ABSTRACT
When John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address asked the world what "together we can do for the freedom of man", his words resonated throughout Africa as the continent shook off its colonial past and moved closer and closer towards total independence. In the same way that Haile Selassie’s territorial ambitions impacted upon Eritrea, so Somali irredentism threatened American dreams of establishing good relations with Ethiopia and Somalia as well as stability in the Horn of Africa as a whole. Somali designs on parts of north-eastern Kenya, then under British control, erupted into armed clashes and skirmishes between British troops and Somalis in the disputed Northern Frontier District in February 1963. In October, as the administration prepared for the forthcoming state visit of Emperor Haile Selassie, a briefing paper reported that "recent fighting in the Ogaden, in which Somali tribesmen have been pitted against up to 7,000 regular Ethiopian troops, has resulted in considerable bloodshed".
