Posted on 05/07/2008 7:59:37 AM PDT by processing please hold
Food riots and anti-US protests in Somalia are compounding the chaos in the long-suffering war zone in the Horn of Africa.
Meanwhile, an Amnesty International Report released Tuesday alleged that Islamist militants, as well as US-backed Ethiopian and Somali government troops, are committing widespread atrocities against civilians in the capital, Mogadishu. And a recent US strike against what it says was an Al Qaeda leader in Somalia has sparked further protests.
The Associated Press reports that Tuesday saw a second day of protests over rising food prices, with hundreds of youths burning tires, throwing stones, and blocking roads.
Somalia is just the latest country to see riots over rising food prices, after others including Haiti, Egypt, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso. The Financial Times has a map of the civil unrest sparked by the food crisis here.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
I wish we would. Looks like things are only getting worse instead of improving.
That’s what I mean. Moochers continue to be moochers because someone somewhere is always willing to “help” them out. If no one helps them out when they are lazy bums,they will be forced to sink or swim.
You seem to be under the impression that my views w/re to Somalia have anything to do with altruism. They don't. If Somalis destroy their country, that becomes a problem for the US. Sooner or later, and the information I've seen suggests it'll be sooner, the Ethiopians are going to withdraw.
Then what?
The US needs to find an alternative to the Islamists. The provisional government ain't it. US policy has been miserably counter-productive of late. We don't need to turn Mogadishu into Paris, but we do need to stop Mogadishu from becoming the next Kandahar. And that's where it's headed, 15 minutes after the Ethiopians leave.
If their past is any indication - they'll sink.
You've said in a couple of post that the ICU was a viable option in that country, it is not. They have connections to al qaeda. That should end any viability that you think they have.
The US needs to find an alternative to the Islamists.
Ann Coulter had a good alternative.
Paris is being over-ran with radical youts, burning cars and no go zones for non-muslims. They won't be satisfied until france is a Mogadishu.
You can't reason with radical islamist and al qaeda, you can only destroy them.
I did not use the word "viable," that's your word. I said they were a credible alternative in the eyes of the public, not from the perspective of the United States.
That's precisely the problem: given a choice between the Provisional Government / Ethiopia and the Islamic Courts Union, the majority of Somalis, and the vast majority of Mogadishu residents, will opt for the ICU.
The US needs to find a credible alternative to the ICU, because otherwise, they'll take over the second the Ethiopians leave.
Well, ok, you go off to Mogadishu and report back on your missionary efforts.
I'll stay right here and look at reality-based options.
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