:00:00. > :00:08.al`Shabab in Somalia, and Al Qaeda. He has been granted rare access to
:00:09. > :00:13.the only military base in the area. In the Horn of Africa, America is
:00:14. > :00:17.stepping up its military operations. It has been launching the long`range
:00:18. > :00:25.missions, including sending special forces into hotspots. In its sights,
:00:26. > :00:30.al`Shabab in Somalia, and Al Qaeda in Yemen. Attacks by these groups
:00:31. > :00:36.have culminated in the horror of last year's Westgate siege in
:00:37. > :00:42.Nairobi. Now, neighbouring Djibouti has become a vital US `based and
:00:43. > :00:47.strategic springboard. I have been given rare access to it, to find out
:00:48. > :00:52.how America is countering what it calls violent extremism. The real
:00:53. > :00:58.reason we are here is to neutralise al`Shabab in Somalia. But does
:00:59. > :01:01.Washington's formula for confronting terrorism, including its
:01:02. > :01:09.controversial rowing programme, risk making Djibouti itself a target.
:01:10. > :01:17.Whatever it takes, if we can contain these people, OK. If we can get rid
:01:18. > :01:36.of them, it is better. `` drone programme.
:01:37. > :01:47.Somalia in the 90s was a country in turmoil. Wrap by famine and
:01:48. > :01:49.warlords. America and the UN deployed forces to try to resolve
:01:50. > :01:55.the desperate situation, but it ended in disaster. In the Black Hawk
:01:56. > :02:05.Down incident, US helicopters were shot down, 19 US soldiers, and
:02:06. > :02:11.hundreds of Somalis were killed. The world's superpower abandoned the
:02:12. > :02:15.Horn of Africa. Omission from this day forward is to increase our
:02:16. > :02:22.strength, do our job, bring our soldiers out, and bring them home ``
:02:23. > :02:28.our mission. Fast forward 21 years, and US boots are back on the ground.
:02:29. > :02:32.Not in Mogadishu, but in nearby Djibouti, on this French base. Even
:02:33. > :02:39.today, there are echoes of Black Hawk Down. Out on the flight line,
:02:40. > :02:44.the modern`day equivalent, the rescue teams on permanent standby to
:02:45. > :02:50.extract downed personnel in trouble. We can do this 24 hours a day. To be
:02:51. > :02:56.able to go out in steer environments, over water, land or
:02:57. > :03:03.mountains, sometimes at night, and peak folks at wherever they are.
:03:04. > :03:06.Taking off with these men on a training mission gave the eclipse of
:03:07. > :03:15.how much this place has expanded in recent years. `` gave me a glimpse.
:03:16. > :03:18.It has grown to over 4000 people, including specialist operations,
:03:19. > :03:25.flight crews, medics and officers from other countries like Uganda,
:03:26. > :03:29.Spain, Korea and Japan. They are all part of a huge multinational
:03:30. > :03:36.coalition garrisoned in this tiny rift Valley republic. `` Rift
:03:37. > :03:48.Valley. Djibouti is strategically
:03:49. > :03:52.positioned, bordering the red Sea's shipping lanes, the Gulf of Aden,
:03:53. > :03:59.Somalia, and across the water, Yemen. Little wonder the country has
:04:00. > :04:14.become the sole US military base in Africa. These rescue teams are
:04:15. > :04:23.reservists, raised in Florida. `` based in Florida. They train
:04:24. > :04:30.exhaustively to pick up downed crews on land and in water. You are long
:04:31. > :04:37.way from home, thousands of miles from the US, why are you here in
:04:38. > :04:41.Djibouti? We are here at the request of the combatant commanders, to
:04:42. > :04:47.provide an insurance policy, if you will, for American coalition forces
:04:48. > :04:51.that are here. It is a noble mission, a lot like being a
:04:52. > :04:58.firefighter. You are waiting for someone else's unfortunate events to
:04:59. > :05:03.happen. Crossing the sprawling base, I can see a lot of new construction
:05:04. > :05:09.under way. The signs are that America is here to stay. Inside his
:05:10. > :05:16.headquarters, I went to see the man in charge of US forces. You are the
:05:17. > :05:21.commander here, what is the mission of US forces? Why are you here? The
:05:22. > :05:25.real reason we are here is to neutralise al`Shabab in Somalia.
