Colin Robinson

Not Just ‘Mowing the Grass:’ Unconventional Warfare in Somalia

By Colin Robinson In June 2022, US Army captain Sean O’Brien wrote that “mowing the grass” — continual degradation of Al-Shabaab leaders, effectively via airstrikes and small swift raids (in military doctrinal terms, direct action, or DA) — was the most useful option to avoid threats to US interests in Somalia.