The Horn of Africa Theater

How many wars are we actually involved in right now? I believe it's just one, but it has many facets.

The news came out yesterday that the U.S. bombed a group of al-Qaida terrorists in the African country of Somalia. Somalia was recently retaken by Ethiopian troops (trained by Americans) kicking out the Islamic Radicals, who had taken over the country. The U.S. Navy is offshore checking boats for fleeing terrorists and now the Air Force is engaging the bad guys from the air. The rightful Somali President supports the U.S. airstrikes and is determined not to let the Islamic fascists run the country. Ethiopia has been willing to help in this fight but the country of Eritrea, one of Ethiopia's enemies, has been supporting the Islamic terrorists in Somalia.

Some folks are upset we're involved in the Horn of Africa. But I see it as another facet of the Long War against Islamic Terrorists, with Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan fitting under this umbrella. They are seperate fronts, or maybe even seperate theaters, but not a seperate war. World War II is probably the best analogy with fighting in far-flung places like Burma, the South Pacific, and North Africa, with a strategic focus on Nazi Germany even though it was the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor.

Our goal in this war is to squelch Islamic radicalism by killing terrorists and destroying the totalitarian regimes that support it. We then undermine thier ideology by introducing democracy, capitalism, women's rights, education, etc.

This war is being fought in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa, and elsewhere. It may easily move to Iran, Syria, or Saudi Arabia. When Israel fights Hezbollah in Lebanon, it's fighting the same war that we are fighting. When soldiers hunt down Islamic fighters in former Soviet republic of Georgia, they're fighting the same fight. And when Ethiopian soldiers fight al-Qaida in Somalia, they are fighting the same fight.

So what does pulling out of Iraq accomplish (or staying the course without winning for that matter)? It keeps you from accruing more casualties in that one theater but it sets you back from winning the overall war. Why? Because if Iraq is no longer the magnet that draws international terrorists and terrorist money into our sights, where will they then go? To undo Afghanistan? Lebanon? Detroit?

I'm not sure why this President hasn't done more to connect the various facets of this war to each other. Allowing Iraq to be seen as an optional and seperate activity only hurts the cause of winning there. But hope springs eternal and perhaps we'll yet prevail.

Comments?