National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson subsequently declared the US plans to establish “a persistent presence” in Somalia so as to “maximize the safety and effectiveness of [US] forces” there.
The alleged threat to US troops, Al-Shabaab, has been described by Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Mark Milley as “an extension of Al-Qaeda*.”
The current National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, summed up the relationship between notorious international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda and the US In a leaked 2012 email to his then-boss, Hillary Clinton: “AQ [Al Qaeda] is on our side in Syria.”
*A terrorist organization banned in Russia