By BJ Bjornson
It has been a little over a week since Kenya sent its army across the border into Somalia to battle the Islamist militant group al-Shaba, which controls most of southern Somalia. It also appears that the French, apparently feeling their oats now that the Libyan campaign has pretty much ended, have decided to join in.
Following French shelling of rebel positions in Somalia, Kenyan officials acknowledged a Western partner had joined the fight against al-Shabaab.
The Kenyan military last week launched an offensive against al-Shabaab, al-Qaida's affiliate in Somalia.
The French navy struck several rebel positions inside Somalia last weekend, the Kenyan military said. Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, a spokesman for Kenya's armed forces, was quoted by The New York Times as saying "one of the partners," which the Times said was a reference to the U.S. or French militaries, was behind recent airstrikes in Somalia.
The BBC reports this morning that the French are denying responsibility for the shelling, but are saying that they are providing logistical support to the Kenyans. Hard to say who is being truthful at this stage.
In possible retaliation, there were two explosions reported in the Kenyan capitol of Nairobi, though at this point it remains unclear if al-Shabab was responsible, though such certainly wouldn�t surprise anyone.
Also hard to say just how much U.S. involvement there is in the Kenyan campaign at this point, although the Kenyans don�t appear to be anywhere near the local proxies doing the dirty work for their sponsor like the Ethiopians were when they invaded to take down the Islamic Courts Union in 2007.
The question now is just what the Kenyans plan for this incursion. Is it just a punitive expedition with the object of deterring al-Shabab�s purported activities in Kenya? Or is it something more ambitious?
If we�ve learned anything over the last couple of decades of conflict, it is that the more ambitious the goals, the less likely they are to turn out well for the aggressor. We can only hope the Kenyans remember that before finding themselves drawn into another Somali quagmire.
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