Mad Cow

The Shanghai ran off and the cattle all died
The last piece of bacon that morning was fried
--Sweet Betsy from Pike
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Ranger Question of the Day:
If a cruise missile explodes in an uninhabited forest,
does it make a sound?
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U.S. policy has come a long way baby since Shock-and-Awe debuted on the world's stage. Now we have the ripple effect:

"American naval forces fired missiles [note: more than one] into southern Somalia on Monday, aiming at what the Defense Department called terrorist targets.

"Residents reached by telephone said that three civilians were wounded, and that the only other casualties were three dead cows, one dead donkey and a partly destroyed house."

What a swell day for democracy -- three dead cows, one dead donkey and a partly-destroyed house. You could go home and call it a good day with such a haul. At least the chickens appeared to escape unscathed, but the cows and donkey surely paid for their collusion with a terrorist.

The desperation of the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©) is palpable. Imagine dropping million-dollar+ Tomahawk cruise missiles, fired from billion- dollar+ nuclear submarines ostensibly to kill one "known al Qaeda terrorist."

"The missile strike was aimed at Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan born in 1979 who is wanted by the F.B.I. for questioning in the nearly simultaneous attacks in 2002 on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, and on an Israeli airliner taking off from there, said three American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the strike."

Who spoke? The U.S. launches missile strikes and our officials are not authorized to speak publicly on those strikes? In other words, bomb them to hell, but don't talk about it officially. It's great to see my tax dollars at work spreading indiscriminate democracy in yet another nation that doesn't want it.

Not a good day for surgical strikes: An unnamed U.S. military official said "the missiles were believed to have hit their targets. Witnesses on the ground, though, described the attack differently."

"The attack on Monday was not the first time that American forces had fired missiles into Somalia or used airstrikes in pursuit of what the Pentagon has called terrorist operatives. They did so at least three times last year."

Aside from the profligate and unjustified expense is the question of legitimacy. Does the U.S. have the right to bomb an Arab neighborhood because a "known operative" may (or may not) be present? Further, that "known operative" stands accused, but not convicted, of a crime.

But of course, a cruise missile makes a hell of a judge and jury. After speaking, it nullifies all appeals. A perfect tool for Bushville. Unfortunately, the world has moved past Judge Roy Bean's form of justice.

It is an embarrassment to this Ranger that this is the best response the U.S. can orchestrate to neutralize, capture and bring to justice a small-time punk like Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. If and when he is killed, how will the world become a safer place?

Lobbing cruise missiles into Arab neighborhoods is a great al-Qaeda recruitment tool.