Sure hope so. And it came with the commitment of just ONE aircraft and ZERO American casualties. I think this sort of tightly-targeted effort should be the standard in our war on terrorists.

But it was only made possible by the intervention of ground forces, in this case Ethiopian, Somali, and to some extent Kenyan.

Yep. Like I said yesterday, Bush got it right this time -- he secured the cooperation of the involved governments first and only then brought in the proper means of dealing with the situation.

blackcat77,

Unfortunately you can't defeat terrorism from the air. It will take manpower as well, alot of it.

There may have been no American casualties, but the nature of the beast with airstrikes is you will invarably hit someone else close by.

It is good, however, to see we've seized the opportunity while we had it.

Did anyone notice the AIDEED name in the linked story??? It was easy to miss, so go here instead (and yes, it's Anti-war.com, so beware! in knowledge there's much sorrow!) "The absurdity and criminality of our policy in the Horn of Africa is underscored by the ascension of Hussein Mohamed Aideed, the son of the hated warlord - and America's nemesis - Mohamed Farah Aideed, the villain of the "Black Hawk Down" narrative. When daddy died, sonny boy inherited the old warlord's mantle, which was suddenly transmuted into the white robes of a heroic pro-American ally." Read all about it: http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10299

ONE aircraft and ZERO American casualties

blackcat77

From the link:

Also Wednesday, Somalia's deputy prime minister said American troops were needed on the ground to root extremists from his troubled country, and he expected the troops soon. It was the first indication that the U.S. military may expand its campaign

I guess that Aircraft finally showed up after it was requested in 1993 but turned down by the Clinton administration.

And it sounds like ground troops are going to deploy.

Cat,

agreed on the strategy in this case, however, what does one do when the involved governments are part of the problem and/or are uncooperative?

The absurdity and criminality of our policy in the Horn of Africa is underscored by the ascension of Hussein Mohamed Aideed, the son of the hated warlord -BryanD,

Yes, that is the same guy. He was also a Marine and served in Operation Restore Hope.

Read his bio........

In April 1987, he volunteered to join the United States Marine Corps. At one time he was stationed at the Marine Corps reserve base in Pico Rivera, California. He served in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. He later became a naturalized citizen, and remained in the United States until age 30.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Mohamed_Farrah

bryanD,

I love that site you link to...among the many gems present:

If America is once again playing its role as world policeman, in this case we are clearly casting ourselves as the Keystone Kops

How again is going after somone who helped bomb U.S. Embassies, playing World Police? hmm.

It seems a little early for this fellow to be crying quagmire and making direct comparisons to Iraq, but well, it's right there in the article isn't it.

Oh, and you left the last paragraph out from your earlier quote from this article about Aideed:

The only difference between father and son being that Aideed the Younger emigrated to America, grew up in southern California, and joined the Marines before he returned to become Interior Minister in the "transitional government" now being installed into semi-permanence by the U.S. and Ethiopia.

Yes, a tiny inconsequential difference. Warlord vs Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister.

This man is in no way an angel, but we use the help we can get.

Jumpinjoe, Point well taken, but to land on his feet there is...business-like. Like the Corleones in Sicily.

Heralder, thanks for following the link! Your ALL RIGHT, too! (Whenever I must use the term "bush-bot" consider yourself exempt!)

lol.

It was basically a repeat of Jumpinjoe's post, but that's what happens when you do research after clicking 'add comment'.

Man that AC-130 gunship is one badass machine 'o terrorist/bad guy death.

antiwar.com again??!!

LOL.

Another one bites the dust!

ha ha ha ha ha

jo, Hell, yes, anti-war.com! It rocks! (Remember the Putin poisoning of Letvininko? WRONG! Anti-war had it first.) Also recommended: isteve.com (for occasionally over-most-heads news and VERY un-PC sports and socio-political observations - check archives) and udolpho.com for contrarian snark! AND Wizbang! for the typing exercise it affords one (awwww!)

Heralder: True, but the US should *assist* other nations to deal with their own terrorism issues. In fact, there has been great success here with local forces while the US can make surgical strikes that might be beyond the technical abilities of these nations. I don't think we need to put boots on the ground unless it's absolutely necessary.

Jumpinjoe: Bush has been in office for six years now so he lost any excuse for inaction long ago.

Yo: That's why alliances with nations who *do* support action against terrorists are so important. When we act unilaterally, it's easy for radicals to paint us as imperialists, but if we act in concert with the neighbors of a troublesome nation, it's much more difficult.

World Police?
F' Yeah.

They just can't kill enough of those al-Qaida SOBs as far as I'm concerned. Any day is a good day if there is only one less al-Qaida asshole. Allah be praised indeed.