US Launches Military Strike in Somalia Against al Qaeda Target

Source: ABC News

A US Official Confirms That Nabhan's Body Was Recovered By The Attacking US Forces.

A U.S. commando attack in Somalia has killed an al Qaeda operative who is on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists, sources tell ABC News.

The dead terrorist, Saleh Ali Nabhan, is believed to have taken part in the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He is also believed to have orchestrated the 2002 bombing of a resort hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, and a failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner leaving Mombasa airport.

Several sources tell ABC News at least one U.S. helicopter fired on a convoy carrying suspected al Qaeda targets in southern Somalia. An American official says a U.S. Navy ship was also nearby to monitor the situation and provide assistance if needed.

Ali Nabhan's death has not yet been officially confirmed, but sources tell ABC News that his body is now in U.S. custody.

Ali Nabhan, a 28-year-old Kenyan, is on the FBI's most wanted list for terrorist activities such as the resort and missile attacks as well as participation in the 1998 attack on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-forces-somalia-kill-saleh-ali-nabhan-commando/story?id=8569619

enemy and killing a lot of civilians ... all because we don't want to get our hands dirty, i.e., put boots on the ground. :puke:

my brother in the 101st Infantry in Vietnam 68'.

Yeah, I know war is hell. That's why we shouldn't be tear assing around other sovereign countries. OR we should not be surprised that THEY HATE US ... given so much "collateral damage" due to these bombings. :(

There were boots on the ground, the airships involved were manned with U.S. Navy personnel who immediately recovered the body (boots on the ground) for positive I.D.

BTW: I am a veteran with a Naval Expeditionary award for service in the Persian Gulf.

of us who have come to a different conclusion about, more specifically, wars of choice.

Have a good day. AIRBORNE! Yeah, I did that too. :toast:

This is an issue of state sovereignty, international law, and simple common sense that people are not going to like us very much if we continually make unilateral decisions that it is ok to invade foreign countries for whatever reason.

This was not an anti-piracy operation to which UN Resolution 1851 would seem to apply, and I am ignorant of any other international resolution that could possibly justify such a strike.

that helicopter took off? Even if the guy was a terrorist and getting killed is part of his job profile.

Where do you think THEIR LOYALTIES will lie in the future?

We're creating more "terrorists" than we are killing.

The peoples in these areas are already living in abject poverty ... and they will wait us out.

We've already lost ... we're just ensuring that every area in the Middle East save for Israel, hates our guts. = Mission Accomplished. :eyes:

Well, Kurska seems to think there's no governing authority to give such permission. I was thinking the helicopter may have taken off from that ship that was monitoring the situation. But even if it was a land-based operation, it wasn't necessarily approved by a local authority. Remember Iran about 1980?

Somalia is a power vacuum with no central government to speak out, what did you suggest we do?

Pavulon seems to think that there was some authority to give permission. You are both at odds with each other. And even if there were no sovereignty concerns (I don't know that a central government is required to have sovereignty), there are still human rights concerns that arise through killing a "suspect" rather than trying such a person in a court of law.

My dad's a Vietnam Vet and air-strikes ensured his safety on more then one occasion. And my grandfather was a pilot in WWII who coordinated artillery bombardment for advancing ground forces.

Ask your family members, "cowardly" air-strikes save lives.

on OUR SIDE. Not sure of air-strikes but, how bout you ask some Canadian Troops of our accuracy? :wow:

Good for your dad and mine ... however, what do you think the survivors of all that bombing think of US? Have you considered that people who are used to living in abject poverty are better apt to WAIT US OUT?

But what the hell, American lives are always more precious than the "collateral damage" caused by our smart bombs. :eyes:

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012397

The deadly danger of friendly fire was identified as a major military problem after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when 35 of 148 U.S. deaths were attributed to such accidents. But how much real change on the battlefield has resulted from those heightened concerns is an open question. Just last month, the National Audit Office, the British equivalent of Canada's federal auditor general, issued a tough report taking the British Ministry of Defence to task for not doing enough to protect its troops from friendly fire (nine British soldiers were killed during the Gulf War in an American air raid gone wrong). And a recent NATO analysis again raised the alarm, noting that "fratricide" has accounted for many of the coalition casualties in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.

