Washington – When a window of opportunity opened to strike the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa last September, U.S. Special Operations forces prepared several options. They could obliterate his vehicle with an airstrike as he drove through southern Somalia. Or they could fire from helicopters that could land at the scene to confirm the kill. Or they could try to take him alive.
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The White House authorized the second option. On the morning of Sept. 14, helicopters flying from a U.S. ship off the Somali coast blew up a car carrying Saleh Ali Nabhan. While several hovered overhead, one set down long enough for troops to scoop up enough of the remains for DNA verification. Moments later, the helicopters were headed back to the ship.
The strike was considered a major success, according to senior administration and military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the classified operation and other sensitive matters. But the opportunity to interrogate one of the most wanted U.S. terrorism targets was gone forever.
The Nabhan decision was one of a number of similar choices the administration has faced over the past year as President Obama has escalated U.S. attacks on the leadership of al-Qaeda and its allies around the globe. The result has been dozens of targeted killings and no reports of high-value detentions.
Although senior administration officials say that no policy determination has been made to emphasize kills over captures, several factors appear to have tipped the balance in that direction. The Obama administration has authorized such attacks more frequently than the George W. Bush administration did in its final years, including in countries where U.S. ground operations are officially unwelcome or especially dangerous. Improvements in electronic surveillance and precision targeting have made killing from a distance much more of a sure thing. At the same time, options for where to keep U.S. captives have dwindled.
Read the full story at The Washington Post
In contrast to all the kvetching, Obama’s administration is doing more than Bush ever did to kill the terrorists and find the Taliban leadership. When he says they have killed terrorist XYZ, you know is is niftar, and does not shop up a month later the way these guys did when Bush’s people claimed to have killed the same leader every 3 months and never proved it. We are all much safer today with Obamaa.
Wait, but as per Cheney, Obama doesn’t do much for the Water on Terror. Hmmm….one must wonder what Cheney is after here.
There is no mystery to this strategy. Everyone in the military learned a hard lesson from the massive loss of life to the US Special Forces in the UN lead Somalia operation in the 1990’s. It doesn’t make sense to do capture operations that lead to massive casualties. Sadly, the current operation in Afganistan looks like a huge mistake. They announced the operation to the city residents and allowed the Taliban militia to escape to Pakistan. They gave the Taliban time to plant IEDs that killed US Marines. Now the Taliban will wage guerilla war against the troops and will reenter the city when they leave. Vietnam tested losing strategies. May HK BH have mercy on our US Marines and save them from our stupid politicians.
How long before Al Qeada gets hold of a drone and kills an American official from above.
This is the logical outcome of obamas policies. If we can’t use “enhanced interrogation” techniques, if were closing gitmo, if we need to give them civil trials which we can’t afford then the only option is to kill them. I hope you liberals are happy now with your more humane govt.
Way to go mr Obama. Ur strong leadership in this time of war and financial hardship will show us welcome change, we can believe in
Good job, President Obama!