Horn of Africa about to exploded - The Orange Mane

elsid13 · 12-27-2006, 09:45 AM

Wonder if anyone is paying attention to stories developing out of Africa and Somalia in particular. It could very possible turn into wide ranging regional conflict. And Like I posted before I believe that Africa will be the next battle zone on the War on Terror and will be one of the critical areas in US foreign policy in the next 20 years. pretty rapide advance by the Ethiopian and warlords since the direct action happen less then a week ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061227/...ia_conflict_dc

Latest story
Somali pro-govt forces to encircle Mogadishu By Guled Mohamed
30 minutes ago

Ethiopian-backed troops advanced on the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, but a Somali government envoy said they would not attack the Islamist stronghold.

Ambassador Abdikarin Farah said the joint force of Ethiopian soldiers and government fighters would besiege Mogadishu until the Islamists laid down their arms.

"We are not going to fight for Mogadishu to avoid civilian casualties. Our troops will surround Mogadishu until they surrender," Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa.

Earlier, pro-government forces seized Jowhar, a key southern town from their Islamist rivals in the closest battle yet to the religious movement's base.

Many residents left their houses to cheer the victors, backed by Ethiopian tanks, who pursued the Islamists as sporadic gunfire echoed in the air.

Farah said pro-government troops then took Balad, just 30 km (18 miles) north of Mogadishu on the road from Jowhar.

The rapid offensive came hours after Ethiopia, defending the Somali interim government, said it was halfway to crushing the Islamists, heightening fears its next step would be to use air strikes and ground troops to seize the capital.

Ethiopia has proved more than a match for the Islamist fighters, who are driven by religious fervour but lack the MiG fighter jets and long experience of one of Africa's most effective armies.

Even so, any Ethiopian-led offensive on Mogadishu, a city of two million people, is likely to be messy.

The retreating Islamists appeared to be heeding a call by their senior leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, for forces to gather in Mogadishu to prepare for a long war against their Ethiopia.

Analysts say a tactical retreat by the Islamists may draw Ethiopian soldiers further into Somalia and kick off a lengthy guerrilla campaign on the Islamists' home turf.

A week of mortar duels between Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed secular government has spiraled into open war that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa, possibly attracting foreign jihadists and triggering suicide bombings.

The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) has depicted the conflict with Christian-led Ethiopia as a holy war against "crusaders," tapping into popular anti-Ethiopian sentiment stoked by decades of rivalry between the two neighbors.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia has portrayed it as a war against al Qaeda-linked terrorists, winning tacit support from Washington, which believes Islamic militants are hiding in Somalia.

DIPLOMATIC PUSH

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says his forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist fighters and wounded 3,000, although there was no independent verification of that.

The Islamists say they have killed hundreds.

Although the government risks prolonging the war by besieging Mogadishu, the other option is less attractive.

More than a decade ago, U.S. forces backed by Black Hawk helicopters suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of militiamen attacking from the city's maze of back alleys.

Mindful of the historical precedent, Ethiopia will want to avoid getting embroiled in street-to-street fighting.

Analysts say another possible threat to the Islamist stronghold is gunmen, once in the employ of the capital's ousted warlords, whose loyalty to the SICC could be tested.

More than 800 people had been wounded and thousands were fleeing the combat zone, according to the Red Cross.

The United Nations has warned that the displacement could trigger an aid crisis in a region already struggling with the aftermath of severe flooding.

The international community has been scrambling to deal with the war.

Foreign powers appeared split though, with the African Union (AU) and Washington backing what they view as Ethiopia's right to intervene to protect its interests.

The U.N. Security Council failed late on Tuesday to agree on a statement calling for an immediate halt to the fighting and was due to hold further consultations on Wednesday.

There was a deadlock after Qatar, the Council's sole Arab member, insisted the appeal also demand the immediate withdrawal of Ethiopian and all other forces from Somalia.

The AU, Arab League and east Africa's regional body IGAD were meeting in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, and Kenyan diplomats said SICC leaders had been invited there for talks.

(Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle in Mogadishu, Ibrahim Mohamed in Jowhar, Katie Nguyen and Nicolo Gnecchi in Nairobi)

alkemical · 12-27-2006, 10:25 AM

is this the little horn?

ORANGEJARHEAD · 12-27-2006, 04:27 PM

Definatley sounds like the Islamist extremists are gettin' the upper hand. I've been following this all week, lots of innocents suffering needlessly, again. Somalia reminds me of the Raiders.

alkemical · 12-27-2006, 04:34 PM

I'm sure both god's are wondering:

"Where the **** did we go wrong? Oh yeah, we made humans."

*sigh*

ORANGEJARHEAD · 12-27-2006, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claviculasolomonis

I'm sure both god's are wondering:

"Where the **** did we go wrong? Oh yeah, we made humans."

*sigh*

Yeah, and why did we put so many a**holes among them.

Meck77 · 12-27-2006, 07:21 PM

Sounds like a big mess. Somehow the media hasn't paid attention. Strange.....

May the innocent RIP....

alkemical · 12-27-2006, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meck77

Sounds like a big mess. Somehow the media hasn't paid attention. Strange.....

May the innocent RIP....

