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US Bombs Somalia. Again.

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R

ronito

Member
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7376760.stm

The leader of the military wing of an Islamist insurgent organisation in Somalia has been killed in an overnight air strike.

Aden Hashi Ayro, al-Shabab's military commander, died when his home in the central town of Dusamareb was bombed.

Ten other people, including a senior militant, are also reported dead.

A US military spokesman told the BBC that it had attacked what he called a known al-Qaeda target in Somalia, but refused to give further details.

Al-Shabab, considered a terrorist group by the US, is the military wing of the Somali Sharia courts movement, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), until Ethiopian troops ousted them in 2006.

The group has since regrouped and is in effect in control of large parts of central and southern Somalia.

'Scorched earth'

An al-Shabab spokesman, Mukhtar Robow Adumansur, told the BBC that Ayro was killed along with another militant commander in the attack.

Locals said it happened at about 0300 (0000 GMT).


Militiamen from the Islamic Courts in 2006

"We heard a huge explosion and when we ran out of our house we saw balls of smoke and flames coming out of house," Dusamareb resident Nur Geele told the BBC.

"The house was totally destroyed to the ground, also other houses nearby," local elder Ahmed Mumin Jama said.

Dr Ahmed Mahdi at Dusamareb Hospital told the BBC's Somali Service that he was treating eight civilians, including women and children, for burns and shrapnel wounds.

One of the women has since died, bringing the death toll so far to 11.

He said identifying the dead would prove difficult as the al-Shabab villa and surrounding mud houses and trees were now scorched earth.

Ayro received training in Afghanistan in the 1990s and was an instrumental military figure as the UIC took control of Mogadishu in the second half of 2006, says the head of the BBC's Somali Service Yusuf Garaad.

The US says al-Shabab is part of the al-Qaeda network, although correspondents say it is impossible to accurately establish those links.

Al-Shabab leaders say it is a purely Somali movement and they deny any involvement with al-Qaeda.

'No longer safe'

Mr Robow warned that there would now be revenge attacks by the al-Shabab.

"This incident will cause a lot problems to US interests in the region and the governments who support the US, by that I mean its allies who are puppets," he said, referring to Ethiopia which backs Somalia's interim government.

"I am letting the citizens of the US and the allies know they are not going to be safe in this area."

In its annual report on terrorism published on Wednesday, the US said al-Shabab militants in Somalia, along with al-Qaeda militants in east Africa, posed "the most serious threat to American and allied interests in the region".

Al-Shabab has been at the forefront of a guerrilla insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian allies since early 2007.

In recent weeks, they have briefly captured several towns in central and southern Somalia before withdrawing.

The US has launched several air strikes against suspected extremist targets in Somalia in recent months.

It has an anti-terror task force based in neighbouring Djibouti, and has accused Somali Islamists of harbouring those responsible for the 1998 attacks on its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The Islamists denied this.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991.
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T

Tamanon

Banned
I like how they made sure to make it sound like an Al Qaeda enclave when it wasn't. Sure it was probably just as bad, but it's pretty pandering.
 
S

speculawyer

Member
Somalia must feel kind of rejected. They are not even important enough to consider a war over. Ever hear anyone talking about a war in Somalia? Nope. No one cares other than killing a few Islamist extremists with bombs.

Discover some oil Somolia, then we'll talk. :D
 
T

Tamanon

Banned
Oh wait, are we sure this isn't another #2 of Bin Laden? I've always assumed from the coverage that there are two ranks in Al Qaeda, Bin Laden and everyone else is #2.
 
K

KRS7

Member
VictimOfGrief said:
I love it that we can call any enemies we bomb Al-Queda and then we can go ahead and bomb them.
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No different than the cold war era where all the enemies were commies.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
An airstrike on a house is hardly "Bombing Somalia".

We classified those attacked as Al-Qaeda, they say they're not. That's about the extent of the conversation. Like they're going to stand up and say "Yeah! We're Al-Qaeda. What are you going to do about it" when we know where they are at.

But yeah, we just label anyone Al-Qaeda for the public to buy in. But it's not like we're making airstrikes all over the world on a regular basis and making the claim.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
Teh Hamburglar said:
wat
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He's replying to me, implying that when you make an airstrike, you're actually dropping a bomb, and since it occurred in Somalia, obviously "The U.S. Bombed Somalia".

If you want to argue semantics, I'd be willing to bet there weren't even any "bombs" used. Probably precision rockets or missiles, but the point is that we didn't strike at Somalia, the country/government (what there is of it). We made a precision strike on one house/compound. Big difference there to me.
 
N

NintendosBooger

Member
The Islamic Courts, the guys we're bombing and Ethiopia's fighting, have to be one of the stupidest insurgency groups ever. They were yapping to the world media about their goal of taking over a large portion of another sovereign country (Ethiopia) before securing power of their own country (Somalia). WTF was Ethiopia to do but to invade their stupid asses?
 
R

ronito

Member
Kung Fu Jedi said:
If you want to argue semantics, I'd be willing to bet there weren't even any "bombs" used. Probably precision rockets or missiles, but the point is that we didn't strike at Somalia, the country/government (what there is of it). We made a precision strike on one house/compound. Big difference there to me.
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wish I could change the thread title.
 
R

ronito

Member
Kung Fu Jedi said:
I'm sure you do.
Click to expand...
Something like

US Bombs/launches precision strike/fires rocket and/or missiles/causes big boom/liberates house in Somalia. And by Somalia I mean an area within Somalia not actually the country or the government or any government building. Also excluded are public owned infrastructure and/or buildings that might/might not serve an infrastructure purpose such as schools and city halls. Places used for large public gatherings such as churches, bars, and fishing ponds are also excluded as are Blockbuster, McDonalds or Wal-Marts or any buildings owned by aforementioned companies. All names, copyright and trademarks heretofore mentioned and/or not mentioned are protected by the owners in perpetuity.

