Terror Fight Shifts to Africa
Source: WSJ
Military counterterrorism officials are seeking more capability to pursue extremist groups in Africa and elsewhere that they believe threaten the U.S., and the Obama administration is considering asking Congress to approve expanded authority to do it.
The move, according to administration and congressional officials, would be aimed at allowing U.S. military operations in Mali, Nigeria, Libya and possibly other countries where militants have loose or nonexistent ties to al Qaeda's Pakistan headquarters. Depending on the request, congressional authorization could cover the use of armed drones and special operations teams across a region larger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined, the officials said.
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Some U.S. officials argue that the existing authority is sufficient, especially if the administration works through African forces and regional governments—as it says it would prefer. But others say new authority is needed if officials decide they need to do more to pressure militant groups. The debate is going on both within the administration and the Pentagon, where officials remain divided over whether more direct action against militant groups in Africa will be needed.
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Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM originally known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, once resisted ties to al Qaeda. New leaders changed the name and embraced al Qaeda, but experts don't believe it takes its directions. There are also other groups in Mali, such as the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, which experts said have only indirect ties to the al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan.
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