173.3 - Update: US raid on Somalia

Update: US raid on Somalia

We have two linked Updates of things we have addressed before. The first Update comes in the form of a reminder.

On Monday, September 1, US military forces carried out an attack in Somalia targeted against the militant Islamist group called al-Shabaab.

In an unusual move, the Pentagon acknowledged the attack; however, it gave no details. According to journalists in Somalia, the strike was a drone missile attack near the port city of Barawe, an al-Shabaab stronghold.

The reminder here is that this was not the first covert US military operation in Somalia in recent years. In October 2013, the Pentagon deployed a small team of "advisers" to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to coordinate operations with troops from the African Union who were fighting against al-Shabaab. Those "advisers" almost immediately got into a firefight with the militants during a house raid.

Since then, US commandos have conducted raids and operations in Somalia, raids and operations the military does its best to keep secret.

So here's the update: Does anyone recall any Congressional authorization for this? Or is this, as it appears to be, yet another case of Mr. Nobel Peace Prize President figuring he can do anything he likes with the military and he don't need no stinking authorization?

Don't try to use the AUMF, the Authorization to Use Military Force, which was used as the legal basis for the invasion of Iraq and has been used since to justify attacks on groups "affiliated" with al-Qaeda in places such as Yemen and Pakistan. But you can't use it for this: As far back as May 2013, the Amazing Mr. O himself called the AUMF “outdated.”

So what's the authorization? Or do I again ask, Mr. President, just who the hell do you think you are?

Or maybe I should ask instead when we will see the "covert actions" in Ukraine. Or is that a different story because, unlike the other places where we conduct our "limited air strikes" and our secret drone wars, in the case of Ukraine we'd be dealing with people who really can shoot back?

Sources cited in links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-carries-out-counter-terrorism-strike-in-somalia/2014/09/01/19067e8c-323b-11e4-8f02-03c644b2d7d0_story.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/range-of-options-to-combat-islamic-state-are-under-discussion-senior-official-says/2014/08/22/f745619a-2a2a-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/02/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSKBN0GS10C20140902