Obama’s Shadow Wars

Missile-wielding drones and elite Special Forces units are the new face of American power, and the White House is increasingly relying on them to fight terror in the farthest corners of the globe.

MARCH/APRIL 2012

Djibouti:

It's not only the Middle East and South Asia where American soldiers are fighting terror: From Camp Lemonnier in the tiny African country of Djibouti, the U.S. military is quietly battling terrorism across a wide swath of Africa. There are approximately 1,800 troops stationed in Djibouti, where their mission is to prevent al Qaeda and other terrorist groups from accessing nations in the region, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Above, a hangar is visible at a base where the U.S. military launches its drones for surveillance in the Horn of Africa.

Sean Gallup/Getty Images