Since the president hasn't made his "much anticipated" speech outlining his plans for the escalation of war in Iraq as of this writing, we'll have to take on faith the information from inside sources that he's planning on increasing our troop strength by something in excess of 20,000 troops.
These may not be the only troops headed for hostilities in a foreign country. The following appeared in this story on the CBSNews website this morning.
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.
Reported also today on Ireland On-Line.
This isn't a one-day surgical strike.
The report came as U.S forces apparently launched a third day of air strikes in southern Somalia. At least four separate strikes were reported around Ras Kamboni, on the Somali coast near the Kenyan border. Witnesses said an AC-130 gunship attacked a suspected al Qaeda training camp.
That CBS story has since been edited to remove the quote. The current incarnation reflects a rosy assessment of the outcome of our ongoing raids in Somalia. It trumpets the killing, according to a Somali official, of
A senior al Qaeda suspect wanted for bombing American embassies in East Africa
The Somalis evidently aren't quite on the same page as we are.
In Washington, U.S. government officials said they had no reason to believe that the suspect, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, had been killed.
It helps to remember that the Somalis don't necessarily control their own country. Ethiopian troops crossed the border in July of last year with our blessing. This was only the latest border incursion in a war between the two countries that's been going on in recent memory since the Ogaden war in 1977.
It also helps to remember that the president has ignored Somalia for six years, right up until three days before he seeks the support of Americans for an escalation of his "war on terra."
And there may be more. Remember when we sent the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower to the Middle east last month, triggering speculation that an attack on Iran might be imminent? Another carrier, the USS John C. Stennis will be following the Eisenhower this month. The Stennis had been scheduled for deployment to the Pacific but was reassigned at the request of CentCom.
There are now United States forces in combat in three countries plus one carrier there and another on the way. We evidently have no solution for our problems except to kill people.