US Attacks in Somalia Continue

They started Monday (Tuesday, Somali Time), and it looks like they'll continue for a while longer. I'm encouraged. We may be getting wussified in Iraq, but in Somalia we've still got some.

The AP reported today that we got the main al Qaeda terrorist we were after.

A senior al-Qaida suspect wanted for bombing American embassies in East Africa was killed in a U.S. airstrike, a Somali official said Wednesday, a report that if confirmed would mean the end of an eight-year hunt for a top target of Washington's war on terrorism.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, was killed in a U.S. airstrike Monday, according to an American intelligence report passed on to the Somali authorities.

This is great news, because our non-response under Clinton to the embassy bombings was part of what encouraged al Qaeda to go after the World Trade Center on 9/11.

But it seems we may not have finished in Somalia yet.

Also Wednesday, Somalia's deputy prime minister said American troops were needed on the ground to root extremists from his troubled country, and he expected the troops soon. It was the first indication that the U.S. military may expand its campaign.

The campaign is aimed at capturing al-Qaida members thought to be fleeing Somalia since the Islamic militia that sheltered them began losing ground to Somali government soldiers backed by Ethiopian troops last month.

The Somali troops and their Ethiopian allies have driven the Islamic movement that had dominated the country for six months out of the capital and toward the Kenyan border.

Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed said U.S. special forces are needed on the ground as government forces backed by Ethiopia are unable to capture the last remaining hideouts of suspected extremists.

I certainly hope the mainstream media is paying attention to this invitation for the US special forces to come into Somalia.

But here's the part I really like (emphasis added):

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

All the vows in the world are useless (or nearly so) when you're cowering in your hideout. Just ask Osama bin Laden, who hasn't had much of a presence in the jihadist world since we sent him scurrying into hiding.

Each time we kick jihadist butt, we discourage more terrorists who might have joined the battle if they had encouraging news instead. Our battlefield is in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Bali, Indonesia, Iran, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands and any other place that the terrorists try to take for themselves.

If we have to do it alone, we must continue until they're dead. If we don't, we'll be the ones who are dead.