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


  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Kid growing up under growing fascism
    25 Feb 2026
    "Kid growing up under growing fascism" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    The World Does Need to Stop Singling Out Israel… By Holding it Accountable
    25 Feb 2026
    Israel has been singled out for immunity rather than accountability, exposing the "rules-based order" as a farce.
  • Tamanisha J. John , Kevin Edmonds
    The Caribbean People’s Debt to Cuba
    25 Feb 2026
    Caribbean governments are betraying Cuba through silence and compliance with U.S. empire. The only way to challenge this failure of leadership is for the people to build an anti-imperialist movement.
  • Gerald A. Perreira
    Turning Its Back on Cuba: Government of Guyana Sells Its Soul
    25 Feb 2026
    Cuba has provided Guyana with doctors, scholarships, and healthcare for nearly five decades. In return, Guyana's government has turned its back at the moment of Cuba's greatest need.
  • Jason Myles
    The Rainbow and the Machine: The Jesse Jackson Phenomenon
    25 Feb 2026
    Jesse Jackson's legacy is complicated and sometimes contradictory, as he engaged in both radicalism and in political expediency.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us