U.S. Expands Its Drone War Into Somalia

Gerald · 07-02-11, 07:48 AM

WASHINGTON — The clandestine American military campaign to combat Al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen is expanding to fight the Islamist militancy in Somalia, as new evidence indicates that insurgents in the two countries are forging closer ties and possibly plotting attacks against the United States, American officials say.

An American military drone aircraft attacked several Somalis in the militant group the Shabab late last month, the officials said, killing at least one of its midlevel operatives and wounding others.

The strike was carried out by the same Special Operations Command unit now battling militants in Yemen, and it represented an intensification of an American military campaign in a mostly lawless region where weak governments have allowed groups with links to Al Qaeda to flourish.

The Obama administration’s increased focus on Somalia comes as the White House has unveiled a new strategy to battle Al Qaeda in the post-Osama bin Laden era, and as some American military and intelligence officials view Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia as a greater threat to the United States than the group of operatives in Pakistan who have been barraged with hundreds of drone strikes directed by the Central Intelligence Agency in recent years.

The military drone strike in Somalia last month was the first American attack there since 2009, when helicopter-borne commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior leader of the group that carried out the 1998 attacks on the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Although it appears that no senior Somali militants were killed in last month’s drone strike, a Pentagon official said Friday that one of the militants who was wounded had been in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric now hiding in Yemen. The news that the strike was carried out by an American drone was first reported in The Washington Post this week.

American military officials said there was new intelligence that militants in Yemen and Somalia were communicating more frequently about operations, training and tactics, but the Pentagon is wading into the chaos in Somalia with some trepidation. Many are still haunted by the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle, in which 18 elite American troops were killed in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, battling fighters aligned with warlords. Senior officials have repeatedly said in private in the past year that the administration does not intend to send American troops to Somalia beyond quick raids.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/wo...omalia.html?hp

Note: July 1, 2011

Gerald · 07-02-11, 08:08 AM

Ducimus · 07-02-11, 08:52 AM

Predator Eulogy: As sung by a pilot

Gerald · 07-02-11, 09:02 AM

Impressive,

Onkel Neal · 07-02-11, 10:17 AM

Soon, they will draft old guys like me to fly them as they fill the skies with drones to KEEP WORLD PEACE! I'll have a cool nickname, like Maverick, or Trapper John. And I'm hoping for one of them new fuel/air bomb models, one drone-one city-one kill.

Gerald · 07-02-11, 10:46 AM

According to some sources begin "recruiting pretty soon" .. Are You Ready For A Free Ride....

Krauter · 07-02-11, 03:05 PM

Why don't they just bomb and pacify the entire african continent and the middle east?...

kraznyi_oktjabr · 07-02-11, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Soon, they will draft old guys like me to fly them as they fill the skies with drones to KEEP WORLD PEACE! I'll have a cool nickname, like Maverick, or Trapper John. And I'm hoping for one of them new fuel/air bomb models, one drone-one city-one kill.

Fill the American skies with drones... Speeding? AGM-114 Hellfire. Not stopping to red light? AGM-114 Hellfire. Illegal turn? AGM-114 Hellfire... damnit where you need police?

yubba · 07-04-11, 09:08 PM

I can't wait till those things get turned on too us. stock up on your laser pointers.

frau kaleun · 07-04-11, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yubba

stock up on your laser pointers.

I didn't know they were piloted by cats.

yubba · 07-04-11, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

I didn't know they were piloted by cats.

You've seen how small those planes are, poodles are too busy primping to fly, and I'm sorry begals aren't that smart.

Onkel Neal · 07-04-11, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kraznyi_oktjabr

Fill the American skies with drones... Speeding? AGM-114 Hellfire. Not stopping to red light? AGM-114 Hellfire. Illegal turn? AGM-114 Hellfire... damnit where you need police?

