U.S. Hunts al Qaeda in Somalia - Richard Miniter (has details)

Spotted by Predator drone aircraft and sprayed with high-calibre bullets by an U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship, the U.S. military is hunting al Qaeda operatives in the southern toe of Somalia, according to CBS News.

Special Forces Command (or SOCOM) has yet to confirm that the terrorists responsible for the August 7, 1998 embassy bombings—which killed 12 American diplomats and some 211 Africans—were slain in today’s strike.

If the gunship’s rounds were on target, it is a major setback for al Qaeda in Africa. Following last year’s sweep by the Kenyans and activities in the Coromos Islands (off the coast of Kenya and Somalia), combined with efforts by the Algerians, Moroccans, Ethiopians, and (yes) Sudanese, the terrorist network is now under major pressure. It will be hard for al Qaeda to find a battle-hardened veteran to command its combat operations or a seasoned financier to move its money. Yes, they will find someone. But not all “leaders” are of equal skill and terrorist cells are sensitive to the quality of their leadership.

This air strike is also a helpful reminder to people who were worried that Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror. Special Forces Command is operating in some 55 countries against al Qaeda right now, a senior defense official told me recently.

The strike also highlights a development which largely escaped the notice of Congress and the public: Africa is becoming a major battleground in the war on terror, especially the sahel, a dry band that south of the Sahara that stretches from the Erg Iguidi of Mauritania, across Mali,Niger,Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, to Somalia’s litter-strewn shores. Sahel is Arabic for margin and the region has long been at the margin of Western thinking.

But not so for the radical Salafis. Wahabbi missionaries have canvassed this dry belt for almost two decades, transforming the Islamic practice of the region and sending record numbers of its residents on pilgrimage to Mecca. Al Qaeda, its allies and affiliates, have not been far behind.

Covert and overt activities in the Sahel have been on rise since 2003. This is why one of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s last acts from to create America’s first-ever Africa Command (or AFRICOM in military speak). Previously African operations, such as a 2003 air strike on an al Qaeda ally in Northern Chad, were run out of European Command, or EUCOM.

UPDATE: In about one hour, a cabinet member of the new Somalia government will arrive at my house. I will let you know what the permanent secretary for international cooperation (and former chief of staff to Somalia’s president) has to add to this developing story.

SECOND UPDATE: Dahir Jibreel came by in the company of Pajamas correspondent Daveed Gartenstein-Ross. Here are some quick notes from our four-hour conversation. Daveed will follow with a longer, more in-depth piece shortly.

Yesterday’s AC-130 strike was not the first time that American fixed-wing aircraft have swooped down over Somalia to deliver death blows to al Qaeda-allied Islamic Courts Union. Jibreel, speaking for the government of Somalia, confirmed that the U.S. planes and helicopters “flying anonymously” having been striking targets since the start of the Ethiopian surge against the ICU last month.

Indeed, Jabreel said, the U.S. and Ethiopia seemed to have been planning the military incursion for several months. He said that he saw U.S. military planes and soldiers at Wajer, a strategic air strip in Kenya, some 45 days before the Ethiopians launched their headline-making offensive.

CIA and senior military commanders from the U.S. Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (JTF-HOA) met with the Transitional Federal Government president more than two months ago to lay out a campaign to crush the ICU, Jabreel said.

In addition, General Abizaid met with the Somalian president in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Adaba, in December.

U.S. officials, including senior CIA and military officers, met to review the campaign’s progress with Somalia’s president five days ago in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.

And this is a real scoop: Operating on the ground in Somalia, Jabreel added, U.S. special forces and CIA paramilitary officers helped aircraft pinpoint targets.

The U.S. forces are based in Camp Lemonier in the former French colony of Djibouti, a tiny Muslim nation perched on the Red Sea.

The Somalia official also believes that the U.S. may use fighters to strike the last ICU-al Qaeda stronghold—reducing the possibility of the ICU launching an insurgent campaign.

Only the media, not the military, has been distracted.

The liberal news media is not distracted.
This afternoon, NPR focused on civilian casualties in Somalia and condemnations of the U.S. air strike.

The liberal news media is the de facto propaganda ministry of America's enemies.

Big Journalism never says out loud that "there's a sucker born every minute," but the planted axiom of liberalism is that NOTHING actually matters except PR.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, in contrast, take for granted that we-the-people deserve respect. But

The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing . . . It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. - Adam Smith
Worse,
Half the truth is often a great lie. - Benjamin Franklin

Therefore we-the-people are only worthy of respect if we can read between the lines and interpret the silence when the dog doesn't bark.
In effect the presumption of Big Journalism promotes the idea that the Constitution is fatally flawed in its foundational premise. Conservatives deny that - even as we are frequently discomfited by the ability of Big Journalism to convince astounding numbers of voters to vote against the idea that they are competent enough to have a say in their own government.
Big Journalism promotes the idea that Big Journalism is objective, and that we-the-people can't read between the lines and must trust that they are being told the truth objectively.
That explains why "liberals" - who are simply fellow travelers of Big Journalism - are "anti-American," as conservatives find themselves sputtering. The arrogant, condescending conceit of "liberalism" subverts the foundational premise of liberty.
What is to be done? Should we therefore consider repeal of the First Amendment? Heaven forefend. The truth is that the abuses of Big Journalism only are threatening because of misinterpretations of, and outright violations of, the First Amendment. Big Journalism says that the First Amendment makes it free to tell the truth. And that is true, in the same sense that it is true that I am free to eat an optimally healthy diet. I exert some will in that direction, but it cannot honestly be said that no candy or cookies ever pass my lips. The truth is that I am free to eat thousands of excess calories, and that newspapers are free, within broad limits, to be tendentious and even deceptive.
Violations of the First Amendment are actually quite commonplace. The First Amendment bans censorship, and yet broadcasting as we know it is a creature of censorship. An amazing percentage of the population does not read newspapers, and yet the broadcast journalism which they do listen to is philosophically flawed and fundamentally illegitimate.
Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate

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