President Obama informed Congress Sunday evening that U.S. forces were present in Somalia on Friday for a French raid to rescue a hostage from al-Shabaab.
The attempt to rescue the intelligence officer who had been held by the terrorist group for three years went very wrong, though.
One French commando was killed in the operation and another is missing. Al-Shabaab claimed that the commando is now their hostage.
And French army consultant Denis Allex, the pseudonym for the intelligence officer, is presumed dead.
“Extremely violent fights took place, during which everything leads us to think that Mr. Allex was shot dead by his kidnappers,” France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters at a news conference Saturday. Al-Shabaab claimed Allex is still alive and in their hands.
Obama sent his notice in accordance with the War Powers Resolution to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate President Pro Tempore Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) today.
“United States forces provided limited technical support to the French forces in that operation, but took no direct part in the assault on the compound where it was believed the French citizen was being held hostage,” Obama wrote.
“United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed. These aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation. The U.S. forces that supported this operation left Somalia by approximately 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 11, 2013.”
Obama continued that he “directed U.S. forces to support this rescue operation in furtherance of U.S. national security interests, and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.”
Per the War Powers Resolution, Obama has 48 hours to notify Congress that he committed troops to military action.
The president of Somalia ‘s federal government, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, left Mogadishu today on his first visit to Washington, an attempt to “to boost cooperation on security, humanitarian, and development matters” with the U.S.
French President Francois Hollande raised his country’s domestic terror threat level Saturday because of the Somalia incident and France’s aid of the Mali government against al-Qaeda.
We have no business being involved. None at all.
Somalia is a non-state; its airspace need not be respected by the US or any other power.
Take one of our Iowa class battleships out of mothballs, park it 3 miles off the Somali coast, and bombard their ports and any camps up to 17 miles inshore. The Somalis have no weapons which can threaten an Iowa class battleship, and hardly anything that will do more than scratch the paint covering the 16 inches of armorplate. All you have to do is shoot anything which comes within half a mile of the ship. An Iowa class has lots of 5-inch, scads of twin 40mm cannons and entire craploads of 20 mm cannons to do just that. All while the 16 inch main guns are busy making craters the size of NY city blocks up to 17 miles inshore, or creating tsunamis in the harbor and wrecking everything floating in said harbor. When they can no longer profit from piracy or feed themselves from fishing, they’ll cry uncle soon enough.
The only problem with your plan is that we quit using tactics that actually work when we joined the U.N.
Obama is even more dangerous than I had previously thought. He’s acting like some rouge entity, stoppable by no one (including Congress).
How do we know Congress can’t stop President 0bama? Just because they have never tried doesn’t mean they can’t.
There is a huge difference between “can’t” and “won’t”.
“How do we know Congress can’t stop President 0bama? Just because they have never tried doesn’t mean they can’t“…
Nail on the head milwaukee, you’re exactly right!!
This among many other lapses of responsibility on the part of Congressional RINOs has really been a disappointment to me…
Sorry Milwaukee, you’re absolutely wrong.
1. Legislation introduced in the House would be DOA when it got to Harry Reid’s desk.
2. A Bill of Impeachment passing the House wouldn’t get 40 votes in the Senate.
The correct word is CAN’T.
The vote for impeachment takes place in the House. The Senate has no part in it which is why the other Bastard in Chief, Clinton WAS impeached. The Senate tries the impeached. To convict the accused, a two-thirds majority of the senators present is required. Conviction automatically removes the defendant from office.
And what use would it be for the house to pass an impeachment resolution only to have the senate vote it down, it would just make the house look impotent and foolish. We had our chance to get rid of Obama in Nov, and failed. And many of the blowhards talking about useless impeachment resolutions didn’t even vote for Romney, when a Romney victory really would have gotten rid of Obama. For now, do something useful and work on taking back the Senate.
That’s Obama, red as hell.
