Bombing Somalia is a dud

Buoyed by the remarkable marksmanship of U.S. Navy SEALs against Somali pirates, a debate has emerged about the wisdom of bombing the pirates' support infrastructure onshore in Somalia. Given the painful memory of 18 U.S. soldiers killed in 1993 in Mogadishu in the "Black Hawk Down" battle, deploying U.S. ground forces in Somalia is not seriously being considered, making airstrikes the best military option.

However, before unleashing the United States' vast arsenal of long-range air power against impoverished seaside villages, it is important to recall that the U.S. has already bombed Somalia five times in the last 2 1/2 years with little military or political success, according to media reports. These results show that intermittent attacks against militants in a failed state are no substitute for the long, hard work of building a viable political entity in control of its territory.

Although little reported on, U.S. military and intelligence agencies have been heavily involved in Somalia during the last four years. In 2006, the U.S. failed in secret negotiations with Somali clans to gain information about the whereabouts of three highly sought Al Qaeda operatives who were believed to be behind the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa and the 2002 attacks against an Israeli airliner and a hotel in Kenya.

On Christmas Eve 2006, with U.S. support in the form of detailed intelligence and military training, Ethiopia invaded Somalia with the goal of unseating the ruling Islamic Courts Union, or ICU. As the Ethiopian offensive overwhelmed the ICU defenses, Somali militants and Al Qaeda affiliates fled south, tracked by the United States via Predator drones and cellphone intercepts.

On Jan. 7, 2007, a U.S. Air Force special operations AC-130 gunship flying out of Ethiopia fired on a convoy of escaping Islamic militants near the village of Ras Kamboni in Somalia. Although perhaps 10 Somali militants died in the attack, none were the targeted Al Qaeda operatives.

Fifteen days later, an AC-130 attacked Sheik Ahmed Madobe, an ICU senior leader, but failed to kill him. According to U.S. officials, Madobe was later captured by Ethiopia.