Either it’s intentional or just plain nonchalance ?
Or?
Donald Trump’s view of no military support unless a country pays ‘protection money’?
The result is becoming…
Russia joining China in expanding its military footprint in Africa….
This IS worrying other Western countries, some African countries and lawmakers of BOTH parties in America’s congress…
And…
Trump’s Defense Sec, an ‘Yes’ man is drawing up plans to move American military assets OUT of the region while those below him worry….
Nearly 200 Russian mercenaries have deployed in recent months to Mozambique to combat a growing Islamic State offshoot there, even as Moscow is taking initial steps toward building a military port in the Horn of Africa that could become Russia’s first permanent base on the continent.
Russia is steadily expanding its military influence across Africa by increasing arms sales, security agreements and training programs for unstable countries or autocratic leaders. Other recent actions by Moscow include quietly deploying mercenaries and political advisers to several countries, including the Central African Republic. Hundreds of Russian fighters have arrived in Libya in recent months as part of a broad campaign by the Kremlin to intervene on behalf of the militia leader Khalifa Hifter to shape the outcome of Libya’s civil war.
American officials, analyzing what they call great power competition, say they are alarmed by Russia’s growing influence, as well as China’s, as Washington struggles to exert its economic and security goals on the continent.
This campaign for influence is playing out as Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is weighing the potential withdrawal of hundreds of forces from West Africa to better counter threats from Russia and China closer to their borders.
But Mr. Esper’s review has drawn sharp criticism from influential congressional Republicans and Democrats who argue that cutting American forces in Africa would help only its rivals.
“A withdrawal from the continent would also certainly embolden both Russia and China,” Senators Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, wrote to Mr. Esper this month.
Sustaining United States forces in Africa “serves as a check” against those rivals expanding their influence on the continent, the senators said…
Another self-inflicted blow in the struggle (?) with Russia:
How Putin Outfoxed Trump in Venezuela
¶ The Trump administration underestimated how much support President Nicolás Maduro would receive from Russia and Cuba, as well as from U.S. allies
By Jessica Donati, Andrew Restuccia and Ian Talley
The Wall Street Journal
Jan. 27, 2020 10:22 am ET
The Trump administration’s bid to replace Venezuela’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro hit a roadblock after a meeting with Russian officials in Rome last year—and has never recovered.
U.S. envoy Elliott Abrams arrived at the Westin Excelsior hotel hoping to persuade Russia to withdraw its support for Mr. Maduro and to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov instead demanded the U.S. back down from military threats and lift the economic sanctions intended to force Mr. Maduro’s hand.
In the months that followed, the U.S. campaign spiraled into a foreign-policy debacle, thwarted by familiar adversaries, Russia and Cuba, as well as allies, Turkey and India—all countries that one way or another helped Venezuela sidestep U.S. sanctions, according to current and former U.S. officials and Venezuelan opposition activists. The European Union watched from the sidelines.
The Trump administration, confident Mr. Maduro would fall, didn’t foresee Russia leading the way for other countries to eclipse the sanctions. In turn, administration reluctance to impose sanctions on Russian enterprises and others kept Venezuela’s oil and gold flowing to buyers.
This month, in a sign of how much the opposition is floundering, Venezuela security forces blocked Mr. Guaidó from entering the National Assembly building, where he was seeking re-election as leader. Mr. Guaidó, in a blue suit, tried and failed to scale the spiked iron fence.
Russia now handles more than two-thirds of Venezuela’s crude oil, current and former administration officials said, including helping to conceal export destinations. The lifeline has helped Mr. Maduro slow the economy’s free fall, consolidate his grip on power and weaken the opposition….
continued at:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-u-s-bid-for-regime-change-in-venezuela-faltered-11580138560
Maybe Trump was under Putin’s thumb back then already?