Vol. 77/No. 37      October 21, 2013

Army Delta Force operatives kidnapped alleged al-Qaeda leader Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, commonly referred to al-Libi, outside his home in Tripoli in broad daylight. That same day Navy Seals attacked a residence in the coastal town of Baraawe, Somalia, in a failed attempt to kidnap or kill Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, who is allied with al-Shabab.

While complaining that “surgical strikes” are not sufficient in the “War on Terror,” conservative columnist and military historian Max Boot lauded President Barack Obama for being “very decisive about ordering drone strikes and raids by Special Operations Forces (or SOF) on terrorist targets. Indeed, Obama may well be the most SOF-friendly president we’ve ever had.”

The White House carried out the raid in Somalia in response to the Sept. 21 mass killing by al-Shabab at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. The attack is part of a growing reliance on terrorist actions by al-Shabab following a string of defeats over the last two years in its civil war against the U.S.-backed Transitional Federal Government.

Somalia has been wracked by war and without a centralized government since the overthrow of the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. After years of fighting between rival clans that devastated the country, the Union of Islamic Courts took control of Mogadishu and much of the southern part of the country in the summer of 2006.

But Ethiopian troops entered the country in December 2006 and by January had pushed the Islamist group out of their last stronghold, the southern port of Kismayo, and backed the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government, which never succeeded in bringing the country under its control. By the time the Ethiopian troops left in January 2009, the Union of Islamic Courts had split. A wing joined the Transitional Federal Government, while al-Shabab (the Youth in Arabic) emerged as the strongest force fighting against the imperialist-backed invasion.

Al-Shabab soon controlled much of the countryside and many key towns and ports. The group profited from smuggling ivory and charcoal, ransoms from kidnappings and pirated ships, and taxing farms and goods.

Since the beginning of 2011, however, al-Shabab has suffered serious defeats as troops from Kenya, Ethiopia and the African Union pushed them out of every major town in the country and completely out of Mogadishu. Al-Shabab’s last major urban base fell to African Union troops in October last year.

But al-Shabab still controls large parts of the countryside. The Navy Seals that landed on the beach in Baraawe met heavy resistance and retreated, according to the Pentagon.

“Where you got active plots and active networks, we’re going to go after them,” President Barack Obama said in an Oct. 8 White House press conference.

Somalia is an area where U.S. military activity usually gets little attention. In addition to direct U.S. intervention that includes cruise missile attacks, airstrikes and special forces operations, Washington supports African Union forces.

“We prefer partnering with countries,” Obama said, “and we want to build up their capacity. But we’re not going to farm out our defense.”

In Libya, the Special Operations forces ambushed and kidnapped al-Ruqai on his way home from morning prayers. Al-Ruqai was indicted in absentia for his alleged role in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.

The Obama administration asserts they can hold al-Ruqai indefinitely and that he is being treated “humanely” while representatives of the military, CIA and FBI attempt to extract information and “confessions” aboard a Navy ship in the Mediterranean. They claim that he won’t be waterboarded or deprived of food and will get at least “four hours of continuous sleep in a 24-hour period.”

“We know that Mr. al-Libi planned and helped to execute plots,” Obama said, in response to a question as to whether the capture of al-Libi conformed to international law. “He will be brought to justice.”
 
 
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