20070108 US Strikes Al Qaeda in Somalia

US Strikes Al Qaeda in Somalia

An AC-130 gunship under Special Operations command has struck at Al Qaeda operatives in Somalia wanted by the United States since 1998

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2007

Well, it’s about time. One of the key lessons in the global war on terror is that there must be consequences for the actions of terrorists.

In the late-1990s, the United States was becoming known to terrorists as a “paper tiger,” incapable or unwilling to defend ourselves.

This only emboldened our enemies.

Of course, we may never know what role the US played in the recent Ethiopian overthrow of Mogadishu and the Islamic Courts – and thank G_d, for once, the New York Times did not tell us.

CBS: U.S. Strikes Al Qaeda In Somalia

For a video report go here.

CBS News Learns Air Strikes Were Aimed At Alleged Al Qaeda Members Linked To 1998 Embassy Bombings

(CBS/AP) A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.

The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.

The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second, and sources say a lot of bodies were seen on the ground after the strike, but there is as yet, no confirmation of the identities.

The gunship flew from its base in Dijibouti down to the southern tip of Somalia, 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.

Read the rest here.