:05:26. > :05:34.That is why I am sitting here so I can assist the other nations to
:05:35. > :05:40.neutralise al`Shabab in Somalia, so it will not threaten a US interest,
:05:41. > :05:47.or our country, the US, as a whole. Across the border, in Somalia,
:05:48. > :05:54.forces fighting al`Shabab militants are from the African Union. The US
:05:55. > :06:01.is helping train them to do the fighting. Some suggest that just by
:06:02. > :06:07.being here, with US boots on the ground in a predominantly Muslim
:06:08. > :06:19.area, that is quite provocative. OK, again, our presence here, and it is
:06:20. > :06:22.not that big, is to enable our East African partners to neutralise the
:06:23. > :06:29.threat, so they can build the defence capabilities and situations
:06:30. > :06:32.that allow the neutralisation of the extremists within East Africa `` and
:06:33. > :06:44.institutions. Djibouti's capital does not feel
:06:45. > :06:49.like a city on the edge of a danger zone. Its markets are peaceful, its
:06:50. > :06:52.people largely accepting of the multinational military presence
:06:53. > :07:00.here. Perhaps not surprising in a country with a small population and
:07:01. > :07:03.a very observant police force. Djibouti stopped being a French
:07:04. > :07:07.colony more than 30 years ago, but you can still see echoes of the
:07:08. > :07:14.colonial past here in the capital. The boulevards, the patisserie is,
:07:15. > :07:17.the architecture. These days, it feels like a garrison town for the
:07:18. > :07:22.whole of East Africa, for a lot of international forces. With the
:07:23. > :07:27.consent of the Djibouti government, the French, Germans, Italians, even
:07:28. > :07:30.the Japanese are still here. Unlike Yemen and Somalia, there is no
:07:31. > :07:38.public sense of militant Islam or anti` Westerners and. `` Westerners.
:07:39. > :07:43.I have been coming here for more than 20 years, and people have never
:07:44. > :07:46.expressed any resentment against the presence of these forces. If
:07:47. > :07:55.anything, the local economy depends on them. Amidst the local economy, a
:07:56. > :08:00.small beacon of luxury. A well guarded international hotel playing
:08:01. > :08:01.host that week to a counter terrorism conference, convened by
:08:02. > :08:16.the US State Department. Delegates were flown in from Yemen
:08:17. > :08:22.and Somalia. The US Commander was there to, but does Djibouti worry
:08:23. > :08:29.that it could be making itself a target for militants? We feel that
:08:30. > :08:33.Djibouti is one of the top targets of al`Shabab in the region. We have
:08:34. > :08:40.already heard about threats from their leaders saying that they will
:08:41. > :08:45.send hundreds of human bombs to Djibouti. They have stated a number
:08:46. > :08:51.of times that they will target Djibouti, but we are taking
:08:52. > :08:58.necessary measures to at least avoid those kinds of terrorist attacks.
:08:59. > :09:05.One of those measures is highly controversial. Drones. Djibouti has
:09:06. > :09:08.been letting America launched from territory since 2002. They have
:09:09. > :09:12.killed the number of militant leaders, that they have also killed
:09:13. > :09:22.civilians and deeply unpopular Yemen. I ask, ask Djibouti's Foreign
:09:23. > :09:28.Minister if this worried him. Whatever it takes. If we can contain
:09:29. > :09:39.them, OK. If we can get rid of them, it is better. We don't have to waste
:09:40. > :09:45.time asking every time if we should use drones or not. I think we can't
:09:46. > :09:53.afford that. We are really surrounded with that threat. We are
:09:54. > :09:58.small countries, lacking technical capacities, and when the US and
:09:59. > :10:04.others can provide those capacities, we never turn down the
:10:05. > :10:10.offer. Also at the conference was a delegation from Yemen. It is post`
:10:11. > :10:18.Arab Spring government is struggling to contain a resurgent Al Qaeda. I
:10:19. > :10:23.asked Yemen's epic Interior Minister what he thought of the drone
:10:24. > :10:26.programme. TRANSLATION: In truth, I praise America's efforts in fighting
:10:27. > :10:31.terrorism with us, as long as the rest of the world. Terrorism is a
:10:32. > :10:37.very serious problem. It has come to threaten the world's stability and
:10:38. > :10:41.security. When drone strikes are wrong, and they sometimes do, they
:10:42. > :10:47.kill innocent people and are completely counter`productive. The
:10:48. > :10:53.drone was circling, and fired at the building. TRANSLATION: My son was
:10:54. > :10:58.standing outside, he was badly injured and later died. 12 other
:10:59. > :11:03.people were also killed. I was close to them. They were all civilians.