Oops.. (I’ll blame it on the IPad’s spell checker). What bothers me is that Obama appears to be operating on the following principle: if no American interests are at stake (Libya, Somalis kidnapping a Frenchman, dust-ups in Mali, etc) Obama engages the U.S. military; but, when American interests are directly threatened, he does his “stand down” routine. Ridiculous. (I am also annoyed by the absentee media — back in 2011 there were brief news reports about Obama sending American troops to Uganda — and as to a media follow-up, why are they there? what happened? not a peep from the press. Obama can seemingly do anything he wants at any given time, and face zero consequences).
Right. Our own people and installations under attack in Libya, and our forces were ordered to stand down, and the commanding officer relieved of his post. Ambassador, civilian contractor, and two Seals killed, embassy ransacked, but U.S. national security not important. French spy held hostage, and King Barry doesn’t think twice about sending in military forces. Hard to see why this situation was more vital to U.S. national security than Benghazi.
Are you sure it’s hard to figure out, elephant4life? Something about an impending election? Higher potential risk then of things going awry for a certain candidate who shall remain nameless than after the election?
He might have sent air support.to help the French but it sounds like they didn’t get to help. If it was such a shit storm, makes you wonder why our air support wasnt used.
The French should have asked Israel to help. They know what they are doing.
hmm, they would have been reported to the Shebab too. The French commando was dropped 3 km ahead of the target, so the shebab had enough time to prepare for riposting
http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2013/01/13/le-raid-en-somalie-a-ete-decide-en-decembre_1816317_3212.html#ens_id=1816036&xtor=RSS-3208
“LBJ” Obama.
It is my understanding that this operation was carried out in coordination with a successful push by French commando forces, supported by local national forces, against AlQaida in the Mahgreb in Mali. It is not a bad thing for us to support France, and other European allies, when they take the lead in our common war against militant Islam. It is about time, I say, and if they need technical support, AWACS, air cover, etc, then give it to them.
Concur. It is a “good thing”. The Western allies are targeting AQ.
My only regret is we are not targeting the main source of Radical Islamic aggression (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/world/africa/a-trail-of-bullet-casings-leads-from-africas-wars-to-iran.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
.
“wink
” was inadvertent.
Kill every Iranian in power. When their committee of Imams or whatever they call it meets next, send in a B-2 with a peewee nuke and get rid of them.
Except that the hostage rescue attempt was in Somalia.
So when will Obama get around to informing congress about this other action in Mali?
Seriously? I’m still waiting for him to send a note to Congress about US involvement in LIBYA.
Might want to check a map for the relative locations of Mali and Somalia. If Al’Qaeda and their associates need to be distracted by operations that far apart…
I have an award named in honor of a man who died flying an F-111 during the 1986 Libya raid. Maybe if France had allowed overflight, that crew might have survived–been more alert because of a shorter flight, that sort of thing. No certainties, just a what if, but still, the fact remains the French refused overflight, coddled a dictator as they did with Saddam pre-2003, and Americans died fighting a good fight the French would spit upon.
I would have told the French to pound sand.
French soldiers were our allies in Afghanistan and were responsible for military operations in Kapisa Province, a moderately tough place (not Kunar, but not Bamiyan) in Regional Command-East. Their troops were brave and took a fairly large number of casualties (more than 80 KIAs). On the few occasions when I had contact with them in 2011 they impressed me as good and professional soldiers.
For more see, http://mars-attaque.blogspot.fr/2012/06/has-france-lost-afghanistan.html.
War story–Same time as I’m trolling over Saddam’s Iraq, waiting to get hit by the magic bb, either the French or Saudis are passing our ATOs to him, because he knew the days we weren’t flying. And they were rattling sabers about how they were going to fly a passenger airliner into Basra, no-fly zone be hanged (this was before the extent of the oil bribes was truly known, and the attempts of Russian and French companies to get oil business).
As I said, I would have told the French to pound sand. This wasn’t a NATO mission.
French complicity in helping Saddam evade sanctions is well documented and disgraceful.
Still, they do not have a monopoly on appeasing Radical Islamists or welching on commitments, just ask the Sunni (and moderate Shia) Iraqis who cooperated closely with us in Iraq. It also makes me think of an Afghan translator/adviser with whom I worked on COIN matters(and who risked his life in our service). He’s praying that he will get a visa before we hand the Taliban the keys to BAF on our way out.
