The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

F O C U S O N C O U N T E R T E R R O R I S M F IGHTING T ERRORISM IN E AST A FRICA AND THE H ORN S IX YEARS AFTER THE BOMBINGS OF OUR EMBASSIES IN N AIROBI AND D AR ES S ALAAM , U.S. COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS IN THE REGION DO NOT YET MEASURE UP TO THE THREAT . B Y D AVID H. S HINN efore Sept. 11, 2001, most Americans paid little attention to terrorism, particularly in the Third World. Since then, though the Middle East and Central Asia have figured most prominently in the war on terrorism, Africa is increasingly coming into focus as an important battleground. This is especially true of East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) and the Horn of Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia), where the practice of targeting Americans for political violence has deep roots. The Black September organization assassinated the American ambassador to Sudan, Cleo A. Noel Jr., and his deputy B Phil Foster 36 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4