Why should they, we got whores and celebrity to cover. Screw the 'real' world, i can always escape to the reel world.

Hogan11 · 12-27-2006, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORANGEJARHEAD

Definatley sounds like the Islamist extremists are gettin' the upper hand. I've been following this all week, lots of innocents suffering needlessly, again. Somalia reminds me of the Raiders.

Sounds like the Ethi's and the Warlords are kicking ass to me....

defenseman · 12-27-2006, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORANGEJARHEAD

Definatley sounds like the Islamist extremists are gettin' the upper hand. I've been following this all week, lots of innocents suffering needlessly, again. Somalia reminds me of the Raiders.

You need to get some glasses or clean your freakin ears out, one or the other. The extremists (cowards) have been getting their filthy asses kicked for a couple of weeks now. Maybe ethiopia will get lucky and bury every last islamists coward in mogadishu.....dman

elsid13 · 12-28-2006, 09:10 AM

More part on this:

Mogadishu falls to Somali government troops

By Guled Mohamed 18 minutes ago

Triumphant Somali government forces marched into Mogadishu on Thursday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months before an Ethiopian-backed advance.

The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the volatile Horn of Africa nation after they took Mogadishu in June and spread across the south imposing sharia rule.
Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid.

"People are cheering as they wave flowers to the troops," said resident Abdikadar Abdulle, adding scores of government military vehicles had passed the Somalia National University west of the city center.

Parts of Mogadishu shook with the sound of gunfire and there were outbreaks of looting after leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fled its base early in the morning. Some fighters ditched their uniforms to avoid reprisals.

"We have been defeated. I have removed my uniform. Most of my comrades have also changed into civilian clothes," one former SICC fighter told Reuters. "Most of our leaders have fled."

The fall of Mogadishu came about 10 days after the Islamists sought to march on the government base of Baidoa. That prompted Ethiopia to come openly into the war, proving the decisive factor in saving the government and pushing back the Islamists.

The SICC had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu by using the courts, after chasing U.S.-backed warlords from the city in June. Islamists and residents said order had collapsed with their departure.

"Mogadishu is now in chaos," Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told Al Jazeera television.
WARLORD FEAR

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi confirmed the advance to the outskirts of the capital and vowed to pursue the Islamist leaders. "We will not let Mogadishu burn," he added.
Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said government forces had secured the main routes into Mogadishu . "We are taking control of the city and I will confirm when we have established complete control," he said.

He said the Islamists had fled to the southern port city of Kismayu and the administration controlled 95 percent of the Horn of Africa country.

The government declared a state of emergency "to control security and stability."
SICC leader Ahmed said his side's hasty withdrawal was a tactical move in a war against Ethiopian troops defending Somalia's weak, Western-backed government.
Many had predicted the Islamists would wage a guerrilla war if dealt a resounding blow in the first round of war.

Islamist defense lines were routed by a joint force of Ethiopian armor and government fighters.

Pro-government militias who once held sway in Mogadishu said they had captured several key buildings early on Thursday, including the former presidential palace.
Witnesses reported looting late on Wednesday and the sound of gunfire in a sign that one of the world's most dangerous cities may be sliding back to the rule of the gun.

"My worst fear is the capital will succumb to its old anarchy," said resident Muktar Abdi.

"The government should come in now and take over -- this is the best chance they have before the city falls into the hands of the warlords again."

CHAOS, GUNFIRE AND LOOTING

Ahmed said the Islamists were united and determined to push out Ethiopian forces, but retreated to avoid more bloodshed.

By fleeing, the Islamists appeared to have averted the risk of becoming embroiled in the fierce street fighting that forced the U.S. military from Mogadishu more than a decade ago in a humiliating episode captured in the film "Black Hawk Down."

Dinari said President Abdullahi Yusuf remained in the government's south-central base Baidoa, but Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was flying closer to the front.

The government has long viewed Mogadishu as too dangerous to move to but its return would be a massive step in achieving greater legitimacy as the 14th attempt to restore central rule since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.

The government maintained an amnesty offer to all Islamist fighters who laid down their arms.

More than a week of mortar and rocket duels between the Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed government spiraled into open war 10 days ago. With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists, many had feared the conflict would engulf the Horn.

Ethiopia, like the United States, says the Islamists are supported by Al Qaeda. It says it has taken foreign prisoners and killed radicals from abroad, including some with British passports. The SICC has depicted the conflict with Christian-led Ethiopia, which has one of Africa's most effective armies, as a holy war against "crusaders," tapping into decades of rivalry between the two neighbors.

elsid13 · 12-28-2006, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meck77

Sounds like a big mess. Somehow the media hasn't paid attention. Strange.....

May the innocent RIP....

I not surprised, most "Western" media treats Africa like side show and doesn't have any major presence there. It much easier to live in Europe then live in crap hole in 3rd world nation.

Problem instability and chaos allows those bastards to thrive and cause more problem for us in the future. While the US doesn't have enough troops to act as peace keepers, it apparent that our allies needs to get their crap together and help act a stabilization forces in the areas.

