Peters and Crittenden assemble the puzzle pieces

President Bush patiently explained tonight why Iraq is crucial to the future of America. The Democrats, on the other hand, insist that there's nothing much at stake in the Middle East.

Fortunately, Ralph Peters and Jules Crittenden have assembled the puzzle pieces. Writing in The New York Post, Peters describes the little-publicized U.S. smackdown of Al Qaeda in Somalia (hat tip: Powerline):

We'll get you. No matter how long it takes, we'll get you. That's the message our special-operations forces just sent to al Qaeda fugitives in Somalia - and everywhere else... ...With AC-130 gunships pounding terrorist hide-outs and training sites in the badlands near the Kenyan border, we may have nailed senior al Qaeda figures involved in bombing our embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam. At the very least, we killed some really bad hombres... As always, terrorist propagandists will claim that only innocent civilians suffered, and media sympathizers will echo their nonsense. Fortunately, though, most pro-terrorist journalists and "human-rights advocates" are preoccupied just now with the awful mistreatment of poor, misunderstood Saddam Hussein... ...Our special-ops forces are getting their revenge: After Army Rangers and Delta Force troops won a hands-down victory in the streets of Mogadishu back in 1993, President Bill Clinton sold them out (as the Pelosi-Reid Democrats threaten to do to our soldiers in Iraq on a greater scale). Now they're killing al Qaeda fanatics and their local allies with the full support of a new Somali government... ...I can guarantee two things to Post readers: First, Somalia and the world are better off with the Islamists on the run and living in terror themselves, and, second, our special operations forces - from all of the services - are greater heroes than the history books or Hollywood films will ever be able to capture...

You've got to love Peters. That final line is one you'll never read in the New York Times.


With the arrival of the USS Ramage guided missile destroyer, there were five major warships off Somalia: the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, the USS Bunker Hill and USS Anzio guided missile cruisers, and the USS Ashland amphibious landing ship.

The Ashland might be used as a brig should any Al Qaeda be captured alive. Let's hope not. That might result in the unpleasant, nerve-wracking sight of Ted Kennedy and Cindy Sheehan joining hands outside Guantanamo while singing Kumbaya.

And Jules Crittenden, who's been on such a roll of late you might as well call him butter, assembles the final puzzle pieces. He puts it in terms so simple, even Dennis Kucinich* should be able to understand the basic concepts:

The ISG correctly recognized that the attitudes of Iran and Syria are key to achieving stability and peace in Iraq... We need to talk to Iran, most immediately. The conversation starts like this: The Mahdi Army is engaged and destroyed. Without mercy, without ceasefire, without deals this time. Moqtada al-Sadr may be smart enough not to create a convenient provocation. That's OK. He is the criminal head of an armed criminal force. We create the provocation. He may be killed, or if it is deemed inadvisable to martyr him like his old man, he can be thrown into Saddam's old cell. "Iran. We are speaking to you... Do you hear us?" The aircraft carrier group Eisenhower has been diverted to Somalia, but that is temporary. Soon the carrier group Stennis will join Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf. Two decks, two fleets. ... So many aircraft, so many cruise missiles. "Iran, we have more that we would like to say to you... Do you hear us?" If Iran proves to be hard of hearing, we can increase the volume. Perhaps with attention to Iran's oil-production infrastructure. "Iran. Do you understand what we are saying to you?" It is important to speak to people in a language that they understand. The ISG called for a phased withdrawal from Iraq. Agreed. This is an important goal. The ISG's has-beens, as they called themselves, just forgot to mention Phase One. The victory part...

As always, read the whole thing.


Hat tip: Larwyn

Oven-baked good readin', just like Mama used to make:
A Blog for All, Anchoress, Blue Crab Boulevarrd, Don Surber, Hugh Hewitt, OTB, Sister Toldjah, STACLU, Wizbang

* And be sure not to miss Hugh Hewitt's sublime roast of Dennis Kucinich. The only things missing were Jeffrey Ross, Abe Vigoda, and some cigars.