A Quick Retreat to Insurgency
Published Thu, Jan 4 2007 9:58 AM
Technorati Tags: News and Politics, War on Terror
There's been a lot of press and blog commentary lately about how the Ethiopians are defeating Islamic terrorism in Somalia. The commentary talks about how decisive blows against the cowardly Islamists have caused them to cut and run.
There's a lot of praise for Ethiopia in all of this, and rightly so. Ethiopia has done in Somalia what the U.S. was unwilling to do in the '90s.
It's very similar to what the U.S. did in Iraq though. This time the MSM seems to like it because the U.S. isn't involved, at least not directly.
I do hope the blogospheric optimism is justified, but I remain skeptical. I think the world is making the same mistakes in regard to Somalia that they claim the U.S. made in regard to Iraq.
From the A.P. via the Seattle Post Intelligencer:
MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers were fighting about 600 Islamic militiamen in the southern tip of Somalia, an official spokesman said Thursday.
In the past 10 days, Ethiopian-backed government forces have driven out the Islamic movement that had controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for more than six months. The Islamic movement retreated to the southern tip of Somalia and vowed to keep fighting, raising the specter of an Iraq-style guerrilla war.
...
Kenya sent extra troops to the Somali frontier and closed its border, fearing an exodus of refugees and foreign fighters.
Dinari said some Islamic militants have been trying to escape by sea. "But U.S. anti-terrorist forces have been deployed there to prevent them from escaping," he added.
...
Dinari said the government believes foreign terrorist elements are among the Islamic militiamen fighting in Badade.
With the Islamic movement's fighters on the run, concern has grown about extremists believed to be among them. Three al-Qaida suspects in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa are believed to be leaders of the Islamic movement. The movement denies having any links to al-Qaida.
Earlier Thursday, Somalia's Interior Minister Hussein Aideed said there are about 3,500 Islamists hiding in the capital and they are "likely to destabilize the security of the city."
So it seems that the problems in Somalia are beginning to take on the same character as the ones in Iraq. A swift and crushing "defeat" for the Islamists who, rather than fighting an overwhelming force melt into the general populace. Followed by a long and slow insurgency, supported by imported terrorists.
It would be great to see the Islamists defeated and completely driven out of Somalia. It would be wonderful if the "Somali" insurgency doesn't materialize.
Ethiopia says it can't afford to stay in Somalia long. Their timetable for withdrawal is measured in weeks, not years.
We may be given the chance to see what will happen in Iraq when the U.S. cuts and runs under our new Democratic leadership real soon. I hope not.
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