US should avoid past mistakes during its foreign interventions

On Sunday, United States forces conducted airstrikes in Somalia's Golis Mountains, targeting Islamic State (IS) operatives. President Donald Trump announced that these precision strikes eliminated a senior IS attack planner and multiple operatives, emphasising that no civilians were harmed. This action, coordinated with Somalia's federal government, marks the first such military operation in Trump's second term.

This intervention appears to contrast with President Trump's previously stated non-interference approach. During his campaigns and earlier tenure, Trump often criticised prolonged US military engagements abroad, advocating for reduced involvement in foreign conflicts. However, the Somalia airstrikes suggest a shift towards direct military action in regions deemed threats to US security interests.

Somalia's history has been profoundly shaped by foreign interventions, contributing to its persistent instability. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Somalia was partitioned by colonial powers: Britain established British Somaliland in the north, Italy controlled Italian Somaliland in the south, and France took Djibouti. These arbitrary divisions disrupted traditional clan structures and sowed seeds of discord.

The Cold War further entangled Somalia in global power struggles. Initially, the Soviet Union supported Somalia, providing military aid. However, when Somalia invaded Ethiopia's Ogaden region in 1977, the Soviets switched allegiance to Ethiopia. The United States then stepped in, backing Somalia to counter Soviet influence in the Horn of Africa. As such, Somalia became one of the many playgrounds that the Eastern and Western powers utilised to exercise their muscle as the war to establish who was better raged on. The superpower rivalry exacerbated regional tensions and militarisation, and both Somalia and Ethiopia were left the worse for it.

Perhaps the most famous in the history of interference in Somalia, the US intervention of Somalia in the early 1990s, under Operation Restore Hope, aimed to address humanitarian crises but ended disastrously with the "Black Hawk Down" incident in 1993, leading to a withdrawal of US forces. Subsequent international interventions, including Ethiopian military actions backed by the US, have often and rightly been viewed by Somalis as foreign aggression, thereby fueling resentment.

Whilst attempting to restore order to the Somali state, these external interferences have had an opposite effect, inadvertently contributing to the rise of extremist groups. The power vacuums and societal disruptions resulting from multiple foreign interventions created fertile ground for organisations like Al Shabaab, and later IS Somalia. These groups capitalised on local grievances, positioning themselves as defenders against foreign aggression. Their takeover of certain regions, which leads to further fragmenting of the State, grants them the term “terrorist organisations” thereby warranting militaristic intervention from the West and its allies, including Kenya.

Indeed, globally, Western military interventions have sometimes led to unintended consequences. In Afghanistan, the US support for mujahideen fighters against Soviet forces in the 1980s contributed to the emergence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In President Trump’s first term in office, his withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan left a leadership vacuum that was eagerly filled by the Taliban. Since then, the news coming out of Afghanistan has been worrying, particularly for women, with reports stating that women are no longer allowed to go to school or speak in public. To some, this signals that the US was doing something positive in Afghanistan, when in reality, their intervention and subsequent withdrawal only worsened the situation in the country.

In Iraq, the 2003 US-led invasion dismantled existing power structures, leading to sectarian violence and the eventual rise of IS. In Lebanon, Western involvement and support for certain factions during the civil war contributed to the emergence of Hezbollah, which positioned itself as a resistance movement against foreign intervention. These examples illustrate a pattern where external military actions, despite intentions to establish peace or counter-terrorism, have often led to instability and the emergence of new extremist groups.

The recent US airstrikes in Somalia, while targeting immediate threats, must be carefully assessed within this historical context to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Ms Gitahi is an international lawyer