Mogadishu Should Be A HUGE Story

[Annie]

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODE2YTA0NmMyNjE5MGNhMDFkOGY4MTNlMGVjZDkwN2U=


There's lots more:

June 08, 2006, 6:01 a.m.

What’s Going On?
Bad guys in Mogadishu.

By An NRO Symposium

Editor’s Note: Seemingly lost in the headlines this week has been the news that Islamic forces have reportedly taken over Mogadishu. National Review Online gathered a group of experts to explain what’s happening and what can be done about it.


Peter Brookes
No matter which way you look at it, it’s just about impossible to find any good news in what happened in Somalia this week, after Islamic forces took the capital, Mogadishu. Maybe I should say the historical capital since Somalia hasn’t had a functioning central government in 15 years, but I digress...

In either case, it’s hard to be optimistic, at least in the short-term. Sure, maybe the triumphant Islamic Courts Union doesn’t have ties to al Qaeda. O.K., that’s good, but what does that mean? We get the Somali-version of the Taliban instead? Great, just great.

The way it looks now, it’s al Qaeda (e.g., Al Ittihad al Islami), the Taliban (e.g., Islamic Courts Union) and a bunch of ruthless warlords—all in one poor, lawless state that might, just might, become the next Afghanistan.

Heck, if I were Osama, I’d pull up tent stakes right now and head for safe haven in the Horn of Africa. It’s better than living on the Pakistani frontier, or taking on American GIs in Iraq or Afghanistan.

And that’s exactly the point: Somalia might just become the location of the next Taliban-al Qaeda partnership. Something—that even while we figure out what to do next—we know is unacceptable.

— Peter Brookes is senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is author of A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, WMD and Rogue States.


Thomas Joscelyn
Although few realized it at the time, the U.S. retreat from Somalia in 1994 was a seminal event in the evolution of al Qaeda. It proved to them that the “paper tiger,” America, could be beaten. This is not mere conjecture; al Qaeda’s own internal discourses trumpet this point. For example, U.S. forces in Afghanistan seized a collection of al Qaeda’s letters written to members of its “African corps” shortly after President Clinton ordered the withdrawal of American forces. The U.S. retreat from Somalia was seen as a “Muslim victory,” which had “profound implications ideologically, politically, and psychologically that will require lengthy studies.” It proved “the spurious nature of American power and that it has not recovered from the Vietnam complex.” Furthermore, Americans feared “getting bogged down in a real war that would reveal its psychological collapse at the level of personnel and leadership.”

While America’s and the world’s leaders did little to combat the rising tide of Islamic extremism in Somalia from 1994 hence, the extremists themselves have patiently plotted a rise to power. Taking advantage of the decade of chaos that followed the U.S. retreat, as well as the U.N.’s retreat in 1995, the Islamic courts now promise the Somali people “peace” and “stability” under the banner of an extreme Taliban-like form of Islam.

The groups’ leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, has even launched a public-relations offensive, claiming his desire to represent the Somali people and disavowing any ties to al Qaeda. But make no mistake about it: the Islamic courts’ victory in Mogadishu is a win for al Qaeda. The Islamic courts have provided aid and shelter to al Qaeda for years. There are reports that several of the perpetrators of the 1998 embassy bombings are currently protected in Mogadishu. The cell that harbors those terrorists is even thought to have executed an attack against an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in 2002, while simultaneously failing to shoot down an Israeli airliner.

Al Qaeda and its allies claimed “victory” in Somalia in 1994. There was no robust American response. Al Qaeda’s allies are once again claiming victory in Mogadishu today. What is America going to do about it?

—Thomas Joscelyn is an economist who works on antitrust and security issues....

 

[Hobbit]

Mogadishu isn't a story any more becuase it makes Clinton out to be the douche he is.

 

[shepherdboy]

Yea thanks Bill for cutting tail and running away from "The Mog."
We will never forget that your Secretary of Defense Les Aspen denied the request from the U.S. general on the ground in Mogadishu for U.S armor for support in mission like the one portrayed in the story of Blackhawk Down. We will never forget those Army Rangers and Delta Force operators who gave it all for your political correctness. It sad that we will be returning to Somali to finish a job that should have been done in the first place.

 

[Said1]

I don't have any links and stuff on hand, but Djibouti has been playing an active role in anti-terrorism for some time, through the use of their ports and old abandonded french military bases. The UN is supposed to inspect weapons coming through their ports headed for conflicts in Africa unknown, too - I bet they're doing a ship-shape job.