When the Homily is about Immunology

Jihadists shout "Run Away" in Somalia

You may recall I joked that the Islamists in Somalia who declared jihad against Ethiopia had better be careful because the Ethiopians have the Ark of the Covenant. Well, I guess the Ethiopians have wielded it (the secular equivalent anyway) without anyone apparently knowing.

The news out of Somalia is good as the Jihadist "government" modeled after the Taliban and supported fiscally by Al-Qaeda (you may recall Osama himself spoke of the need for all of the "umma" to support jihad there) is presently in tatters. If you followed the developing news stories as the main thrust of Somali government and Ethiopian forces began a week or so ago, you might have been surprised (as was I) that US Naval Forces were actively preventing the Islamists from retreating by sea (as you may also recall, Islamist piracy has been at an all time high off the shores of Somalia ala the Barbary Corsairs.) It was surprising and gladdening to suddenly hear that we were helping in this noble endeavor.

Then news tonight of a US AC130 gunship raining down some instant transport to Allah's House of Ill-Repute for more jihadists and Al-Qaeda members in Somalia had me even more surprised. Why all this seemingly sudden participation by us?

Apparently the press has missed something very interesting with regard to US foreign policy and the defensive war against jihad (aka "the war on terror") and that is this: the surprising and sudden effectiveness of Ethiopia's troops when they invaded. As it turns out, they had received some excellent training in the last few months curiously reminiscent of the training taking place at United States Army and Marine facilities all over here in the United States. As Lt. Bryan Suits (local Seattle talk radio host and Army reserve officer who spent a year in Iraq) puts it (my paraphrase): "The Ethiopians were being trained by guys with names like Jim, Bobby, Tom, Dick, and Harry."

Suddenly the US Naval and Air support makes a lot more sense.

So, a rousing HUZZAH (3x) to the Ethiopians, liberated from Shari'a Somalis, and the US Armed Forces.