Ethiopia in Somalia, possible last stand

[Howard Beale]

Just another of the world's ugly messes taking it's turn in the headlines. Tune in next week for the latest installment.

[Copernicus]

[ QUOTE ]
Just another of the world's ugly messes taking it's turn in the headlines. Tune in next week for the latest installment.

[/ QUOTE ]

And what is the likelihood that next weeks installment will involve radical Islam?

[Bill Haywood]

Ethiopia has invaded Sudan, in addition to Somalia???

I think the newspaper source (Sudan Tribune) is being confused with the site.

[canis582]

Ethiopia is acting as America's client state to topple an emerging muslim government.

[iron81]

Yeah, Ethiopia invaded Somalia instead of Sudan. They joined forces with the UN backed government and they just captured Mogadishu yesterday.

This is actually good news for us. There was a very good chance that the Islamic government was going to turn into the Taliban, complete with terrorist harboring.

[MelchyBeau]

oops, I apologize for that mixup. they invaded Somalia

[pvn]

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Yeah, Ethiopia invaded Somalia

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WARNING: AC TROLL MAFIA HIJACK ALERT!

I wonder why they sat on their hands for years while Somalia had no government, then invaded right after a government formed.

[iron81]

This is an excellent point. I suspect its possible that Washington used the Ethiopians the same way we did the Northern Alliance to drive out the islamists.

[Mickey Brausch]

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Ethiopia invaded Somalia

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I wonder why [the Ethiopians] sat on their hands for years while Somalia had no government, then invaded right after a government formed.

[/ QUOTE ]GASP. Omygod. The Ethiopians are ...ACers??

[nicky g]

[ QUOTE ]
This is actually good news for us. There was a very good chance that the Islamic government was going to turn into the Taliban, complete with terrorist harboring.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is a rather short-term view. The Islamic Courts brought order to a previously perfect example of a failed state, to the extent that refugees were returning in large numbers (a recent British programme interviewed children brought up in the UK back in school in Mogadishu). The Ethiopians are hated in Somalia and their Somali allies aren;t much more popular amongst the people and are relying on the Ethiopians (under a brutal dictator) and warlords to enforce their rule. They show little sign of leaving and peace is not exactly on teh horizon, now there's a fioreign occupation army and the Somailis have the warlords and likely more chaos and violence back.

The Islamic Courts were a broad movement with extemists amongst them, but the majority were interested in Somalia and Somalia alone and comparatively moderate (especially considering the oppositon consists essentially of warlords involved in the killing sof US troops there in teh 1990s). A better move would have been to court and boost those moderate elements. Instead Somalia may well return to failed-statedom, boosting extremism and chaos and with likely long term consequences that will not be favourable to anyone, including the US (although the effects on it will be dwarfed by the on-going suffering of the Somalis - but hey, worrying about fallout for the US empire has always done Africa so many favours - eg Mobutu).