Steamer Point

There was a reason why we were in Aden. It was the same reason why we first went into Gibraltar. Why we were in Suez and Singapore, among other places. Why our great rival wanted us out of Aden, Suez and Singapore, among other places. And why they are in Panama, if there is still a reason for that. It had nothing to do with "al-Qaeda" or anything in that vein, even though, to put it mildly, "radical Islam" is nothing new.

If we could be bothered to remember why we were in Aden, then we might be able to come up with a really good reason to go back there. How many acts of Somali piracy do we need? That is also the real reason why we may need to go into Somalia. Not "al-Qaeda". Not "radical Islam". But an actually existing threat, and more than threat. Such as we have never faced either from Afghanistan or from Iraq. Such as we do not face from Iran. But such as we certainly do face, not only on the seas to Yemen's south, but also from Yemen's very big, very bad neighbour to the north.