[Peace-discuss] USAF attack in Somalia
David Green
davegreen84 at yahoo.com
Tue Jan 9 09:22:57 CST 2007
The interview on Democracy Now this morning served to clarify this issue. The Tribune article below serves to inform as how bald-faced the mainstream press can be in denying U.S. involvement in Somalia:
Terrorists don't deal in diplomacy
Dennis Byrne, a Chicago-area writer and consultant
Published January 8, 2007
Now here's what should be a familiar story: One country--Ethiopia--got so fed up with waiting for the UN and the "international community" to do something about the threat of Islamic extremists in neighboring Somalia that it went ahead by itself and took them out.
If such unilateral military action sounds familiar, it's the game plan followed by President Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq.
For six months Muslim extremists, calling themselves the Council of Islamic Courts, have been installing their oppressive and murderous version of fundamentalist Islam in parts of Somalia. The council did so in defiance of a "transitional government" that had been established last February following the requirements of the "leave-the-problem-to-diplomacy" model of foreign policy demanded by Bush-haters.
In that spirit, an international "Coordination and Monitoring Committee" was created in Stockholm (Where else?) in 2004 to "channel and coordinate multilateral support for the peace process in Somalia." Further, said former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "The international community and the transitional federal government, with the facilitation of Sweden, [had] been working since late 2005 to refine the mandate of the committee so that it can serve as an effective mechanism of support for the nascent Somali institutions."
"Consultative planning workshops" and "joint-needs assessments" were conducted.
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Despite workshops and seminars, Annan was back just five months later lamenting the "territorial gains of Islamic militias" and some of the worst factional (what's called a civil war in Iraq) fighting "in nearly a decade." Annan pleaded for "greater international commitment" and for foreign nations to live up to their agreements "if the dire effects of the humanitarian crisis are to be mitigated." He warned that the "besieged transitional government must be fortified."
Yeah, and a lot of good that did.
The extremists continued to make gains and started to pose a threat to Ethiopia. Because there comes a time when enough is enough, Ethiopia sent tanks, planes and troops to dislodge extremists. What happened in the next 10 days was what the Associated Press called a "stunning turnaround for Somalia's government, which just weeks ago could barely control one town--its base of Baidoa--while the Council of Islamic Courts controlled the capital [Mogadishu] and much of southern Somalia."
Now, fleeing fanatics are being captured at the borders, some with satchels of cash, presumably to pull off terror attacks elsewhere. At least one had a Canadian passport, and it shouldn't take any explanation why that should worry Americans. At least three top Al Qaeda terrorists involved in the deadly bombings of American embassies in Africa were believed to have been holed up in Somalia. If they and other extremists try to flee by sea, they'll encounter U.S. Navy patrols waiting for them.
If we are, indeed, involved in a worldwide war against terrorism, you'd think that these developments would be hailed. Not exactly. Furrowed brows on PBS' "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" and elsewhere warned of the "specter of an Iraq-style guerrilla war," of "destabilization" and other similar horrors, which we're to believe are worse than the murderous Taliban-like hell that's the dream of the council.
Missing, too, are the usual European, Democratic and other condemnations of this Bushlike unilateral military solution. Is such outrage lacking because it worked, at least for now? Because it got other countries off the hook for solving the Somali problems? Or just because it wasn't Bush who engineered the invasion?
Or is it because in this particular battle against Islamic extremism, the standard pap about the need for "multilateral," "diplomatic," and "negotiated" settlements failed to work. Not only did they fail to work, but they made things worse.
Comparisons to Iraq obviously are flawed in some respects, and there's no disagreeing that Somalia will be unsettled, even dangerous, for some time to come. But here's one thought that isn't flawed: It is dangerous to sit back and hope that study groups and meetings in Stockholm somehow will deter maniacs bent on terrorism and murder. Can the UN and the international community finally bring themselves to acknowledge that the same lunacy isn't any better at ending the genocide in Darfur?
----------
http://dennisbyrne.blogspot.com
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
"C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu> wrote:
It's important to recognize that in the mind of the administration
Sudan-Somalia -- indeed all of northern Africa -- is one theater of an
American war that's been going on for more than fifteen years (in some
senses, for more than fifty). We might call at least the last decade
and a half by a sort of synecdoche "America's Gulf War(s)," because the
energy resources of the Persian Gulf are the cynosure of US policy.
