Now this is really encouraging news:
U.S. forces are deployed near Somalia to block the escape of members of that country’s ousted Islamist government with ties to al Qaeda and other extremists, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday.
“We would be concerned that no leaders who were members of the Islamic Courts which have ties to terrorist organizations including al Qaeda are allowed to flee and leave Somalia,” spokesman Sean McCormack said.
“We of course have a presence off the coast of Somalia and Horn of Africa to make sure there are no escape routes by sea where these individuals could flee,” McCormack said. He declined to provide details about the U.S. forces.
The Islamists, who deserted their last stronghold on Monday after two weeks of war against Somali government troops backed by Ethiopia, have pledged to fight on after melting into the hills between the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu and Kenya.
I hope (and suspect) that we’re even more involved than they’re acknowledging.
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