The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Somalia" ...
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Shell Games Series
As he sought out the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama called for greater corporate transparency around the world. His criticism focused on the forgiving laws of locales outside U.S. borders- from Switzerland to the Cayman Islands. In a multi-part series called "Shell Games", Reuters revealed equally egregious practices on America'a own shores, where business incorporation laws in some states are more lax than those of Somalia.
Tags: Barack Obama; U.S. Border; Somalia; Transparency; borders
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Masters of chaos: The secret history of the special forces
This book recounts the Special Forces missions over the past 15 years, including Desert Storm, Just Cause, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. It is based on interviews with soldiers of all ranks, access bestowed upon a reporter with 10 years of experience covering insurgencies in Latin America.
Tags: BOOK; military; Special Forces; Iraq; Desert Storm; Afghanistan; Somalia; Green Beret
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Welcome Back Warrior
The tragic suicide of mentally ill Marine Corps veteran Brian Callan was the catalyst for an analysis of how the Department of Veterans Affairs fails to assist soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a variation called peacekeeper's traumatic stress disorder. The VA has cut special services for those with PTSD, like Callan who served in Lebanon, Desert Storm and Somalia, nearly to extinction,
Tags: Marine Corps; peacekeeper's traumatic stress disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; PTSD; suicide; Department of Veteran Affairs; VA; Brian Callan
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Gunrunners
This Web site was done jointly with a PBS Frontline/Word episode, "Gunrunners," which examined the "secret activities of international gun smugglers and the efforts of United Nations investigators to track and stop this trafficking," according to the contest questionnaire.
Tags: weapons; trade; crime; military intelligence; CIA; U.S. Customs; Department of Defense; arms; Somalia; Interpol; irewar03
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Bystanders to Genocide
The Atlantic Monthly investigates "why the United states let the Rwandan tragedy happen." The story includes "exclusive interviews with scores of the participants in the decision-making." The author analyses "a cache of newly declassified documents" that reveal that "the U.S. government knew enough about the genocide early on to save lives..." The story reveals that "the U.S. did much more than fail to send troops...it lead a successful effort to remove most of the UN peacekeepers who were already in Rwanda." The article is a "chilling narrative of self-serving caution and flaccid will - and countless missed opportunities to mitigate a colossal crime."
Tags: United Nations; peacekeepers; politics; defense; Romeo Dallaire; Hutu; Tutsi; human rights; genocide; intelligence; Wesley Clark; Pentagon; Warren Christopher; Africa; Somalia
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Out of Africa
Education Week reports on the increase of African refugees who are moving to Columbus, Ohio and the challenges of teaching students with little or no previous education. "While Somalis at the elementary level participate in regular ESL programs, older Somali children can attend one of two 'welcome centers' at the middle and high school levels before entering a regular ESL program." Students in the Welcome Centers "may interact with native-born American students at lunch or during electives . . . all of the core academic classes are self-contained. . . Students are further divided into six levels according to their literacy skills . . . Their central philosophy is that immigrant students should be placed in a transitional, self-contained program for a short time to learn ESL and academic content before attending regular schools." This article reports on the benefits of these programs, but also raises the concerns of Somali community organizations who disagree.
Tags: refugees; education; teachers; ESL (English as a Second Language); Somalia
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Rogue Nation U.S.A.
Mother Jones looks at how "the United States exempts itself from the standards that it applies to others." The report finds that the country often "refuses to sign international treaties and ignores U.N. resolutions." The author points to a number of cases - the Washington's refusal to recognize the jurisdiction of the World Court for the crime of mining civilian harbors in Nicaragua, the invasion of Panama in 1989, the government's reluctance to impose economic sanctions on repressive China - that exemplify "this fat and superior mentality." The story sheds light on "the U.S. refusal to pay U.N. membership" and "to sign on to the land-mines treaty." It also reveals that the U.S.A and Somalia are the only country that have "not yet ratified the convention that forbids the execution of minors."
Tags: weapons; politics; United Nations; capital punishment; land mines; international law; Cuba; China; Soviet Union; missiles; human rights
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Somalis Funnel Millions to East Africa
"Somali refugees in Minnesota have sent at least $75 million to East Africa, using banks to make large wire transfers." While most of the money sent is said to be for humanitarian aid, federal investigators believe the collection system may exist to "contribute small sums for guns and clan-based militias back home".
Tags: Federal Bureau of Investigation; Immigration and Naturalization Service; Internal Revenue Service; immigrants; Somalia; refugees
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A defining battle
The Inquirer gives a thorough recount of Oct. 3, 1993, when 120 U.S. soldiers were dropped into Mogadishu, Somalia in order to abduct warlord Mohamed Aidid. When the operation went wrong and the soldiers were overtaken by mobs of angry Somalians, 18 U.S. soldiers were killed and 73 were wounded.
Tags: Mogadishu; Somalia; U.N.; Michael Durant; U.S. Army; Delta Force
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After-Action Report
"After-Action Report" tells the story of Garrett Jones and John Spinelli, two CIA agents who worked in Somalia in 1993. Their account of the CIA involvement in the Somalian conflict is "one of the fullest descriptions yet of a CIA operation in the post-Cold War period -- a narrative that illuminates the hazards of 'mission creep,' when peacekeeping operations becomes heavily armed exercises in 'nation building,' and the limitations of on-the-fly intelligence in a spy paradigm that mixes special operations and law enforcement.
Tags: Somalia; CIA; spying; post-Cold War; military; United Nations; United States