Text 26127, 152 rader
Skriven 2007-01-09 19:00:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Terrorists
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Bush goes back to a country that The Clinton tucked tail and ran from.  
We also mop up a terrorist involved in the embassy bombings that The 
Clinton never took care of...  The libs would have us send in the 
police, arrest them and try them in US court with the full protection of 
the ACLU and the US constitution.  Even US citizens aren't guaranteed an 
ACLU lawyer.

================================

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242500,00.html

Pentagon Confirms Strike Against Al Qaeda in Somalia 
Tuesday, January 09, 2007


MOGADISHU, Somalia  —  The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that at least one 
U.S. airstrike had been carried out in Somalia targeting Al Qaeda 
suspects, as a Somali official reported a new attack carried out by U.S. 
helicopter gunships.

U.S. military spokesman Bryan Whitman said a strike carried out by a C-
130 gunship Sunday in the town of Afmadow targeted senior Al Qaeda 
leadership operating in southern Somalia.

• Brainroom: Tools of Battle, AC-130H/U Gunship

"We are going to continue to pursue those people we believe are 
responsible for the embassy bombings," Whitman said, referring to the 
1998 Al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

White House also acknowledged that an attack took place, but no details 
were provided.

"We can confirm that there was a military operation overnight on Sunday 
in Somalia," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, referring other 
questions on the situation to the Defense Department.

Earlier, one U.S. official said 'at least a couple' of Al Qaeda suspects 
were taken out in an airstrike conducted by Special Operations forces in 
the southern part of the country, while another said the top Al Qaeda 
leader in East Africa may have been among those killed. Both spoke on 
condition of anonymity because of the operation's sensitivity.

Another intelligence official also speaking on condition of anonymity 
later said five to 10 people believed to be associated with the Al Qaeda 
network were killed in the attack. A small number of others present at 
the targeted area, perhaps four or five, were wounded.

Washington has named Abu Talha al-Sudani as the leader of Al Qaeda in 
East Africa who may be in hiding in Somalia along with Fazul Abdullah 
Mohammed, who is wanted in connection with the embassy bombings, and 
Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who is wanted in connection with an attack on a 
Kenya resort in 2002.

Tuesday's helicopter attack also took place near Afmadow, 220 miles 
southwest of the capital Mogadishu. A Somali Defense Ministry official 
described the helicopters as American, but the local witnesses told The 
Associated Press they could not make out identification markings on the 
craft.

Witnesses said 31 civilians, including a newly wed couple, were killed 
by the two helicopters Tuesday. The claim could not be independently 
verified.

Initial reports based on eyewitnesses and Somali officials were that 
airstrikes were carried out on two locations on Monday — one near 
Afmadow, and one 155 miles away on Badamow Island.

The attack on Badmadow Island, part of a group of six rocky islands near 
the Kenyan border known as Ras Kamboni that is suspected of housing a 
terrorist training base, also reportedly involved a C-130 gunship.

It appeared the Pentagon was referring to the same attack near Afmadow 
with the time zones accounting for the difference in dates.

Witnesses said at least four civilians, including a small boy, were 
killed in that attack. The claims could not be independently verified.

"My 4-year-old boy was killed in the strike," Mohamed Mahmud Burale told 
the AP by telephone. "We also heard 14 massive explosions."

The AC-130, a four engine turboprop-driven aircraft, is armed with 40 mm 
cannon that fire 120 rounds per minute and a 105 mm cannon, normally a 
field artillery weapon. The plane's latest version, the AC-130U, known 
as "Spooky," also carries Gatling gun-type 20 mm cannon. The gunships, 
which have long ranges and take off from land, were designed primarily 
for battlefield use to place saturated fire on massed troops.

"We don't know how many people were killed in the attack but we 
understand there were a lot of casualties," government spokesman 
Abdirahman Dinari said. "Most were Islamic fighters."


The attack acknowledged by the Pentagon was the first overt military 
action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N. force in the 1990s 
that intervened in Somalia in an effort to fight famine. The mission led 
to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black 
Hawk Down" battle that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead.

In a further escalation of U.S. involvement, the U.S. military said 
Tuesday that the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had arrived 
off the coast to join three other U.S. warships — two guided-missile 
cruisers and an amphibious landing ship — conducting anti-terror 
operations.

U.S. warships have been seeking to capture Al Qaeda members thought to 
be fleeing Somalia after Ethiopia intervened Dec. 24 in support of the 
government, which had been struggling to asset its authority in the face 
of the Islamic movement.

The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi reissued a terror warning Tuesday to 
Americans living in or visiting the Horn of Africa.

President Abdullahi Yusuf told journalists in Mogadishu that the U.S. 
"has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in 
Kenya and Tanzania." Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The 
Associated Press the U.S. had "our full support for the attacks."

But others in the capital said the attacks would only increase anti-
American sentiment in the largely Muslim country. Already, many in 
predominantly Muslim Somalia had resented the presence of troops from 
neighboring Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population and has 
fought two brutal wars with Somalia, most recently in 1977.

Ethiopia forces had invaded to counter an Islamic movement that had 
challenged the weak, internationally recognized government. Ethiopian 
troops, tanks and warplanes took just 10 days to drive the Islamic group 
from the capital, Mogadishu, and other key towns.

Leaders of the Islamic movement have vowed from their hideouts to launch 
an Iraq-style guerrilla war in Somalia, and Al Qaeda chief Usama bin 
Laden's deputy has called on militants to carry out suicide attacks on 
the Ethiopian troops.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview published 
Tuesday in the French newspaper Le Monde that suspected terrorists from 
Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere have been among those taken 
prisoner or killed in the military operations in Somalia.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since clan-based 
warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on 
each other, sinking the Horn of Africa nation of 7 million people into 
chaos.

At least 13 attempts at government have failed since then. The current 
government was established in 2004 with U.N. backing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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