Somalia Would Embrace U.S. Strike The Wall Street Journal (US). [News Story]. Joe Lauria 12/05/2011.
NEW YORK -- Somalia would welcome a U.S. special-forces attack on al Qaeda-affiliated militants on Somali soil, similar to the strike that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, said Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Wednesday. "I would prefer training so we can do it ourselves," Mr. Mohamed said in an interview. "But in the absence of that, if there is a target or a threat to dismantle, I would welcome it." U.S. officials declined to comment. The remarks from Mr. Mohamed, a U.S. citizen who heads a weak interim government, stand in contrast to Pakistan, which blasted Washington over a breach of its sovereignty after the U.S. didn't inform it ahead of its raid to kill bin Laden. A U.S. attack in Somalia wouldn't be without precedent. In 2008, a U.S. military airstrike killed a man believed to be al Qaeda's top commander there. Bin Laden's death could weaken Somalia's al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated movement, by depriving it of funds and financing, Mr. Mohamed said. But "the movement is far from over" especially in Somalia, because al Qaeda is "not a one-man show." Mr. Mohamed warned that al Shabaab has the capability to strike outside of Somalia, including Western targets. "We are the first line of defense," he said. The group carried out an attack in Uganda last year and vows more foreign strikes. "But if we push and pressure them in Somalia, they may not have the time and luxury to prepare for outside attacks," Mr. Mohamed said. That is why "we are not only doing this to protect ourselves and our people, we are protecting you, too," he added. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
