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


  • Kenyan Families Say U.S. Government Fueling “War on Terror” Disappearances and Killings, Demand Records
    Center for Constitutional Rights
    Kenyan Families Say U.S. Government Fueling “War on Terror” Disappearances and Killings, Demand Records
    24 Nov 2021
    Security forces trained by the CIA and the UK's MI6 use the "war on terror" as justification for killing and abducting Kenyans. In fact, the US/EU/NATO axis wage a war of te
  • Rittenhouse and Verdict Mania
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Rittenhouse and Verdict Mania
    23 Nov 2021
    Black people give great attention to certain court cases in hopes of receiving justice when the system is designed to be unjust.
  • The Delusional Commitment to the Doctrine of “Full Spectrum Dominance” is leading the U.S. and the World to Disaster
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The Delusional Commitment to the Doctrine of “Full Spectrum Dominance” is leading the U.S. and the World to Disaster
    23 Nov 2021
    U.S. actions around the world seem mysterious unless the commitment to white supremacist notions of domination is clearly understood.
  • In a 1982 interview, Queen Mother Audley Moore raps on imperialism, neocolonialism, emancipation, and reparations -- and the need for Black people to get in our “right mind” to understand our domination.
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    Interview: Queen Mother Moore, Westindian Digest, September 1982
    23 Nov 2021
    In a 1982 interview, Queen Mother Audley Moore raps on imperialism, neocolonialism, emancipation, and reparations -- and the need for Black people to get in our “right mind” to understand our d
  • Stop Confusing the Fight Against Racism with Neoliberalism
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Stop Confusing the Fight Against Racism with Neoliberalism
    23 Nov 2021
    The electoral appeal of anti-Black racism is a constant in the U.S.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us