:11:04. > :11:10.What is euphemistically called collateral damage, this has nurtured
:11:11. > :11:15.and the western sentiment in Yemen, and risks winning new recruits for
:11:16. > :11:18.Al Qaeda. This drone strike was roundly condemned by local human
:11:19. > :11:23.rights groups. The Yemeni government, just like the Djibouti
:11:24. > :11:29.government, is unequivocal about confronting the Al Qaeda threat.
:11:30. > :11:32.TRANSLATION: The danger from Al Qaeda towards Yemen is that it
:11:33. > :11:35.targets people above all other things. Killing people has been the
:11:36. > :11:42.only goal of all operations carried out by them. The commander of US
:11:43. > :11:47.forces does not run the drone programme. It is controlled directly
:11:48. > :11:55.from the US. He still battered away any criticism of it. In any joint
:11:56. > :12:01.task force we always worked very hard to have a capability that
:12:02. > :12:07.allows us to work with special operations and enforce independence.
:12:08. > :12:11.Going back to my mission, in protecting, we are worried about
:12:12. > :12:15.protecting the good people of East Africa, and we are worried about how
:12:16. > :12:20.do we create this momentum to build stability, to build more capacity to
:12:21. > :12:26.allow these people to be able to help us neutralise the extremists.
:12:27. > :12:33.Those two capabilities together allow us to do that.
:12:34. > :12:44.The Americans have a special reason to focus on terrorism in this corner
:12:45. > :12:50.of the world. This Nigerian, recruited by Al Qaeda in Yemen,
:12:51. > :12:53.almost succeeded in bringing down a US airliner, using explosives hidden
:12:54. > :13:01.in his underpants. Three times now his Al Qaeda trainers have managed
:13:02. > :13:10.to smuggle explosive onto planes. But it is also the vital shipping
:13:11. > :13:16.lanes that are of great concern. TRANSLATION: The whole world's trade
:13:17. > :13:21.passes through the Gulf of Aden. It is a very important passage. Many
:13:22. > :13:24.terrorist acts that have taken place in Somalia and Yemen have affected
:13:25. > :13:31.the root of this great navigational passage. There was a need to
:13:32. > :13:39.establish significant joint cooperation in the field of
:13:40. > :13:44.counter`terrorism in this region. Port security is taken extremely
:13:45. > :13:48.seriously by the Americans. They have effectively created an
:13:49. > :13:54.exclusion zone around Djibouti Harbour. It is the US Navy, with
:13:55. > :13:58.local permission, that patrols the approaches and guards US ships in
:13:59. > :14:01.port. Over 20,000 vessels a year pass through the Gulf of Aden.
:14:02. > :14:09.Potentially, rich pickings for pirates and terrorists. The US Navy
:14:10. > :14:24.presence here is both a safeguard and a potential target. Our main
:14:25. > :14:29.threat is terrorists. We try and interdict all ships coming in, and
:14:30. > :14:35.determine those that are civilian and those that have a hostile intent
:14:36. > :14:39.against Americans. How can you tell an innocent fishermen from someone
:14:40. > :14:45.trying to blow you up? We have a continuum of force. It is something
:14:46. > :14:48.we used to determine intent from someone who wants to do bad, to
:14:49. > :14:52.someone who's just not aware of what is going on. By our general
:14:53. > :15:01.presence, we have this craft, we make an aggressive posture, and from
:15:02. > :15:06.there we go to an actual hail, where we would call the ship on the
:15:07. > :15:15.loudhailer to let them know it is an exclusion zone. What you do it still
:15:16. > :15:23.comes to you and you are suspicious? We can raise weapons. If they
:15:24. > :15:28.disregard that, we can fire warning shots. If they ignore that, we can
:15:29. > :15:33.use deadly force. You have plenty of that? We are more than willing ``
:15:34. > :15:37.more than willing to stop any threat. Djibouti may have become a
:15:38. > :15:42.sovereign nation since independence with France but when it comes to
:15:43. > :15:46.security, the Americans take their jobs seriously. The amount of these
:15:47. > :15:51.regular patrols day and night. They are afraid of the USS Cole being
:15:52. > :15:55.repeated, when an Al Qaeda suicide bomber came up alongside the warship
:15:56. > :16:02.and blew a hole in the side and killed 17 US sailors. The attack on
:16:03. > :16:07.the USS Cole in Aden Harbour was a massive shock to Washington. This
:16:08. > :16:11.was a $1 billion warship with state`of`the`art defences punctured
:16:12. > :16:19.by a man in a boat pretending to sell vegetables. The US Navy stopped
:16:20. > :16:26.calling it even bought. `` calling at even harbour. It was the attack
:16:27. > :16:33.the next year which convinced the US to stop...
