http://www.politico.com/politico44/2...047.html?hp=l1

U.S. military combat aircraft "briefly entered" the airspace of Somalia Friday in support of a French-led rescue mission, President Barack Obama told Congress in a letter Sunday.

On Friday, French troops mounted an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a French national reported to be a French intelligence service agent captured in Somalia in 2009. The agent, believed to be held by the Islamic group Al-Shabaab, was reportedly killed in the raid, as was a French soldier.

Obama's letter does not mention the result of the military action in the farming village of Bulomarer on the Somali coast and describes the U.S. involvement in the epsiode as minor.

"United States forces provided limited technical support to the French forces in that operation, but took no direct part in the assault on the compound where it was believed the French citizen was being held hostage. United States combat aircraft briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed," Obama said in the letter. "These aircraft did not employ weapons during the operation. The U.S. forces that supported this operation left Somalia by approximately 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 11, 2013."

Obama's letter (posted here) says it was submitted "consistent with" the War Powers Resolution, the 1973 law imposing limits on the use of U.S. forces in combat situations abroad. Obama, like previous presidents, has not acknowledged the law's constitutionality.