A USAF C-130 gunship from SOC engaged al-Qaeda operatives in Somalia earlier today, specifically targeting the a-Q leader in East Africa and Tangos wanted for the bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa in 1998.
From CBS News:
The gunship flew from its base in Dijibouti down to the southern tip of Somalia, [CBS correspondent David] Martin reports, where the al Qaeda operatives had fled after being chased out of the capital of Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops backed by the United States.
Once they started moving, the al Qaeda operatives became easier to track, and the U.S. military started preparing for an air strike, using unmanned aerial drones to keep them under surveillance and moving the aircraft carrier Eisenhower out of the Persian Gulf toward Somalia. But when the order was given, the mission was assigned to the AC-130 gunship operated by the U.S. Special Operations command.
If the attack got the operatives it was aimed at, reports Martin, it would deal a major blow to al Qaeda in East Africa.
Are you paying attention, Al-Sadr?
Here's the DoS website regarding the Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya in August of 1998. Note the Statement by then-President Clinton:
"These acts of terrorist violence are as abhorrent as they are inhuman. We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those responsible to justice no matter what, or how long, it takes."
He said we, but he meant someone other than him, obviously. Also note that Clinton was "deeply troubled by the news."
And it's also a good day to remember the brave men of TF Ranger, especially the nineteen who lost their lives during Operation Gothic Serpent. Here's more on the operation that lead to the book Black Hawk Down. You should also read Mike Durant's In the Company of Heroes.
Related posts: Al-Sadr wants to wear 'big-boy pants'
***UPDATED***: Hot Air reports that there are indications that the strike was successful.
Michelle Malkin has background.
Also blogging:
***UPDATED***: BREITBART indicates that the U.S.S. Eisenhower has arrived on station, and that new attacks, with more gunships and helicopters, may be ongoing.
Predictably, the press isn't cheering.
Reuters AlertNet: (In a piece entitled 'A resounding boo for Ethiopia's invasion')
It is true that the Islamists reintroduced public executions and discouraged Western music, dancing and films, but they also brought stability after 15 years of anarchy and civil war. The official government, however, is now back in Mogadishu, and not without considerable help from neighbouring Ethiopia.
There are many other reasons why the change of power in Mogadishu risks creating at least as many difficulties as it solves. The Union of Islamic Courts had succeeded in bringing law and order to the capital after 16 years of warlordism interspersed with anarchy. Its particular brand of sharia law was not the most refined, but it appeared - with a few exceptions - to be tolerated. If the new government cannot ensure security, a return to chaos will be inevitable.
That may or may not be true, but most Somalis I met welcomed the Union because it had banished the warlords who had reduced their country to mayhem during 15 years of civil war. For the first time in a generation people could walk the streets in safety. Gone were the ubiquitous checkpoints where the warlords’ militias extorted and killed. Guns had been banned. Somalis who had fled the violence were returning from abroad.
[..]
Some regional experts believe that Washington should have encouraged any regime that brought stability to Somalia, even an Islamic one.
Their fear now is that if Somalia is not already the terrorist breeding ground that Washington says it is, it will quickly become one if reduced once more to lawlessness.
Now, I've never been to Somalia, nor do I have any intention of going, but some of the MSM reports make sound as if the place had become the shining jewel of the Horn of Africa. Until pesky America intervened, that is. Clearly, the situation there, as in Darfur, is horrible. But would the people of Somalia, and Africa, really be better off with a huge terrorist haven in their midst?
Time will tell, I suppose.
**UPDATED 01/11/07***: Apparently, it was too good to be true. Looks like we missed the senior leadership that we were gunning for. The message, however, was clear. More at Hot Air » Somalian Al Qaeda leaders survived airstrike.
***UPDATED 01/12/07***: U.S. Special Forces On The Ground In Somalia. Good hunting!
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