Sir, you slur my countrymen.
MarcH
well documented?
oh then in your french bashing sittes, but officially, there’s no proof, otherwise the US would be at the Trial too, like any country that dealt with Irak before 2003, and you weren’t the last, many pics of Chesney and Saddam are still on the net
Micha – “welching” – I am sorry to write it but I have seen us first impress the Iraqis and Afghans that we were committing for the long haul, thereby getting them to stick their necks out, and then announce our accelerated w/draw. My account is of course simplified, but I believe it is accurate. It was painful to write but more painful to watch.
Marie Claude – “oh then in your french bashing sittes” – Did you not notice that I weighed in to defend French military honneur (see my link, to a French site)? You have reinforced the stereotype that I was attempting to refute. “I ruin everything I touch” –Inspector Clouseau (1968).
There is a different government running France now; we should blame Francois Mitterand for his refusal to allow the US to use French airspace, and not blame Chiraq or Sarkozy or the current dumbass.
J Baustian
and though Mitterrand was in the Desert storm campain
you really are a fool
a mere neocon fairy tale
ment to anonymous
I remember that operation very well. It struck me at the time that France wasn’t quite so particular about US overflights in World War II.
Yeah…
Back then their Politicians could “Make no Hay” being the Fly in the Ointment.
Its been their main career track SINCE then, though hasnt it.
We didn’t ask them in W.W.II.
Annonymous, how courageous you are !
yet “perhaps” doesn’t explain why and how he died
France had good reasons for not believing the motivation of striking Gaddhafi then, some intelligence report sid that the facts were manipulated by the Mossad.
I’m recalling you that France stoke Gaddhafi a couple of year before the US
-http://www.opex360.com/2011/03/10/le-precedent-de-ouadi-doum/
and that even we offered Reagan a help in the beginning or the eighties to make it, and none of your brave dared to !
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/03/assassinating_gaddafi.html
My dear friend, I’m not trying to convince you, and I admitted no absolute proof of causality. But…those in the business know exactly what I am talking about.
France is, in general, a dishonorable nation, and one I think the world better off without. Your opinion may vary.
In all fairness about the French hostage rescue….such operations are tricky and depend on a lotta luck…..the IDF lost one of their commanders and probably killed a hostage inadvertantly during their Entebbe Raid….such things happen at the best of times…with the very best of operators….
In all fairness about French policy.
France has exhibited signifigant shifts politically.
At one point denying use of their airspace out of Gaulist anti-americanism….denouncing US intervention…..
Then unilaterally deploying legionaires to West Africa….”to safeguard europeans”…
The French Military are classic professionals….who do not lack courage….their stubborn WW1 defence of Verdun interdicted the German advance…permanently.
The French are unreliable politically but their military is utterly reliable.
And French weapons made AFTER Desert Storm (remember the embargo which France busted?) were used to kill Americans in Iraqi Freedom.
So maybe we should arm the Somalis terrorists as France rearmed Saddam after Desert Storm?
Greetings:
I think that the use of “botched” is more than a bit strong word-wise. I’m not sure how or why you decided to use it, but I haven’t come across any information that would establish that in my mind.
Infantry work is a kind of complex business; lots of variables, if you know what I mean. This type of infantry work is usually referred to as a “raid”. When my favorite Platoon Sergeant was teaching its finer points to me, I recall some thing along these lines. “How ya going to get there? What are ya goin’ to do when you get there? How ya goin’ get out of there? And, what’re goin’ do when things start goin’ wrong?
Please try not to botch any more headlines.
The prisoner they were trying to rescue died and AQ captured a member of the rescue team. What else has to go wrong before the word botched can be used?
Greetings, wodun:
Sometimes, I’m told, my brevity is the soul of my half wit.
The point I failed to make more clearly is this. In military ventures there is always a certain amount of risk due to the participation of an armed opponent. Thus, a well-planned, well-executed venture may in fact end up with less than desired results. Now, this situation may be referred to as unsuccessful, less than fully successful, or even a failed operation. But “botched”, as I understand it connotes that something was done poorly or unprofessionally as opposed to something that was countered by a determined enemy.
