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 Book Forum: Sami Schalk’s Book, “Black Disability Politics”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Sami Schalk’s Book, “Black Disability Politics”
    26 Oct 2022
    This week’s featured author is Sami Schalk. Schalk is Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Her book is Black Disability Politics.
  • The NED's Role in Undermining Democracy in Haiti
    Travis Ross
    The NED's Role in Undermining Democracy in Haiti
    26 Oct 2022
    The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is the soft power arm of the CIA. Its operations in Haiti have played a large role in undermining sovereignty.
  • The Rot of LA’s Neoliberal Democratic Party Politics
    Quetzal Cáceres
    The Rot of LA’s Neoliberal Democratic Party Politics
    26 Oct 2022
    The recording of racist remarks by Los Angeles politicians is the tip of a neo-liberal iceberg of political corruption, and the Black political class are of no use to their constituents.
  • An Inversion of Truth: the TPLF and its Commitment to Peace
    Dr. Fikrejesus Amahazion
    An Inversion of Truth: the TPLF and its Commitment to Peace
    26 Oct 2022
    The conflict between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF has been marked by a well coordinated disinformation campaign. The effectiveness of that campaign should not forgotten, even as the parties…
  • AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #42
    US Out of Africa Network
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #42
    26 Oct 2022
    The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #42 focuses on the role of AFRICOM in creating coups across the continent and speaks with Ameth Lô, who is a member of the Group for Research and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us