{"id":57164,"date":"2020-01-17T01:43:30","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T01:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/17\/smith-thornberry-join-congressional-pushback-on-espers-africa-troop-drawdown-plan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:12:42","slug":"smith-thornberry-join-congressional-pushback-on-espers-africa-troop-drawdown-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2020\/01\/17\/smith-thornberry-join-congressional-pushback-on-espers-africa-troop-drawdown-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Esper\u2019s Africa drawdown snags on Capitol Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The House Armed Services Committee\u2019s top Democrat and Republican joined a growing chorus of lawmakers warning Defense Secretary Mark Esper to reconsider plans to reduce military forces<\/a> in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to Esper obtained by Defense News, HASC Chairman Adam Smith<\/a>, D-Wash., and ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, urged the secretary to \u201ccarefully consider the adverse implications of reducing our force posture in Africa,\u201d cautioning that \u201cthe threat of violent extremism and terrorism persists\u201d in the region overseen by U.S. Africa Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA decrease in our investment now may result in the need for the United States to reinvest at many more times the cost down the road,\u201d the HASC leaders wrote in the letter, dated Jan. 16. It was also signed by House Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee Chairman Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and ranking member Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the idea is to redirect military forces to counter China and Russia to better fulfill the 2018 National Defense Strategy<\/a>, the congressional disapproval is an early sign of the political capital Esper may have to spend in order to push through a series of ambitious reform efforts in the coming months<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other critics on Capitol Hill include Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., as well as Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Chris Coons, D-Del.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal Pentagon deliberations to cut America\u2019s footprint in West Africa, including potentially leaving a Nigerien base that was opened just months ago, was first reported by The New York Times <\/a>in late December. The goal would be to move troops out of Africa and redeploy assets toward challenging China and Russia, per the National Defense Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Times, Esper\u2019s proposed cuts would most likely focus on the several hundred troops now deployed in countries like Niger, Chad and Mali. If so, that would be a fraction of the 6,000 to 7,000 American troops in Africa, and it would appear to exclude the 500 special operations troops fighting alongside local forces against al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked militant group based in Somalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of 11 congressmen, led by HASC Vice Chair Anthony Brown, D-Md., sent a separate letter to Esper<\/a>, warning the move is a \u201cshortsighted action that both diminishes our overall national security posture and our ability to lead with American values and influence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then on Thursday, Graham and Coons issued a letter to Esper, raising \u201cserious concern\u201d about the potential drawdown, warning that any \u201cwithdrawal or reduction would likely result in a surge in violent extremist attacks on the continent and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement, Inhofe similarly warned that \u201cany drawdown of our troops would be short-sighted, could cripple Africom\u2019s [U.S. Africa Command\u2019s] ability to execute its mission and, as a result, would harm national security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRather than talking about drawing down troops in Africa, we should finally assign forces to Africom on an enduring basis, in order to provide the command with predictable resourcing so it can be most effective in defending U.S. national security,\u201d Inhofe\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
JULY 11: (L-R) House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., talk to journalists on Capitol Hill July 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. The lawmakers were participating in the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act conference meeting. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Combating China<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In theory, troop cuts in Africa would benefit the goals of the National Defense Strategy, particularly the need to refocus the U.S. military\u2019s budget and attention toward the threat posed by China. So it is notable that in all three letters or statements, members argued that keeping forces in Africa is specifically needed to counter China, whose influence is growing on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter from HASC leaders acknowledged the \u201cintent\u201d behind the review of force posture, but argued that America\u2019s presence in Africa is \u201ceffectively countering Russian and Chinese efforts to expand their influence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That angle also emerged during a HASC hearing Wednesday<\/a> about countering China on a global scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., questioned how, if the troops are removed, the U.S. can be effective in addressing China\u2019s \u201cdebt-trap diplomacy\u201d in Africa. He suggested that the U.S. troop presence enables soft power so that groups such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and nongovernmental organizations can operate on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy concern is that if we pull what amounts to a very small number of troops out of certain areas that nongovernmental organizations that provide services to the public \u2015 healthcare, education \u2015 then they will not be there,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown added that during a recent visit to AFRICOM\u2019s area of responsibility, there was \u201csome collective anxiety about their troop strength” and the command\u2019s role in great power competition. Likewise Special Operations Command was \u201cstruggling a little bit\u201d to articulate its role in modern geopolitics, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Hunter, a former Pentagon official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a witness at the hearing, noted the Defense Department has so many forces overseas that he is \u201calways a little puzzled by having really intense discussion about 1,000 troops in this location.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I would also say when it comes to Africa, it is economically the fastest-growing continent and is likely to be for some time to come,” Hunter said. \u201cThe Chinese are making a huge strategic play for [it], so I don\u2019t see a U.S. return on investment, if you will, by pulling out from there in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broad and bipartisan rebuke of the move could have bigger implications for Esper\u2019s larger attempts to change the layout of America\u2019s footprint abroad as well as his other proposed changes to how his department operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s \u201ca further reminder of how challenging it is to recalibrate and right-size U.S. military posture around the globe,” said Mara Karlin, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, now with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMeaningfully implementing, the NDS will be impossible without a hard and serious look at new and different risks that emerge from posture changes,” she said. \u201cBut failing to do so will neuter the U.S. military\u2019s ability to enhance its focus on Asia and Europe \u2014 and minimizes serious dialogue on the risks of a fat and increasing Middle East posture as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top lawmakers on the armed services committees are warning against removing American forces from parts of Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home","flashpoints","left-column"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home","middle-column","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,11,47,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3378,3446],"class_list":["post-57164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LEDYXEVCSFEEHPWRDJBZQPPFTE","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2020\/01\/17\/smith-thornberry-join-congressional-pushback-on-espers-africa-troop-drawdown-plan\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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