Or at least they and US need to create a African Para Military force trained in Western Human Rights beliefs to handle this crap.

elsid13 · 12-28-2006, 12:49 PM

By SALAD DUHUL, Associated Press Writer 53 minutes ago

Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian forces rolled into Mogadishu without firing a shot Thursday, a striking gain in its bid to recapture the country from an Islamic movement that had once seemed nearly invincible.
Off the coast, Yemeni authorities opened fire on boats filled with refugees fleeing the fighting, and at least 17 people drowned in the Gulf of Aden when one vessels capsized, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday. About 140 people were missing, the Geneva-based agency said.
Hours before the troops entered the capital, the Islamic militants fled Mogadishu, pledging to make a last stand in southern Somalia.

"We are in Mogadishu," Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi said after flying from the government's temporary base in western Somalia and meeting with local clan leaders to discuss the handover of the city. "We are coordinating our forces to take control of Mogadishu."

The Islamic movement took control of Mogadishu six months ago and then advanced across most of southern Somalia, often without fighting. Ethiopian troops then went on the attack in support of the U.N.-backed government last week in attempt to push the Islamists out of power.

The confrontation in the Gulf of Aden took place late Wednesday, when four boats smuggling 515 people were spotted by Yemeni authorities, the UNHCR said. The authorities opened fire, causing two of the boats to try to escape, the agency said. Yemeni authorities were searching for survivors, the UNHCR said.

Experts had feared the conflict could engulf the already volatile Horn of Africa. A recent U.N. report said 10 countries have been illegally supplying arms and equipment to both sides of the conflict and using Somalia as a proxy battlefield.

The conflict has also drawn concern in the United States, which accused the Islamists of harboring al-Qaida terrorists. An insurgent group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq urged Muslims on Thursday to support the Islamists in Somalia "financially, with weapons and men and with prayers."

The prime minister was welcomed to the town of Afgoye on the outskirts of Mogadishu by dozens of clan leaders from the capital and hundreds of government and Ethiopian troops. The clan leaders pledged to the help collect weapons from the remaining militiamen in the capital, government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told The Associated Press.

The Islamists' retreat early Thursday, which its leaders called tactical, was followed by looting by clan militiamen, some of whom had been their allies. It was a chilling reminder of the chaos that had once ruled Mogadishu after warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, leaving the country without a central government.

Gunfire could be heard in many parts of the city, and witnesses said several people had been killed.

Before the Islamists established control, Mogadishu had been ruled for the last 15 years by competing clans who came together to support the Islamic movement. The interim government that was established two years ago with the help of the U.N. had been unable to assert its authority in the city, in part because it was weakened by clan rivalries.

Somalia's complex clan system has been the basis of politics and identity here for centuries. Many fear they may now revert to fighting one another and reject the government's authority.

In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi vowed to inflict total defeat on the Islamic movement and said he hoped the fighting would be over "in days, if not in a few weeks."

"We are discussing what we need to do to make sure Mogadishu does not descend into chaos. We will not let Mogadishu burn," he told reporters in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

President Abdullahi Yusuf tried to allay fears of rampant violence in the capital, saying his troops were not a threat to the people of Mogadishu. "The government is committed to solving every problem that may face Somalia through dialogue and peaceful ways," the statement said.

In the south, meanwhile, the Islamic militants vowed to continue their fight against the government and Ethiopian forces, saying they had fled Mogadishu to spare civilian deaths.

"We want to face our enemy and their stooges ... away from civilians," Abdirahman Janaqow, a top leader in the Islamic movement, said in a telephone interview.

The Red Cross said hospitals and other medical facilities in southern and central Somalia have admitted more than 800 people over the past few days.

Yusuf Ibrahim, a former Islamic movement fighter, said only the most hardcore fighters were still opposing the government and its Ethiopian backers. He said they numbered about 3,000 and were headed to the port city of Kismayo, south of Mogadishu, which the Islamists captured in September.

Witnesses reported seeing a large number of foreign fighters in the convoys heading south. Islamic movement leaders had called on foreign Muslims to join their "holy war" against Ethiopia, which has a majority Christian population. Hundreds were believed to have answered the call.

Residents told the AP that Islamic leader Hassan Dahir Aweys had arrived in the frontline town of Jilib, 65 miles north of Kismayo, earlier Thursday with hundreds of fighters aboard 45 pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns.

Islamic fighters have gone door to door in Kismayo recruiting children as young as 12 to make a last stand on behalf of the Islamic movement, according to a U.N. report citing the families of boys taken to Jilib.
___
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061228/...af/somalia_130Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu, Les Neuhaus in Afgoye, Somalia, and Chris Tomlinson in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

alkemical · 12-28-2006, 01:17 PM

In Somalia, a reckless U.S. proxy war

NAIROBI: Undeterred by the horrors and setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, the Bush administration has opened another battlefront in the Muslim world. With full U.S. backing and military training, at least 15,000 Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia in an illegal war of aggression against the Union of Islamic Courts, which controls almost the entire south of the country.

As with Iraq in 2003, the United States has cast this as a war to curtail terrorism, but its real goal is to obtain a direct foothold in a highly strategic region by establishing a client regime there. The Horn of Africa is newly oil-rich, and lies just miles from Saudi Arabia, overlooking the daily passage of large numbers of oil tankers and warships through the Red Sea. General John Abizaid, the current U.S. military chief of the Iraq war, was in Ethiopia this month, and President Hu Jintao of China visited Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia earlier this year to pursue oil and trade agreements.