>From Foggy Bottom (the home of the US Department of State), the Middle
East looks like a vast target, concentric circles with a bull's-eye in
the Gulf and a radius of 2500 miles, from central Asia to central
Africa, from Belgrade to Diego Garcia. Whatever happens within that
circle is interpreted by the US in terms of its insistence on
controlling world energy as the way to control its economic rivals, the
economies of the EU and northeast Asia.
Previous administrations have been active in this theater.
Contemporaneously with his attack on Iraq (1991), Bush Sr. staged a
"humanitarian" invasion of Somalia, which the CIA estimated produced
thousands of Somali casualties. Clinton's attack on Sudan also may well
have resulted in the deaths of thousands.
It's an indication of the continuity of US policy, regardless of the
change of administrations, that, even if the Johns Hopkins study is
right and Bush Jr.'s war in Iraq has killed more than 650,000 people,
Clinton is still responsible for killing even more Iraqis, by means of
his administration's murderous sanctions. And of course Clinton's
attack on Kosovo can be seen as a different theater of the same war.
This weekend, as a direct and specific result of this grand strategy, a
US Air Force gunship carried out an attack in Somalia, with which we are
not at war but which the US Navy has been blockading for weeks. (See
attached article.) The US not surprisingly claimed that it was an attack
on "al Qaeda," its all-purpose description of independent nationalists
such as those of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union. (A generation ago the
term would have been "communists.")
The CBS/AP report says, "The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing
thousands of rounds per second, and sources say a lot of bodies were
seen on the ground after the strike, but there is as yet, no
confirmation of the identities." And of course it may not be the only
US air strike.
The gunship came from the US base in Djibouti -- the only US military
base in sub-Saharan Africa -- and flew the length of Somalia to attack
the remnants of the ICU forces that had been overthrown by an invasion
from Ethiopia, encouraged and paid for by the US. The popular ICU had
previously suppressed the CIA-backed warlords who had kept Somalia in
anarchy since the US withdrawal in 1993.
"Once they started moving," reports CBS/AP, the ICU forces "became
easier to track, and the U.S. military started preparing for an air
strike, using unmanned aerial drones to keep them under surveillance and
moving the aircraft carrier Eisenhower out of the Persian Gulf toward
Somalia. But when the order was given, the mission was assigned to the
AC-130 gunship operated by the U.S. Special Operations command" -- the
darling of SOD Rumsfeld's desire for independent (and of course
unconstitutional) killing.
The AP reports that "the Islamic movement's main force is bottled up at
Ras Kamboni, the southernmost tip of the country, cut off from escape at
sea by patrolling U.S. warships and across the Kenyan border by the
Kenyan military."
The US of course has no warrant under either US or international law to
kill people in Somalia. It is in fact another war crime to be added to
the administration's lengthening list. I'm sure however that if pressed
Bush et al. would point to the ever-elastic "Authorization for the Use
of Military Force" against those who "planned, authorized, committed, or
aided" the 9/11 attacks, passed by the Congress in the immediate
aftermath of those attacks. (That's why the people killed by US
imperialism must always be "al-Qaeda.") And of course the administration
will continue to kill people with that excuse until stopped, by
resistance from their victims and from the US populace.
In Somalia, there's still a good bit of the former, according to CBS/AP.
"Many in predominantly Muslim Somalia resent the presence of troops from
neighboring Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population. The
countries fought two brutal wars, the last in 1977. On Sunday, gunmen
attacked Ethiopian troops, witnesses said, sparking a firefight in the
second straight day of violence in the capital, Mogadishu."
For an interesting analysis of the military situation, not favorable to
the US in spite of its apparent victory in this semi-proxy war, see
"Somalia: A State Restored? Not So Fast," by William S. Lind
.
--CGE
var story_url = 'http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/08/world/main2335451.shtml'; var previous_url = document.referrer; var secid = '202';
---------------------------------
CBS: U.S. Strikes Al Qaeda In Somalia
WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2007
---------------------------------
(CBS/AP) A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.
The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.
The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second, and sources say a lot of bodies were seen on the ground after the strike, but there is as yet, no confirmation of the identities.
