US military presence in Africa grew from hundreds to up to eleven thousand troops
Evidence
In total, since late 2001, the military has spent around $30 billion or more on a growing military infrastructure as well as other military aid and programs in Africa. This infrastructure includes nineteen lily pads in around seventeen countries; access to an additional eight or more “cooperative security locations” without any permanent U.S. presence; jet and naval fuel storage at twenty-eight or more locations in at least twenty countries; the construction or upgrading of scores of host country military facilities; and the expansion of several large bases in Europe to support operations in Africa. Since 2001, the military’s presence on the continent has grown from a few hundred to what is now, on any day, likely between seven thousand and eleven thousand U.S. troops. While the military’s power in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East significantly exceeds that in Africa, the Pentagon’s presence on the continent now tops that in Latin America and the Caribbean—long declared by U.S. leaders to be “America’s backyard.” The military is now operating in at least forty-nine of the fifty-four African countries. It may be operating in every single one. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 1000
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
Related
- U.S. military presence in Africa now exceeds that in Latin America and the Caribbean (similarity 0.92)
- Pentagon forces have quietly expanded to a dozen new African air bases (similarity 0.86)
- U.S. military operations in Africa exceed publicly disclosed scope (similarity 0.86)
- US military has spent $30 billion on African bases and programs since 2001 (similarity 0.85)
- The Pentagon quietly built dozens of African bases despite Africom’s official claims. (similarity 0.84)
- The Pentagon has quietly built roughly a dozen African air bases since 2007 (similarity 0.83)
- Pentagon had preplanned African bases before the Ebola deployment (similarity 0.82)
- U.S. troop presence agreements on foreign soil more than doubled between 1991 and 2007. (similarity 0.81)
- US troop-presence agreements abroad more than doubled between the Cold War’s end and 2007 (similarity 0.80)
- The U.S. military network has expanded geographically despite closing giant Cold War bases (similarity 0.79)
- Congress pushed for additional African basing and access agreements in 2015 (similarity 0.79)
- Pre-2007 Africa was a military afterthought, Somalia combat having bred retreat. (similarity 0.79)
- US military trainers and CIA have entrenched covert presence across East Africa (similarity 0.79)
- Base infrastructure spending outpaced troop numbers threefold in Iraq and Afghanistan (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Pentagon forces have quietly expanded to a dozen new African air bases
#expands(0.70) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 994 - US military trainers and CIA have entrenched covert presence across East Africa
#expands(0.60) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 996 - Post-Cold War agreements permitting U.S. troop presence more than doubled to over ninety
#expands(0.60) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 155 - US military has spent $30 billion on African bases and programs since 2001
#corroborates(0.50) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 1000 - US conducts covert wars and undisclosed operations across Africa and Yemen
#expands(0.50) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 996