Posted by
Bill Crawford on Thursday, April 09, 2009 12:55:20 PM
The Somalians have been at this stuff for a while now. And, because of the feckless nature of most of the governments on this planet, they have been making a good living at it.
But their luck probably ran out when they went after an American flagship. Like Edward Horton's character said in American History X, "you've picked on the wrong young buck".
They hit on the only country left on the planet that still uses the military in the way it is taught in the textbook. To protect, not to torment or annoy. Or, in the case of NATO and Europe, to stand around and do nothing while their leaders pose anger and threaten to go to the U.N. Which, come to think of it, is what they are trying to do here.
Now they will be dealing with a few warships that are far beyond their capability. Soon a flock of planes will be buzzing them like hornets, up to the edge of their international airspace. And if this President has the stones for it, there may even be some strikes in Somalia proper.
If that happens, the rest of the world will condemn us- publicly. Privately, they will breathe a sigh of releif that the traffic going through the Stait of Hormuz will start flowing unimpeded again.
The American military, even when set on missions by the naive or held up by the even more naive here, is the most feared power in the world. There is nothing in history to match it. It is the glue that is holding the remainder of Western civilization together. Europe should bow down and kiss our buttinsky daily.
Instead, they deride us, and pose us as some sort of new imperialism. We should try bringing everybody with dog tags home for the Summer and see how they like what happens. Our folks in uniform deserve the R&R, and the world needs a serious lesson in reality.