The U.S. instigation of war between Ethiopia and Somalia, two of world's poorest countries already struggling with massive humanitarian disasters, is reckless in the extreme. Unlike in the run-up to Iraq, independent experts, including from the European Union, were united in warning that this war could destabilize the whole region even if America succeeds in its goal of toppling the Islamic Courts.

An insurgency by Somalis, millions of whom live in Kenya and Ethiopia, will surely ensue, and attract thousands of new anti-U.S. militants and terrorists.

With so much of the world convulsed by crisis, little attention has been paid to this unfolding disaster in the Horn. The UN Security Council, however, did take up the issue, and in another craven act which will further cement its reputation as an anti-Muslim body, bowed to American and British pressure to authorize a regional peacekeeping force to enter Somalia to protect the transitional government, which is fighting the Islamic Courts.

The new UN resolution states that the world body acted to "restore peace and stability." But as all major international news organizations have reported, this year Somalia finally experienced its first respite from 16 years of utter lawlessness and terror at the hands of the marauding warlords who drove out UN peacekeepers in 1993, when 18 American soldiers were killed.

Since 1993, there had been no Security Council interest in sending peacekeepers to Somalia, but as peace and order took hold, a multilateral force was suddenly deemed necessary — because it was the Islamic Courts Union that had brought about this stability. Astonishingly, the Islamists had succeeded in defeating the warlords primarily through rallying people to their side by creating law and order through the application of Shariah law, which Somalis universally practice.

The transitional government, on the other hand, is dominated by the warlords and terrorists who drove out American forces in 1993. Organized in Kenya by U.S. regional allies, it is so completely devoid of internal support that it has turned to Somalia's arch- enemy, Ethiopia, for assistance.

If this war continues, it will affect the whole region, do serious harm to U.S. interests and threaten Kenya, the only island of stability in this corner of Africa.

Ethiopia is at even greater risk, as a dictatorship with little popular support and beset also by two large internal revolts, by the Ogadenis and Oromos. It is also mired in a conflict with Eritrea, which has denied it secure access to seaports.

The best antidote to terrorism in Somalia is stability, which the Islamic Courts have provided. The Islamists have strong public support, which has grown in the face of U.S. and Ethiopian interventions. As in other Muslim-Western conflicts, the world needs to engage with the Islamists to secure peace.

Salim Lone, who was the spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq in 2003, is a columnist for The Daily Nation in Kenya. This Global Viewpoint article was distributed by Tribune Media Services.

___

of course this has a slant, but some info i didn't know.

elsid13 · 12-28-2006, 01:27 PM

The Islamic Courts, just like the Taliban, had popular support because they offered stability and dealt harshly will lawlessness. But that doesn't mean that they are good guys or the US isn't right not to act against a problem when it still small vs turns into a rogue state.

bendog · 12-28-2006, 04:17 PM

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/...lia_06-08.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5051588.stm

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006...dates_po_1.php

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...082900795.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postg...ic_courts.html

The last two were the most interesting. I have not had time to read the entire posting of threads on the last link, but there is a post near the end by a "native" who has some deft criticism for the two men in the "debate" on the second to last thread.

The Taliban arose from Saudi Arabia funding "teachers" for the Afghan refugees in Pak, and Pak's embrace of the wahabbi school. Wahabbism may not be a dangerous thing, but the teachers who did the teaching had no background in history, lit, sciece or even math. It was reciting the koran. So what they produced were extremely harsh proponents of sharia law with no grounding in other more moderate/humanist views of Islam

The key determination, imo, is where the Islamic Courts Uniion stands on universal education, and I didn't find much definitive info. However, if Bushii and the neocons are pushing it, it's better than 5-1 to be a mistake.

bendog · 12-28-2006, 05:38 PM

elsid, re your PM, I lean to thinking that the ICU is a Taliban in training, but I'd really like to see whether they are closing schools. Of course, I'm prejudiced here, because I see how Nigeria is treating homosexuals (prison) while S. Africa is moving to allow civil unions. Nigeria - big Islamic influence. S. Africa - mainly christian with a good dose of English Anglicanism. Couple that with female circumcision and refusing polio vaccination ....

I still think we need to have a world wide internet classroom.

elsid13 · 12-28-2006, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bendog

elsid, re your PM, I lean to thinking that the ICU is a Taliban in training, but I'd really like to see whether they are closing schools. Of course, I'm prejudiced here, because I see how Nigeria is treating homosexuals (prison) while S. Africa is moving to allow civil unions. Nigeria - big Islamic influence. S. Africa - mainly christian with a good dose of English Anglicanism. Couple that with female circumcision and refusing polio vaccination ....

I still think we need to have a world wide internet classroom.

Bendog,

I understand. Like I said Bush is an idiot but sometime even fools are right. More and more I believe that this really turning into a clash of cultures - not Christian/Islamic thing-. Our western culture that that emphasise a "liberal" views (classic definition of liberalism - life, liberty and pursuit of happiness), individual rights and dynamic change vs one that close minded, oppressive and strives for stagnation. I think this clash will define the human race for the next 100 years plus and we can not lose it, because if we do it will be the dark ages again.

