Follow-Up on the Number of U.S. Wars

     In a post earlier this month, The Libyan and Yemeni Wars Are Not the Third and Fourth U.S. Wars, I observed that the United States has intermittently been involved in hostile action in Somalia since 2007, in the form of cruise missiles and bombardment by aircraft.  Although no activity had been reported since 2010, I stated that there was a possibility of ongoing covert action or a resumption of overt action.  Therefore, I argued, Somalia should be counted, along with the Philippines, as among the six current theaters or battles in the War on Terrorism.

     It has since been reported that the U.S. has now launched its first ever drone missile attack in Somalia, which validated my point.  Therefore, it is not a “sixth” U.S. war, as some have already called it, but the fourth (or fifth, if Yemen is dated to the first drone strike there early in the War on Terrorism and not only to the current strikes this year).  In all of these conflicts, the U.S. is engaged in hostile action with al-Qaeda or its affiliates, at least, with the exception of Libya.  But in all cases, these are interventions during the War on Terrorism in wars being waged by militant Muslims with a history of terrorism.