good networks. they have good financial networks in kenya. it s hard to imagine they could attack the united states, but they could do clearly a great deal of damage. and with the american connection, it s obviously a great concern. let me ask you about that, mark. in terms of the strength of al shabaab, do you think they were working alone or do you think they were some folks have said it sounds like al qaeda is more involved here, at least in the training and the execution of this. do you think this is a sign of a strengthened al shabaab? because there have been very different analysis on this. some people are saying that the group is a weakened band of insurgents and as you point out not good at the running of a country. other folks have said it s an audacious return for al shabaab. where do you land on that? i can certainly see them doing these types of attacks. some experts i talked to pointed out that they were trying to do big, coordinated, complicated al qaeda-style attac
these. i wonder what you think about this current conflict in kenya as it involves al shabaab in somalia and whether this changes u.s. calculus. in your book you write the military s joint special operations command began paying greater attention to fighting a stealth war against militants in somalia. obama lawyers even debated whether al shabaab, which had not carried out acts of terrorism against the u.s., could be a target. was al shabaab a threat to america or a local militia that washington could simply ignore? it was sometimes hard to take the group seriously. sew surely in the aftermath of this attack washington will be taking al shabaab more seriously. how does that measurably translate into our national security operations over there? well, shabaab is a group that has been the subject of these debates inside the obama administration about how adepressive the u.s. should be. there have been a number of missile strikes against shabaab leaders and against al qaeda in
attackers. at this point u.s. officials say they are unable to verify that americans were involved. in a speech this morning, kenyan president said, quote, this is not kenya s war. this is an international war. indeed, the u.s. has been escalating its war against al shabaab and other terrorists in the region for several years. in 2011 american military forces began launching targeted drone strikes against al shabaab in somalia. that same year the cia was using a secret prison in somalia to hold shabaab prisoners. in recent years the u.s. has been running training camps for ugandan peacekeepers who fight shabaab forces and used predator drone, fighter jets and 2,000 u.s. troops and military civilians. joining us is national security correspondent for the new york times, mark mazzetti,. mark, always great to talk to you, especially in days like
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