Kerry urges caution in taking action on Somalia

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Kerry urges caution in taking action on Somalia
By Andrew Miga - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 29, 2008 16:48:00 EST

WASHINGTON — As a young Navy swift boat commander in Vietnam, Sen. John Kerry was no stranger to the perils of hot pursuit in combat.

He was awarded a Silver Star for beaching his boat after a rocket attack and racing ashore to chase down and kill a Viet Cong fighter armed with a rocket launcher.

Nearly 40 years later, as incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry favors using hot pursuit against pirates in the waters off Somalia, but urges a cautious approach before U.S officials consider sending American forces to chase them ashore. Kerry plans committee hearings next year looking at the problems posed by piracy.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who was on President-elect Barack Obama’s short list to be secretary of state, said a hot pursuit policy on Somalia’s coastline is “long overdue.” But he warns against any “haphazard, sloppy” military missions.

“You gotta know what you’re getting into and where you’re going and under what circumstances,” Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said in a recent telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I mean, if you send five police officers raging into the center of Mogadishu, you are asking for trouble. You gotta be smart.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/ap_kerry_piracy_122908/%2e