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

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


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio August 21, 2026
    21 Aug 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss U.S. control over Venezuela and its resources, and the Venezuelan people's response to their loss of sovereignty. But we begin with a report on the police killing…
  • Kohen Wiley
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    One Year Old Kohen Wiley Killed Under Color of Law in Mississippi
    21 Aug 2026
    Our guest is attorney Jaribu Hill, executive director of the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights. She reports on the police killing of 1-year old Kohen Wiley in Senatobia, Mississippi and on…
  • Delcy Rodriguez
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Venezuela Under U.S. Attack
    21 Aug 2026
    On January 3, 2026, the U.S. conducted a military attack against Venezuela and kidnapped president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, First Combatant Cilia Flores. Since that time interim president Delcy…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    "Woke 1" and Democratic Party Deceit
    19 Aug 2026
    The democrats’ backtracking on what they dismissively refer to as “wokeness” is the newest iteration of their political trickery as once again they give the appearance of supporting what they…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: “People's Power, No Dictator!” Walter Rodney, 1979
    19 Aug 2026
    “The Burnham dictatorship crept up upon Guyanese people like a thief in the night.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us