I never said I have any beef with America in Africa. I was just pointing out to you that the last two administrations indirectly committed the American people to a series of future wars in Africa - and all of this was done without consultation.
Secondly, with increased exposure comes increased risk of entanglement in Africa’s many tribal conflicts - this wasn’t carefully considered.
Thirdly, the policy lacks a serious economic component. If you are checking the influence of China in Africa and you are not talking economics, you are not serious.
Well, if you start a African Ping list, please include me. I would be interested in trying to understand more. I have read through your posts and find them very interesting. This country throws too much money around this planet and usually gets no results...just like they throw money at problems in this country and we have little to show for it other than a bunch of brainwashed entitlement kids screaming on Wall Street that they want something that doesn’t belong to them.
For example,I remember thinking to myself that it probably wasn’t a good idea to try to stamp out the poppy industry in Afghanistan by burning fields, etc. because it was the only ‘industry’ the country seemed to have at the time. I could get behind a program to bring economic diversity to the region over a period of time, but to try to wipe out fields of the stuff over night...while we were there getting rid of the Taliban was mission creep and not important to our national security as far as I was concerned. It also seemed counter productive to wipe out a major industry in a country that barely has enough food to feed their people in the first place.
I am a big property rights and free enterprise conservative and have no patience for marxist ideology. I truly believe that most of this country’s problems can be laid directly at the feet of liberals and socialist thought.