Somalia has been in civil war since 1991, causing President George H.W. Bush to conduct the 1992 Operation Restore Hope with the United Nations to provide humanitarian relief to the Somali people. Instability from competing factions continue to plague the country of 10 million inhabitants. The most notable of the competing factions is al-Shabaab. Many watched the siege of Nairobi’s Westgate mall play out as terrorists went on a killing spree leaving 67 dead. This September 21, 2013 attack was led by Somali terrorist organization al-Shabaab and lasted 80 hours. The new movie Captain Phillips has reminded Americans of the 2009 Somali pirate hijacking of the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean, that resulted in SEAL team snipers killing all but their fearless leader. Piracy remains a concern for ships passing the Horn of Africa, although the rate of incidents has fallen substantially since 2006.
The United States has been providing the new Somali government with military support, targeting top al-Shabaab targets. The target of a recently failed SEAL team attack, Muktar Abu Zubeyr is the leader of Harakat Al-Shabaab Mujahideen, the most prominent insurgent group in Somalia.
Last week, the U.S. military carried out a missile strike against another al-Shabaab target, Ibrahim Ali, an explosives specialist. As for U.S. – Somali relations, the United States has not had an embassy in the country since the beginning of the civil war. But we do maintain diplomatic ties with the country through a special envoy based in Nairobi, Kenya. These relations allow the United States to keep a strong military presence in the region to target al-Shabaab.
President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected by their federal parliament on September 10, 2012. Like any president of a poor, undeveloped, terrorist rich nation, President Mohamud presides over a corruption-plagued government. The central bank governor recently resigned due to uncontrollable corruption. Much of this corruption is tied to terrorism, as terrorists need to launder money through money transfer businesses.
In January of this year, President Mohamud visited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss a path toward renewed formal diplomatic relations between the countries. Until then, the United States will surely continue to enter the country from the sea, air, or land to kill the terrorists hiding behind its borders.
