PREVIEW: HEADLINE: US Drone Strikes in Somalia: Tactical Tool, Not Strategic Win GUEST NAME: Caleb Weiss SUMMARY: John Batchelor speaks with Caleb Weiss about US drone strikes in Somalia against al-Qaeda and ISIS, noting their tactical purpose in degradin
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 17 September 2025
⏱️ 4 minutes
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Summary
HEADLINE: US Drone Strikes in Somalia: Tactical Tool, Not Strategic Win
GUEST NAME: Caleb Weiss
SUMMARY: John Batchelor speaks with Caleb Weiss about US drone strikes in Somalia against al-Qaeda and ISIS, noting their tactical purpose in degrading capabilities and assisting Somali forces. However, Weiss emphasizes these strikes are not a strategic solution and the overall US strategy in Somalia is convoluted, confusing, and lacks transparency, much like in Afghanistan.
1950 MOGADISHU
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| 0:18.0 | Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more. |
| 0:20.0 | This is John Batchel, a conversation with colleague Caleb Wise of the Bridgeway Foundation |
| 0:25.7 | and the Foundation for Defense of Democracy. He's based in Africa. |
| 0:30.0 | Speaking of the U.S. contribution to the battle in Somalia between al-Qaeda and the government, |
| 0:40.0 | with other elements scattered all around ISIS to the north. |
| 0:44.1 | Chaos. |
| 0:45.3 | The U.S. contributes drone strikes. |
| 0:47.3 | To what end? |
| 0:49.0 | Is it policy or as Caleb identifies a tool? |
| 0:52.9 | What policy? |
| 0:54.6 | Right now, transition from one approach to another, |
| 0:58.5 | from the Biden years to the Trump years to the American conduct in East Africa, |
| 1:06.1 | Somalia, technology. |
| 1:12.6 | More of this tonight. |
| 1:21.8 | No idea why they've been silent. I think this is a wider administration thing of they're not that transparent. |
| 1:28.7 | They claim to be the government of transparency, but they're not that transparent, and that's part of the wider Trump admin strategy. |
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