CIA’s New Base in Somalia: The Worst-Kept Secret in Mogadishu

CIA’s New Base in Somalia: The Worst-Kept Secret in Mogadishu

CIA’s New Base in Somalia: The Worst-Kept Secret in Mogadishu

Something is terribly wrong when one can see a walled CIA compound in plain site from the tarmac of an international airport. 

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Something is terribly wrong when one can see an ostensibly secret CIA compound in plain site from the tarmac of an international airport. Such is the case in Mogadishu, Somalia, where even the kids on the street know that the walled compound guarded by Somali soldiers in the back corner of Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport is part of the CIA’s increasing involvement in "counterterrorism" efforts in the country. Meanwhile, what many in the US don’t know is that the US government financially supports the training that occurs within the compound.

Jeremy Scahill joined Russia Today to describe his findings in Somalia and the alleged "counterterrorism" policies carried out by the Obama administration. 

Anna Lekas Miller

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x