The U.S. military will reduce its troop levels in Africa by about 720 in the coming years, the Pentagon announced Thursday, a cut of ten percent from the current 7,200 on the continent. The reduction, first reported by CNN, is the first wave of what the Pentagon says is a “more research-sustainable approach” to worldwide counterterrorism operations as the Trump administration prioritizes “efforts and resources for long-term competition with China and Russia.” Yet the adjustment in troop levels is modest and its pace for reduction slow, raising questions about how substantial this latest realignment in a generational global war will ultimately be. The Pentagon did not specify where the majority of the cuts will come from, and U.S. forces continue to be heavily involved in conflicts like Somalia, where the U.S. has launched an estimated 28 drone strikes in 2018 alone.
—Spencer Ackerman
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