It’s that implication that I object to and hopefully the author can see that in regard to her poor and unprofessional headline. I saw nothing in her article that established poor or unprofessional military performance.
It makes no sense to hold it against Obama that the rescue mission failed. Good for him for helping the French in a just cause.
With Obama’s track record, I’d assume that the “air support” was plentiful and available…..until it was needed. Like every other ally, we probably shivved the French in the back by pulling out just as we were relied upon.
Depends on the situation on the ground…
A small team hitting a compound “up close” pretty much eliminates the “value” of air support.
Think of the way we went in for Bin Laden. Choppers landing right in the front lawn, and a fast assault team immediately INSIDE A BUILDING with the Bad Guys.
What could close air support do for them in a room-to-room firefight?
Nothing at all, really.
I don’t know the details of the French raid, but I doubt air support would be a make-or-break factor in a typical Hostage Snatch.
Air Support helps you get HOME after a good grab, but it doesn’t help you MAKE the grab.
“Air support” is a generic term, not to be confused with “Close Air Support” or CAS, which is a military term. Root is referring (I believe) to CAS, where the intent is to drop bombs on the enemy while he is in relatively close proximity to friendly forces. So yes, once the commandos go in close, it is not useful.
The more generic term of air support means we could have supplied tanker aircraft, or command and control aircraft, or electronic support aircraft, and of course special operations special mission aircraft. There are many possible capabilities which sophisticated U.S. aircraft have which other countries do not possess, even NATO countries. Individual countries may possess similar sophistication in certain warfare areas (e.g. Czech chem warfare capability) but almost no country can match the U.S. sophistication and capability in every area.
Agree with 1st paragraph
2nd paragraph (IMHO) would require prior knowledge/planning/coordination and most of all Comm with ground units.
Tall order “on the fly” with US forces on short notice. To intergrate with “The French” on short notice (which I assume is the case, since we dont have much history of “joint ops” with them in the past) seems a bit of a stretch.
IMHO we were “available” because we had assets in the air already for another purpose (our own Regional Surveillance), and said as courtesy “worst case scenario call us, and we’ll see what we to do for ya.”
But no real “plan”
Air Support can stop any enemy reinforcements from joining the battle.
Obama. All the credit when things go right and none of the blame when things go wrong.
I am one of the most critical of President O and his bunch, but this was the right thing to do.
Depends. Did they provide sufficient resources, or did they go in “cheap”? The results indicate they didn’t have all the resources they needed — either not enough firepower, or not enough information.
This might have been the right thing to do, but it only makes the failure to protect our own in Benghazi worse.
So if it is the right thing to support the French in their rescue of a hostage, surely we should be attempting to rescue the former FBI agent held in Iran! And of course, the French would be right there with us!
“French President Francois Hollande raised his country’s domestic terror threat level Saturday because of the Somalia incident and France’s aid of the Mali government against al-Qaeda.”
Bunk. Something big is up and that’s why the French took action. The Europeans are famous for doing nothing for as long as possible, so they must have been alerted to an imminent attack of some sort in order for them to take direct military action in Africa. And, with all the added security in France right now, they must have had some credible threat that they’re worried about. Well, when you appease radical Islamists long enough, you shouldn’t be surprised when they turn on you one day. And for Obama to get involved in the fighting in yet another wrecked African country only proves that the French had something important to either terminate or take pre-emptive action against to prevent even bigger losses. We are only getting a fraction of the story here, and for bambi in the White House to actually commit military resources must have meant that something significant was about to happen.
Strange to say I can’t criticize the USURPER on this. Islam is on the march worldwide, driven on and funded by access to virtually unlimited revenue from OIL and sooner or later the West will have to stand up and confront it or sink in to Dhimmitude. You know OIL of course thats the commodity that Muslims could not find even though they lived right on top of it and once found they did not have the ability to recover it nor refine it and of course no Muslim ever invented anything they could use OIL for except maybe a Lamp, no they left all of that to KAFFIRS.