The gunship flew from its base in Dijibouti down to the southern tip of Somalia, Martin reports, where the al Qaeda operatives had fled after being chased out of the capital of Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops backed by the United States.
Once they started moving, the al Qaeda operatives became easier to track, and the U.S. military started preparing for an air strike, using unmanned aerial drones to keep them under surveillance and moving the aircraft carrier Eisenhower out of the Persian Gulf toward Somalia. But when the order was given, the mission was assigned to the AC-130 gunship operated by the U.S. Special Operations command.
If the attack got the operatives it was aimed at, reports Martin, it would deal a major blow to al Qaeda in East Africa.
Meanwhile, a jungle hideout used by Islamic militants that is believed to be an al Qaeda base was on the verge of falling to Ethiopian and Somali troops, the defense minister said Monday.
While a lawmaker had earlier told The Associated Press that the base was captured, Somalia's Defense Minister Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire said troops had yet to enter it and that limited skirmishes were still ongoing, though troops were poised to take the base.
Ethiopian soldiers, tanks and warplanes were involved in the two-day attack, a government military commander told the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Shire said there had been heavy fighting with high numbers of casualties.
"There are a lot of casualties from both sides," he said, declining to give details.
Residents in the coastal seaport of Kismayo, some 90 miles northeast of Ras Kamboni, said they saw wounded Ethiopian soldiers being loaded onto military helicopters for evacuation.
"I have seen about 50 injured Ethiopian troops being loaded onto a military chopper," said Farhiya Yusuf. She said 12 Ethiopian helicopters were stationed at the Kismayo airport.
Somali officials said the Islamic movement's main force is bottled up at Ras Kamboni, the southernmost tip of the country, cut off from escape at sea by patrolling U.S. warships and across the Kenyan border by the Kenyan military.
In Mogadishu, Somalia's president made his first visit to the capital since taking office in 2004. During the unannounced visit, President Abdullahi Yusuf was expected to meet with traditional Somali elders and stay at the former presidential palace that has been occupied by warlords for 15 years, government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said.
U.S. officials warned after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that extremists with ties to al Qaeda operated a training camp at Ras Kamboni and that al Qaeda members are believed to have visited it.
Three al Qaeda suspects wanted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa are believed to be leaders of the Islamic movement. The Islamists deny having any links to al Qaeda.
Somalia's government had struggled to survive since forming with backing from the United Nations two years ago, and was under attack by the Islamic militia when Ethiopia's military intervened on Dec. 24 and turned the tide.
But many in predominantly Muslim Somalia resent the presence of troops from neighboring Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population. The countries fought two brutal wars, the last in 1977.
On Sunday, gunmen attacked Ethiopian troops, witnesses said, sparking a firefight in the second straight day of violence in the capital, Mogadishu.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. var pg_locurl = document.location.href; if (pg_locurl.indexOf("entertainment") != -1) { alt = "Entertainment News"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("health") != -1) { alt = "Health News"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("tech") != -1) { alt = "Technology News"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("world") != -1) { alt = "World News"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("national") != -1) { alt = "US News"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("politics") != -1) { alt = "American Politics"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("business") != -1) { alt = "Business News"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("opinion") != -1) { alt = "Opinion Editorials"; } else if (pg_locurl.indexOf("sports") != -1) { alt = "Sports News"; } else { alt = "CBSNews.com"; }
---------------------------------
Feedback Terms of Service Privacy Statement var omniName = "Printable - CBS- U.S. Strikes Al Qaeda In Somalia - 2335451"; if (typeof(window['pageName']) != 'undefined') omniName = pageName; var omniPath = "/world/"; if (typeof(window['pagePath']) != 'undefined') omniPath = pagePath; var omniType = "Printable"; var omniProps = new Array(); omniProps[0] = "World"; omniProps[1] = omniType; if (typeof(window['pageProps']) != 'undefined') omniProps = pageProps; var date = new Date("09 Jan 2007 03:54:44 +0000"); var days = new Array("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"); s.pageName = omniPath + omniName; s.pageName = s.pageName.replace(':', '-'); s.server="www.cbsnews.com"; s.prop8 = ""; for (var i=0; i _______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/private/peace-discuss/attachments/20070109/07d81a39/attachment.htm
More information about the Peace-discuss
mailing list