US seizes its opportunity in Somalia
This operation appeared to be targeted on a village where, according to the Americans, terrorists responsible for the embassy bombings were hiding.An AC-130 Spectre gunship carried out the strike. This large aircraft, modelled on the Hercules cargo plane, is stuffed with cannon and machine-guns. The AC-130 is designed to saturate a large area with gunfire, hitting every square yard in the target zone with multiple rounds.
So this was the very opposite of a surgical strike. Anyone in the path of the gunship, which departed from the US military base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, would have been killed.
This is precisely the way a low-level, global conflict like the War on Terror should be fought. Proxy fighters and close air support. Great Britain is as threatened by these Islamists as the United States is, yet The Telegraph’s David Blair’s spin is that the USAF indiscriminately wiped out a village because we’re trying to make amends for losing 18 Army Rangers back in ’93.
The AC-130 is a weapon platform that practically defined precision engagement. There are stories from Operation Just Cause where SEALs radioed in specific windows that they wanted taken out (“third floor, second from the right”) and the Spectre/Spooky happily (and effectively) complied. That was 17 years ago.
“So this was the very opposite of a surgical strike.”
No, the opposite of a surgical strike would be a B-52 carpet bombing half of southern Somalia. AC-130s are a scalpel, not a sword.
This is a major problem with war punditry today. There is a huge faction of people who get their facts from talking heads who can’t tell the difference between a Sailor and a Marine. Gregory fumbles around the military language like a toddler trying to tie his shoes for the first time, yet no doubt most of his audience believes him when he says the US military is mowing down Somali villages because we’re still crabby about the Blackhawk Down incident.
When you are accusing honorable men of cold-blooded murder, the least you can do is fire through a 30-second Google search and get your facts straight.
LtCol P’s update below the fold…
Three items:
First, an excellent article in NRO providing more detail on what’s at stake in Somalia.
Next, a related article in the Counterterrorism Blog with some more detail about US involvement.
Last, a good laugh from the 10-8 Forums, entitled “Last words around the Al Qaida campfire in Somalia”…
Ali: Dirka, dirka
Abdul: Jihad, Jihad
Ali: Abdul, do you hear something?
Abdul: Forget about it, it’s just an airplane flying by…
Gotta love those Spectre gunships and the folks that run them.
Amen.
Facts are a bitch when they contradict your politics…
He got the Spooky completely wrong. That’s a pretty glaring error, as far as I’m concerned.
He’s not independent. He follows the lead of his editors, and when he’s done his stuff is edited by copy editors who are authorized to change words and facts as they see fit. There’s really no way to know what he wrote and what they wrote. Blame the paper, not the guy whose name they stick on the story.
naw, I’d prefer to hold the author accountable for what he writes Dick.
The paper too? Sure. But mostly the author.
How could he have known when he probably can’t spell aerkraff.
“He’s not independent. He follows the lead of his editors, and when he’s done his stuff is edited by copy editors who are authorized to change words and facts as they see fit. There’s really no way to know what he wrote and what they wrote. Blame the paper, not the guy whose name they stick on the story.”
This guy isn’t the victim of a crime. He is a writer who’s paid for his work. If his editors are misquoting and misrepresenting his work, he should have the decency to find either a new employer or a new line of work.
The lack of military knowledge shown by the media is rediculous. It is more then odvious that they know nothing about the methods, tools, or mindset of the military. It makes one realize that the same is true when it comes to all the other areas they discuss.
Well, at least he didn’t call her “Puff”!!! :) [everyone know her?]
I’ve supported Spectre (check AF.mil, it is SPECTRE), as well as Compass Call, and Talon I/II. She has some very famous sisters (Spooky, Commando Solo, RC-130 later became Combat Sent RC-135, etc)! For a versatile aircraft, the C-130 is well worth her weight in, armor piercing 40MM and 105 HOWITZER ROUNDS!!!
Yeah, Baby, you can run but you’ll only die tired. Those 25MM rounds are a bitch to outrun, oh yeah …
Ahhh, no LGB/LGM sissy crap … Spectre circling her prey from FL125+ … sighted in … bammo, say goodbye to Islamo … heh.
I don’t think anybody ever called her ‘Puff’ except the press release writers.