Dirty Wars (131 page)

466
Shihri had died
:
Press statement from the Supreme National Security Committee in the Republic of Yemen, January 24, 2013.

467
three French aid workers
:
Agence France-Presse, “Three French hostages Freed in Yemen Head for Home,” November 14, 2011.

468
“
We are not generating good will
”:
Author interview, Dr. Emile Nakhleh, January 2010.

468
“
greatly exaggerated as a threat
”:
Author interview, Colonel W. Patrick Lang, February 2011.

469
“
I salute you and your colleagues
”:
Hearing to Consider the Nominations of Lt. Gen. John Allen, Vice Adm. William McRaven, and Gen. James Thurman, Before the Senate Committee on Armed Services
, 111th Cong. (June 28, 2011) (testimony of Admiral William McRaven), video available at
www.c-spanvideo.org/program/300255-1

470
new counterterrorism center
:
Author interviews, Somali and US intelligence sources, June and July 2011.

470
counterterrorism training program
:
Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

470
“
It makes complete sense”
: Author interview, US official, July 2011. All statements attributed to the US official come from the author's interview.

470
“are here full time
”:
Author interview, Somali intelligence official, June 2011. All information and statements attributed to the senior intelligence official come from the author's interview.

471
corrupt and untrustworthy
:
The corruption of the TFG administration at this time was well documented. See International Crisis Group, “Somalia: The Transitional Government on Life Support,” Africa Report No. 170, February 21, 2011: Despite hopes early on that President Sharif would clean up the government, by early 2011 the ICG [International Crisis Group] reported that “corruption has continued unchecked and is now, by most accounts, more pernicious and serious than ever, presided over by powerful establishment figures and permeating every tier of government,” p. 12.

471
$200 monthly cash payments
:
Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

471
“
do not bother to be in touch
”:
Author interview, Abdirahman “Aynte” Ali, June 2011. Unless otherwise noted, all information and statements attributed to Aynte come from the author's interview.

471
“
Same thing is true for Somalia
”:
Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Hon. Leon
E. Panetta to be Secretary of Defense, Before the Senate Committee on Armed Services
, 111th Cong. (June 9, 2011) (testimony of Leon E. Panetta).

471
“
creating a monster
”:
Jeffrey Gettleman, Mark Mazzetti, and Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Relies on Contractors in Somalia Conflict,”
New York Times
, August 10, 2011.

472
two white men
:
Author interview, former prisoner, June 2011.

472
pace around constantly
:
Author copy of written testimony of Ahmed Abdulahi Hassan.

472
A Somali journalist
:
Author interview, Somali journalist, June 2011.

472
snatched from flights
:
Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

472
same building
:
Author interviews, Somali sources with direct knowledge of NSA operations, June 2011.

472
“
The Hole
”:
See United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, “Somalia: National Security Service Prison (Godka), Mogadishu, Somalia,” January 8, 1998, accessed November 15, 2012,
www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3df0bc514.html
.

473
“
shall close as expeditiously as possible
”:
Executive Order 13491, 74 Fed. Reg. 4893 (January 27, 2009).

473
“
further call into question
”:
Letter sent by eight organizations to President Obama, “Clarify Alleged CIA Role in Detention and Interrogation in Somalia,” September 6, 2011. Sent by the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, Center for Victims of Torture, Physicians for Human Rights, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, The Open Society Foundations, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch. Accessed November 10, 2012,
www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/20/letter-president-obama-clarify-alleged-cia-role-detention-and-interrogation-somalia
.

474
regular shelling
:
“Somalia: MPs Condemn Amisom for Shelling Mogadishu's Populated Areas,”
Shabelle Media Network
, June 6, 2011.

474 “
We are like orphans”:
Author interview, Mohammed Farah Siad, June 2011.

474
“
dual-track
”:
Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, “State Department: A Dual-Track Approach to Somalia,” speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 20, 2010, video available at
http://csis.org/event/state-department-dual-track-approach-somalia
.

474
“
new label
”:
Afyare Abdi Elmi, “Dual Track Policy in Somalia Misses the Point,”
AlJazeera.com
, June 9, 2011.

475
“
escalate operations in Somalia
”:
Gettleman, Mazzetti, and Schmitt, “U.S. Relies on Contractors in Somalia Conflict.”

475
broadcast the execution
:
“Shabaab al-Mujahideen Announces Execution of ‘CIA' ‘Cooperator,'” translation of communiqué released by al Shabab on February 3, 2011, coinciding with the broadcast of the execution, Flashpoint Partners,
https://flashpoint-intel.com/inteldocument/flashpoint_shabaab-kataib0211.pdf
.

476
“
I believe that the US should help
”:
Author interview, President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, June 2011.

476
“
more resources than al Shabab
”:
Lauren Sutherland, “Inside Kenya's Overflowing Refugee Camps,”
Nation
, August 15, 2011,
www.thenation.com/article/162792/inside-kenyas-overflowing-refugee-camps#
.

476
“
between one third and one half
”:
Matt Bryden, Jörg Roofthooft, Ghassan Schbley, and Babatunde Taiwo, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1916 (2010),” UN Security Council, July 18, 2011, pp. 43–44.

477
barely pay its own soldiers
:
Katharine Houreld (AP), “Unpaid Somali Soldiers Desert to Insurgency,”
Hiiraan Online
, April 28, 2010.

