By Adrianna McGinley
Department of Defense and State officials faced stiff questions from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over the deployment of roughly 100 U.S. troops to central Africa in an effort to train African forces to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army, a known terrorist group in the region.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto and Assistant Defense Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow did their best to fend off questions from both Democrats and Republicans on the committee over the role U.S. troops will have in the mission and the cost to tax payers.
“The cost is really an important factor because the United States can’t afford to pay the price to win everyone else’s freedom in the world,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said.
Members agreed the organization and its leader, Joseph Kony, needed to be taken down, but expressed concern regarding the total estimated cost and duration of the mission, the possibility of U.S. troops being engaged in combat and the lack of a concrete exit strategy.
“The president has demonstrated leadership in Libya and the fight against terrorism,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said. [But] what is the strategic interest of the United States in doing this? I mean, there are lots of unpleasant people in the world. There are lots of insurgencies and terrorist movements in the world. The United States obviously cannot try to dethrone every one of them.”
Vershbow defended the mission saying the “advise and assist” model is well established and has proven successful in the past. The Defense official assured that there will be a clear exit within a reasonable amount of time.
“We have made very clear that this is not an open ended commitment. As part of the decision to deploy our advisers, we agreed that there would be a review after several months in order to assess whether our advisers are making sufficient progress toward our objectives,” Vershbow said. “Continuing this deployment is contingent upon a number of factors including a sustained commitment and sustained cooperation by the regional governments in addressing the LRA threat.”
Even with insecurities over specific logistical concerns, the members of the committee agreed on the importance of dismembering the group deemed a terrorist organization by the United States in 2001.
“Kony’s removal won’t guarantee peace, but it is the one thing that makes peace possible in that region,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.