White House Defends Its Somalia Counterterrorism Model

Washington Post: White House officials defend Somalia strategy as counterterrorism model



President Obama has cited the battle against al-Shabab militants in Somalia as a model of success for his relatively low-investment, light-footprint approach to counterterrorism.



By some measures, it has paid dividends. U.S. drones have killed several of the Islamist group’s leaders, including two top planners in just the past month, a senior administration official said Friday. African Union troops backed by the United States have forced al-Shabab fighters to flee huge swaths of territory.



But this week’s massacre of 148 people at Garissa University College, the deadliest terrorist attack on Kenyan soil in two decades, demonstrates the limits of the administration’s approach and the difficulty of producing lasting victories over resilient enemies.



Only last fall, Obama was touting his counterterrorism strategy in the region as one that “we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.”



WNU Editor: There is no political will in Washington to allocate thousands of soldiers and billions of dollars to battle Al Shaabab and to rebuild Somalia .... as a result, this light footprint and low investment is the only acceptable policy for many in Washington right now. Will this change because of the massacre at Garissa University College in Kenya .... in my opinion no .... Al Shaabab is an effective terror group, but they are not dangerous enough to directly threaten the U.S. for Washington to change its counterterrorism policy.