But our fearless Leader has side tracked us on Iraq, he missing the objective.

bendog · 12-28-2006, 06:36 PM

Well, it's not all Islam and even not all wahabi islam. Remember there was criticism of bin laden for the towers, because there are RULES for jihad. No killing women and children or innocents. Moreover, bin laden's jihad hadn't been started by the "proper" edicts of clerics. There were reports bin laden was refocusing on economic targets.

Of course then we invaded iraq, giving ample ammo to call for a jihad proper-like to kill Americans over there. It may now be a clash of cultures, but only because Bushii made it one. Moreover, we won't win a clash of cultures. One side or the other may turn the planet to glass, but that's not a win.

I pray for Obama. For him to run, and live to win and serve 8 years.

defenseman · 12-28-2006, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bendog

Well, it's not all Islam and even not all wahabi islam. Remember there was criticism of bin laden for the towers, because there are RULES for jihad. No killing women and children or innocents. Moreover, bin laden's jihad hadn't been started by the "proper" edicts of clerics. There were reports bin laden was refocusing on economic targets.

Of course then we invaded iraq, giving ample ammo to call for a jihad proper-like to kill Americans over there. It may now be a clash of cultures, but only because Bushii made it one. Moreover, we won't win a clash of cultures. One side or the other may turn the planet to glass, but that's not a win.

I pray for Obama. For him to run, and live to win and serve 8 years.

Ain't happenin dog, ain't happenin....dman

12-27-2006, 09:45 AM	#1
elsid13 Lost In Space Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: DC Posts: 19,139	Horn of Africa about to exploded Wonder if anyone is paying attention to stories developing out of Africa and Somalia in particular. It could very possible turn into wide ranging regional conflict. And Like I posted before I believe that Africa will be the next battle zone on the War on Terror and will be one of the critical areas in US foreign policy in the next 20 years. pretty rapide advance by the Ethiopian and warlords since the direct action happen less then a week ago http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061227/...ia_conflict_dc Latest story Somali pro-govt forces to encircle Mogadishu By Guled Mohamed 30 minutes ago Ethiopian-backed troops advanced on the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, but a Somali government envoy said they would not attack the Islamist stronghold. Ambassador Abdikarin Farah said the joint force of Ethiopian soldiers and government fighters would besiege Mogadishu until the Islamists laid down their arms. "We are not going to fight for Mogadishu to avoid civilian casualties. Our troops will surround Mogadishu until they surrender," Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa. Earlier, pro-government forces seized Jowhar, a key southern town from their Islamist rivals in the closest battle yet to the religious movement's base. Many residents left their houses to cheer the victors, backed by Ethiopian tanks, who pursued the Islamists as sporadic gunfire echoed in the air. Farah said pro-government troops then took Balad, just 30 km (18 miles) north of Mogadishu on the road from Jowhar. The rapid offensive came hours after Ethiopia, defending the Somali interim government, said it was halfway to crushing the Islamists, heightening fears its next step would be to use air strikes and ground troops to seize the capital. Ethiopia has proved more than a match for the Islamist fighters, who are driven by religious fervour but lack the MiG fighter jets and long experience of one of Africa's most effective armies. Even so, any Ethiopian-led offensive on Mogadishu, a city of two million people, is likely to be messy. The retreating Islamists appeared to be heeding a call by their senior leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, for forces to gather in Mogadishu to prepare for a long war against their Ethiopia. Analysts say a tactical retreat by the Islamists may draw Ethiopian soldiers further into Somalia and kick off a lengthy guerrilla campaign on the Islamists' home turf. A week of mortar duels between Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed secular government has spiraled into open war that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa, possibly attracting foreign jihadists and triggering suicide bombings. The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) has depicted the conflict with Christian-led Ethiopia as a holy war against "crusaders," tapping into popular anti-Ethiopian sentiment stoked by decades of rivalry between the two neighbors. Meanwhile, Ethiopia has portrayed it as a war against al Qaeda-linked terrorists, winning tacit support from Washington, which believes Islamic militants are hiding in Somalia. DIPLOMATIC PUSH Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says his forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist fighters and wounded 3,000, although there was no independent verification of that. The Islamists say they have killed hundreds. Although the government risks prolonging the war by besieging Mogadishu, the other option is less attractive. More than a decade ago, U.S. forces backed by Black Hawk helicopters suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of militiamen attacking from the city's maze of back alleys. Mindful of the historical precedent, Ethiopia will want to avoid getting embroiled in street-to-street fighting. Analysts say another possible threat to the Islamist stronghold is gunmen, once in the employ of the capital's ousted warlords, whose loyalty to the SICC could be tested. More than 800 people had been wounded and thousands were fleeing the combat zone, according to the Red Cross. The United Nations has warned that the displacement could trigger an aid crisis in a region already struggling with the aftermath of severe flooding. The international community has been scrambling to deal with the war. Foreign powers appeared split though, with the African Union (AU) and Washington backing what they view as Ethiopia's right to intervene to protect its interests. The U.N. Security Council failed late on Tuesday to agree on a statement calling for an immediate halt to the fighting and was due to hold further consultations on Wednesday. There was a deadlock after Qatar, the Council's sole Arab member, insisted the appeal also demand the immediate withdrawal of Ethiopian and all other forces from Somalia. The AU, Arab League and east Africa's regional body IGAD were meeting in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, and Kenyan diplomats said SICC leaders had been invited there for talks. (Additional reporting by Sahal Abdulle in Mogadishu, Ibrahim Mohamed in Jowhar, Katie Nguyen and Nicolo Gnecchi in Nairobi)