When the Nazi's Blitzkrieged their way across an impoverished Europe, barely recovering from the effects and economic devastation of the Great Depression, with their war machine built with dollars that we really can't explain where the Nazi regime got their funding.

Follow the money "My Friends". the Bush family had its Iraq chip, The Clinton family has its Somalia chip.



The average modern U.S. Soldier of today uses on average 16 Barrels of Oil a day. I believe in WW2, the use was calculated at 4 Barrels of Oil per day.

idiot.

clueless.

:(

fear and loathing of the USA.

when America refuses to honor the sovereignty of NO OTHER NATION.

Fuck American sovereignty.

America violates and disrespects sovereignty of almost every other nation.

but that place has no functioning government. I don't even know if it qualifies as a sovereign nation.

There is no way to request his arrest and extradition.

Not that it seems arrest was on the cards here either.

We must slaughter the terrorists wherever they are regardless of locality. I applaud the President for ridding the world of more terrorists who wish our homeland harm.

That could be one of the stupidest fucking posts ever posted here.

:wtf: OVER?!?

Just this guys resume btw...

Lord, can you imagine being a family member of say, if accurate, of one of those 12 innocents?

Which SIDE do you think they will be loyal to in the future?

FAIL - Vietnamization, Part II :(

We can bomb them into The Stone Age and WIN every battle ... but we WILL lose the war for the hearts and minds.

Because these guys arent going to quit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8254957.stm

There's a suspiciously specific denial by the French spokesman saying it "wasn't a French operation," so there's no reason to believe both or additional forces weren't involved.

So we're now trusting the government--SECRET spying programs, unnamed prosecutors, faceless FBI agents, the CIA, the NSA--to determine who gets the death penalty by our executioners and who gets randomly splattered around the bomb site, who may be totally unconnected to the condemned, and, even if they are, also get no chance to hear the charges against them or to reply or be defended?

And this is being done, at the will of these SECRET government operatives, anywhere they like?

This is indefensible, under international law, and our own law, and it is a perilous precipice that we are all standing on. When do we get the restoration of the rule of law?

Never, is the answer. Never does government assume illegal powers like these and then give them up. It will never be over. The "war on terror" is the Forever War that our war profiteers have dreamed about.

Do NOT get smug--and think to yourself, 'Ha! One more terrorist scumbag taken care of!' Because we DON'T KNOW who was killed, or why. We have only the notoriously unreliable word of government and military authorities, and the notoriously complicit corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies. We should be very wary of what they tell us, and very concerned about these assumed "judge and jury" powers of government.

and could easily have turned himself in at any time to dispute the charges.

I mean, are serious?

The other suspects involved with those particular bombings received a trial, so I guess there is *some* precedent to that effect.

covertly but now we're proud. Yet, we wonder why they HATE AMERICA? :(

Sure, the U.S. has a body, but whose is it?

Even if it's the guy who is "wanted" that is dead, this would not be right. How would you feel if you were on Russia's most wanted list? Would you "turn yourself in" to a foreign government if you knew you were wrongly accused? Does the answer depend at all on whether the foreign government has a history of locking up its suspects and throwing away the key rather than providing a fair and timely trial?

What if you failed to turn yourself in because you suspected Russia would simply throw you in a prison somewhere. Or you would not get to confront the witnesses against you? Or you would not even be able to see the evidence against you? Would justice then be on Russia's side if they sent a strike helicopter to assassinate you on your way to work?

Our recent history irrefutably demonstrates that a "most wanted terrorist" who turns himself in has no hope of any opportunity to dispute any charge against him.

Can you think of any reason why a "most wanted terrorist" should turn himself in that does not rely on the supposed moral superiority of the United States of America?

I guess we don't want a trial or not a trial.

See my response to your responder.

