US Backs Haftar in Libya Military Drills
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- United States launched the 'Flintlock 2026' military exercises in Libya for the first time, involving 1,500 troops from 30 countries and marking a formal step toward military integration in the divided nation.
- Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar is leveraging U.S.-backed military cooperation to entrench his power in eastern Libya, even as the 82-year-old increasingly operates as a kingmaker through his sons.
- Massad Boulos, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, brokered a temporary agreement between Libya’s eastern and western governments on unified spending to enable the joint military drills.
- Saddam Haftar, Khalifa Haftar’s son and deputy, sat alongside Lt. Gen. John Brennan, deputy commander of AFRICOM, during the exercises, symbolizing the family’s elevation to international security partners.
- AFRICOM is sponsoring the Flintlock 2026 maneuvers, which bring together Libyan forces from both the Government of National Unity in Tripoli and the Haftar-backed Government of National Stability.
Why it matters: The U.S. military engagement legitimizes Haftar’s dominance and his family’s political succession plan, shifting Libya’s power dynamics toward a dynastic structure akin to Gaddafi’s rule, while using security cooperation as leverage against Chinese and Russian influence.
