"In Somalia the general feeling has been that al-Shabab is a regional issue," Mazzetti said, "but the attack in Nairobi a couple, of weeks ago I think changed that calculation." 
The two U.S. raids over the weekend targeting terrorist leaders in Libya and Somalia have brought U.S. counter-terrorism strategy in Africa back into focus.
On Tuesday, host Alex Wagner was joined by The New York Times‘ Mark Mazzetti to discuss whether the use of special forces marked a departure from President Obama’s heavy reliance on drone strikes to target militants overseas during his first term. The two also discussed whether this weekend’s actions signaled deeper U.S. involvement on the African continent.
“They can do these discreet types of operations, but the real question is do they want to launch operations across North Africa because there are militants, or do they let other countries do it or do they have to narrow the scope,” Mazzetti said. “In Somalia the general feeling has been that al-Shabab is a regional issue and it’s not worth risking American troops because they haven’t attacked the United States, but the attack in Nairobi a couple, of weeks ago I think changed that calculation.”