You are badly needed here to help explain the Constitution vs. Monarchy, and the international rule of law vs. international mayhem. If we don't obey our own fundamental laws, and the laws that we have agreed to, by treaty, how can we expect anyone else to?

They've got "no fly" lists in this country that are full of errors, by which entirely innocent people have been denied the right to travel, have been subject to hassle and slander, and cannot get their names off the list. Why do we think "terrorist lists" are any better? This is ONE PROBLEM with EXECUTING people who are given no chance to defend themselves. Mistakes! We even make mistakes here, on imprisonment and executions, WITH due process. But with NO due process, what are the chances of mistakes, abuse, and bad motives, not to mention "collateral damage" and the shredding of the rule of law.

This is not police work. This is the MAFIA WRIT LARGE. Our government has become a GANG.

With our Drone "summary executions" in addition to Special Forces "hit jobs" NO AMERICAN should ever wonder WHY the rest of the world mostly HATES US. :(

We, the almighty USA, are judge and jury ANYWHERE and AT ANYTIME.

At the very least, it's un-nerving to nations who say, don't have nuclear weapons to serve as a deterrent. :crazy:

And the insanity continues because, big and small nations - WITH OIL, are scared shitless that we will JUDGE, then BOMB them.

You were in the military, too. I thought you would understand that sometimes force is necessary.

and/or trial? Why do we export FORCE to Middle Eastern Nations in the form of Summary Executions (via drones, Apache Attack Helicopter munitions OR air strikes) THEN act perplexed when the populace of the entire area HATES OUR GUTS.

Even if he is GUILTY, Where is The Rule of Law when America plays Judge, Jury and Executioner?

I love my country and was honored to serve in the AD Army. However, when actions are morally detestable, I'm going to speak out. I served during Reagan's reign and as a young soldier, I had no idea covert executions were ongoing.

If many think that these actions keep us safer, carry on. But don't anyone act surprised and confused when Russia, et. al., backs up Iran and it's reported that the ENTIRE Middle East, save for Israel, hates our guts.

If we spent 10% of the funding we spend on death and destruction and, instead, put it into life sustaining projects such as Doctors without Borders, our SAFETY as a NATION would be significantly more enhanced.

Terrorism requires good police work--not summary execution (the military way)--and is best countered by skilled investigation, prosecution in the public venue and imprisonment, AND, as Shortnfiery says: "If we spent 10% of the funding we spend on death and destruction and, instead, put it into life sustaining projects such as Doctors without Borders, our SAFETY as a NATION would be significantly more enhanced."

The goal of tracking down terrorists should be establishment of the rule of law, NOT the creation of a lawless world. And the goal of drone airplanes and bombs is what? It is smashing people to smithereens. It is mayhem not justice. Abandonment of the rule of law leads straight to the mass mayhem that our government and military committed in Iraq--hundreds of thousands of innocent people slaughtered, their society destroyed, random massive torture, "turkey shoots" of civilians, etc.--in the name of defending "against those who kill our Citizens." How many of those people in Iraq killed "our Citizens," or even wanted to? This is what "summary execution" leads to! Mass summary execution! Death, torture, bullying, belligerence, hatred. And, let me tell you, if Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld had had one iota of respect for the rule of law, and had been sincere in wanting to "keep us safe," 9/11 would not, and could not, have happened.

So we are heading right back to a situation in which our country is ruled by fear, and in which a narrative of fear enables greedy, conscienceless men to commit mass murder in the service of greed. That's what actions like this lead to--mayhem at home, mayhem abroad. This will never solve the problem of terrorism; it will only exacerbate it.

It does no good to exaggerate the case, and say, "God forbid we should ever try to defend ourselves." That's the kind of world that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld wanted to create, in which "defending ourselves" becomes the excuse for lawlessness and, correctly translated, means defending their profit and the profits of their filthy rich war profiteers and corporate dragons. A bad world. An undemocratic world. A jungle, in which the rich and powerful kill everybody else at will, and hijack the resources and the military of a democratic people to that purpose: greed, lawlessness.

If we do not want to live in their nightmare world, we MUST re-establish the rule of law.