Why is it that whenever the good guys do something to the jihadis, some analysts swing into action to explain how it is really bad news. Case in point is the recent Kenyan-led mission to drive the jihadis from Kismayu, Somalia:
African forces have driven militants of al-Shabaab, an Islamist group linked to al-Qaida, out of their last urban stronghold in the port of Kismayo but there are signs the militants are already retaliating.
There were fears that al-Shabaab would unleash a wave of terror against Somalia's Western-backed neighbors in East Africa who have hammered the Islamists over the last year.
"It will become a kind of asymmetric warfare, with more suicide bombings and attacks targeting whoever eventually controls Kismayo," warned Horn of Africa analyst Andrews Atta-Asamoah of South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.
The jihadis are not "retaliating." They are still fighting. Acting like the liberation of Kismayu caused the terror is ridiculous.
If there are more, that's just what jihadis do.
And without the sanctuary of Kismayu, the jihadis will have difficulty funding, training, and planning those attacks.
I swear to God, some analysts really believe the Kenyans fell into al Shabab's trap--as the jihadis claimed after retreating--by driving the jihadis from the port city.
This is a victory. Thank you, Kenya. Let's have more victories over the jihadis. Stop pretending they can't be defeated.
Also, we did help the Kenyans:
These were aided by unacknowledged U.S. satellite intelligence and drone strikes mounted from Ethiopia and Djibouti, a former French colony on the Horn of Africa where a U.S. counter-terrorism force has been based since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
No mention of anything eles, like sealift or special forces directly helping with the amphibious operation.
