Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!Jeremiah 14 : 19
SAM METZ and MONIKA PRONCZUK
Sun, May 25, 2025 at 5:38 PM GMT+35 min read
TAN TAN, Morocco (AP) — The U.S. military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies’ underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own.
My brethren, do you realize that your own salvation, as well as the destiny of other souls, depends upon the preparation you now make for the trial before us? Have you that intensity of zeal, that piety and devotion, which will enable you to stand when opposition shall be brought against you? If God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when you will be brought before councils, and every position of truth which you hold will be severely criticized. The time that so many are now allowing to go to waste should be devoted to the charge that God has given us of preparing for the approaching crisis.
The law of God should be loved and honored by His true people now more than ever before. 5T 716.4 – 5T 717.1
At African Lion, its largest joint training exercise on the continent, that shift was clear: “We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations,” Gen. Michael Langley said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“There needs to be some burden sharing,” Langley, the U.S. military’s top official in Africa, said on Friday, the final day of the exercise.
The angel of God has repeated again and again, “Press together! Press together! Be of one mind, of one judgement! Let God be your leader! Follow His footsteps!” 5LtMs, Lt 33, 1888, par. 28
For four weeks, troops from more than 40 countries rehearsed how to confront threats by air, land, and sea. They flew drones, simulated close-quarters combat and launched satellite-guided rockets in the desert 🏜️ .
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.Psalm 20 : 7
Maneuvers mirrored previous editions of African Lion, now in its 21st year. But mostly gone now is language that emphasizes ideas the U.S. once argued set it apart from Russia and China.
Messaging about the interwoven work of defense, diplomacy and development once formed the core of Washington’s security pitch. In their place now are calls for helping allies build capacity to manage their own security, which Langley said was a priority for President Donald Trump’s Defense Department.
You move in these things very much as you feel at the time, and therefore are in danger of making too much of one man, doing too much for one man, and then there has to come a change and this change is felt by that man tremendously. These dangers, I have been shown, imperiled souls. And for this reason one man’s mind and one man’s judgment must not control the matters of God’s cause. There should be many counselors whose unbiased feelings and clear heads must have the moulding of the work. This has been shown in every vision for years, and yet there is continual danger of the cause of God bearing the mould of your mind to its detriment. 3LtMs, Lt 49, 1880, par. 7
“We have our set priorities now — protecting the homeland. And we’re also looking for other countries to contribute to some of these global instability areas,” he said, referencing U.S. support for Sudan.
The shift comes as the U.S. military makes moves to “build a leaner, more lethal force,” including potentially cutting military leadership positions in places like Africa, where America’s rivals continue to deepen their influence.
China has launched its own expansive training program for African militaries. Russian mercenaries are recalibrating and cementing their role as security partner of choice throughout North, West and Central Africa.
Birth of New World Order Police whole of government approach
In an interview a year ago, Langley emphasized what U.S. military officials have long called a “whole of government approach” to countering insurgency. Even amid setbacks, he defended the U.S. approach and said force alone couldn’t stabilize weak states and protect U.S. interests against the risk of violence spilling out.
“I’ve always professed that AFRICOM is not just a military organization,” Langley said last year. He called good governance an “enduring solution to a number of layered threats — whether it be desertification, whether it be crop failure from changing environments, or whether it be from violent extremist organizations.”
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The “whole of government approach” no longer occupies the same place at the center of U.S. messaging, though Langley said holistic efforts have worked in places like Ivory Coast, where development coupled with defense had reduced attacks by jihadi groups near its volatile northern border.
Swelling of Jordan!
But such successes aren’t a pattern.
“I’ve seen progression and I’ve seen regression,” said Langley, who is scheduled to exit his post later this year.
As the US steps back, insurgencies gain ground
The U.S. military’s new posture comes even though many African armies remain ill-equipped and insurgent groups expand.
Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been—the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before. GC 605.3
“We see Africa as the epicenter for both al-Qaida and Islamic State,” a senior U.S. defense official said earlier this month, noting both groups had growing regional affiliates and the Islamic State group had shifted command and control to Africa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
As the controversy extends into new fields and the minds of the people are called to God’s downtrodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and, in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment keepers. GC 607.1
Fearful ‘Protector’ sold self to work evil in the sight of the LORD
Africa has rarely ranked high on the Pentagon’s list of priorities, but the U.S. has still spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security assistance and has roughly 6,500 Africa Command personnel on the continent. In some regions, the U.S. faces direct competition from Russia and China. In others, regional affiliates of al-Qaida and the IS still require direct military action, Langley said.
The messaging shift from “whole of government” to more burden-sharing comes as fears grow that rising violence could spread beyond hotspots where insurgents have expanded influence and found vacuums in which they can consolidate power.
And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.1 Kings 21 : 20
Parts of of both East and West Africa have emerged as epicenters of violence. In 2024, more than half of the world’s terrorism victims were killed across West Africa’s Sahel, a vast desert territory ruled by military juntas, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group, which compiles yearly terrorism statistics, also found Somalia accounted for 6% of all terrorism-related deaths, making it the deadliest for terrorism in Africa outside the Sahel.
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Since Trump took office, the U.S. military has escalated airstrikes in Somalia, targeting IS and al-Shabab operatives. But despite air support, Somalia’s army remains far from being able to maintain security on the ground, Langley acknowledged.
“The Somali National Army is trying to find their way,” Langley said, adding that they had regained some footing after years of setbacks. “There are some things they still need on the battlefield to be very effective.”
Similarly in West Africa, the notion that states could soon have the capacity to counter such threats is a distant prospect, said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks, a security consulting firm. Even before Western influence began to wane in the Sahel, needed military support was limited, threats remained active, and local militaries were left without the tools to confront them.
So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.1 Samuel 13 : 22
Western powers with a presence in the Sahel have gradually scaled back their engagement, either by choice or after being pushed out by increasingly hostile governments.
“Many of them do not have very strong air forces and are not able to monitor the movement of militants, especially in areas where roads are very difficult to traverse, the infrastructure is extremely poor,” Ochieng, who specializes in the Sahel and Great Power competition in Africa, said.
[20] And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. [21] Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. [22] For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.Luke 21 : 20-22
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