Last week, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a new War Powers Resolution to remove U.S. troops from Somalia. As a floor vote on the measure appears imminent, Connect to Congress briefly spoke with Rep. Gaetz about the resolution, where he said that he is "going to take this Congress on a trip around the world."
"'I am going to take this Congress on a trip around the world': @RepMattGaetz explains why he proposed a resolution to pull U.S. troops from Somalia after his resolution to take troops out of Syria failed," Connect with Congress's Twitter account stated.
'I am going to take this Congress on a trip around the world': @RepMattGaetz explains why he proposed a resolution to pull U.S. troops from Somalia after his resolution to take troops out of Syria failed pic.twitter.com/44WCMfxr5H
— Connect to Congress (@SinclairC2C) April 3, 2023
By "taking Congress on a trip around the world," Rep. Gaetz seemed to imply he would continue to introduce more resolutions, "pass or fail," demanding the withdrawal of American soldiers from countries where "we seem to be the world's policeman rather than the world's superpower."
"Pass or fail, I am going to take this Congress on a trip around the world to places where we have service members where the vision and the focus and the purpose is unclear, and where we seem to be the world's policeman rather than the world's superpower," said Gaetz.
Regarding Somalia, Gaetz described how the deadliest threat to the country, the terrorist group Al-Shabab, is estimated to have 7,000 "hardened" fighters against a population of 7 million. As such, if the U.S. needs to aid the Somali government against a group that small, "it's probably not that durable of a solution anyway," and "the future of Somalia should be dictated by Somalia."
"We have hundreds of troops in Somalia right now. There are about 7,000 hardened Al-Shabab fighters in a country of 7 million people. And I think that the future of Somalia should be dictated by Somalia. And if we have to be there to prop up some government against 7,000 Al-Shabab fighters, well then it's probably not that durable of a solution anyway," Gaetz concluded.
On the bright side, Voice of America reported that the Somali government's recent military operations liberated 1/3 of Al-Shabab's territory to government rule, suggesting Gaetz's resolution may have some footing.