:16:34. > :16:44.Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are
:16:45. > :16:50.with us or you are with the terrorists. In the aftermath of 9/11
:16:51. > :16:56.Mac, the Americans returned to the Horn of Africa. They reopened a
:16:57. > :17:01.former French army camp as their base. Within weeks, I went to
:17:02. > :17:09.Djibouti in 2003 to see what they were up to. `` 9/11. The US military
:17:10. > :17:14.wanted us to see this. They have a specific message for Al Qaeda. It is
:17:15. > :17:17.that now that the US has a base here it in the Horn of Africa, they can
:17:18. > :17:22.call up massive firepower at short notice. However far forward it is
:17:23. > :17:29.projected, it count always keep US missions say. The attack on the US
:17:30. > :17:32.consulate in an Ghazi in Libya, resulting in the death of the US
:17:33. > :17:34.ambassador and others, showed the bond ability of US diplomats in
:17:35. > :17:46.unstable country. `` Benghazi. This is the Pentagon's response, and
:17:47. > :17:52.you rapid reaction unit trained to protect diplomatic missions. To make
:17:53. > :18:02.sure that Benghazi doesn't happen again. These men are from the East
:18:03. > :18:05.African response force. It is a new US Army unit set up to respond at
:18:06. > :18:10.short notice to crises flaring through the region. They are on six
:18:11. > :18:13.hours notice to move. Some of these men have returned from Juba in South
:18:14. > :18:16.Sudan where they rescued in South Sudan where they rescued the
:18:17. > :18:20.Norwegian ambassador and a number of civilians. Our primary job is to be
:18:21. > :18:24.able to respond to a crisis where they need additional security forces
:18:25. > :18:31.to allow the ambassador to maintain his or her post so they can do State
:18:32. > :18:36.Department functions. If the attack happened now, you would be able to
:18:37. > :18:40.get your guys there in hours? I could get myself all marine
:18:41. > :18:44.counterparts who can deploy a significant force to allow an entity
:18:45. > :18:47.to be secured at least until the situation is stabilised or we are
:18:48. > :18:54.asked to evacuate by the order of the President. When it comes to
:18:55. > :19:02.rescuing its people from hotspots, there is another tool in the
:19:03. > :19:10.Pentagon's box. The MV22, the Osprey. Is this a helicopter or a
:19:11. > :19:15.plain? It is a little bit of it at both. We were told that when the
:19:16. > :19:19.designers work breathed, they wanted to design something like a bird.
:19:20. > :19:24.This is close. These have the engines in them and can tilt up and
:19:25. > :19:29.come down. You can take off vertically? Yes, that is the magic.
:19:30. > :19:37.Taking off vertically means you can take off and land in a wide number
:19:38. > :19:43.of areas. In dust and snow and in travelling, you have efficiency and
:19:44. > :19:49.speed. It is all magic. Let's look inside. OK. The Marines are a very
:19:50. > :19:53.good with this machine`gun. It provides defensive suppressive fire.
:19:54. > :20:02.We can shoot back at anybody firing at us. This is my office. It is
:20:03. > :20:07.largely software driven. We can change the software are little bit.
:20:08. > :20:12.Change the way the aircraft flies. We are able to leveraging that to
:20:13. > :20:15.rapidly make adjustments to little techniques that we pick up overtime
:20:16. > :20:20.to give us greater capability. Very, very versatile aircraft. Very
:20:21. > :20:24.survival aircraft. You don't find yourself in a position where you
:20:25. > :20:27.have something that is going to knock you out of the sky. It is
:20:28. > :20:34.pretty safe. When you were being shot at, EU here that pings of the
:20:35. > :20:43.bullets? Nothing like that. Nothing so dramatic. `` did you hear. We
:20:44. > :20:48.have things in the aircraft that can tell you when something is shooting
:20:49. > :20:54.at you. That was all it was. You notice that somebody is shooting at
:20:55. > :21:01.you and there is nothing to it. The MV22 Is a bizarre and efficient
:21:02. > :21:07.airborne taxi. It delivers the Marines who have to perform the
:21:08. > :21:12.actual missions. I asked Captain Wallin what he was thinking when
:21:13. > :21:15.Aramco is down. You have a lot of adrenaline and you are with me and
:21:16. > :21:20.you can trust. You take a few deep breaths and everything will be OK.
