US strikes on al-Qa'ida chiefs kill nomads

[JohnyCanuck]

Hey, what's the big issue here? It's not like these were rich white people that accidentally got wasted by the US military.

US strikes on al-Qa'ida chiefs kill nomads
By Anne Penketh and Steve Bloomfield
Published: 13 January 2007

The herdsmen had gathered with their animals around large fires at night to ward off mosquitoes. But lit up by the flames, they became latest victims of America's war on terror.

It was their tragedy to be misidentified in a secret operation by special forces attempting to kill three top al-Qa'ida leaders in south-ern Somalia.

Oxfam yesterday confirmed at least 70 nomads in the Afmadow district near the border with Kenya had been killed. The nomads were bombed at night and during the day while searching for water sources. Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Kenya has acknowledged that the onslaught on Islamist fighters failed to kill any of the three prime targets wanted for their alleged role in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

The wanted men are Fazul Abdullah Moham-med, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Taha al-Sudani, who were all supposedly sheltered by the Union of Islamic Courts during its short reign in Mogadishu.

The operation, which opened a new front in Washington's anti-terror campaign, seems to have backfired spectacularly in the five days since it was launched. In addition to the scores of Somali civilians killed, the simmering civil war in the failed state has been rekindled.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2149716.ece

[WCGreen]

1. Oh good....

Another War.....

[EFerrari]

2. Someone stop this lunatic before he kills again.

[pocoloco]

3. Somalia got oil?

[femmedem]

6. Indeed it does. Natural gas, too. Check this article out;

America's interests in Somalia: Four major U.S. oil companies are sitting on a prospective fortune in exclusive concessions.

snip

Far beneath the surface of the tragic drama of Somalia, four major U.S. oil companies are quietly sitting on a prospective fortune in exclusive concessions to explore and exploit tens of millions of acres of the Somali countryside.

That land, in the opinion of geologists and industry sources, could yield significant amounts of oil and natural gas if the U.S.-led military mission can restore peace to the impoverished East African nation.

According to documents obtained by The Times, nearly two-thirds of Somalia was allocated to the American oil giants Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Phillips in the final years before Somalia's pro-U.S. President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown and the nation plunged into chaos in January, 1991. Industry sources said the companies holding the rights to the most promising concessions are hoping that the Bush Administration's decision to send U.S. troops to safeguard aid shipments to Somalia will also help protect their multimillion-dollar investments there.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20070103&articleId=4342

This article is from 2001, but still relevant.

[malaise]

4. Does George Bush believe he

can bomb innocent people anywhere on this this planet with impunity forever. When the fuck will this madness stop. I can't take much more of this. Arrest this criminal! When the so called 'US national interest' means the slaughter of citizens of other countries it is time for the world to act.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Apparently he does.

"Does George Bush believe he can bomb innocent people anywhere on this this planet with impunity forever." And as he's Bullshitter in Chief the Pentagon brass has to follow his orders even if it means innocent people will die and the reputation of the USA will sink further into the toilet and even more terrorists will be generated as a result of their actions.

[Rosemary2205]

7. Did Bush do this to get the civil war going again??

Assuming one of Bush's corporate "partners" is making money off the civil war in Somalia.

[spanone]

8. Thats what warmongers call collateral damage. God will weed these bastards out.

[malaise]

9. We'd better not wait for any god

Only fellow human beings can get rid of this pestilence.

[sammythecat]

10. This is truly disgusting

Suppose back in the 70's and 80's some IRA members were suspected of hiding out in a village in Ireland. Could Britain have gotten away with using AC-130 gunships to shoot up the village, killing dozens of innocents, in a failed attempt to get the bad guys? Would news of that have been so blithely accepted as this murderous attack in Somalia?

An attack like this never would have happened in Ireland because it would have been unthinkable.

An attack like this occurs in Somalia and practically no one really gives a shit. I'm surprised we refer to them as "people". They're something less than that, aren't they?

The people over there are different from us. They dress funny, they talk funny, they have a weird religion, they don't maintain a lawn, they are poor and they have no power. So long as we don't get carried away and kill so many at one time that it causes a scene, their deaths don't bother us much. If at all.

A week or so from now this story will be old news and anyone bringing it up will be greeted with annoyed yawns.