Posted on 01/10/2007 12:21:11 AM PST by Jim Robinson
This time the U.S. stays on the anti-terror offense.
It may be some time before we learn whether Sunday's air strikes by an AC-130 gunship in southern Somalia succeeded in killing the terrorists who were the intended targets--particularly Abu Taha al-Sudani, reportedly an al Qaeda explosives expert, and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, mastermind of the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings. But the attacks--along with the deployment of a carrier battle group off the African coast--are welcome evidence that the U.S. has learned the lessons of May 19, 1996.
That's the date Osama bin Laden and his associates left Sudan for Afghanistan on a chartered plane. The Clinton Administration was aware that Sudan intended to expel bin Laden, and the U.S. might have easily tracked and destroyed the flight en route. The consequences of its failure to do so is only too well known, and the Bush Administration is right to be determined not to let terrorists get away again, whether by land, air or sea.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Excellent article! Thanks, Jim! BTTT!!!
One if by land. Two if by sea. Three if by air (an update to the original). Hopefully we'll kill them no matter which way they go.
Ping
AC-130 attack in Somalia. Well, better late than never.
Did you see this one?:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1765111/posts
According to Miniter the action in Somalia has been in the works for some time, and our guys have been deeply involved.
I think we all wish that more had been done sooner in the WOT, but I would imagine that senior commanders have had the same desire. Miniter suggests that the U.S. military has not been distracted from the task, and that they are doing what needs to be done, when it is feasible.
Aw yes, just doin the work Clinton wouldn't do.
Good one Jim and thanks.
Great article! :-)
Ghost Rider
Nightstalker
Grave Digger
Death Angel
Gunslinger
Some of your friendly neighbors from Fort Walton Beach.
Here's an article demonstrating our presence in Ethiopia in late 2005 : http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1529032/posts
In Djibouti in 2003 : "Pentagon may base fighter aircraft in Djibouti" : http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030710/APN/307100915
and 2002 : http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/759806/posts
Eritrea in June 2002 : http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/697647/posts
Joint wargames in Kenya for some time - links have been removed from FR;
US Says Militants Lurk in Horn of Africa
ABC ^ | 12/27/04 | Caroline Drees
Posted on 12/27/2004 7:42:30 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Militant groups including al Qaeda are exploiting lawless areas in the seven-nation Horn of Africa region to hide, recruit and train members and possibly plan attacks, the head of the region's U.S.-led anti-terror force said Monday.
"We find the terrorist networks here using the fact that there is a lot of ungoverned space in the Horn of Africa," said Maj. Gen. Samuel Helland. "Because of (this) … it's very easy for a terrorist organization to establish a presence … It's very easy for them to train, equip, organize and use the facilities that are present to gain a foothold."
"And I suspect that if we look very hard at the area we'll see that there is some training going on for operations in other parts of the world," he said in a telephone interview from Djibouti, where he heads the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing counterterrorism activities in the Horn of Africa.
Since late 2002, Djibouti has hosted U.S. troops using the tiny state as a base to hunt down the kind of militants who attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing 200 people.
The task force in the Horn of Africa region encompasses the territory and airspace of Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Yemen and Ethiopia, as well as the coastal waters of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Helland took over the task force in May.
"I think we can say with some level of confidence that there are al Qaeda operatives in the Horn of Africa," Helland said, adding that the network provided ideological inspiration as well as direct support to local militants.
"Suspicions are pretty high" that al Qaeda militants had personal contact with local radicals, he said. "There is a capability here within the region that is supported as we see in open form by the al Qaeda network that extends out of the Middle East."
The United States and nations in the region are trying to determine the extent of al Qaeda's presence in the Horn of Africa, "who they are, where they are and what they're doing," he said.
U.S.-led forces have so far been unable to root out the militants because they blended in with local populations in chaotic areas that have escaped local government control, Helland said.
"This is ungoverned space they thrive in. It is a place where there is chaos. It's a place where there is no governance. There's no rule of law. It's all based on warlord relationships, and they just go ahead and blend in with them," he said.
Helland said the U.S. forces were working with regional states, conducting military, border security and maritime security training, as well as civil affairs projects like drilling wells, repairing medical clinics and providing veterinary services to enhance stability and make it more difficult for militant recruiters.
Points well take from you both. This is not just lobbing a missile at an aspirin (or whatever) factory. People on our side have been laying the groundwork for this for a long time, and there are certainly long plans for the Long War that are being made. And the point of this whole thread is that this war is not going away, no matter what some people think and no matter what some politicians try to do.
Yep - quitting's not an option.
I hope our military has learned from the awful antics of the MSM reporters while "embedded" in Iraq.
bttt
The lesson learned was to not have a Clinton in the power seat as the United States President.
Remember that when commanders requested armoured vehicles for the area, the Clinton team refused. Those soldiers would stil be with us had this simple request been allowed.
Thanks for the post.
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