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


  • Gary Wilson
    Germany’s war drive feeds the far right in Saxony-Anhalt
    16 Sep 2026
    The AfD's landslide in Saxony-Anhalt reflects real working-class anger at the war and the arms buildup, but the party redirects that anger toward migrants and leaves the capitalist system that caused…
  • Brett Wilkins
    ‘Nothing Short of Torture’: Critics Decry Abuse Affirmed by DHS Alligator Alcatraz Probe
    16 Sep 2026
    “DHS needs to be dismantled and held accountable for this complete inhumanity,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
  • BAR Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 11, 2026
    11 Sep 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the 55th anniversary and legacy of the 1971 Attica prison revolt. But we begin with the history of W.E.B. Du Bois and his struggle against the domestic repression…
  • Orisanmi Burton
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Orisanmi Burton, "Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt"
    11 Sep 2026
    Orisanmi Burton is the author of "Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt." As we commemorate the 55th anniversary of the 1971 Attica rebellion, Burton…
  • Gerald Horne
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gerald Horne, "Black and Red: Du Bois and the Afro American response to the Cold War, 1944-63"
    11 Sep 2026
    Our guest is Dr. Gerald Horne, who discusses his newly republished International Publishers book, “Black and Red: Du Bois and the Afro-American response to the Cold War, 1944-63, the 40th anniversary…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us