U.S. raids in Libya, Somalia reflect shift away from drone strikes

[Eugene]

Source: Los Angeles Times

U.S. raids in Libya, Somalia reflect shift away from drone strikes

By Ken Dilanian and David Cloud
October 6, 2013, 10:58 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's decision to mount two risky capture raids against Al Qaeda operatives in North Africa reflects a reduced role for lethal CIA drone strikes and a growing role for the Pentagon in leading counter-terrorism operations, U.S. officials said Sunday.

In storming the coastal Somalia home of a leader of Shabab, the Somali-based group that claimed responsibility for last month's massacre inside a shopping mall in Nairobi, the Obama administration opted to put U.S. Navy SEALs at risk against a fixed target that could have been destroyed with bombs or missiles from the air.

The suspect sought in the raid was not captured, though he may have been killed in a firefight that ultimately forced the U.S. force to withdraw, officials said. Unconfirmed reports Sunday indicated the U.S. operation was aimed at Shabab's charismatic leader, Ahmed Godane, who recently carried out an internal purge of the organization.

In Libya, where a joint operation by U.S. military and intelligence agencies captured a suspect indicted for his alleged role in Al Qaeda's 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, drone strikes were not an option. The suspect was grabbed off a street in Tripoli, the capital city, and the United States has no nearby base from which to launch an armed drone, officials said.

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Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-us-libya-somalia-counter-terrorism-20131006,0,3598589.story

[leveymg]

1. That report contains a serious misrepresentation by unnamed US officials

In Libya, where a joint operation by U.S. military and intelligence agencies captured a suspect indicted for his alleged role in Al Qaeda's 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, drone strikes were not an option. The suspect was grabbed off a street in Tripoli, the capital city, and the United States has no nearby base from which to launch an armed drone, officials said.

Here's my response at The LAT (which, surprisingly, hasn't been removed):

leveymg at 11:42 AM October 06, 2013

Interesting that the Administration claimed that the reason they didn't use a drone is "no nearby base from which to launch an armed drone, officials said." May I suggest that is simply not being forthcoming, as we used drones against Ghadaffi's forces, and the Mediterranean Sea is nearby and the US has launched drones from ships.

Perhaps, the reason has more to do with the fact that it's not current US policy to use drones in Libya and Syria. Why not?
Libya was effectively a safehaven for AQ before 09/11/12, as is Syria now. Both are treated the same way as far as there have been no reported CIA drone strikes and/or renditions in either country while AQ was engaged in regime change operations against regimes we want to overthrow or attrition. If al-Libi had simply moved to Syria, he would have kept his Get Out of Jail Free Card.