12-28-2006, 01:17 PM	#13
alkemical Guerrilla Ontologist rorrim\|mirror Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Future Posts: 42,723 Adopt-a-Bronco: Prima Materia	In Somalia, a reckless U.S. proxy war In Somalia, a reckless U.S. proxy war NAIROBI: Undeterred by the horrors and setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, the Bush administration has opened another battlefront in the Muslim world. With full U.S. backing and military training, at least 15,000 Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia in an illegal war of aggression against the Union of Islamic Courts, which controls almost the entire south of the country. As with Iraq in 2003, the United States has cast this as a war to curtail terrorism, but its real goal is to obtain a direct foothold in a highly strategic region by establishing a client regime there. The Horn of Africa is newly oil-rich, and lies just miles from Saudi Arabia, overlooking the daily passage of large numbers of oil tankers and warships through the Red Sea. General John Abizaid, the current U.S. military chief of the Iraq war, was in Ethiopia this month, and President Hu Jintao of China visited Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia earlier this year to pursue oil and trade agreements. The U.S. instigation of war between Ethiopia and Somalia, two of world's poorest countries already struggling with massive humanitarian disasters, is reckless in the extreme. Unlike in the run-up to Iraq, independent experts, including from the European Union, were united in warning that this war could destabilize the whole region even if America succeeds in its goal of toppling the Islamic Courts. An insurgency by Somalis, millions of whom live in Kenya and Ethiopia, will surely ensue, and attract thousands of new anti-U.S. militants and terrorists. With so much of the world convulsed by crisis, little attention has been paid to this unfolding disaster in the Horn. The UN Security Council, however, did take up the issue, and in another craven act which will further cement its reputation as an anti-Muslim body, bowed to American and British pressure to authorize a regional peacekeeping force to enter Somalia to protect the transitional government, which is fighting the Islamic Courts. The new UN resolution states that the world body acted to "restore peace and stability." But as all major international news organizations have reported, this year Somalia finally experienced its first respite from 16 years of utter lawlessness and terror at the hands of the marauding warlords who drove out UN peacekeepers in 1993, when 18 American soldiers were killed. Since 1993, there had been no Security Council interest in sending peacekeepers to Somalia, but as peace and order took hold, a multilateral force was suddenly deemed necessary — because it was the Islamic Courts Union that had brought about this stability. Astonishingly, the Islamists had succeeded in defeating the warlords primarily through rallying people to their side by creating law and order through the application of Shariah law, which Somalis universally practice. The transitional government, on the other hand, is dominated by the warlords and terrorists who drove out American forces in 1993. Organized in Kenya by U.S. regional allies, it is so completely devoid of internal support that it has turned to Somalia's arch- enemy, Ethiopia, for assistance. If this war continues, it will affect the whole region, do serious harm to U.S. interests and threaten Kenya, the only island of stability in this corner of Africa. Ethiopia is at even greater risk, as a dictatorship with little popular support and beset also by two large internal revolts, by the Ogadenis and Oromos. It is also mired in a conflict with Eritrea, which has denied it secure access to seaports. The best antidote to terrorism in Somalia is stability, which the Islamic Courts have provided. The Islamists have strong public support, which has grown in the face of U.S. and Ethiopian interventions. As in other Muslim-Western conflicts, the world needs to engage with the Islamists to secure peace. Salim Lone, who was the spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq in 2003, is a columnist for The Daily Nation in Kenya. This Global Viewpoint article was distributed by Tribune Media Services. ___ of course this has a slant, but some info i didn't know.

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12-27-2006, 10:25 AM	#2
alkemical Guerrilla Ontologist rorrim\|mirror Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Future Posts: 42,723 Adopt-a-Bronco: Prima Materia	is this the little horn?

12-27-2006, 04:27 PM	#3
ORANGEJARHEAD Solid Starter BRONCOS RULE Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Hell Posts: 243 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	Definatley sounds like the Islamist extremists are gettin' the upper hand. I've been following this all week, lots of innocents suffering needlessly, again. Somalia reminds me of the Raiders.

12-27-2006, 04:34 PM	#4
alkemical Guerrilla Ontologist rorrim\|mirror Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Future Posts: 42,723 Adopt-a-Bronco: Prima Materia	I'm sure both god's are wondering: "Where the **** did we go wrong? Oh yeah, we made humans." sigh

12-27-2006, 07:21 PM	#6
Meck77 Ring of Famer Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 16,324	Sounds like a big mess. Somehow the media hasn't paid attention. Strange..... May the innocent RIP....

