Military news from Africa

According to the International Herald Tribune, the U.S. has been conducting operations against Al Qaeda in Somalia, using an Ethiopian air base. I received word of this operation from a military person's blog, Free Thinking Americans. He said it's what the U.S. should have been doing all along in the War on Terror. I suppose it's a good contrast to what's been happening in Iraq, since the article describes it as a "rout." Personally, I'm not sure it's a legal operation, but I agree it's probably more effective than the war in Iraq. It's also one more sign that the U.S. is engaged in a global struggle with worldwide implications, and I'm not sure the U.S. public is as well informed as it should be. Typical liberal worries in the time of war. I wonder how liberal I really am.