So what? They can mount their camels and ride their asses all day without a drop of oil, crude or refined.
This was wrong to do. POTUS must NOT have this authority. He can start a war whenever he wants to and tell congress about it two days later? Thats insane.
We need to clean out the whole rotten bunch and start all over with some smart, moral men who will keep our noses out of other nation’s business. The nutcake in the white house will destroy us altogether if we don’t get him out of there. There has to ba a legal and moral way to do so.
“This was wrong to do. POTUS must NOT have this authority. He can start a war whenever he wants to and tell congress about it two days later? Thats insane”
Its called “Commander in Chief” and the President HAS to have that power.
Would we wait till congress was informed to launch our ICBMS against a Russian “pre-emptive” strike on us? If another hijacked airliner was inbound, would should he call congress first, or would he IMMEDIATELY ACT, in his capacity as Commander in Chief?
We elect people to MAKE those decision when they HAVE to be made…the “insanity” may be in the particular individual, his motives and his loyalties (Broncobamma is a communist, for example).
But their is nothing wrong with The Powers Of The Office
You just have to understand the fact youre giving them to someone who MAY act unscrupulouly…and VOTE ACCORDINGLY
Military special ops has been a large part of the foreign relations strategy since 1947. There is NOT a single presidency since that time that has not ‘engaged’ special ops around the world. The nation building containment strategy has long been intertwined with the department of state and largely influenced by the CFR which every presidency follows in large part or varying degrees. Nothin new! Just used to be highly classified and not a matter of public knowledge as it is today.
I don’t think Obama has the judgement to authorize even office supplies on his own much less military action, but to his credit he has kept up the drone attacks so maybe he’s not hopeless. On the other hand the “legality” of any of this is highly questionable, and there seems no bright line that says what really would require Congressional involvement, not that Obama listens to Congress, not that Congressional Democrats ever do their jobs.
So, barring more details on what we actually did, I’m just wary.
Anonymous @ 6 I hear you, yet it’s good to see France taking some action today and maybe it’s in our own self-interest now to be gracious and forgiving, or something like that. Regarding NATO, France has only limited relations to NATO, exactly what did they end up doing regarding Libya?
Your first statement is 100% correct. obama may have the authority but he’s short on judgement. Bin Laden was killed because of 5 years of work begun before the great divider ran for office (He gave the “order” only because if he didn’t and that bit of information got out, he wouldn’t have been nominated for dog catcher, much less president in 2012).
I’d like to know how many of the enemy were killed. Because if 2 Frenchmen died in the process of killing about 40 Somali terrorists, or a smaller number of terrorists plus a top terrorist leader, then I’d say the raid wasn’t really botched at all.
France have a history of fighting Islam; Crusades anyone? They kicked butt during the Crusades and they’re doing it again. Sarkozy took it to Islam and it looks like Hollande is doing the same. I’m all for supporting them in alliance against our enemies. This may be the beginning of something sweet … CAIR and the ISNA are starting to get nervous I bet.
This may apply:
I have a relation who was involved in the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Traveled around that area. She went to Carentan to see where an uncle had gone in on June 10, in a B26. She found that a glider had piled in as well, with the two dozen glider Infantry all killed, nearby. Every year, the town officials go to the sites, read the names, and the school children say, “Died for France.” One of the streets in Carentan is named after the 101st.
In the church in Ste. Mere Eglise, the rose window features the Holy Mother and the Child, flanked by US paratroopers, so that when the congregation lift their eyes, they can see whence came their deliverance.
My father, in his second trip to France, discovered that it’s only in Paris where people are rude to Americans. He speaks French, so he was of the opinion they’re rude to everybody.
In Holland, there are two towns with streets named after his division–Timberwolfstraat–and one after his division commander, Generaal Allen weg.
Perhaps, my point is, the cooperation will come late. Too late to avoid catastrophe, but perhaps in time to fix it.
Happened before. See “Big Red One”. One of the kids finds a memorial to the First. “Sarge,” he says, “they already have a monument. It’s our names on it. It’s the same names.” Lee Marvin says, “It always is.”
