US seizes its opportunity in Somalia(very opposite of a surgical strike)

[maddezmom]

The rout of Somalia’s radical Islamist movement at the hands of Ethiopian forces has presented America with an extraordinary opportunity.

For years, Somalia has been the despair of US policy-makers.

The disastrous "Black Hawk Down" intervention in 1992-93, which ended when a Mogadishu mob killed 18 US Rangers, has become a byword for the dangers of foreign intervention. This failed operation left Somalia in the grip of anarchy, allowing international terrorists to penetrate the country.

~snip~


So this was the very opposite of a surgical strike. Anyone in the path of the gunship, which departed from the US military base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, would have been killed.

America can afford this indiscriminate approach because southern Somalia is so dangerous that journalists or aid workers are unlikely to be able to reach the target area and count the bodies.

more:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/09/usomalia209.xml

[ShortnFiery]

1. I will never grow to accept targeted KILLING of SUSPECTED

terrorists. What have we become as a Nation? I'm sickened at the thought of any innocents being mowed down in such an horrific manner. :( :(

[maddezmom]

2. and the Somali's are calling the raid a sucess

~snip~
Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Aidid echoed those comments, saying the United States "has the right to defend itself and has an international obligation to support a legitimate government under threat by terrorists."

"Many people were killed and I think the terrorists were eliminated," Information Minister Ali Jama told AFP.

"Absolutely, a lot of people were killed," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told AFP. "So many dead people were lying in the area, we do not know who is who, but the raid was a success."

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070109/wl_afp/somaliaunrestethiopia_070109104338

[ShortnFiery]

3. Whoa!

That logic is like the following: "The operation was a success but the patient died."

I doubt if the government has taken full stock - as bits of body particles are still raining down after such awesome firepower. :wow: The aftermath of the aerial carnage would leave our local chicken-hawks weeping like babies and puking their guts up.

It's easy to talk tough when you are not in the line of fire and/or never have to see "up close and personal" the death and destruction that you have caused to everything in your path.

Again, IMO aerial bombings are chicken-shit when they are not truly defensive. That's just me. I equate such cowardice to Cheney gleefully shooting 70 pheasants presented for slaughter - right IN HIS FAT FACE ... and for what purpose? Not for sustenance or survival, but just like the aerial slaughter of humans with 50 Caliber Ammo --> for shits and grins? the power of the kill? perhaps, future bragging rights? :puke:

What the hell were we (our service members) DEFENDING :wtf: yesterday in Somalia? The USA is seemingly always the aggressor. We kill scores of suspected _________ <fill in blank depending upon which perpetual war era>.

The mighty USA Military will ALWAYS WIN every battle, but we have already lost any hope of winning the trust of Middle Eastern or Muslim Area Peoples. IF we ever choose diplomacy above annihilation as our foreign policy, it will require at least two decades to rebuild the positive relationships that we enjoyed before MAD King George was installed by our Supreme Court. :(

[Briar]

4. Murderers. n/t

[MasonJar]

5. Let's see, does Somalia have vast oil fields, because we have

done nothing for Darfur?

[Jasmine21]

6. All this means is that a lot of people were killed and we don't really know who they were.

Makes the US feel strong. Innocent life means nothing to us, especially when that life is not white, rich, or famous.