No propaganda for us from its failure, but from demonstrating we know who they are, where they are, that we have the military capability to strike globally, and that we have the will to do so.

While the title of the article was drama queenish, the article didn't focus on the raid, but Al-Shabaab overall. Don't mind discussing this elsewhere, but I don't want to sideline the discussion focused on the Westgate Mall attack.

I understand your point about propaganda value, that is a risk. Imagine the propaganda value to Al-Qaeda if the raid on UBL would have failed? It is risk that is considered as part of planning. I have no insight if the raid on Somalia was carried out in haste and if that contributed to its failure or not. On the other hand, a lot of our targets are not static, and our ability to respond quickly to perishable information on the target is essential in today's fight.