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


  • Soy Porque Somos (I Am Because We Are): a Black-women-led and Life-Based Project for a New Colombia
    Jaime Alves
    Soy Porque Somos (I Am Because We Are): a Black-women-led and Life-Based Project for a New Colombia
    15 Mar 2022
    This article was written before the March 13 primaries when Francia Marquez received more than 780,000 votes. She received more votes than any Black politician in Colombian history. Would her…
  • In Solidarity with Haitian Workers and Migrants
    Black Alliance For Peace
    In Solidarity with Haitian Workers and Migrants
    15 Mar 2022
    Haitians will leave their country by any and all means as long as they live under US backed oligarchic rule. Poverty wages which ignited garment worker strikes explain the urge to seek asylum. Black…
  • BAR Book Forum: Marlon B. Ross’ “Sissy Insurgencies”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Marlon B. Ross’ “Sissy Insurgencies”
    15 Mar 2022
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book.
  • BAR Book Forum: Robin Brooks’ “Class Interruptions”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Robin Brooks’ “Class Interruptions”
    15 Mar 2022
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Robin Brooks. Brooks is Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at the University of…
  • When US Soft Power Meddled in An Election - In Russia
    Jacqueline Luqman
    When US Soft Power Meddled in An Election - In Russia
    15 Mar 2022
    In 1996 the Clinton administration very openly interfered in Russia's election.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us