The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

chief of mission, George Curtis Moore, in 1973. And following the U.S. air attack against Libya in 1986, Libyan terrorists retaliated by severely wounding an American embassy communications techni- cian, William Caldwell, also in Khartoum. There have been a number of other terrorist attacks dating back more than two decades against Western and Israeli inter- ests in this dangerous region. But it took the coordinated bombings by al-Qaida in 1998 of the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam to make clear the full scope of the organization’s menace. While the attacks killed far more Kenyans and Tanzanians than Americans, 12 Americans perished in Nairobi and many were injured in both capitals. (American and Ugandan authorities foiled another attack planned against the U.S. embassy in Kampala.) Those bombings were, in many respects, even more of a seminal event than the 9/11 attacks for the American war on terrorism in East Africa and the Horn. The State Department responded by building new fortified embassies in both capitals, and in Kampala, with considerably more setback from the street. Other embassies in the region enhanced their physical security, as well. There were also policy ramifications. Prior to the embassy bombings, the U.S. had a cool relationship with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi as a result of concerns over corruption and the pace of democratiza- tion. When senior American officials visited Africa, they rarely went to Kenya. In sym- pathy for Kenyans killed in the bombing and in appreciation for Kenya’s close counterterrorism cooperation with the U.S. follow- ing the attack, significant numbers of senior American officials trav- eled to Nairobi. President Moi even received a long-desired invi- tation to the White House before he stepped down at the end of 2002. Tanzania also experienced an increase in high-level American attention. A Focal Point of Terrorism Unfortunately, however, U.S. counterterrorism poli- cy perspectives and programs in the region do not yet measure up to the threat Islamic fundamentalism and al-Qaida activity jointly pose. There are several reasons for this. Most of the countries have experienced severe internal conflict, which is frequently supported by neighbors, either directly or via dissident groups — which tends to lead to tit-for-tat support of an opposi- tion group in the offending state. Examples of this phenomenon range from the long-standing civil war in Sudan and the collapse of any central authority in Somalia to Tanzanian support for the overthrow of the Idi Amin regime in Uganda, Somalia’s invasion of Ethiopia in the late 1970s, Eritrea’s war of indepen- dence, and the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict. Such instability prevents most governments in the region from exercising full control over their territory, providing terrorists easy access to weapons. Somalia remains a vacuum and is prey to any terrorist with money and a plan. Although Sudan appears to be near- ing the end of a civil war that dates back to 1983, it now faces a new and worsening conflict in the Darfur region, along the border with Chad. Uganda has been unable to eliminate the Lord’s Resistance Army in the northern part of the country. The Somali-inhabited Ogaden in southeastern Ethiopia experiences regular security incidents. And the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement seems to have refocused attention against Eritrea, operating out of Sudan. Although the groups behind these attacks are not normally considered international terrorists, they F O C U S S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 37 The components of the counterterrorism program for East Africa and the Horn are good as far as they go. But the focus is not long-term enough. Ambassador David Shinn was a Foreign Service officer from 1964 to 2000, serving as ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, among many other postings. He was also State Department coordinator for Somalia during the American intervention there. Now an adjunct professor at The George Washington University (from which he earned a Ph.D. in political science in 1980), Amb. Shinn’s research interests include Africa (particularly East Africa and the Horn), terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, conflict situations and HIV/AIDS.