In general I agree with your post, but Ethiopia isn't invading another country to make us happy, they are doing it before they get squeezed by AQ.
Check this map out
If AQ controls Somalia, they basically are surrounded by Islamic fascists
Posted on 12/27/2006 4:23:54 PM PST by Popman
Ethiopia has emerged as the only nation willing to directly confront the al-Qaeda franchise Islamic Courts Union in Somalia, driving into the east African nation with tanks and pushing the Islamists and their fighters - including foreign terrorists poured in from around the Middle East - back to the eastern shores of Mogadishu.
After rolling though Somalia and driving the ICU out of Somali cities and towns along the way, Ethipian forces have pulled up and surrounded Mogadishu. A siege strategy like that once employed by the ICU on the last remaining Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) stronghold of Baidoa is being employed by Ethiopian forces. The stated intent is to avoid civilian losses.
But the Telegraph’s Mike Pflanz notes the likely futility of such a move “as Mogadishu sits on the Indian Ocean, allowing sympathetic foreign fighting forces to land on the beach to reinforce and re-arm” the Islamist forces via their al-Qaeda lifeline. An American-led naval blockade would greatly assist by sealing the fourth side of a three-sided Ethiopian siege effort.
But the United States is calling for a return to negotiations in Somalia, and it remains to be seen whether American naval forces will be ordered to assist the forward-leaning Ethiopian government and its unapologetic engagement of the Islamists seeking an al-Qaeda foothold on the Horn of Africa.
While noting American support of Ethiopian actions, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos also signaled a less than forward-leaning American approach to action on the Horn by also saying, “We’ve instructed our ambassadors in the region to meet with governments to urge them to pressure Somalis to return to the negotiating table. We do not believe this can be resolved on the battlefield.” The African Union has demanded an outright withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Somalia.
Speaking to the UN Security Council Tuesday, Kofi Annan’s special representative to Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, echoed such demands and calls. “Unless a political settlement is reached through negotiations, Somalia, I am afraid, will face a period of deepening conflict and heightened instability, which would be disastrous for the long-suffering people of Somalia, and could also have serious consequences for the entire region,’’ he said.
But the long-suffering people of Somalia face even greater long-term perils – as does the rest of the region and the world – through resumed inaction that would allow the Islamic Courts Union and its al-Qaeda ‘management’ to continue its progress, allowing an al-Qaeda terrorist foothold and Taliban-style Islamist rule over the whole of Somalia.
It must be recognized by Western leaders – most notably the United States – that the coveted ‘negotiation process’ is what permitted the ICU to harvest Somali territory for al-Qaeda in the first place. Negotiation must take place after the Islamists will has been broken in Somalia by force alone, not beforehand. For force is the language they speak with and the only language they have an ear for.
BUMP
From your keyboard to God's ear
"But the United States is calling for a return to negotiations in Somalia..."
You don't call a truce just as are about to administer the fatal blow.
As an aside, the President of Ethiopia might be a good candidate for UN Secretary General.
In general I agree with your post, but Ethiopia isn't invading another country to make us happy, they are doing it before they get squeezed by AQ.
Check this map out
If AQ controls Somalia, they basically are surrounded by Islamic fascists
I checked out how this could be done---Djibouti(seaport) in Djibouti(Country) is linked by a RR to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. Does Ethiopia have good relations with Dijbouti? Does Ethiopia have a Navy?
I know we have special ops on the ground all over the place in the Horn of Africa, and they've been there for quite a while now. It would seem easy enough for our ops to arrange to have about 4 of those unmarked hydrofoils in Djibouti Harbor by Friday. Ad some air patrols (Ethiopia certainly does have an air force) to fill in the gaps in surface coverage, and the job's all but done.
I don't think the USA wishes to signal our involvement beyond diplomatic support---which seems a bit like disinformation, from what I reading in the news.
You can tell by my handle that I'm a nautical freak...man, would I like to have one of those 'foils!
Transitional Federal Government soldiers rest under a tree after arriving in Jowhar town 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Baidoa in Somalia, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006
Transitional Federal Government soldier stands on a truck with an anti aircraft gun after arriving in Jowhar town 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Baidoa in Somalia, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006. Clan leaders in Mogadishu on Wednesday were considering throwing their support to government forces who have advanced to within striking distance of this beleaguered capital, a move that would deal a blow to the Islamic movement that until this week had ruled much of southern Somalia. The city was buzzing with news of the approaching government soldiers, and Islamic fighters in northern Mogadishu were spotted changing out of their uniforms into civilian clothes. Women selling qat _ the leafy stimulant that is wildly popular among Somalis, but was banned by the Islamists _ were crowding the streets with bundles of the green narcotic.
A Transitional Federal Government soldier guards captive Islamic Courts soldiers, left, in Baidoa, Somalia Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006.
Jowhar Somali citizen celebrate as they carry the Somali Transitional Federal Government flag after soldiers arrived in Jowhar town 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Baidoa in Somalia, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006. Clan leaders in Mogadishu on Wednesday were considering throwing their support to government forces who have advanced to within striking distance of this beleaguered capital, a move that would deal a blow to the Islamic movement that until this week had ruled much of southern Somalia. The city was buzzing with news of the approaching government soldiers, and Islamic fighters in northern Mogadishu were spotted changing out of their uniforms into civilian clothes. Women selling qat _ the leafy stimulant that is wildly popular among Somalis, but was banned by the Islamists _ were crowding the streets with bundles of the green narcotic
celebrate? MSM told me the overtaken land was happy with ROP setup
Take the Iowa out of mothballs.
The USS North Carolina is ready to go.
I have read that one of the reasons that chattel slavery was practiced in the British colonies was because of British contacts with Muslim slavers in Africa and the ME. It was prohibited in England itself, oddly enough, but was extremely hard to root out in other areas.
Even after the former British colonies in the US became US states, they were uncommonly harsh, even forbidding black slaves to receive religious instruction. Writers have speculated that this is because they based their model for the enslavement of Africans upon the Muslim model of slavery in Africa.
I've never understood why American blacks are so fond of Islam.
"MSM told me the overtaken land was happy with ROP setup"
Nearly every MSM article I have read on this usually starts in with "The Islamic Court Union, which has brought law and order, peace and security..happy happy happy joy joy blah blah".
Sounds like they are now, enemy combatants and now no longer under the Geneva Convention rules for soldiers.
I'm sure they are real concerned about following the Geneva Convention so Kofi doesn't need to send out a nasty letter.
foreign and domestic
news media, foreign and domestic
"and Islamic fighters in northern Mogadishu were spotted changing out of their uniforms into civilian clothes."
Translation: They are throwing on a Burqa and getting ready to run like hell to Asmara.
The people of Darfur are overwhelmingly Muslim.
Europeans and Christians sold slaves and also campaigned to maintain slavery. See for example, the South ca. 1850. Why do you chide black American Muslims for practicing Islam when you give black American Baptists a free pass?
if this is true than thats pathetic and why the hell would any nation want to be friends with our country? Why is it we expect OTHER countries to support us in Afghanistan and Iraq on a war on islamists when we wont help them in return?
Bingo
Ethiopia owes the Soviets over $3.5 billion from when the Soviets were arming them. (The U.S. has been arming them as of late..) My question is this: will our pals the Russkies exert any influence to thwart western interests? A curious Canadian is also interested in what type of hardware the Ethiopians have to arm their 100,000-man armed forces.
looky
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