Ethiopian troops roll into Somalia

[Julius Civitatus]

Another conflict exploding...

Ethiopian troops roll into Somalia

July 20,2006 | MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Hundreds of Ethiopian troops in armored vehicles rolled into Somalia on Thursday to protect their allies in this country's virtually powerless government from Islamic militants who control the capital.

The move could give the U.S.-backed Somali government its only chance of curbing the Islamic militia's increasing power. But Ethiopia's incursion could also be just the provocation the militia needs to build public support for a guerrilla war.

"We will declare jihad if the Ethiopian government refuses to withdraw their troops from Somalia," a top Islamic official, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, told The Associated Press.

The neighboring countries are traditional enemies, although Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has asked Ethiopia for its support. Thousands of Somalis have taken to the streets in recent weeks to denounce witness accounts of Ethiopian troops along the border.
...

(more at link)

http://salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8IVSVLO4.html

[Az_lefty]

1. is it WWIII yet?

:hide:

[Julius Civitatus]

2. Not sure, but the Rapturist freaks are going nuts this week

They are totally giddy at all these horrible events. They really think Jesus Airlines is about to land and take them away...

:eyes:

[SoCalDem]

3. It sure seems to be the "Century of Radical Islam"

:(

[ShortnFiery]

5. No IMO it's the "Century of Warmongers"

[Renew Deal]

9. If Turkey hits Iraq, it's on.

It's been a long time since we've had a big one. Maybe we're past due.

[Julius Civitatus]

10. Halliburton, Carlyle Group are salivating at that prospect

More money, more money, more money...

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

[Barrett808]

28. WWIV, actually

The Cold War was WWIII.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. You mean with war in the Middle East and East Africa?

No.

[msongs]

4. jihad jihad jihad jihad - there, I declared it for you :-)

let's hear it for exclusionary religions and their practitioners who believe they are right and everyone else is wrong. who's gonna raise the kids to hate when they've all murdered each other in the name of their various gods/myths/books/mumbojumbo?

peace indeed!

Msongs
www.msongs.com/demfest1.htm

[Monkeyman]

6. Bush droped the ball again

[Sam Odom]

7. What is it with these militant Islamics?

Look at the hot spots in the world they are involved.

[SoCalDem]

8. They are opportunists.. They see a void, and they fill it.. n/t

[Sam Odom]

11. Non P.C. comment

I'm beginning to wonder just how 'small' of a % these militants are among Islam worldwide. I hate religion!!

[SoCalDem]

13. It seems as if they are the driving force behind MOST upheavals

everywhere..

[The2ndWheel]

19. The Pentagon's New Map

http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/published/pentagonsnewmap.htm

[IndianaGreen]

25. No, they are not! They succeeded because they offered law and order

and they were created by Mogadishu businessmen that had grown tired of lawlesness and the brutality of the warlords.

Americans embraced security at the expense of liberty in the aftermath of 9-11, we can't blame the Somalis for doing the same.

[daleo]

12. I thought this was Muslims against Muslims

So jihad seems a poor choice of words, even by the standards of religion flavored war talk. A bit like Protestants going on a "crusade" against Catholics. Come to think of it, that's probably been done too.

[Igel]

16. No, it was fervently observant Muslims

against rather iffy Muslims. Islamists funded, it seems, by Sa'udi sources and trained to be good Muslims, versus warlords that merely wanted control over money and places, not over thoughts, actions, beliefs, culture ... and money and places.

Islamists always want peace. That's why they attacked warlords that weren't fighting. But if you say Islam is anything but a religion of peace, or these people are apostate and regular Muslims have to do something about it, you're in for a fight. Not from me.

[daleo]

21. Religious fanatics are difficult to satisfy

Christians have a long history of this too, although I don't think the extremely fanatic ones have wielded state power for quite a while. If one looks back at the internecine religious wars of Europe, the same ugliness prevailed. As much as anything else, I think that is why secularism became the norm.

State power (or military might, if you prefer) yoked to religion is always a danger in my book.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. Tensions are also rising between Russia and Georgia

The world keeps getting more interesting.

[K8-EEE]

15. I Do Feel Bad For The People In Mogadishu.

I saw these photos in Paris Match, they are financed by these Gulf states who make the little girls (not before the custom in Somalia) wear these ridiculous coverings and be totally segregated at age FIVE. Just seeing the sad eyes staring out from this awful, oppressive thing that is totally being forced on them from foreigners. It was just a very sad picture. The women have no freedom there anymore, it's like Afghanistan, they are virtually enslaved.

