Commandos Without Borders: The US’s Elite Troops Partner With African Forces but Pursue US Aims
NOVANEWS
By Nick Turse
TomDispatch
US Army Special Operations Command Africa participants share ideas during the SOCAFRICA Commander's Conference held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany from November 16-20. (Photo: US Army Africa)
Al-Qaeda doesn't care about borders. Neither does the Islamic State or Boko Haram. Brigadier General Donald Bolduc thinks the same way.
"[T]errorists, criminals, and non-state actors aren't bound by arbitrary borders," the commander of Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) told an interviewer early this fall. "That said, everything we do is not organized around recognizing traditional borders. In fact, our whole command philosophy is about enabling cross-border solutions, implementing multi-national, collective actions and empowering African partn...