Somalia

Ralph Peters gives kudos to where it belongs. Seeing al-Qaeda/Islamists on the run is choice. Noting that "the street" will not fight for al-Qaeda is too.

Yes, there's plenty of anti-Ethiopian emotion in the streets of Mogadishu today - but that's not the same as pro-Islamist sentiment.
As for al Qaeda's media pals, they'll try to play down the scope of this defeat, lying that only a few foreign terrorists were in Somalia. But even apart from the number of fanatics now lying dead in mango swamps, snake-ridden forests and scrubland, the psychological blow to al Qaeda has been huge: Mired in Iraq and hunkered down in remote rat-holes in Pakistan, Terror International, Inc. has been robbed of its biggest success story since 9/11.
The Islamists lost their vital beach-head in the Horn of Africa. Even Sudan, for all its villainy, is wary of associating with al Qaeda today (Khartoum has enough problems).

Speaking of that media, here is the headline in San Franscisco. Opportunity, peril seen for U.S. in Somalia
Experts divided on value of air strikes against terror targets
After admitting that the Somalia govt thinks the US has a right to go after al-Qaeda there, this damn paper actually seems to agree with Gayle Smith "an expert on Africa at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington":

"Our role would be, create a condition that would help Somalia stabilize," Smith said. "Otherwise we'll be repeating the mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan, where we thought that all we need to do is go after the bad guys."

Um - that role of helping to stabilize Iraq/Afghanistan seem to be what most people don't want us doing and certainly don't want us finishing! How long has Somalia been in a civil war? Since 1991. Ethiopia took care of the Islamists out of their own self interest without CNN at their side counting civilian bodies or inserting Islamist propaganda into their stories.
Now with the Vice-President of Iraq begging us to stay in Iraq and finish the job, this think tank wants us moving over to Somalia to re-build. ROFL
People all over the world think that the US controls everything. If only we would put in the effort, it would be done. I thought that at least the US news would realize that's not the case. We don't even have our own act together. How on earth can we control everything when we have people in office like this guy John W. Warner. (yes - a Republican) You think it should be embarrassing to Democrats to have a dude on the intelligence committee who doesn't know the difference between Shia and Sunni, listen to Mr. Warner on the Democrats plan for the "symbolic" vote on Iraq. He's going to vote with them against the President because

he was becoming increasingly skeptical that a troop increase was in the best interest of the United States. “I’m particularly concerned about the greater injection of our troops into the middle of sectarian violence. Whom do you shoot at, the Sunni or the Shia?” Mr. Warner said. “Our American G.I.’s should not be subjected to that type of risk.”

What the hell does that mean? Does he seriously think this is just sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia? Does he seriously think that American G.I.'s don't know who to shoot at?
Lord, give President Bush the words tonight to rally this country. We need to follow through on our commitments not only for our own self interest but for the interest of those we've made promises to. Al-Qaeda needs to lose. Iraq is part of that. Of couse it's not the whole story and has it's subplots going on all over, but it's part of this war and it needs to end only with us on top and with it having a sane govt strong.