Kristol's Next War: Send The US Marines After Somali Pirates

Matthew Yglesias:

In addition to being a booster of the two actual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bill Kristol and/or his publication has, at one time or another, also called for the United States to go to war with North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Sudan. And now he's got another war he's like to start:

And while [Bush is] at it, perhaps he could tell various admirals to stop moaning about how difficult it would be to deal with the pirates off the coast of Somalia (isn't keeping the shipping lanes open a core mission of the Navy?) and order the Navy to clobber them. If need be, the Marines would no doubt be glad to recapitulate their origins and join in by going ashore in Africa to destroy the pirates' safe havens.

Read the whole story: Matthew Yglesias

Comments

[Agent420]

What a f u c k i n g m o r o n !

[elcojonu]

So the the little Neo-Con warrior wants blood.
Let's tie him up to the front of a landing craft as the guys go in.

[JohnBlack]

If those tankers carry 100 million dollars worth of fuel I'm sure they can afford their own armed escort.

[NorthernCross]

Depends on how much of that oil money constitutes a net profit.

[MajorKong]

I think King Abdullah and the House of Saud could probably afford to chip in a few bucks.

[alabaman]

I'm waiting for Kristol to say we should finish what we started in 1812 and invade Canada again.

[Somali4Obama]

If only I had a nickel for every time people used a phrase to describe Somalis so it could become synonymous with the people. This year's term is PIRATE. Yet, no one ever mentions how Somali waters have been used for close to two decades as a source for chemical dumping, resulting in young children becoming deformed. Not having a centralized government has had devastating effects on Somalia, and on the contrary the anarchy has benefited various nations. Bill Kristol does not understand the plight of wars, because he was lucky enough to not have lived through one.

[NorthernCross]

None of that is a justification for piracy, nor does any of that constitute a valid argument against our country defending its interests.

[ZimboChick]

u r insane in the membrane

[Somali4Obama]

Each country has valid interests in protecting their nation. Somalia might not have an effective centralized government, but the people have the right to defend themselves from harm. Perhaps, you might not find this legitimate, but anyone who has familiarity about nations far beyond their own can see that dumping chemicals on a nation which causes harm on the livelihood of individuals and their already depleting resources can cause piracy.

Finding accurate and acknowledged information invalid is puzzling. And how would going into Somalia, to disarm these individuals be a national interest?

[ZimboChick]

bravo!

[natx]

everything you said may be true. and something should be done about that. honestly.

but what do you do in the meantime? does it do anything about the everday situation? what happens if something happens tommorrow? should these companies should let their ships be hijacked? when someone boards their ship with guns they should basically just hand over the keys?

is our government supposed to just ignore it? if you were president what would your official statement be?

[Somali4Obama]

I find it amusing that people have ignored Somalia for 17 years, a country that was friends with the United States, and after a Saudi ship was turned taken over, people have now started talking. I am not agreeing with piracy, but perhaps the world community can now play a part in finding comprehensive solutions by moving Somalia forward, and helping them achieve an effective government. And I do not mean sending Ethiopian, or UN troops.

If Somalia had a government this would never have happened!

[jnratliff]

I would love to have three minutes alone with billy the bloody ignorant kristol!

[Wilburrr]

I'm sorry, you'll have to stand in line...

[Wilburrr]

I agree with Krystol completely. Here is the plan I propose....

Send in Mr. Krystol. Tattoo his passport onto his soft belly, give him an assault rifle and an inner tube. Drop him off in the Straights of Hormuz and let him do his best. Exit strategy? Body armor? Oh.... I didn't think of that....

[Tom Payned]

Let's get Kristol, O'reily, Limbough, Chamblis, Cheney and all the other Chicken Hawks, some seal training, non officer rankings, and send their sorry arses into combat every place they think is so important for other people's lives and limbs are put into harm's way. Bet we could stop U.S. aggressiveness overnight. Or at least make certain before being deployed, the troops have the right training and equipment for the mission.

They all make me sick.

[elcojonu]

The soft, over-the-hill Brigade.

[ZimboChick]

u forgot the hunter babe

[Sisyphus2008]

Has Billy signed up to take an active role yet?

[Grunty1]

Kristol's perfect record of incorrect ideas and predictions still holds.

[Tom Payned]

People forget he was Dan Potatoe Quayle's chief of staff. Enough said.

[Amennyc]

This is not a USA problem unless its a USA ship or USA citizens are involved. Simple as that. USA has enough of its own problems right now. Trying to play sheriff is not one of them.

[scooperss]

Chickensh!twarmonger.

[Village]

Why don't we send GWB? He can kill all the people. Yeah. That'll help.

[ReasoNseeKer]

I tell you what... I'm a marine and headed to Afghanistan in the spring, and I'd rather go to Somalia than Pakistan. War in Pakistan would make Iraq look like a joke. Somalia, no problem, just don't make the same mistake as Clinton and limit us to humvees. But Pakistan would be a nightmare -- terrible terrain and millions of tribal Pashtuns ready to fight and die.

[Perry Clease]

We can stop these pirates cheaply and with no or little loss of lives. All ships are equipped with loudspeaker systems so they can issue orders to the crew on deck during cargo operations or whatever. So we issue all ships transiting the Horn of Africa recorded speeches of Sarah Palin, when pirates approach they play the speeches, "My friend Joe the Plumber..." The pirates would shear off and go for a less defended vessel.

[Grunty1]

Indeed!