European Union naval forces and attack helicopters attacked the village of Handulle today, the first time their “anti-piracy” forces have attacked the Somali mainland. Officials termed the village a “pirate lair” and said the attack destroyed a supply center.
EU warships have been off the coast of Somalia since 2008, but has just recently changed their operating standards to allow attacks on the coast. Initially saying it would only target “moored ships” they quickly decided to attack anything on shore that was conceivably in use by pirates.
EU officials declined to say which nations were involved in the attack, but hinted at further strikes in the future, saying that they had a long list of possible targets and that this one just seemed like the most promising to hit at the given time.
Early reports suggest that there were no casualties in the attacks, but there is virtually no media in Somalia, which makes such a determination virtually impossible to make.
I wonder why no one did this before.
Maybe because it is a PIRACY itself to attack the villages and cities in foreign country without that country call for help, resolution of UN or outright declaration of war between the attacker and the attacked. Even infamous Brezhnev, the leader of Soviet Union needed a letter of invitation from Czechoslovak communists to occupy Czechoslovakia in 1968, since he could not declare a war on allied country.
Response to piracy isn't piracy, it's police action. Does the EU need a letter of invitation from the Somali pirates to destroy pirate ships and facilities? IMHO it does not.
Besides, a declaration of war against WHOM? The Somali pirates are not a State, they are just pirates. Bandits, if you prefer.
The pirates hold Western hostages. Isn't that worth a letter of invitation?
My guess is because they were busy bombing Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya and Syria and Yemen and Nigeria and… You know, after all, there are only so many of them to go around bombing.
What business does NATO have for attacking Somali, Libya or other countries? Kaddafi of Libya got what he deserved. The idiot did not use any of its missiles attacking NATO when his country was under attack. I hope President Assad would not be as foolish as Kaddafi when the going gets tough. He may not have long-range missiles but he sure could hit his enemies by lobing missiles at Riyadh, Istanbul and Doha.
The EU's economies woes must be over with.
The EU has warships?