U.S. Strikes on “Al-Qa’ida Chiefs” Kill at Least 70 Nomads
January 14th, 2007Mission accomplished! Again.
Via: Independent:
The herdsmen had gathered with their animals around large fires at night to ward off mosquitoes. But lit up by the flames, they became latest victims of America’s war on terror.
It was their tragedy to be misidentified in a secret operation by special forces attempting to kill three top al-Qa’ida leaders in south-ern Somalia.
Oxfam yesterday confirmed at least 70 nomads in the Afmadow district near the border with Kenya had been killed. The nomads were bombed at night and during the day while searching for water sources. Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Kenya has acknowledged that the onslaught on Islamist fighters failed to kill any of the three prime targets wanted for their alleged role in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
The wanted men are Fazul Abdullah Moham-med, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Taha al-Sudani, who were all supposedly sheltered by the Union of Islamic Courts during its short reign in Mogadishu.
The operation, which opened a new front in Washington’s anti-terror campaign, seems to have backfired spectacularly in the five days since it was launched. In addition to the scores of Somali civilians killed, the simmering civil war in the failed state has been rekindled.
Golly. We went after some big, bad al-Qa’ida “leaders” in Somalia, did we? “Missed ’em by that much”, eh?
Meanwhile, we have rightwing bloggers stating we know where bin-Laden is located in Northern Pakistan, and yet their glorious leader states we can’t bomb “sovereign nations.”
Wow. The head spins…..
Nothing like winning ‘Hearts and Minds’ the world over.
After reading countless stories like this the only question is, Why is there anyone overseas who doesn’t hate the US?
To the best of my knowledge, there isn’t. We’ve become a pariah nation, like that embarrassing relative no one wants to acknowledge or be seen with.
Unfortunately, our leaders will not be subjected to the same kind of war crimes trials that we would have others subjected to.