Tag Archives: Somalia

More On the Navy SEALs Rescue in Somalia

Mother Jones has a great post that will get you up to speed on what went down in Somalia the other night:

The latest example of Obama-era military badass-ery transpired last night while you were probably asleep or detoxing from the president’s third State of the Union address: Just moments before President Obama took the podium, a team of US Navy SEALs rescued two hostages from a group of Somali pirates. By the end of the raid, nine Somalis were dead, three were detained, and the two kidnapped aid workers—32-year-old American Jessica Buchanan and 60-year-old Dane Poul Hagen Thisted—were safely extracted from the camp where they were being held.

(read the rest)

What’s most amazing is that President Obama reportedly ordered the raid on Monday because Jessica Buchanan suffers a medical condition that might have resulted in her dying in captivity.  (A medical condition separate and apart from being held hostage by Somali pirates, that is.)  President Obama then got word that the mission had been successful, sauntered on to the House floor, gave Defense Secretary Panetta props, and delivered a near perfect State of the Union address with the following poignant closing: Continue reading

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President Obama Orders Successful SEALs Rescue of Hostages in Somalia

Nerves of Steel

 Last night before delivering the State of the Union address, cameras and the mic pool picked up President Obama telling Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, “great job tonight.”

Late Tuesday night, the news broke on Twitter that President Obama had ordered the rescue of two hostages being held captive by pirates in Somalia:

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Action Item: Starving Somalis Need A Moment of Your Time… Tonight [Updated!]

Please help.

[Click through to the next page to skip the jibber jabber and find out what you can do right now to help! The vote is today.]


Tomorrow, the Senate Appropriations Committee is going to vote on the Agriculture Appropriations Bill which the House of Representatives passed in June, and which cuts emergency food funds by 75% from their 2008 levels.  13 million people are affected by the current  famine in the Horn of Africa, and House Republicans voted to provide less aid.  This is unconscionable.

From the World Food Program:

Drought in the Horn of Africa, combined with conflict and high food prices in Somalia, has contributed to a humanitarian crisis affecting 13 million people in the region. Conditions in southern Somalia have deteriorated to the point that famine has been declared. Furthermore, millions of children are suffering from undernutrition; these nutrient deficiencies impair mental and physical development in children and can result in lifelong health problems.

~snip~
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