It was a small item in the newspaper over the weekend. You may have missed it.
American missiles crossed the border of another country and struck another victory in the "War on Terror."
This time it was Somalia. A country in the horn of Africa often accused of harboring terrorists. This was what is known as a surgical strike. It involved one house and was aimed at "a known al-Qaeda operative and militia leader," according to the U.S. Central Command. Five civilians were killed. Four other civilians were wounded.
There is no report that the people or even the country posed an imminent threat to the U.S. or its citizens, but still we felt as if we must defend ourselves against the possibility of harm.
As you can imagine, the Islamists affected have vowed to take revenge on the killings and they say their resolve to fight against "Allah's enemy."
The attack will also pose a problem for the U.S. in upcoming peace talks that officials hoped would bring people together to fight terrorist, especially some Islamist groups who are opposed to violence.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this is that we took so little notice of the fact that America fired missiles into another country. If such a thing was done on our soil, even if it involved only one house, we would consider it an act of war. We wouldn't be consoled by the fact that only one house was hit and only a few people died. We'd be outraged that another country dared to fire missiles into our country.
However, when America takes such steps, it's of small notice. Most people probably didn't notice.
If we expect the rest of the world to support America, we must respect the sovereignty of other nations. When we reach into another country to remove a perceived threat, we practice the same tactics as the terrorists we wish to stop. Such actions can only result in escalating cycles of attack and retribution.
If we let fear rule our thinking, then John McCain should not be allowed to be president because we fear his temper. We should lock all first criminal offenders away for life because all major crime starts with a first offense.
Fear is not the way to run a government or a society. Fear results in actions that only validate the emotion.
Justice is the key. It is one of the principles upon which America was founded and it will serve us well if we use it to guide our actions.
Sending a missile into another country solves few problems and creates a great many others. We should be as outraged at such an action by our leaders as if the missile landed within our borders.
-- Jim Grinstead
Comments