Sadly, there's no room. But I think it's more along the lines of what you're looking for.
 
W

worldrunover

Member
ronito said:
Something like

US Bombs/launches precision strike/fires rocket and/or missiles/causes big boom/liberates house in Somalia. And by Somalia I mean an area within Somalia not actually the country or the government or any government building. Also excluded are public owned infrastructure and/or buildings that might/might not serve an infrastructure purpose such as schools and city halls. Places used for large public gatherings such as churches, bars, and fishing ponds are also excluded as are Blockbuster, McDonalds or Wal-Marts or any buildings owned by aforementioned companies. All names, copyright and trademarks heretofore mentioned and/or not mentioned are protected by the owners in perpetuity.

Sadly, there's no room. But I think it's more along the lines of what you're looking for.
Click to expand...

Or just

US* Bombs** Somalia***
 
S

Spike Spiegel

Member
What was wrong with the title of the article? "Air Raid Kills Somali Militants"? You could even make it more descriptive, like "US Surgical Air Strike Kills Somali Militant Leader."


...Yeah, that's boring. This is much better.
 
B

bob_arctor

Tough_Smooth
Jeff-DSA said:
Yay for GAF standing up for Al-Qaeda and the fight to weaken them.

Bravo.
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Oh, don't be so modest! Bravo to you, good sir, for managing to pull this tired "point" out of your ass.

VictimOfGrief said:
I love it that we can call any enemies we bomb Al-Queda and then we can go ahead and bomb them.
Click to expand...

STOP STANDING UP FOR AL-QAEDA OR THOSE LABELED AL-QAEDA FOR PR PURPOSES!
 
V

VictimOfGrief

Banned
bob_arctor said:
Oh, don't be so modest! Bravo to you, good sir, for managing to pull this tired "point" out of your ass.



STOP STANDING UP FOR AL-QAEDA OR THOSE LABELED AL-QAEDA FOR PR PURPOSES!
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I'm not standing up for al-qaeda at all. I want all terrorist rat-fuck-son of a bitches to die--- however the way in which the US simply calls out that this is tied to al-qaeda sounds a bit too convenient to me.
 
B

bob_arctor

Tough_Smooth
VictimOfGrief said:
I'm not standing up for al-qaeda at all. I want all terrorist rat-fuck-son of a bitches to die--- however the way in which the US simply calls out that this is tied to al-qaeda sounds a bit too convenient to me.
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Exactly.
 
S

slider

Member
AQAE no doubt - funnily enough CIA and their military cohorts don't just randomly bomb things (although I know it often appears otherwise). There's a lot of work that goes into a decision like this. And sometimes, if it's time sensitive intelligence, people will go ahead and make a decision based on the gravity of making a wrong call. I'm not saying I agree or disagree but don't assume the "machinery" is pre-set to wage war (blame the appropriate Government for that).

By the way, if you've been paying attention East Africa is the big place for CT targeting these days.
 
Z

Zedsdeadbaby

Banned
slider said:
AQAE no doubt - funnily enough CIA and their military cohorts don't just randomly bomb things (although I know it often appears otherwise). There's a lot of work that goes into a decision like this. And sometimes, if it's time sensitive intelligence, people will go ahead and make a decision based on the gravity of making a wrong call. I'm not saying I agree or disagree but don't assume the "machinery" is pre-set to wage war (blame the appropriate Government for that).

By the way, if you've been paying attention East Africa is the big place for CT targeting these days.
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Yeah, pretty much a 'nip it in the bud' attitude. Africa is host to a variety of rapidly arming and growing extremist groups.
 
S

Sol..

I am Wayne Brady.
esbern said:
what
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bomb _____ (country) implies the whole shit is getting twisted

airstrike ______ (specific area) implies someone in specific is getting fucked up. such as ali al-hyid or the School of the Somalian Blind.

otherwise known as NAMBLA
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
Sol.. said:
bomb _____ (country) implies the whole shit is getting twisted

airstrike ______ (specific area) implies someone in specific is getting fucked up. such as ali al-hyid or the School of the Somalian Blind.

otherwise known as NAMBLA
Click to expand...

My point exactly. Thread title makes it sound like we attacked a nation.
 
T

TheRipDizz

Banned
Black Hawk Down. Never forget.

pledgetop.jpg
 
K

Kettch

Member
Can't say I'm a fan of blowing up homes, no matter who the target is. Other than the obvious moral problems, there's no better way to breed new "terrorists" than indiscriminately killing civilians around your intended target.
 
R

ronito

Member
Kung Fu Jedi said:
My point exactly. Thread title makes it sound like we attacked a nation.
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wait. we didn't? Somalia might not have an effective government that doesn't necessarily mean we can go and drop bombs in their country willy-nilly....oh wait.
 
D

Davedough

Member
ronito said:
Something like

US Bombs/launches precision strike/fires rocket and/or missiles/causes big boom/liberates house in Somalia. And by Somalia I mean an area within Somalia not actually the country or the government or any government building. Also excluded are public owned infrastructure and/or buildings that might/might not serve an infrastructure purpose such as schools and city halls. Places used for large public gatherings such as churches, bars, and fishing ponds are also excluded as are Blockbuster, McDonalds or Wal-Marts or any buildings owned by aforementioned companies. All names, copyright and trademarks heretofore mentioned and/or not mentioned are protected by the owners in perpetuity.

Sadly, there's no room. But I think it's more along the lines of what you're looking for.
Click to expand...

I LOL'd
 
B

bionic77

Member
Since WW2 what is the longest time we have gone without bombing someone?

Since I have been watching the news it seems like we can't go 3 years without dropping bombs on someone.
 
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