Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.
  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
The Known Unknowns of the Secret US Drone War in Somalia
This Is Hell
06 Mar 2019
🖨️ Print Article

US troops landed in oil-rich Somalia in 1992 and never really left. Over the years some have been replaced with drones and mercenary contractors, but Americans still prop up their version of a Somali government, headed by a US citizen whose writ doesn't go much beyond the capital. Obama bombed Somalia regularly, but under Trump the number of drone strikes have tripled, killing unknown numbers of Africans and terrorizing large swaths of the countryside. The US government doesn't even reveal which agency is conducting many of the bombing strikes, and next to no reporting on the long war in Somalia appears in the US press or broadcast media.

ThisIsHell host Chuck Mertz interviews Mogadishu based journalist Amanda Sperber. Amanda wrote the article "Inside the Secretive US Air Campaign In Somalia" for The Nation: www.thenation.com/article/somalia-…et-air-campaign/

This interview was originally broadcasted by our friends at ThisISHell.com on Saturday February 16, 2019.

Somalia
drone warfare

Related Podcasts

Israel and Somaliland
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
U.S. and Israeli Interference in Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia
25 September 2026
Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African Newswire, discusses Israeli recognitio
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Israel's Recognition of Somaliland Destabilizes the Horn of Africa
09 January 2026
Israel is the first and only nation to recognize the Somaliland region of Somalia as an independent state.
Map of the Horn of Africa
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Trump Administration Continues U.S. Destabilization of Somalia
21 February 2025
Abayomi Azikiwe, is the editor of Pan-African Newswire.

More Stories

  • Rwanda's Military is the French Proxy on African Soil
    Vijay Prashad
    Rwanda's Military is the French Proxy on African Soil
    15 Sep 2021
    Over July and August Rwandan soldiers were deployed in Mozambique, purportedly to fight ISIS terrorists.
  • The Limits of "Lived Experience"
    Erica Caines
    The Limits of "Lived Experience"
    15 Sep 2021
    The mantra of "lived experience" can be a dangerous cover for reactionary politics.
  • Democrats, Abortion and Phony Politics
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Democrats, Abortion and Phony Politics
    08 Sep 2021
    Democratic party leadership are as uninterested in fighting for abortion rights as they are in addressing anything else their members need and want.
  • American Liberals Praise Biden at the Expense of True Peace
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    American Liberals Praise Biden at the Expense of True Peace
    08 Sep 2021
    Joe Biden is committed to the imperatives of the bipartisan war party.
  • U.S. is Waging Domestic War and Preparing for More
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    U.S. is Waging Domestic War and Preparing for More
    08 Sep 2021
    A new report on cost of US domestic and international militarization brings the domestic situation into sharp focus.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us