US forces asserting aggression in Somalia AGAIN!

Your opinions on the US forces asserting actions on Somalia currently. Should the US move out? Should the US stay? Why leave? Why stay? Military strategy maybe. All of these discussion can be posted here.:coffee:

How can the US move out? It doesn't have any boots on the ground - these have been air assaults. And it will probably limit itself to air attacks.

If the US has some real intelligence on Al-Q leaders or other terrorists being in that part of Somalia, I can't really fault what they've done so far. Also no one wants the Islamic Courts to regroup and start open war again.

Hopefully the UN will get African Union peacekeepers in there to calm things down ASAP.

Well, some of the more dirty boots of US power are certainly on the ground in Somalia but much more interesting will be whether the Ethiopians will implant some kind of satellite regime in Mogadishu.

Ethiopia harnessed her dreams of hegemony over the Horn of Africa region since the time of the great emperor Menelik who defeated the italian expeditionary forces thoroughly in Adwa in 1895. After decades of retreat the preeminent ´christian´power in Africa seems to be on the march again and Meles Zenawi has been successful in securing US and European support for his strategy.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt will not be pleased by the emergence of a new regional power in their backyard which is enjoying sound support by the US and some european countries (France, UK). Perhaps the inherent drawbacks of the US-Ethiopian alliance will show up in the near future since Cairo and Riyadh will probably not abandon their allies in the Horn of Africa region.

I've been disturbed by this recent turn of events for many reasons, but from a purely technical and military aspect, I'm skeptical of the merits of using the Air Force use of AC-130s, some may recall that a reason why they were not used in the first intervention was because they would cause too much collateral damage. Already, there are reports of civilian casualties, and personally I believe that this will lead nowhere good.

Already, there are reports of civilian casualties, and personally I believe that this will lead nowhere good.

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War of any type sucks. The innocents die along with the combantants. And that will never ever change.

The AC-130H/U Spectre is well suited for it's assigned task;

The AC-130H Spectre gunship's primary missions are close air support, air interdiction and armed reconnaissance. Other missions include perimeter and point defense, escort, landing, drop and extraction zone support, forward air control, limited command and control, and combat search and rescue.

These heavily armed aircraft incorporate side-firing weapons integrated with sophisticated sensor, navigation and fire control systems to provide surgical firepower or area saturation during extended periods, at night and in adverse weather.

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Well I realize that its guns are very accurate, my misgivings were about the overkill factor and its extreme power, generally the angle of fire will be somewhat shallow because its guns are only on the left side, and unless it's firing while banking very sharply, (which probably isn't the case) the rounds will go through the target and anything behind it, quite possibly causing unwanted casualties.

The only way to do things here without killing innocents would technically be putting boots on the ground, but that's obviously impossible.

The only way to do things here without killing innocents would technically be putting boots on the ground, but that's obviously impossible.

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You are 100% correct about the attack angle of the C-130 Spectre. I think it was designed not only to kill but terrorize. Just my opinion.

That would be a very foolish move by the US. I hope it is not being considered.

There are some US forces in the Horn of Africa region. USN SEABEES, USAF types and some US Marines for security. Most are located in Djibouti. The US has a large fuel storage area in that country.

If the US has brawny CAS planes like the AC-130 down there, I would presume they also have A-10. I think those would be much better suited for that job, or perhaps A-6 Intruders from the Ike. These could operate with a little more precission I think. But Spectres are just brute force, not my choice when it comes to taking out just specific personal.

Scratch said:

If the US has brawny CAS planes like the AC-130 down there, I would presume they also have A-10. I think those would be much better suited for that job, or perhaps A-6 Intruders from the Ike. These could operate with a little more precission I think. But Spectres are just brute force, not my choice when it comes to taking out just specific personal.

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Scratch..uh.. the USN scrapped all it's Intruders some time ago. 1997 I'm sure. But A-10's there? Could be. There are plenty in Iraq and could stortie there in no time.

Probally no more than two AC-130 in the area. the USAF has only 21 of thease beast.

the USN scrapped all it's Intruders some time ago. 1997

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ooops, not up to date
Hmm, what else could come from the Ike then besides (Super)Hornets, the Prowlers (these are still in service?) are for EW and such things right ? And currently I can't think of more at the moment anyway.