
I know some of the little
grasshoppers may disagree with me, but I think that sending
100 Special Forces troops to Africa to coordinate different countries'
operations against the Lord's Resistance Army is a good use of our military.
This is classic "indirect action," and it is a whole lot better than sending
battalions of American infantry. I expect they will introduce unique American
capabilities-such as imagery from satellites and long-loiter drone aircraft-to
help corner the LRA. And because the American commitment is so small, there won't
be a ticking political clock on their deployment. This means the foe can't
simply go to ground and wait out the crackdown. So, unlike in Iraq and
Afghanistan, time is not immediately a factor against the American move.
It also was interesting to me that
this news did not make the front pages of the newspapers I looked at.
Published on October 17, 2011 03:53