Status Updates From Tomorrow's Battlefield: U.S...

From Iraq to Afghanistan, American-style nation-building has crumbled, exposing the limits of American power [...] at a time when [the people of South Sudan] are most in need, the United States is talking about limits on aid, about backing away from the country it fostered, its prime example of nation-building-in-action in the heart of Africa.

In 2013, according to AFRICOM commander General David Rodriguez, the US military carried out a total of 546 "activities" on the continent - a catchall term for everything the military does in Africa. In other words, it averages about one and a half missions a day. This represents a 217% increase in operations, programs, and exercises since the command was established in 2008.

...the United States has helped facilitate a terror diaspora, imperiling nations and endangering peoples across Africa [...] Today, the continent is thick with militant groups that are increasingly crossing borders, sowing insecurity, and throwing the limits of US power into broad relief. After ten years of US operations to promote stability by military means, the results have been the opposite.