Chapter 23: Back to Mogadishu

1 It was January … Yemen and Somalia. “The Secret War: How U.S. Hunted AQ in Africa,” by Sean D. Naylor, armytimes.com, October 30, 2011, accessed at: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20111030/NEWS/110300316/The-Secret-War-How-U-S-hunted-AQ-in-Africa. (This is the first of a six-part series by the author on the war in the Horn of Africa published in Army Times. The sections of this book that deal with JSOC’s campaign in the Horn rely heavily upon this series.)

2 Sure enough … the CIA and JSOC. “Lack of Human Intel Hampered AQ Hunt in Africa,” by Sean D. Naylor, armytimes.com, November 8, 2011, accessed at: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20111108/NEWS/111080316/Lack-of-human-intel-hampered-AQ-hunt-in-Africa (Part Two of the “Secret War” series).

3 For the first … in Qatar. “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets,” by Sean D. Naylor, armytimes.com, November 14, 2011, accessed at: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20111114/NEWS/111140317/Clandestine-Somalia-missions-yield-AQ-targets (Part Three of the “Secret War” series); a JSOC staffer; two Team 6 sources; a field grade officer familiar with Orange’s operations in the Horn.… Nairobi’s Wilson Airport … “Correspondence/Touring Somalia; When All Else Fails (Like the State), Take the Drug Flight into Town,” by Donald G. McNeil Jr., The New York Times, February 3, 2002, accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/03/weekinreview/correspondence-touring-somalia-when-all-else-fails-like-state-take-drug-flight.html.… crash into each other … “Accident description,” accessed at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20040523-0.

4 After Bennett … emplace it. A Team 6 source.

5 While the CIA … intelligence official said. “Years of Detective Work Led to Al Qaeda Target,” by Sean D. Naylor, armytimes.com, November 21, 2011, accessed at: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20111121/NEWS/111210315/Years-of-detective-work-led-to-Al Qaeda-target (Part Four of the “Secret War” series); a Team 6 source; a field grade officer familiar with Orange’s missions in the Horn.

6 The CIA had also … went away. “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops,” by Sean D. Naylor, armytimes.com, November 28, 2011, accessed at: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20111128/NEWS/111280320/The-Secret-War-Tense-ties-plagued-Africa-ops (Part Five of the “Secret War” series).

7 But the U.S. military … to hide. “Lack of Human Intel Hampered AQ Hunt in Africa”; “Years of Detective Work Led to Al Qaeda Target.”

8 In late summer … about the weapons. A Team 6 source.

9 By late 2005 … crime of opportunity. A Team 6 source; a special mission unit member; a field grade officer familiar with Orange’s operations in the Horn.

10 In summer … affecting it. A special operations source.

11 Two Army of … chain of command. A military source with Yemen experience; a JSOC staffer; High-Value Target: Countering Al Qaeda in Yemen, by Amb. Edmund J. Hull, retired (Dulles, Va.: Potomac, 2011), pp. 38–40, 54, 79–80. (Hull refers to “special forces,” but from the context it appears he is making the common mistake of not distinguishing between Special Forces and special operations forces.)

12 … and a national … National Security Agency. “He’s in the Backseat!,” by James Bamford, The Atlantic, April 2006, accessed at: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/04/-hes-in-the-backseat/304712/.

13 … Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi … He was also known as Abu Ali al-Harethi.

14 Meanwhile … “key targets.” “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets.”

15 Despite the … prison in Afghanistan. “The Secret War: Africa Ops May Be Just Starting,” by Sean D. Naylor, armytimes.com, December 5, 201l, accessed at: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20111205/NEWS/112050312/The-Secret-War-Africa-ops-may-be-just-starting (Part Six of the “Secret War” series).

16 While Orange’s … out of town. “Somali Islamists Declare Victory; Warlords on Run,” by Marc Lacy, The New York Times, June 6, 2006, accessed at: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0811FB3F550C758CDDAF0894DE404482.

17 The warlords’ defeat … in Somalia. A special mission unit member.

18 Now, three years … assets to the Horn. “Lack of Human Intel Hampered AQ Hunt in Africa.”

19 In late 2006 … into Somalia. A Team 6 source.

20 The Team 6 operators … last resort. A Team 6 source; “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops”; “‘Foreign Fighters’ Die in Somalia,” BBC News, June 3, 2007, accessed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6716725.stm.

21 The operations that led … “more aggressive.” “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops”; a Team 6 source.… small force at Dire Dawe … The Way of the Knife, pp. 149–50.

22 The command also … shortly thereafter. “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops”; Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield, by Jeremy Scahill (New York: Nation Books, 2013), pp. 220–22; The Way of the Knife, p. 150.… The Washington Post reported … “U.S. Stages 2nd Airstrike in Somalia; Ethiopians Leaving Capital,” by Karen DeYoung and Stephanie McCrummen, The Washington Post, January 24, 2007.… a little more than two weeks later … The date of the attack has been variously reported as January 22 (by The Washington Post) and January 24 (by Scahill).

23 Planned as a … and get away. A Team 6 source; “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops”; “U.S. Destroyer Shells Somali Militants,” by Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes, June 5, 2007, accessed at: http://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-destroyer-shells-somali-militants-1.65000; a military intelligence source.

24 JSOC’s missions … intelligence official. A Team 6 source; “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops.”

25 U.S. intelligence concluded … summer 2007. Deep State, p. 157.

26 JSOC believed … Ras Kamboni. “Clandestine Somalia Missions Yield AQ Targets.”

27 Operators also … their country. “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops.”

28 Although the decision … official added. “The Secret War: How U.S. Hunted AQ in Africa.”

29 With the AC-130s … reckoning with Nabhan. “The Secret War: Tense Ties Plagued Africa Ops”; My Share of the Task, pp. 270–71; “U.S. Airstrike Kills Top Qaeda Agent in Somalia,” by Jeffrey Gettleman and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times, May 1, 2008, accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/world/africa/01iht-02somalia.12481389.html.