The US military is operating in more countries than we think

[Boats]

The US military is operating in more countries than we think
By: Jim Lobe - Responsible Statecraft News - 11-08-22
Re: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/20...than-we-think/

A new report finds that DOD uses ‘security cooperation’ programs for ‘secret wars,’ recommends that Congress rein them in.

U.S. military forces have been engaged in unauthorized hostilities in many more countries than the Pentagon has disclosed
to Congress, let alone the public, according to a major new report released late last week by New York University School of
Law’s Brennan Center for Justice.

“Afghanistan, Iraq, maybe Libya. If you asked the average American where the United States has been at war in the past two
decades, you would likely get this short list,” according to the report, Secret War: How the U.S. Uses Partnerships and Proxy
Forces to Wage War Under the Radar. “But this list is wrong – off by at least 17 countries in which the United States has engaged
in armed conflict through ground forces, proxy forces, or air strikes.”

“This proliferation of secret war is a relatively recent phenomenon, and it is undemocratic and dangerous,” the report’s author,
Katherine Yon Ebright, wrote in the introduction. “The conduct of undisclosed hostilities in unreported countries contravenes our
constitutional design. It invites military escalation that is unforeseeable to the public, to Congress, and even to the diplomats
charged with managing U.S. foreign relations.”

The 39-page report focuses on so-called “security cooperation” programs authorized by Congress pursuant to the 2001 Authorization
for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, against certain terrorist groups. One such program, known as Section 127e, authorized the
Defense Department to “provide support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating
authorized ongoing military operations by United States special operations forces to combat terrorism.”

According to the report, that “support” has been broadly — or, more accurately, too broadly — interpreted by the Pentagon.
In practice, it has enabled the U.S. military to “develop and control proxy forces that fight on behalf of and sometimes alongside
U.S. forces” and to use armed force to defend its local partners against adversaries (in what the Pentagon calls “collective self-defense”)
regardless of whether those adversaries pose any threat to U.S. territory or persons, and, in some cases, whether or not the adversaries
have been officially designated as legitimate targets under the 2001 AUMF.

In Somalia in 2016, for example, U.S. forces invoked “collective self-defense” to launch a strike against a rival militia of the Puntland
Security Force, an elite brigade that had originally been recruited, trained, and equipped by the CIA and subsequently taken over by
the Pentagon in 2011.

Moreover, the Pentagon deployed the PSF, which was largely independent of the Somali government, to fight al-Shabab and the Islamic
State of Somalia, sometimes alongside U.S. forces, for several years before the executive branch officially designated both groups as
legitimate targets.

Similarly, in Cameroon, U.S. forces accompanying a partner force on an “advise and assist” mission ended up shooting and killing an
adversary. The Pentagon has used a Section 127 program there to pursue leaders of Boko Haram, a terrorist group that has “never
been publicly identified as an associated force of Al-Qaeda, and thus a lawful target, under the 2001 AUMF,” according to the report.

Congress rarely hears of these incidents because, according to the report, DOD insists they are too minor or “episodic” to rise to the
level of “hostilities” that would trigger reporting requirements under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.

An exception, however, came in October 2017 when four U.S. soldiers were killed while participating in a “train and advise role” with
Nigerian forces under a related “security cooperation” program known as Section 333, which was also enacted pursuant to the 2001
AUMF and authorizes the Pentagon to “train and equip” foreign forces anywhere in the world. The incident shocked lawmakers who
were unaware that U.S. troops were operating in the field in Niger, let alone that Section 333 was being interpreted to permit U.S.
forces to conduct operations with local partners.

“I’ve got guys in Kenya, Chad, Cameroon, Niger [and] Tunisia who are doing the same kind of things as the guys in Somalia, exposing
themselves to the same kind of danger and not just on 127 echoes,” bragged Brigadier Gen. Donald Bolduc (ret.), who commanded
U.S. special forces in Africa until 2017 and is currently running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire. “We’ve had
guys wounded in all the types of missions that we do.”

The report, which relies on published work by investigative reporters, interviews with knowledgeable officials and congressional staff,
official documents and records, as well as the author’s legal analysis, identifies 13 countries with Section 127e programs in addition
to Somalia and Cameroon. They include Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Niger, Nigeria, Syria,
Tunisia, and Yemen. But it stressed that the list is almost certainly not exhaustive.

Fifty countries, from Mexico to Peru in the west to Indonesia and the Philippines (where U.S. forces are known to have taken part in
combat operation) in the east, and covering 22 countries in North and sub-Saharan Africa alone (not to mention Ukraine) had
Section 333 programs in place as of mid-2018, according to the report.

