The Rift

During a 2011 famine, the United States used poor Somalis as pawns in the war on terror.

The famine in Somalia claimed millions of lives. Starving families with emaciated children streamed into Mogadishu from southern Somalia. The author watched as 7-year-old Umar, his mother by his side, died of starvation in a hospital for refugees. The family had walked 240 kilometers to Mogadishu with no food. Umar’s younger siblings had died during the trip, and an older brother perished of measles after arriving in Mogadishu. But Umar’s family wasn’t alone in its suffering: Tens of thousands of people walked to Mogadishu, many dying during the trip. International news coverage presented the usual narrative: Somalia’s famine was business as usual in dysfunctional Africa, and food aid wasn’t arriving at its final destination.

The reality of the Somali famine was more complicated. Decades of foreign aid played a major role in the situation by helping to create a self-perpetuating cycle of food shortages and food donations. Instead of sending seeds, tractors and irrigation lines to African farmers, the West sends food. As...