The United States has now expanded its (c)overt drone war to a 6th country: Somalia. Naturally, the justification was that if America just sat back and did nothing, al-Shabab, a Somali terrorist group, would attack the United States:
“As the al-Qaeda core has weakened under our unyielding pressure, it has looked increasingly to these other groups and individuals to take up its cause, including its goal of striking the United States,” said Brennan, Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser. “From the territory it controls in Somalia,” he said, “al-Shabab continues to call for strikes against the United States.”
Of course, due to America’s policy of ambiguity, it isn’t known for certain whether or not this was the first strike of America’s drone war on Somalia. Civilians and militants alike reported seeing or hearing multiple airstrikes and other attacks using military helicopters.
America’s terrorism policy will only perpetuate more hatred and violence towards the United States, especially as al-Shabab’s operations have gone international:
Over the past year, al-Shabab has focused more openly outside Somalia in its statements and targets. In July, the group carried out suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, that killed 76 people, including one American. Uganda is one of the countries providing troops to a peacekeeping force that protects the U.S.-backed government in Somalia.
Al-Shabab obviously does not take kind to foreign intervention, whether it be by America or the African Union. While their ability to launch and coordinate attacks outside of the African continent remains to be seen, al-Shabab will continue to flourish in chaotic Somalia.