Be nice if we could get our acts together prior to a world war of one kind or another. You know. Stop the occupation of the Rhineland or something.
That said, the exact details of the US support for the raid must be available, someplace. Maybe Assange can get them for us. If one of the points US officials make is that weapons were not used, the question is why the hell not?
Good Post Richard…
We all tend to Bash France based on stereotype…Its just so easy…
I’m as guilty as anyone.
Its like foreigners Bashing the US based on our Politicians and Celebrities Behavior and Morals.
Who here thinks Snookie and Barbara Boxer are ‘representitive” of their character?
Or that people in the West Side of Manhattan or San Francisco have “Quintessentially American” personalities?
The officials of Carentan are not the same officials running the French government. I have never been to France but have friends and relatives who have. To a person they have all said once you get outside Paris or any other large city, it’s hard to believe the surrounding countryside and the large cities are part of the same country. In really large cities, “it’s all about me” and get out of my way. In the country side, some really good and friendly people.
In really large cities, “it’s all about me”… In the country side, some really good and friendly people”
Gee, sounds a lot like here, doesnt it?
If France was going after a tough / prolific foe (say Iran or similar), I think there could be a case to be made for our ‘help’. But this seems to be completely at the other end of the spectrum. France should have taken this on on their own, and we should stop enabling the EU welfare state by being their defense arm.
And, this isn’t our fight to fight.
oh that’s egoist
but if you want to losose your place as a hegemonic power, China, no less, is proposing to replace you
just heard that she offered her help !
Please accept their offer.
Just remember to drop the rifles where the adults can find them.
You people have a very short memory. There have been about 300,000 American lives lost in French adventures in the last century.
I’m disinclined to do it again. Ever.
Vaguely reminiscent of Jimmy Carter and the rescue attempt of the Iranian hostages back in the late 1970′s although this was a French inspired disaster. France would have been better served to hire the Israelis to do the whole rescue (refer to rescue at Entebbe for details).
The amount of clenching and gnashing over this nothing event is unreal. We’ve got the largest military in the galaxy and the French asked for a little air cover – OMFG.
How some folks got where they are from here is beyond comprehension. Unclench …
I had never been outside the U.S. until Uncle Sam sent me to Germany in 1979. I had a pre-disposition on what I thought the Germans would be like and was pleasently surprise to find that I was completely wrong. The next time I went to Europe was in 1982 when I took my wife and four kids on an escorted tour. One of the stops was in Paris and I had heard horror storys about how rude the French in general and the Parisians in particular were. Nothing could have been further from the truth. We walked around the city with maps in front of us reading from travel guides. In other words, looking exactly like American tourists. The Parisians would come up unsolicited to try to help us and most of them seemed to speak English. Even in the restaurants where I was told the waiters would ignore you if you didn’t speak French, they were very helpful and friendly. Now I have a home in Florence Italy and spend months at a time there using it as a stopping point for the rest of the Continent. I think we would do well to remember that the country is the people and not necessarily the government. We have no further to look than our own country to see a prime example of that. Much as I dispise the pretender in the White House, this time he got it right. I’m sure it was purely by accident.
…yet we couldn’t find any forces to assist the Benghazi consulate.
Obama authorized a cross-border effort to rescue one Frenchman, but refused to do the same on September 11, 2012 in Libya to rescue four Americans.
Mali and the Scramble for Africa A New Wave of Barbarism By Ben Schreiner Global Research, January 14, 2013
http://www.globalresearch.ca/mali-and-the-scramble-for-africa/5318867
Pentagon planning for multinational military operation in Mali By Craig Whitlock,December 05, 2012
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-05/world/35638627_1_malian-islamic-extremists-ground-troops
The real story is that President Nero lied to the American people (again) during the election season when they boasted again and again that AQ was “on the run,” and that “OBL is dead.”
These reckless statements, combined with our support for any and all revolution in North Africa, appeared to have given new life to AQ.
Nero will spend the rest of his term regretting his reckless foreign policy “theories.”