A defence expert cited by the NYT said he could not recall a deployment to the region “that ever came close to 600, except for contingencies like invasions or natural disasters. ”

With all that is going on in the world’s two main theatres of war, Ukraine and West Asia, both triggered principally by the US (alongside Israel in the latter case), it’s easy to forget that the US is also starting lots of new fires in its own “backyard”. Last week, the Trump administration announced the mobilisation of hundreds of Army soldiers to train local forces in the region as part of the Pentagon’s ostensible campaign to combat drug trafficking.

“Ostensible” because, as we noted in our Sept 26, 2023 post, “ Back to Business As Usual: The US Is Once Again Vigorously Stirring the Pot in Its Own ‘Backyard'” , Washington’s ramping up of its war on Latin America’s drug cartels — which began under the Biden administration but has intensified massively under Trump 2.0 — has precious little to do with stemming the flow of drugs…