THE OTHER WAR: President Trump is pulling 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria because he believes their mission aiding local forces battling ISIS has gone on long enough. At the same time, though, 500 U.S. troops are in Somalia, conducting a very similar mission aiding local forces battling al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate. As in Syria, U.S. troops are largely special operations forces who advise, assist, and accompany the Somali government and AMISOM troops in the field. AMISON is the U.N.-authorized African Union Mission to Somalia. And, as in Syria, the U.S. is providing lethal airpower to enable its partner troops on the ground to prevail in almost every engagement with al Shabaab militants.

IT’S COMBAT: The Somalia mission is based on the same model developed under the Obama administration. Find local forces to do the fighting, and enable them with U.S. expertise, intelligence, and firepower. Just like in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, U.S. troops are not doing the front-line fighting. But they are in dangerous combat zones and do occasionally suffer casualties. Last year the U.S. lost one soldier in Syria and one in Somalia.