Marsha Blackburn: “this past weekend, I was the first Senator in a really long time to fly into Somalia's notoriously dangerous capital…”

“this past weekend, I was the first Senator in a really long time to fly into Somalia's notoriously dangerous capital city. I will tell you, at first glance, it looks like things in Mogadishu have gotten back to normal. But the situation on the ground, after you fly in and get out of the plane and you get on the ground, you see it is really quite a different story. There is a reason why our recollection of Somali history focuses on the Black Hawk Down incident--the terrible Battle of Mogadishu--and then- President Bill Clinton's decision to evacuate American troops from the Horn of Africa. Somalia's legacy is rooted in years of violence that overwhelmed the world's most elite military forces, froze the economy, and left the Somali people very much alone in the world--at least until 9/11, when Western powers were forced to focus on multiple fronts in the War on Terror. I was fortunate enough last weekend to visit our Djibouti-based troops at Camp Lemonnier. Our base there was established in the wake of 9/11, and since then, has expanded to support AFRICOM's mission in the Horn of Africa. Their leadership is committed to not repeating the mistakes of the past. They have developed the best unmanned aerial system force in the world. It is amazing what they are doing with these UAVs.…”