Reply #50: Some background

[Contrite]

Why is the United States particularly interested and persistent about having a prominent military presence in this region? How does the United States intend to accomplish this? To what end? To answer these and other questions, we need to look back at US strategy for Somalia beginning in the mid-80s, where its inconsistent and incoherent policies based on military might have led to disastrous failures.

Beginning in the 1970s, 70 percent of oil production and 50 percent of refinery capacity was in the hands of six corporations. Five of these were U.S.-owned; the other two were jointly owned by British Petroleum and British-Dutch Royal. American Corporations and politicians dominated and controlled most of the oil markets in the world (For example, former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and his brother who was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were partners in the Wall Street law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell, major attorneys for Standard Oil of New Jersey, which was ranked in terms of assets as the largest US Corporation) and contributed to the divisions that ensued in the Middle East and brought with it, an aggressive and prominent US presence in the area. US Foreign Policy was influenced by powerful individuals and their own personal whims.

The Hunt for Black Gold

United States flawed policy of “sticking with the likely winner” thinking provided General Siad Barre, the then President of Somalia and those who were fighting against him, with arms worth over 3.4 million dollars in June 1988, contributing to the devastating ethnic/tribal conflicts that ensued, in which Somalis were pitted against each other while the US pursued its hidden agendas-to control and secure Middle East oil reserves.

On 20 February 1990, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Chief of the United States Central Command, testifying before the United States Congress said:

" Middle East oil is the West's lifeblood. It fuels us today, and being 77% of the free world's proven oil reserves, is going to fuel us when the rest of the world runs dry."

The “humanitarian intervention” by 30,000 US troops ordered by Bush Sr. in Somalia had little to do with the purported famine relief for starving Somalis. It had a lot to do with the fact that four major US oil companies, led by Bush's friends at Conoco of Houston, Texas, Amoco (now BP), Chevron, and Phillips, all held huge oil-exploration concessions in Somalia. The deals had been made with the former "pro-Washington" tyrannical and corrupt regime of Mohamed Siad Barre. Across the Red Sea, in Yemen, another US firm Hunt Oil Co, was also pumping 200,000 barrels a day.

The United States wanted absolute and total control of Somalia and did not want others in Somalia whose activities it could not control. The United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) established by the UN Security in April of 1992, aimed at averting the chaos in Somalia and assist in the delivery of humanitarian relief to the people of Somalia was vetoed by the United States and Washington got the United Nations to allow for the US military intervention in Somali (dubbed Operation Restore Hope), which turned out to be a disaster that forced the UN to establish another mission UNOSOM II to help with the humanitarian disaster that followed the US' abrupt withdrawal from Somalia in 1993.

Operation Restore Hope-To Provide Famine Relief

In the early 1990s the United States of America , in preparation for the first Iraqi war had already established a military base in Saudi Arabia and decided to abandon the military base it had established in Berbera , Somalia . The US also decided to abandon the regime of Siad Barre. But the US did not leave empty-handed, it armed and supported various clan factions who following the US ' departure would overthrow Siad Barre and plunge Somalia into a state of anarchy, lawlessness and chaos.

General Colin Powell is said to have said, “ NO OTHER NATION on earth has the power we possess. More important, no other nation on earth has the trusted power that we possess”, meaning the US as the sole superpower could do anything it wanted, anywhere in the world. Another American, General Frank Libutti said that US troops involved in the “humanitarian intervention” Somalia had standing orders to “Shoot if you feel threatened-Respond with full force” . US forces were not inhibited from taking any action that they deemed necessary to protect US oil interests in Somalia and in the region.

Armed with these standing orders, US soldiers, in a matter of five months, had killed over 10000 innocent Somalis, not including the 100 that were gunned down with helicopter fire in a single engagement. These and other facts are detailed in the 1995 Foreign Policy Report # 68 produced by Charles Williams and acknowledged by officials of the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ).

United States' indifference to acceptable international norms and standards of behavior, its total disregard for the cultures and traditions of others, and its mindless unilateralism in Somalia resulted in:

Untold destruction in parts of Somalia which prior to the intervention enjoyed relative peace, stability and security.
The deaths of innocent Somali civilians and exacerbated the famine and spread of diseases.
The deaths of NGO workers, 18 rangers and 34 US soldiers and when the body of a US serviceman was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu , the US was forced to withdraw from Somalia devastated and defeated.