478
few months earlier
:
Author interviews, Mogadishu, Somalia, June 2011.

478
“
One night I fired 120 AK-47 rounds
”:
Author interview, Yusuf Mohamed Siad, June 2011. All information and statements attributed to Indha Adde come from the author's interviews, unless otherwise noted.

478
Originally founded
:
International Crisis Group, “Somalia's Islamists,” Africa Report No. 100, December 12, 2005.

479
“
preach a message
”:
Ibid.

479
assassinations, desecrating the tombs
:
Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011; International Crisis Group, “Somalia's Divided Islamists,” Africa Briefing No. 74, May 18, 2010.

479
much debate
:
Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011.

479
arming and financing
:
Matt Bryden, Arnaud Laloum, and Jörg Roofthooft, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1853 (2008),” March 10, 2010, p. 12.

479
boots on the ground
:
Matt Bryden, Jörg Roofthooft, Ghassan Schbley, and Babatunde Taiwo, “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1926 (2010),” July 18, 2011, p. 51.

479
formal cooperation agreement
:
International Crisis Group, “Somalia's Divided Islamists.”

479
holy man
:
Author interview, Abdulkadir
Moallin Noor, June 2011. The following details about Noor's background and return to Mogadishu come from the interview with the author.

479
“
number one
”:
Ibid. All information and statements attributed to Noor come from the author's interview.

480
Mudug
:
Author interview, Abdulkadir Moallin Noor, June 2011.

480
“
appear to be proxies
”:
Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 11.

480
received support
:
Ibid., p. 269.

480
“
most egregious violations
”:
Ibid., p. 255.

480
“
production of narcotic drugs
”:
Ibid., p. 53.

480
“
change the balance of power
”:
Ibid.

480
“
so substantial,” four-wheel drive vehicles, “Philippine army-style
”:
Ibid., p. 268.

480
“
return to the ‘warlordism
'”:
Ibid., p. 11.

481
close ties to the royals
:
Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, “Private Army Formed to Fight Somali Pirates Leaves Troubled Legacy,”
New York Times
, October 4, 2012.

481
“
pro-business and opportunity
”:
Kareem Shaheen, “Blackwater Founder Questioned in Abu Dhabi,”
National
(UAE), August 25, 2010.

481
“
harder for the jackals
”:
Robert Young Pelton, “Erik Prince, an American Commando in Exile,”
Men's Journal
, November 2010.

481
“
make its mark in Somalia
”:
Author interview, Western official, December 2010.

481
more than a dozen shipping companies
:
Philip Ewing, “Blackwater: Thirteen Firms Want Pirate Protection,”
Navy Times
, October 26, 2008.

481
183-foot vessel
:
US diplomatic cable 09DJIBOUT1113, from Ambassador James Swan, US Embassy, Djibouti City, “Djibouti Approves Blackwater for Commercial Counter-Piracy Operations,” February 12, 2009, released by WikiLeaks,
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/02/09DJIBOUTI113.html
. Other details about the vessel and its equipment come from the cable.

481
“
We could put vessels out there
”:
Author copy of recording, Erik Prince speech, January 2010.

482
250 to 770
:
Cheryl Pellerin, “Piracy Challenges Maritime Security off Somalia,” America Forces Press Service, January 26, 2011.

482
snatching three young Somali men
:
“‘US Marines' Land in Central Somalia, Arrest Suspected Pirate,” Shabelle Media Network, January 21, 2011.

482
“
Al Shabab is responsible
”:
Lolita C. Baldor (AP), “Admiral Calls for Counterterror Approach to Piracy,”
Boston.com
, January 26, 2011.

482
extorting from the pirates
:
Bryden et al., “Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea,” p. 283. “It is the Monitoring Group's assessment that this arrangement [between the pirates and al Shabab] is local and, to a large extent, clan-based, and no evidence has been found to suggest any broader or more systematic involvement of Al-Shabaab in piracy.”

482
thirty-three years
:
Press release from the United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, “Somalian Pirate Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 405 Months in Prison for Hijacking Three Ships and for Hostage Taking,” February 16, 2011.

482
SOS
:
Jeffrey Gettleman, “Somali Pirates Hijack Yacht with Americans Aboard,”
New York Times
, February 19, 2011.

482
275 miles
:
“Somali Pirates Seize American Yacht Crew off Oman,”
bbc.co.uk
, February 18, 2011.

482
supported by helicopters
:
Kevin Dolak, Luis Martinez, and Jeremy Hubbard, “Warship Tracking Yacht Hijacked by Somali Pirates,”
ABCNews.go.com
, February 20, 2011.

482
unarmed surveillance drones
:
Transcript, “DOD News Briefing with Vice Adm. Fox via Telephone from Bahrain on Somali Piracy Aboard the S/V Quest,” February 22, 2011.

482
lethal force
:
David Jackson, “Obama Notified of Pirate Killings at 4:42 a.m.,”
USA Today
, February 22, 2011.

483
willingly boarded
:
Eric Schmitt, “Seizing of Pirate Commanders Is Questioned,”
New York Times
, February 23, 2011.

483
hand-to-hand combat
:
Transcript, “DOD News Briefing with Vice Adm. Fox.”

483
too late
:
Adam Nagourney and Jeffrey Gettleman, “Pirates Brutally End Yachting Dream,”
New York Times
, February 22, 2011.