So Easter is long over with, but the Easter bunny couldn't have delivered me a better snippet of news than to have informed me that three Somali pirates are dead of fatal head wounds at the hands of Navy SEAL snipers. I got some yummy treats from the Easter bunny, don't get me wrong, but there's a profound sweetness to the notion that three Somali assholes no longer have heads, and the fourth is sitting in a cell somewhere with his tail between his quivering bony legs.
I have no tolerance for assholes who refuse to make a better life for themselves, and instead embark on cruel criminal enterprises to make a fast illicit buck. Especially when that criminal enterprise threatens the lives of innocent people. It's going to be interesting over the coming days and weeks to hear all the whining from human rights organizations the likes of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the NAACP or ACLU. I can already hear it: "What about the rights of those Somalis that were so cruelly executed by the American military?"
In ordinary circumstances, I suppose I would be all in favor of supporting such organizations that purportedly safeguard the “human rights” of the little guy, the underdog, the unfortunate. But these groups are often politically motivated, and not from any of our own home-grown political interests. They’re hell-bent on bashing the U.S.A. And yes, I understand the situation on the ground in Somalia is a dire one. There are few opportunities for the average Somali to make a better life, or to find legitimate sources of income. It is this dire situation that has driven young impressionable male Somalis to piracy.
But my gripe is this. The United States of America made an honest effort to help the Somali people back in the early 1990s. We sent our troops there to help ensure that humanitarian aid was distributed to those most in need of it. The country had been racked by years of warlord-on-warlord warfare, and there hadn’t been a working government there for some time back then (and there still isn’t). The gratitude we received for our humanitarian efforts was that 18 of our soldiers were brutally murdered and their corpses desecrated (a 19th soldier died in a separate combat incident 2 days later). Perhaps you’ve heard of the “Black Hawk Down” incident. Books have been written on it, and there was a movie made about it.
It’s important to note that Al Qaeda often speaks of this incident, and often takes credit for it. This is because some of the earliest ragtag elements that later coalesced to become Al Qaeda were there in Somalia when the “Black Hawk Down” incident happened. In fact, some experts speculate that the reason Al Qaeda views the U.S. as such a weak nation is directly because of this incident, since shortly after it occurred Clinton pulled us out of Somalia. The Al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole also made the U.S. appear weak because there was little or no response to that incident either. Al Qaeda even cites the Marine barracks bombing and the U.S. military’s subsequent departure from that base in Lebanon in the early 80’s as another example of how “weak” we are. Al Qaeda’s propaganda often centers on the notion that whenever the U.S. is attacked, it runs away and cowers in fear. When a bully bloodies your nose, and you run away, you will likely be perceived as weak.
Now you and I know that our U.S. military forces are anything but weak or fearful. They step up to the challenge of defending our nation every day, and they do it exceptionally well. They would have done more back in Somalia if given the chance, but Clinton pulled the plug on the mission. Our forces have been fighting hard and winning in Iraq, and they’ve been fighting hard and winning in Afghanistan. And now, we’ve had a successful anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.
So what’s my point? Well, I guess I’m just glad that our lame-ass president actually grew some testicles and authorized the mission against the Somali pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips. I never would have expected a pandering lefty liberal pansie to even consider such a thing as DOING THE RIGHT THING. He’s been spending so much time trying to make friends with the likes of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that I’ve begun to wonder what side he’s on. But our “president” aside, I’m more excited to know that our Navy SEALs had a chance to strut their stuff and show the Somalis what we’re capable of. It’s a better message to send than the one sent when Clinton pulled us out of Somalia after the loss of 19 good men.
If a nation is going to commit its resources and its military to conducting a military mission, then it should do exactly that: commit. Right or wrong, once we invaded Iraq, it would have been a huge disaster to have pulled our troops out too soon. We already abandoned the Iraqi people in the first Gulf War by first instigating them to rise up against Saddam, and then pulling the plug. It’s no wonder they all despise us. Saddam slaughtered them by the thousands after that. The same can be said for Pakistan. We supported the Mujahideen fighters (through Pakistan) to rise up and repel the U.S.S.R. when they invaded Afghanistan. That mission ended up being successful overall, but shortly after that the U.S. pulled the plug on all support, and the people we wholeheartedly backed during the conflict were left with a pock-marked, land-mined wasteland after it was all over. It’s no wonder they all despise us and eventually morphed into what we now call the Taliban.
The common thread in these instances is that the U.S. got involved, but failed to commit. The consequences of failing to commit are costly and disastrous. Some folks argue we should stop sticking our nose where it doesn’t belong. I disagree when the stakes are such that we’re attacked by extremists and the result is nearly 3000 dead. You can’t “not respond” to that. It sends a bad message to our enemies, and it emboldens them. That means more attacks here at home. I believe in peace through superior firepower. Quit fucking with us, and you won’t end up dead. That’s a message people understand.
I wish we lived in a world where we could all just get along and we would never have to engage in warfare. Nobody would love peace like that more than me. But we don’t live in such a world, and we never will. I disagree that conflict resolves nothing. It’s a sad last resort, to be sure, but it can resolve plenty when done right. Conflict stopped the Nazis in WWII. Nukes stopped the Japanese empire in WWII. Was it ugly? Absolutely. Was it the right thing to do? Absolutely. We started neither of those conflicts, but rest assured, we had a heavy hand in finishing them. We finished them because we committed ourselves to the task, and we got the job done.
Today we find ourselves at war with Islamic extremism. A larger internal war is about to bust out in Pakistan soon, if things don’t change quickly. The Taliban is amped up and ready to conquer the Pakistani government. In Somalia, the pirates are amped up and are taking hostages almost daily. Our enemies are stepping up their attacks all the time.
So America, are we going to commit to crushing them, or are we going to cower in fear and motivate them even more? It’s all very noble of the hippie peacemongers out there to try and preserve life, and to worry about the rights of remorseless killers like terrorists or pirates when we capture them. It’s very noble, indeed. But it doesn’t work.
Strength is what our enemies understand, and lately, our government hasn’t shown any. Especially since Obama took office. I would hope that as we move forward and face threats, Obama follows the example of his single successful decision to authorize the Navy SEAL snipers to handle the pirate/hostage situation. When you commit yourself to a military engagement, and our forces are at the helm, the world can be made a better place. But we have to commit, or all is lost.
As we send more troops to Afghanistan, let’s hope that we commit to getting the job done, and not leaving until the job is done. We’ll do more damage to ourselves in the long run if we send in troops, get our noses bloodied, and then turn tail and run. In the future, we’re very likely going to be faced with combat inside Pakistan as well. If that comes to pass, we have to commit to wiping out our enemies there. The alternative is to bring all of our troops back home before the job is done and hope that the enemy doesn’t succeed in sneaking a nuclear weapon into the country. Since we can’t even keep the Mexican drug cartels from smuggling dope across the border, I don’t have a lot of faith that we’d be able to keep Al Qaeda from bringing a Pakistani nuke across the border. We can prevent this now if we commit.
I hope to see a strong message sent to our enemies, and I want it to be signed, SEALed, and delivered properly.