I didn't say American skies

yubba · 07-04-11, 09:41 PM

Kamakiase felines, siamese probably.

yubba · 07-04-11, 10:04 PM

J walkin well that's a hellfire, Littering you got it hellfire, pickin your nose???????????

gimpy117 · 07-04-11, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vendor

07-02-11, 07:48 AM	#1
Gerald SUBSIM Newsman Join Date: May 2008 Location: Close to sea Posts: 24,254 Downloads: 553 Uploads: 0	U.S. Expands Its Drone War Into Somalia WASHINGTON — The clandestine American military campaign to combat Al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen is expanding to fight the Islamist militancy in Somalia, as new evidence indicates that insurgents in the two countries are forging closer ties and possibly plotting attacks against the United States, American officials say. An American military drone aircraft attacked several Somalis in the militant group the Shabab late last month, the officials said, killing at least one of its midlevel operatives and wounding others. The strike was carried out by the same Special Operations Command unit now battling militants in Yemen, and it represented an intensification of an American military campaign in a mostly lawless region where weak governments have allowed groups with links to Al Qaeda to flourish. The Obama administration’s increased focus on Somalia comes as the White House has unveiled a new strategy to battle Al Qaeda in the post-Osama bin Laden era, and as some American military and intelligence officials view Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia as a greater threat to the United States than the group of operatives in Pakistan who have been barraged with hundreds of drone strikes directed by the Central Intelligence Agency in recent years. The military drone strike in Somalia last month was the first American attack there since 2009, when helicopter-borne commandos killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior leader of the group that carried out the 1998 attacks on the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Although it appears that no senior Somali militants were killed in last month’s drone strike, a Pentagon official said Friday that one of the militants who was wounded had been in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric now hiding in Yemen. The news that the strike was carried out by an American drone was first reported in The Washington Post this week. American military officials said there was new intelligence that militants in Yemen and Somalia were communicating more frequently about operations, training and tactics, but the Pentagon is wading into the chaos in Somalia with some trepidation. Many are still haunted by the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” debacle, in which 18 elite American troops were killed in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, battling fighters aligned with warlords. Senior officials have repeatedly said in private in the past year that the administration does not intend to send American troops to Somalia beyond quick raids. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/wo...omalia.html?hp Note: July 1, 2011 __________________ Nothing in life is to be feard,it is only to be understood. Marie Curie

07-02-11, 08:08 AM	#2
Gerald SUBSIM Newsman Join Date: May 2008 Location: Close to sea Posts: 24,254 Downloads: 553 Uploads: 0	Drone Reaper Predator __________________ Nothing in life is to be feard,it is only to be understood. Marie Curie

07-02-11, 09:02 AM	#4
Gerald SUBSIM Newsman Join Date: May 2008 Location: Close to sea Posts: 24,254 Downloads: 553 Uploads: 0	Impressive, __________________ Nothing in life is to be feard,it is only to be understood. Marie Curie

07-02-11, 10:17 AM	#5
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,383 Downloads: 541 Uploads: 224	Soon, they will draft old guys like me to fly them as they fill the skies with drones to KEEP WORLD PEACE! I'll have a cool nickname, like Maverick, or Trapper John. And I'm hoping for one of them new fuel/air bomb models, one drone-one city-one kill. __________________ SUBSIM - 26 Years on the Web

07-02-11, 10:46 AM	#6
Gerald SUBSIM Newsman Join Date: May 2008 Location: Close to sea Posts: 24,254 Downloads: 553 Uploads: 0	Unmanned Predator Drones in Texas Skies, According to some sources begin "recruiting pretty soon" .. Are You Ready For A Free Ride.... __________________ Nothing in life is to be feard,it is only to be understood. Marie Curie

07-02-11, 08:52 AM	#3
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	Predator Eulogy: As sung by a pilot

07-04-11, 09:08 PM	#9
yubba Admiral Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: in a neighborhood near you Posts: 2,478 Downloads: 293 Uploads: 2	I can't wait till those things get turned on too us. stock up on your laser pointers.

07-04-11, 09:41 PM	#13
yubba Admiral Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: in a neighborhood near you Posts: 2,478 Downloads: 293 Uploads: 2	Kamakiase felines, siamese probably.

07-04-11, 10:04 PM	#14
yubba Admiral Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: in a neighborhood near you Posts: 2,478 Downloads: 293 Uploads: 2	J walkin well that's a hellfire, Littering you got it hellfire, pickin your nose???????????