve directly worked on the problems in West Africa. What U.S. troops (and not a lot of them, we’re talking dozens, not hundreds) are doing, is providing transportation and intelligence support to the French, and equipment (which they pay for) and training to local African police and armies.
What’s in it for us? We get them to fight Jihadists from ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other groups aspiring to create an Islamic state in northwestern Africa. The Civil War and chaos in Libya (thanks Hillary!) has allowed other Jihadists to the south and west to now access pipelines of money and weapons. Instead of being localized pains the rear end for African governments, they are now trying to join the Jihadist big leagues.
The Jihadists have been fragmented and fight each other, so with help, the Africans can keep them at bay. Thus we get a lot of bang for the buck by helping other people fight their own wars.