12-28-2006, 09:10 AM	#10
elsid13 Lost In Space Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: DC Posts: 19,139	More part on this: Mogadishu falls to Somali government troops By Guled Mohamed 18 minutes ago Triumphant Somali government forces marched into Mogadishu on Thursday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months before an Ethiopian-backed advance. The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the volatile Horn of Africa nation after they took Mogadishu in June and spread across the south imposing sharia rule. Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid. "People are cheering as they wave flowers to the troops," said resident Abdikadar Abdulle, adding scores of government military vehicles had passed the Somalia National University west of the city center. Parts of Mogadishu shook with the sound of gunfire and there were outbreaks of looting after leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fled its base early in the morning. Some fighters ditched their uniforms to avoid reprisals. "We have been defeated. I have removed my uniform. Most of my comrades have also changed into civilian clothes," one former SICC fighter told Reuters. "Most of our leaders have fled." The fall of Mogadishu came about 10 days after the Islamists sought to march on the government base of Baidoa. That prompted Ethiopia to come openly into the war, proving the decisive factor in saving the government and pushing back the Islamists. The SICC had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu by using the courts, after chasing U.S.-backed warlords from the city in June. Islamists and residents said order had collapsed with their departure. "Mogadishu is now in chaos," Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told Al Jazeera television. WARLORD FEAR Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi confirmed the advance to the outskirts of the capital and vowed to pursue the Islamist leaders. "We will not let Mogadishu burn," he added. Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said government forces had secured the main routes into Mogadishu . "We are taking control of the city and I will confirm when we have established complete control," he said. He said the Islamists had fled to the southern port city of Kismayu and the administration controlled 95 percent of the Horn of Africa country. The government declared a state of emergency "to control security and stability." SICC leader Ahmed said his side's hasty withdrawal was a tactical move in a war against Ethiopian troops defending Somalia's weak, Western-backed government. Many had predicted the Islamists would wage a guerrilla war if dealt a resounding blow in the first round of war. Islamist defense lines were routed by a joint force of Ethiopian armor and government fighters. Pro-government militias who once held sway in Mogadishu said they had captured several key buildings early on Thursday, including the former presidential palace. Witnesses reported looting late on Wednesday and the sound of gunfire in a sign that one of the world's most dangerous cities may be sliding back to the rule of the gun. "My worst fear is the capital will succumb to its old anarchy," said resident Muktar Abdi. "The government should come in now and take over -- this is the best chance they have before the city falls into the hands of the warlords again." CHAOS, GUNFIRE AND LOOTING Ahmed said the Islamists were united and determined to push out Ethiopian forces, but retreated to avoid more bloodshed. By fleeing, the Islamists appeared to have averted the risk of becoming embroiled in the fierce street fighting that forced the U.S. military from Mogadishu more than a decade ago in a humiliating episode captured in the film "Black Hawk Down." Dinari said President Abdullahi Yusuf remained in the government's south-central base Baidoa, but Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was flying closer to the front. The government has long viewed Mogadishu as too dangerous to move to but its return would be a massive step in achieving greater legitimacy as the 14th attempt to restore central rule since the 1991 ouster of a dictator. The government maintained an amnesty offer to all Islamist fighters who laid down their arms. More than a week of mortar and rocket duels between the Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed government spiraled into open war 10 days ago. With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists, many had feared the conflict would engulf the Horn. Ethiopia, like the United States, says the Islamists are supported by Al Qaeda. It says it has taken foreign prisoners and killed radicals from abroad, including some with British passports. The SICC has depicted the conflict with Christian-led Ethiopia, which has one of Africa's most effective armies, as a holy war against "crusaders," tapping into decades of rivalry between the two neighbors.

12-28-2006, 12:49 PM	#12
elsid13 Lost In Space Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: DC Posts: 19,139	By SALAD DUHUL, Associated Press Writer 53 minutes ago Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian forces rolled into Mogadishu without firing a shot Thursday, a striking gain in its bid to recapture the country from an Islamic movement that had once seemed nearly invincible. Off the coast, Yemeni authorities opened fire on boats filled with refugees fleeing the fighting, and at least 17 people drowned in the Gulf of Aden when one vessels capsized, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday. About 140 people were missing, the Geneva-based agency said. Hours before the troops entered the capital, the Islamic militants fled Mogadishu, pledging to make a last stand in southern Somalia. "We are in Mogadishu," Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi said after flying from the government's temporary base in western Somalia and meeting with local clan leaders to discuss the handover of the city. "We are coordinating our forces to take control of Mogadishu." The Islamic movement took control of Mogadishu six months ago and then advanced across most of southern Somalia, often without fighting. Ethiopian troops then went on the attack in support of the U.N.-backed government last week in attempt to push the Islamists out of power. The confrontation in the Gulf of Aden took place late Wednesday, when four boats smuggling 515 people were spotted by Yemeni authorities, the UNHCR said. The authorities opened fire, causing two of the boats to try to escape, the agency said. Yemeni authorities were searching for survivors, the UNHCR said. Experts had feared the conflict could engulf the already volatile Horn of Africa. A recent U.N. report said 10 countries have been illegally supplying arms and equipment to both sides of the conflict and using Somalia as a proxy battlefield. The conflict has also drawn concern in the United States, which accused the Islamists of harboring al-Qaida terrorists. An insurgent group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq urged Muslims on Thursday to support the Islamists in Somalia "financially, with weapons and men and with prayers." The prime minister was welcomed to the town of Afgoye on the outskirts of Mogadishu by dozens of clan leaders from the capital and hundreds of government and Ethiopian troops. The clan leaders pledged to the help collect weapons from the remaining militiamen in the capital, government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told The Associated Press. The Islamists' retreat early Thursday, which its leaders called tactical, was followed by looting by clan militiamen, some of whom had been their allies. It was a chilling reminder of the chaos that had once ruled Mogadishu after warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, leaving the country without a central government. Gunfire could be heard in many parts of the city, and witnesses said several people had been killed. Before the Islamists established control, Mogadishu had been ruled for the last 15 years by competing clans who came together to support the Islamic movement. The interim government that was established two years ago with the help of the U.N. had been unable to assert its authority in the city, in part because it was weakened by clan rivalries. Somalia's complex clan system has been the basis of politics and identity here for centuries. Many fear they may now revert to fighting one another and reject the government's authority. In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi vowed to inflict total defeat on the Islamic movement and said he hoped the fighting would be over "in days, if not in a few weeks." "We are discussing what we need to do to make sure Mogadishu does not descend into chaos. We will not let Mogadishu burn," he told reporters in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. President Abdullahi Yusuf tried to allay fears of rampant violence in the capital, saying his troops were not a threat to the people of Mogadishu. "The government is committed to solving every problem that may face Somalia through dialogue and peaceful ways," the statement said. In the south, meanwhile, the Islamic militants vowed to continue their fight against the government and Ethiopian forces, saying they had fled Mogadishu to spare civilian deaths. "We want to face our enemy and their stooges ... away from civilians," Abdirahman Janaqow, a top leader in the Islamic movement, said in a telephone interview. The Red Cross said hospitals and other medical facilities in southern and central Somalia have admitted more than 800 people over the past few days. Yusuf Ibrahim, a former Islamic movement fighter, said only the most hardcore fighters were still opposing the government and its Ethiopian backers. He said they numbered about 3,000 and were headed to the port city of Kismayo, south of Mogadishu, which the Islamists captured in September. Witnesses reported seeing a large number of foreign fighters in the convoys heading south. Islamic movement leaders had called on foreign Muslims to join their "holy war" against Ethiopia, which has a majority Christian population. Hundreds were believed to have answered the call. Residents told the AP that Islamic leader Hassan Dahir Aweys had arrived in the frontline town of Jilib, 65 miles north of Kismayo, earlier Thursday with hundreds of fighters aboard 45 pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns. Islamic fighters have gone door to door in Kismayo recruiting children as young as 12 to make a last stand on behalf of the Islamic movement, according to a U.N. report citing the families of boys taken to Jilib. ___ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061228/...af/somalia_130Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu, Les Neuhaus in Afgoye, Somalia, and Chris Tomlinson in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report.

12-28-2006, 01:27 PM	#14
elsid13 Lost In Space Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: DC Posts: 19,139	The Islamic Courts, just like the Taliban, had popular support because they offered stability and dealt harshly will lawlessness. But that doesn't mean that they are good guys or the US isn't right not to act against a problem when it still small vs turns into a rogue state.

12-28-2006, 04:17 PM	#15
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/...lia_06-08.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5051588.stm http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006...dates_po_1.php http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...082900795.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postg...ic_courts.html The last two were the most interesting. I have not had time to read the entire posting of threads on the last link, but there is a post near the end by a "native" who has some deft criticism for the two men in the "debate" on the second to last thread. The Taliban arose from Saudi Arabia funding "teachers" for the Afghan refugees in Pak, and Pak's embrace of the wahabbi school. Wahabbism may not be a dangerous thing, but the teachers who did the teaching had no background in history, lit, sciece or even math. It was reciting the koran. So what they produced were extremely harsh proponents of sharia law with no grounding in other more moderate/humanist views of Islam The key determination, imo, is where the Islamic Courts Uniion stands on universal education, and I didn't find much definitive info. However, if Bushii and the neocons are pushing it, it's better than 5-1 to be a mistake.

12-28-2006, 05:38 PM	#16
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	elsid, re your PM, I lean to thinking that the ICU is a Taliban in training, but I'd really like to see whether they are closing schools. Of course, I'm prejudiced here, because I see how Nigeria is treating homosexuals (prison) while S. Africa is moving to allow civil unions. Nigeria - big Islamic influence. S. Africa - mainly christian with a good dose of English Anglicanism. Couple that with female circumcision and refusing polio vaccination .... I still think we need to have a world wide internet classroom.

12-28-2006, 06:36 PM	#18
bendog Marginally Continent David Bowens, he'd be an upgrade Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Folsom Prison Posts: 19,935 Adopt-a-Bronco: David Bowens	Well, it's not all Islam and even not all wahabi islam. Remember there was criticism of bin laden for the towers, because there are RULES for jihad. No killing women and children or innocents. Moreover, bin laden's jihad hadn't been started by the "proper" edicts of clerics. There were reports bin laden was refocusing on economic targets. Of course then we invaded iraq, giving ample ammo to call for a jihad proper-like to kill Americans over there. It may now be a clash of cultures, but only because Bushii made it one. Moreover, we won't win a clash of cultures. One side or the other may turn the planet to glass, but that's not a win. I pray for Obama. For him to run, and live to win and serve 8 years.