Someone will have to explain to me the difference between what Russia is doing to Ukraine is uniquely evil and much worse than what America did to Iraq and is about to do to Somalia.
Here is my take:
. Russia invaded Ukraine to take over the country, or part of it in the East. It purposely killed (and is killing) hundreds of civilians. Raping women and children.
. Americans invaded Iraq because of WMD that were really not there. At least not nuclear ones. It wanted to depose Saddam Hussein. It felt he was a threat to the region. Iraqis also wanted to get rid of Hussein. Personally I feel Iraq would have remained more stable with Hussein in charge. Many of us in the US military were against this war in Iraq. Now the region is destabilized with Iran in power - soon to have nuclear weapons which we (US) are in many ways helping.
. Somalia is about fighting terrorism. In many ways it is about continuing what we (Americans) started in Afghanistan and Iraq. Look at the video I posted on #140. It covers the history of the place, current situation, and danger in the surrounding area (i.e. Yemen, Saudi Arabia, China, and the Suez Canal).
. Russia/Ukraine conflict is winding down. Russia is going to lose. China, North Korea, Iran and Somalia are the other potential military problems for the US. The US has been in Somalia in one way or another since the 1990s, that is roughly 30 years. A lot of piracy of commercial ships off the Somali coast - Suez Canal traffic.
. Al-Shabaab (militant Islamic insurgence group) is active in Somalia and growing. It describes itself as waging jihad against 'enemies of Islam.' The group has been suspected of having links with al-Qaeda. These guys are most likely being funded by Iran and will now begin terrorist operations against the US and Israel.
. The US has a military base in Djibouti - same for China, Japan, and France.