[daleo]

22. But I thought our troops had freed Afghanistan

Well at least it won't be the Taliban running the Virtue and Vice Police this time. Seriously, it is ironic that American and Canadian troops will soon be defending religious police in Afghanistan. I can't see that being too good for morale.

[HuffleClaw]

17. hmmmm, i wonder what the chimp will say about this

'lets give 'em a couple of weeks to DEFEND themselves!'

something tells me he will utter some crap about how its 'unwise' and an 'escalation' or a 'provocation'

[On the Road]

18. I Actually Think This Might be a Good Thing

Somalia is a wasteland, a failed state, which seems to have no prospect of righting itself in the near future. Maybe Ethiopia can do a better job of nation-building than the US.

[ronnie624]

23. Failed state indeed.

What does that even mean when referring to a nation state that is the product of European colonialism? The current events in Somalia are a direct result of its history, and its history does not include any sort of self determination by the people of Somalia, but instead centuries of conflict fomented by western powers (and to a lesser degree the Soviet Union).

When will Westerners take responsibility for the chaos they are most certainly responsible for?

From colonialism to Cold War intrigue, from humanitarianism to counterterrorism, Somalia has been on the receiving end of every form of Western military intervention over the past century. Each era of intervention shared one thing in common: it screwed the people of Somalia, robbing them of the right to determine their own affairs and dividing them along lines that suited various Western powers. Yet, if anything, the new post-Cold War interventionism has proved even worse for Somalis than the colonialism and Cold War antics that went before it. Where the old forms of intervention, motivated by Western competition and interest, at least ensured a kind of stability in Somalia, the new forms of intervention, motivated by a combination of moral posturing and irrational fear, have left the country as a dangerous vacuum.

<http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/439/>

[On the Road]

26. Wouldn't Argue With That at All

That's one reason it's probably better for the Ethiopians to do it than the Italians or the British. Although I believe the major problems are in the former Italian part of the country.

And no, former colonial powers are not likely to take responsibility. They never do.

On Edit: You know it's a unique situation when the Organization of African Unity isn't up in arms. The OAU has done a remarkable job of preventing wars between African states by insisting on two fundamental principles: (1) All colonial borders are respected, no matter how little sense they make today, and (2) no OAU state invades another OAU state.

Although there have been many civil wars, it is very rare for African states to invade each other. Nyrere of Tanzania attacked Idi Amin of Uganda, but no one wanted to defend the monster against the conscience of Africa. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought, but they had just separated, so it was almost a civil war. Even in the Rwanda/Burundi/Congo area, the fighting has been conducted by unofficial militias rather than states.

Ethiopia's actions are a big departure from that tradition, as is the apparent silence of the OAU.

[ButterflyBlood]

31. The reason is Ethiopia isn't invading a functioning country

And remember, they are allied with the transititional government, which the OAU recognizes despite it having almost no power. This is why Ethopia isn't really at war with Somalia's "real" government, rather one could say it's just an operation to assist to the actual Somali government.

[Baclava]

20. ...another fucking Jihad?

No wonder the aliens are hiding...they want no part of us.
Fucking killer apes.

[IndianaGreen]

24. The Somali government is the Islamic radicals

the warlords fled the country. Looks like Ethiopia is fighting our proxy wars in Africa, as the warlords were, including the ones responsible for "Black Hawk Down!"

[ButterflyBlood]

27. By "government" they mean the internationally recognized government

Which basically controls a few city blocks as the extent of its power. Still they are definitely superior to the religious fanatics or the warlords.

[IndianaGreen]

34. The warlords fled Mogadishu weeks ago

Somalia has not had a government in years.

[ButterflyBlood]

35. You're right there is no de facto government, but there is a de jure one

The UN established Transitional Government is recognized by just about every country in the world as the actual government, despite it having no control over the country. But if Somalia is ever to get back on its feet, someone's going to have establish control over the country besides power-hungry warlords or insane fundamentalists, and the Transitional Government is basically all that's left. If the Ethiopian intervention can accomplish this, then I say more power to them.

[IndianaGreen]

36. Ethiopia's intentions to Somalia are less than benign

this will be nothing more than a bloodbath.

[ButterflyBlood]

29. This is actually probably a good thing

Since for the 15 years Somalia has the been the textbook example of a failed state, nothing but endless fighting and the people under the control of either power-hungry warlords or religious fanatics. Really, something needs to be done to restore order to that place and get any type of actually half-decent leadership in there, which doesn't include anyone in the current batch fighting.

[JackNewtown]

33. I agree

Moreover, it is vital that the fundies in Somalia be crushed. The ideology those fundies represent is the biggest threat to the world.

[Jack Rabbit]

32. Is this why Bushies whistle and look sheepish when someone says "Darfur"?

Just wondering.