More strikes...

It looks like we're throwing in with the Ethiopians in cleaning up Somalia.

A lot of Al-Qaeda are dying. Good riddance to them. After this, we need to follow up in two big areas. One of them is going to be remembering that Ethiopia stepped up to the plate and helped us out when they did not have to. This means we back them in their border dispute with Eritrea, and we also need to be willing to aid both them and Somalia.

In the past, we've treated some of our allies shamefully. The UAE got a very raw deal from Congressional Republicans over that port deal, despite the help they provided us in the war on terror (and for which they were threatened by Osama bin Laden). Just before 9/11, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell placed the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia on the same list as FARC and ELN despite the fact that the founder of that organization took some big risks to help us take down Pablo Escobar's cartel in 1993.

Being known as someone who shows loyalty to allies who take chances to help us out is in America's interest. The country has fallen short of that in the past, and it's something that needs to be rectified - before it really bites us in the ass.