:21:21. > :21:23.There is uncertainty on the ground. There are surprises. Things you
:21:24. > :21:27.don't plan for when you get on the ground. That type of adrenaline,
:21:28. > :21:34.that type of uncertainty, that is what you really feel on the ground.
:21:35. > :21:39.Especially when the rant comes down. And yet, across the border in
:21:40. > :21:43.Somalia, al`Shabaab is still a force to be reckoned with. I put it to the
:21:44. > :21:47.US commander that despite all his resources and hardware, the US has
:21:48. > :21:52.not yet eradicated militant extremism in East Africa. In the 11
:21:53. > :21:58.years since this joint task force was set up, let's look at the
:21:59. > :22:04.numbers. Al`Shabaab has struck outside its borders in Kenya, at
:22:05. > :22:09.Westgate it set off attacks in Ethiopian, it has blown up people in
:22:10. > :22:15.Uganda. You have had Al Qaeda three times put explosives on planes and
:22:16. > :22:24.in some cases, bound for the US. He doesn't seem to be stopping
:22:25. > :22:30.terrorism? `` it. Again, though, that's why we're here our job...
:22:31. > :22:34.This is the mission we have been given. This is what my country has
:22:35. > :22:44.put me here for. We are continuing to work in this method. Not with us
:22:45. > :22:48.sitting right here in partnership and teamwork that we are building
:22:49. > :22:52.here we give you, Kenya, Uganda and the other teams here, working
:22:53. > :22:57.through the African mission support to Somalia. Those things were in
:22:58. > :23:04.place when Westgate happened and it still happens. This is a complex
:23:05. > :23:09.environment. There are good days and bad days. This is a tough
:23:10. > :23:14.environment. What I've learned over 30 years is to focus on what you can
:23:15. > :23:20.do and what I can do is continue to work on the mission.
:23:21. > :23:23.The Americans are loud asked to see one more aspect of their mission
:23:24. > :23:36.here. `` allowed. Inserting special forces rescue
:23:37. > :23:44.paratroopers into a drop zone. Trained to land in hostel territory,
:23:45. > :23:49.they are quick to jump into the sea below. We were told that they had
:23:50. > :23:50.been schooled in survival like navigation and how to resist
:23:51. > :24:03.interrogation. These men would certainly be a prize
:24:04. > :24:13.catch for al`Shabaab. Today, they are practising jumping into the Gulf
:24:14. > :24:19.of aid and `` Gulf of Aden. After hitting the water, they are located
:24:20. > :24:23.and picked up by the US Navy. The Americans are not alone in the skies
:24:24. > :24:30.over Djibouti. This is a French helicopter, operating from a French
:24:31. > :24:38.aircraft carrier. It is refuelling from this U.S. Air Force tanker.
:24:39. > :24:43.This air to air refuelling is just one small part of the huge buildup
:24:44. > :24:52.of US/ coalition military operations here in the corner of Africa. ``
:24:53. > :24:57.Horn of Africa. Nothing I have seen in the air, on sea, or on land gives
:24:58. > :25:00.any indication that Washington is pulling back from this region. If
:25:01. > :25:04.anything, with the forces withdrawing from Afghanistan,
:25:05. > :25:09.Djibouti is likely to grow in importance. I intend to determine
:25:10. > :25:15.how we can continue to fight terrorism without keeping America on
:25:16. > :25:17.a perpetual wartime footing. Our systematic effort to dismantle
:25:18. > :25:24.terrorist organisations must continue.
:25:25. > :25:30.Choosing peaceful Djibouti as the original springboard makes it
:25:31. > :25:33.strategic sense for Washington. This country hosts the only permanent
:25:34. > :25:38.military base in Africa for the Pentagon. But how much longer can
:25:39. > :25:39.Djibouti stay in new from the violence which has blighted its
:25:40. > :26:22.neighbours? `` stay immune. Hello. It has been on the cold side
:26:23. > :26:27.for many of us but that is set to change over the weekend for most of
:26:28. > :26:31.us. We will see temperatures rising. It will warm up. Dry and hazy
:26:32. > :26:37.sunshine around. Brisk wind blowing in from the south`east. Some parts
:26:38. > :26:38.will mist out on the warm weather. How will things go on