Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
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TUNIS, Tunisia — Two years ago, American Marines battled Al Qaeda militants in western Tunisia along the border with Algeria. A Marine and a Tunisian soldier were wounded and two other Marines were later commended for their valor in the gunfight.
Yet many details of the February 2017 clash remain murky, largely because of the Tunisian government’s political sensitivities over the presence of American forces in its territory.
Publicly, American officials will say only that the battle happened in a North African “host” country. The Tunisian authorities have refused to confirm that anything happened at all.
Last year, when one of the most detailed accounts of the clash to date surfaced in a report in Task & Purpose, a privately owned American website focused on military and veterans affairs, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense was dismissive. It said the “presence of American troops in Tunisia was only for cooperation and training, not conducting operations.”
...The deepening American involvement in an array of secret missions goes largely unreported because of Tunisian and American concerns that publicizing this could attract even more extremist violence. There is also a strong aversion across the political spectrum in North Africa to Western intervention in the region.
....There are other signs of Washington’s increasing security cooperation with Tunisia. Body armor, rifles and night-vision goggles; reconnaissance aircraft and fast patrol boats; radios and devices to counter improvised explosives: The value of American military supplies delivered to the country increased to $119 million in 2017 from $12 million in 2012, government data show.
U.S. and Tunisia Are Fighting Militants Together. Just Don’t Ask Them About It.
Perhaps in the next election cycle, instead of the swimsuit competition there could be a tad bit more focus on foreign policy.
Yet many details of the February 2017 clash remain murky, largely because of the Tunisian government’s political sensitivities over the presence of American forces in its territory.
Publicly, American officials will say only that the battle happened in a North African “host” country. The Tunisian authorities have refused to confirm that anything happened at all.
Last year, when one of the most detailed accounts of the clash to date surfaced in a report in Task & Purpose, a privately owned American website focused on military and veterans affairs, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense was dismissive. It said the “presence of American troops in Tunisia was only for cooperation and training, not conducting operations.”
...The deepening American involvement in an array of secret missions goes largely unreported because of Tunisian and American concerns that publicizing this could attract even more extremist violence. There is also a strong aversion across the political spectrum in North Africa to Western intervention in the region.
....There are other signs of Washington’s increasing security cooperation with Tunisia. Body armor, rifles and night-vision goggles; reconnaissance aircraft and fast patrol boats; radios and devices to counter improvised explosives: The value of American military supplies delivered to the country increased to $119 million in 2017 from $12 million in 2012, government data show.
U.S. and Tunisia Are Fighting Militants Together. Just Don’t Ask Them About It.
Perhaps in the next election cycle, instead of the swimsuit competition there could be a tad bit more focus on foreign policy.
