Sheldon Richman Explains the Kenyan Massacre's Roots in America's Somalia Policy
Last weekend's hostage-taking—and the murder of at least 62 people—at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, has its roots in the U.S. government's intervention in Somalia, which began in the 1990s. Although there is no justification for killing innocents, Sheldon Richman thinks it is fair to point out that al-Shabaab, the Islamist group that committed the attack on the mall and that controls parts of Somalia, would probably not be in power if not for the United States.