For the first time since American troops withdrew from Somalia after a bloody firefight in the streets of Mogadishu, the United States military is rebuilding its combat power in the Horn of Africa, the New York Times reports.

The main goal this time is to put American forces in position to strike cells of Al Qaeda in Yemen or East Africa. But the Pentagon has also begun to use Djibouti to train its forces in desert warfare — skills that could be applied in Washington's campaign against terrorist groups or on the battlefields of Iraq.

"We are getting heavy weapons ashore and firing," said Col. John Mills, the commander of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has been conducting a major military exercise here for just over a week. "I am preparing my unit to operate in a high-intensity conflict."
At a dusty, parched and desolate stretch of African desert, marines used live ammunition as they practiced infantry assaults. Marine howitzers lobbed shells six miles. Harrier jets dropped 500-pound bombs, and Super Cobra helicopter gunships raked the ground with fire. M-1 tanks and other armored vehicles blasted their targets.

Bereft of oil or valuable resources, the impoverished nation of Djibouti has long been a desirable base for Western militaries. Put simply, what Djibouti offers is location. It is close to Yemen and near the Bal el Mandeb Strait, a critical choke-point where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden. The sea lanes near Djibouti are particularly crucial since they are used for commercial shipping and to transport American war mat