One of the more obscure clauses in the Constitution says that presidents can wage war wherever and whenever they like. Presidents certainly wage war as if there were such a clause. From Mike Maharrey at tenthamendmentcenter.com:
President Joe Biden has ratcheted up America’s quiet little war in Somalia.
President Donald Trump directed a significant escalation of the long-running U.S. war in the East African nation. In 2017, he loosened the rules of engagement for the drone war in Somalia. With the shackles removed, the U.S. military executed a record number of bombing missions. In 2019, the U.S. military conducted 63 airstrikes in Somalia, the most in any single year. It followed up with 52 strikes in 2020. That compares to 42 U.S. airstrikes in that country from 2007 to 2017.
Bombing dropped significantly after Biden took office and placed limits on drone strikes outside of active war zones. There were only five airstrikes reported in 2021.
Trump pulled out most of the 650 to 800 U.S. soldiers who were on the ground in Somalia late in his term. (He was responsible for sending most of those troops into the country to begin with.) Now, President Biden plans to send them back.
“President Biden has approved a request from the Secretary of Defense to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabaab,” according to a senior administration official.
In fact, Trump didn’t actually end “boots on the ground” in Somalia. U.S. soldiers were simply redeployed to neighboring countries and apparently moved in and out of Somalia on “an episodic basis,” according to the same official.
Biden also gave the Pentagon the green light to target about a dozen al-Shabaab leaders. That means we will likely see a ramp-up in drone strikes.
STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC 