U.S. airstrike targets al-Qaida in Somalia

NBC News and news services
Updated: 2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A senior Pentagon official confirmed for NBC News Monday that a U.S. helicopter gunship conducted a strike against two suspected al-Qaida operatives in southern Somalia. It was not immediately known whether the mission was successful.

The U.S. Air Force helicopter, operated by the Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti to the southern tip of Somalia, where the al-Qaida suspects were believed to have fled from the capital, Mogadishu, CBS News reported.

U.S. officials say that the United States received assurances from both the Ethiopian and Somalian governments in the last two weeks that, should they obtain intelligence concerning the whereabouts of the al-Qaida operatives, they would pass it on to the United States.

The operatives are believed to be responsible for the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania as well as 2002 attacks on Israeli tourists in Kenya and the attempted downing of an Israeli aircraft the same day.

The Ethiopian military swept into Somalia last month and removed the Islamic government that had reputedly harbored al-Qaida operatives.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16531987/

Thats not gonna do good things for us politically, in the region, methinks. I wonder if LW has any more info, if he's at liberty to say, that is.

Should probably be striken from the record and forgotten.

You might be right in regards to our political stance in the region, but seeing that we were targeting the scum that was involved with the embassy bombings in 1998, I don't think we can put such considerations in front of going after people like this.
Ironically, we may never know if we were successful.

Alright...

I really don't know at this point what I can and cannot say. When you have high ranking military officials saying and admitting things, and then others in the pentagon not confirming things, it really makes me leery about it all.

I really don't know the entire scope. I know...a lot, but I really don't feel comfortable anymore talking about what transpired. As press releases come out, I'll confirm as they confirm, but I won't say anything that outside of Djibouti appears to be speculation. It's not my place.

I can give you opinions though. Things may be much more tense and much more serious than they appear. Things may also be much better than they appear. All liberty is secured here. I have no qualms with sharing that. That doesn't put up any operational security flags. So it makes me wonder. This took place 1000 miles from here, and I think the Navy is over reacting a bit for a time to see what the fallout is.

I think the military has made a horrible mistake by saying that those planes were from Djibouti. Let me make this clear. Those planes were NOT from Djibouti. Those aircrews are NOT stationed here. And those planes do NOT belong to this base. Those planes came from some other place that flies real SORTIES. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this place almost purely humanitarian in nature, and for the military to come out and say that those planes were from Djibouti was a horrible mistake. It's very misleading and could be construed by our enemy's and even the local populace here as something quite negative. It could have quite an impact on our mission.

One thing that I am glad about, is that we have support from Somalia on this. The Somali government has come out in support of this operation and that is something that is monumental. The question will be this. How wll the Somali people react to this. Will they accept it as the PM of Somalia has? Or will they see it as an aggressive attack against the Somali people and Islam? If this attack is wdely supported, then very well.

Things have spun up a lot here in the past couple weeks. I'm curious to see where it will go.

Wow, you mean the Islamic Council in Somalia wasn't working or doing anything at all? Shocking.

Where were the articles last week when Ethiopia got fed up and took matters into its own hands?

Post of the Day!

Or he could have just said, "If you read this I will have to hunt you down and kill you. It's your choice."


As far as the Somali PM coming out in favor of this... it doesn't do anything to make him seem like less of an American stooge. Methinks that being anti-America can only help one's poll numbers in that particular country.

so i guess it's cool with everyone that the US military can bomb anywhere it wants at any time it wants with no form of chekcs or balances as long as they mention "al-queda" or "the war on terrorism"?

my rule #1: whatever the "official" justification is, it is never the "real" reason.

Skepticism is healthy, but your "rule" is seriously flawed.

It seems your real rule is "any time the US uses military force, they are wrong for doing so."

aren't all rules

again, please give me post 1950 examples of military action that were absolutely neccesary and unavoidable. IMO that is the only time the military option should be excercised. again, i believe these examples are scarce.

so tell me, how many innocent people died to potentially kill a few terrorists this time?

not innocent people, collateral damage

What are you saying? That the U.S. should not have gone after the masterminds of the U.S. Ambassy bombings?

No, I'm just wondering what the costs of doing so were.

Me thinks that the ratio that you request has a little more to do with trying to make a point. But perhaps I'm wrong.

Well yeah, how many innocent lives is the US government willing to sacrifice to get their man? It's tough. They fully deserve to be sought out and punished for what they did, and can't be allowed to get away with it, for the sake of justice and preventing it ever happening again. However, is it worth more innocent bloodshed? If so, how much? And did they succeed in getting these guys?
I feel there are many such questions that need to be asked. When I heard this on the news, my gut reaction wasn't at all a positive one. I wasn't thinking about justice or punishment for these guys. My first thought was solely for the innocent people caught in the crossfire.

we share intel with many of the countries in that area in an effort to fight off 'islamist' groups like al qaeda.