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.
Showing posts with label Somalia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Somalia. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Somalia...
In the course of two months, the United States has helped run the Islamic Courts out of Somalia. Austin Bay has the latest updates, including reports on an AC-130 strike.
The AC-130 strike is some nice payback for the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Whoever gave us the location of those terrorist creeps, this American thanks you.
Al-Qaeda wanted a jihad in Somalia. Well, they got one. That settles most of the debts there.
Fighting with surrogates is one way to get the job done (see the performance of los Pepes against the Medellin drug cartel as one example). Special Forces troops who can coordinate support, provide intelligence and training, and carry out some missions can help America in the war on terror. Soemthing similar could be done with Darfur. Four Special Forces A-Teams, with some guys from Blackwater as backup, plus weapons. Primarily small arms, although with the known Sudanese Air Force involvement, we'll have to provide Stinger missiles as well.
But intervention would be very doable.
The AC-130 strike is some nice payback for the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Whoever gave us the location of those terrorist creeps, this American thanks you.
Al-Qaeda wanted a jihad in Somalia. Well, they got one. That settles most of the debts there.
Fighting with surrogates is one way to get the job done (see the performance of los Pepes against the Medellin drug cartel as one example). Special Forces troops who can coordinate support, provide intelligence and training, and carry out some missions can help America in the war on terror. Soemthing similar could be done with Darfur. Four Special Forces A-Teams, with some guys from Blackwater as backup, plus weapons. Primarily small arms, although with the known Sudanese Air Force involvement, we'll have to provide Stinger missiles as well.
But intervention would be very doable.
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