Hollywood's Fiction vs Reality

Hollywood's portrayal of the Vietnam war with characters such as “Rambo” are supposed to depict American soldiers as militarily superior, with exaggerated show of American strength and power, showing 1 Am erican fighting against 10,000 enemies etc. etc. are deliberately deceptive and designed to fool the viewers and present American soldiers as being larger than life. The Hollywood versions of the events in Somalia are equally deceptive. In “Black Hawk Down”, the United States intervention in Somalia is painted as a humanitarian effort, that the US was there to feed the starving Somali, but one failed because the Somali people were just too plain stupid and belligerent to resist looking a gift horse in the mouth and were instead biting the hand that was feeding them. According to the movie, the Americans were forced to leave Somalia , not defeated and disgraced, but as heroes. This is yet another example of American psychological deception and the role CIA /Hollywood played in disseminating false and exaggerated propaganda.

15 Years Later

Even though it has been 15 years since the debacle in Somalia in 1991, the events are still fresh in our memories. In a span of 15 years, a newly born child can complete middle school and be preparing for high school. It is time enough to learn a lesson or two, but it is still recent history.

15 years ago, in Operation Restore Hope, the pretext was “humanitarian intervention”, today the pretext for intervening in Somali's internal affairs is “fighting terrorism”. The deceptive campaign is already in full force. The recent unwarranted attacks and unsubstantiated accusations against Eritrea are part of the groundwork that is being laid for future aggression and intervention in Somalia .

Appearing before a joint hearing of the House Africa, and International Terrorism and Nonproliferation subcommittees on 29 June 2006, Assistant Secretary Jendayi FraserHouse of Representatives International Relations Committee:

“…I don't want to say the Saudi government is supporting any particular (Islamic) court but I do know that there is money coming in from Saudi Arabia…There is money coming in from Yemen and arms from Eritrea and other places (into Somalia)…"

Eritrea is once again the scapegoat for the unjustifiable intervention in Somalia.

Terrorist, a Convenient pretext for Unwarranted Intervention

Despite credible reports concerning Ethiopia 's incursions into Somalia with several hundred troops and in violation of Somalia 's sovereignty and territorial integrity using the pretext “preventing Somalia from becoming a safe haven for terrorist”, there are some that are trying to justify intervention in Somalia once again. Today, “terrorism” is the convenient pretext for interfering in the affairs of the sovereign state. State rights, sovereignty and territorial integrity are suppressed in the pretext of the fight against terrorism. The United States is trying to undermine the credibility and integrity of the Islamic Court Union (ICU) in Somalia by trying to link its members with known terrorist organizations, to justify another US intervention in Somalia.

Solution

As it was forecast in early as in 1991 the military intervention in Somalia was neither warranted nor justified and that it could only bring destruction and could serve no useful purpose. Today, 15 year later, history is repeating itself. For the last 15 years, Somalia was plunged into a civil war and it became a nation without a government. The internal strife in Somalia has been a source of great concern for many in the international community. It is only certain quarters such as the Woyane regime in Ethiopia that seem to benefit from the unfortunate plight of the Somali people.

The Government of Eritrea's policy towards Somalia in the last 15 years has been consistent and correct. The Government of Eritrea position is clear:

Understanding that the balkanization of Somalia and the infringement on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia is detrimental to the well being of the Somali people in particular and threatens the peace, stability and security of the entire Horn region, calls on all international forces and especially the Somali people to work towards achieving national reconciliation.

Calls on all forces to refrain from using the internal strife in Somalia to advance their own interests, to stop using the many clans and groups in Somalia in proxy wars, and to stop using the Somali people as instruments to advance their own agendas in the region.

Countries such as Ethiopia that have historical problems with Somalia should refrain from taking advantage of the current unrest and troubled situation to further their own objectives. They ought to realize the long term regional ramifications of their actions and develop a better perspective on the issues at hand.

The solution for Somalia's problems will have to come from the Somali people and all others who want to assist the Somali people, such as Intergovernmental Agency for Development (IGAD) or the African Union (AU), have to provide an environment for the creation of a stable, unified and secure Somalia, and should refrain from putting undue and unwarranted pressure on the Somali people to advance other interests. This is the position and policy of the Government of Eritrea for Somalia.

Operation Restore Hope is a glaring example of what can go wrong when there is inadequate knowledge of a country's complex politics. When the information is bad, analysis and policy are likely to be flawed as well and will inevitably lead to a repeat of the debacle of the early nineties. There can be no better teachers than time and history.

http://kabobfest.blogspot.com/2006/07/ethiopia-enters-somalia-conflict.html