Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/military-hopes-djibouti-humanitarian-work-will-combat-terror Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript American troops have been stationed in the African nation of Djibouti to engage in humanitarian work that the Bush administration hopes will prevent terrorist groups from taking hold. Special correspondent Simon Marks provides a report. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. SIMON MARKS, NewsHour Special Correspondent: It doesn't look much like a front line in the administration's war on terror, but the White House believes this scratch soccer match in the East African nation of Djibouti is helping to reduce the chances of another terrorist attack on American soil.Eight thousand miles from U.S. shores, 1,700 American troops are fighting terrorism by engaging in humanitarian work designed to prevent al-Qaida from recruiting young people in the Horn of Africa. NATHANIEL YOUNG, Chaplain’s Assistant, U.S. Navy: Basically, I mean, you look around, you can see the smiles on the kids' faces, and that's really what it boils down to, is we're not here to Americanize them. We're here to have a good time with them and show them that, hey, we do care. SIMON MARKS: Nathaniel Young is a chaplain's assistant in the U.S. Navy. But on the basketball court, he's essentially an American cultural ambassador. In their free time, U.S. forces here made regular visits to a local orphanage for events that redefine the phrase "contact sports." NATHANIEL YOUNG: We got together and we said, OK, how can we help the boy's orphanage? What can we do? What's the best way we can relate to them on a level that crosses culture boundaries? Sports does exactly that, soccer, basketball. We even built a volleyball net. We taught them American football. We brought some helmets out for the guys, and they whipped our butts. SIMON MARKS: Among those Djiboutians doing the whooping, 23-year-old Abdul Dakar, who has had friendly on-field encounters with U.S. forces for the past four years. ABDUL DAKAR, Djibouti Citizen: I like to go to America to practice in English and to practice some basketball. I like basketball very, very much. All the people, they like baseball. We play baseball here. I got bases, gloves and bats. I got a ball. On Friday afternoon, we can play baseball. It's nice. It's nice. It's very, very nice.