The Pentagon last month quietly released a report revealing that — despite sending forces to at least 22 countries in Africa — the U.S. isn't reaching its objectives.

At the same time, West African officers trained and advised by U.S. special operators keep overthrowing the governments the United States is trying to prop up — including four coups by Flintlock attendees since 2020. SOCAFRICA’s chief, Rear Adm. Milton “Jamie” Sands, tells Rolling Stone that the United States was not responsible for the rebellions, was powerless to prevent them, and suggested a major reason for the coups was popular dissatisfaction with U.S. partners on the continent who suppress the will of their own peoples.

“I would tell you that there’s no one more surprised or disappointed when partners that we’re working with or have been working with for a while in some cases decide to overthrow their government,” Sands tells Rolling Stone during a conference call with members of the press. “We have not found ourselves able to prevent it.”

:who-did-this:

  • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    AFRICOM says it does not keep tabs of which or how many American mentees overthrow their own governments, but U.S.-trained officers have attempted at least nine coups (and succeeded in at least eight) across five West African countries — Burkina Faso (three times), Guinea, Mali (three times), Mauritania, and the Gambia — since 2008.

    Rear Adm. Sands, the Special Operations Command Africa chief, maintained that U.S. training was not linked to coups and instead suggested that a key reason for them was that the U.S. was partnered with repressive regimes or, as he put it, “governance that is not necessarily aligned with the rights and will of their people.” Despite the rebellions by U.S. trainees and the partnerships with oppressive governments, Sands insisted, there “is no other option” but to continue U.S. support but no way to halt the coups

    U.S. Military Bungling: "Can't stop, won't stop."