Were you as worried as I was that the U.S. would run out of terrorists to kill? If so, Michael R. Gordon and the New York Times have some good news for you:
The bloody resolution of the hostage crisis in Algeria has brought into focus the broader challenges the United States and its allies face in confronting terrorist cells that have taken up sanctuary across northern Africa.
Wait, it gets better:
In taking on the militants, Western nations are confronting multinational bands that are often able to move with relative freedom across porous African borders. And those cells have many inviting targets to choose from: the region is rich with oil, gas, uranium and other international ventures that clearly represent Western interests and in some cases are poorly defended.
This kind of reminds me of a story the Times ran a couple of years ago, “U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan.” For some reason, no one seems to give a damn about those vast mineral riches any more, but I’m sure the ones in North Africa will do just as well. Michael Gordon ends his current piece by quoting some dude from Georgetown* who says that it’s time to send in the drones. Let’s hope that all the people who get killed are, you know, bad. You know, really, really bad.
*Bruce Hoffman, who spent some time in Iraq, where, presumably, he learned what not to do.
