Somalia: U.S. Marines, Mercenaries or Tall Tales?

Somali Assistant District Commissioner Ali Abdi said May 5 that some 20 U.S. Marines had landed in the small Somali port town of Maydh two days earlier to search for suspected terrorists — a claim a U.S. commander vehemently denied May 6. On the surface, these reports seem to verify STRATFOR's previous assessment that operations of this type are being carried out with little public awareness — though the U.S. denial raises several possibilities.