Perhaps even more dangerous than the Section 127e counterterrorism programs, according to the report, are security cooperation
programs undertaken pursuant to Section 1202 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2018. Using language that mirrors
Section 127e, that provision goes beyond the counterterrorism purposes of Section 1273e by authorizing “support” to partner
forces “engaged in supporting or facilitating irregular warfare operations by the United States Special Operations Forces.”

“Irregular warfare” is defined by DOD as “competition …short of traditional armed conflict” or “all-out war.” Pentagon officials have
described Section 1202 as “a highly useful tool for enabling irregular warfare operations…to deter and defeat …revisionist powers
and rogue regimes.” They have also insisted that “irregular warfare is likely to be increasingly relied on as DOD begins to
“prioritize great power competition.”

“Broadly speaking, the purpose of the [Section] 1202 authority is to take the department’s [Section] 127e approach of creating and
controlling partner forces and wield it against countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” according to the report.
“Section 1202, in short, raises the same potential as § 127e for hostilities that Congress has not authorized, but with far graver
consequences because the enemy could be a powerful, nuclear-armed state.”

Given the increased risks, simply repealing or reforming “outdated and overstretched AUMFs …[is] insufficient,” the report concludes.
“Congress should repeal or reform the Department of Defense’s security cooperation authorities. Until it does so, the nation will
continue to be at war – without, in some cases, the consent or even knowledge of its people.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal note: Are we surprised - not really. We seem to be the Big Brother to many over the years.
We (The USA) taken it upon ourselves to come to the aide of many 3rd world order countries. It seems
that the incorrigible are everywhere of late or in many cases they have resources - or locations of
interest to us. Are they all NATO countries - no way! We've seen the brutality of the many innocents
is intolerable and immoral - to allow such elements to do as they wish. Moreso; where brutally rules
and persecution on innocents which is unacceptable and immoral.
-
In other cases many may have resources that we don't - and we offer assistance but something in
return for protection. Many folks can't really apprehend the elements involved in reaching out to
those who are slaughtered - just because.
-
America has soft heart - we can not tolerate nor sit back and watch the bad buys
persecute the innocents. This is what makes us special in the world - and it allows
us to remove the dirt bags that deal in killing. We've sacrificed ourselves for many
others - because we believe them to be immoral and deadly. At times once we've
cleaned up the issues - they roll back to their old ways - and that disheartening.
-
I'm proud to be an American in my entire history from my Grand-Father - my
Father & Uncles & my Brother & I - have fought in all the wars since - WW1 -
WW2 - Korea - and Viet Nam.
-
[Closing comment:]
-
But today to watch the ongoing insurrection going on our country (USA) is very
disheartening. The current issues are un-American and disrespectful to our
history and our Democracy. For which stands!
-
We've lost the respect of our own folks (and the world is watching) and have
since turned against one another. Insurrections are only the beginning more
will come if not brought under control. The Left & the Right have to find
themselves and re-establish normality without tearing the Country apart.
-
Let me put it this way: All the Souls that have fought & died and buried
here - and all around the world - since becoming America.

We now have to wonder what in he hell went wrong - with our current American
Values. Our history shows that they fought & died or suffered to accomplish an
American Policy - by which - make it seem like it's become meaningless today.
-
Our petty BS today is unacceptable - I blame the Leadership of those in power
who have crossed a boundary by which it will lead to a full blown surrection
thereby destroying any and all efforts made by so many - once again since
its conception.
-
Do you want to see this happen? Well you started it - so now what?
-
What do you offer to those who remain? How have you advanced America?
-
Brief outline of upcoming alterations - In The New America
So: A 2022 Cold Civil War/Insurrection - will do what?
a. Toss out all the People you don't like?
b. Strapping on guns is now mandatory?
c. Disengage all foreign policies & installations
d. Put a madmen in the White House? (If it isn't burned down)
e. The Declaration of Indepence becomes meaningless - until you write a new one.
f. Bring all troops back home.
g. How will you bring the cost of living down.
h. We now know you can - destroy or kill whomever is not compliant - to your wishes.
i. Do you see where this is going? Can you guarantee you can make it better?
j. We are now un-American's since your now in charge.
k. Should we put walls up around each state themselves - to keep others out.
l. Each state has to take care of their own issues - grow their own food
m. Whose getting paid or will they?
n. Eliminate the military and all war materials.
o. Ok who's going to grow the crops?
p. This list could go on for sometime - but your now in charge - so fix it!
-
You now have new system outline for the future America
unless you decided to change the name? -
-
Of course we all know this is all hypothetical - but you never know?
-