In Kenya, Mixed Views of U.S.' Somalia Invasion Talk

MOMBASA, KENYA -- On Wednesday, the American delegation to the U.N. began talking up a resolution that would allow foreign forces to attack Somali pirates in their coastal land bases. The resolution would authorize "all necessary measures ashore in Somalia."
Leading maritime security analyst Martin Murphy, with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told Danger Room that lasting solutions to piracy must play out on land. But he was referring to political progress in restoring a measure of law and order to Somalia, and not an armed invasion. The last people to invade Somalia in the interest of enforcing stability, the Ethiopians in 2006, found themselves mired in an escalating insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives.
The U.S. isn’t the first to advocate -- or undertake -- land attacks to defeat piracy. The Russian government previously pushed for going after pirates ashore. So have the European Community Shipowners' Association. And in April, French commandos riding in helicopters chased the Somali hijackers of a French luxury yacht ashore, and captured six of them.
The French raid was a minor affair, and most nations have committed only to naval patrols to deter pirates. Despite their land-invasion rhetoric, Russia settled with deploying warships, joining around 30 other naval vessels from a dozen nations. On Sunday, the European Union will launch its own anti-piracy campaign, sponsoring a British warship to escort U.N. food aid to Mogadishu.
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12/us-wants-to-hit.html

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