Thursday, December 28, 2006

Islamist Forces in Somali City Vanish

NYT The Islamist forces who have controlled much of Somalia in recent months suddenly vanished from the streets of the capital,

The Ethopians fought back. The Islamists are cowards, that want to control things, but they want to do it by intimidation.
Mogadishu, residents said Wednesday night, just as thousands of rival troops massed 15 miles away. In the past few days,
I suspect some of the Islamists can count, and they did not want to fight thousands of rival troops, especially not troops with tanks, helicopter gunships, and jet fighters.
Ethiopian-backed forces, with tacit approval from the United States, have unleashed tanks, helicopter gunships and jet fighters on the Islamists, decimating their military and paving the way for the internationally recognized transitional government of Somalia to assert control.
And the Somali citizens, who had a taste of living under Sharia law, probably joined the Ethiopian troops to route the Islamists.
Even so, the Islamists, who have been regarded as a regional menace by Ethiopia and the United States, had repeatedly vowed to fight to the death for their religion
That is ok. I am sure that with the Ethopians and the Somali citizens both against them, they can find plenty of people ready to send them to meet Allah.
and their land, making their disappearance that much more unexpected.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, citizens of Mogadishu threw rocks at the incoming Ethiopian troops:

Ethiopian troops, who pledged not to enter the capital, were stoned by crowds on the northern edge of the city, witnesses said. “How could we welcome an invading enemy,” said one protester, Faiza Ali Nur.

And in all likelihood, the Islamists have retreated to fight later: this is a prof at Davidson:

"This is the low point for the Islamists, but they are not gone," Menkhaus said. "It could get a whole lot worse if it turns into a low-intensity terrorist war."

It is true that the first shipments of khat were welcomed; the ICU's ban on drug use of any kind was not agreeable to the average Somali. As for opposing the Islamists, that's another thing entirely. The whole reason the ICU was able to get as far as Baidoa was that they had support among the population.

It would be pleasing to think that the Ethiopian army could do Christ's dirty work for us; alas, the same right-wingers who opposed humanitarian intervention in Somalia the first time around will have to swallow hard and prepare for war in the Horn, as what every Qaeda web page calls the Third Front opens.

Don Singleton said...

It is true that the first shipments of khat were welcomed; the ICU's ban on drug use of any kind was not agreeable to the average Somali. As for opposing the Islamists, that's another thing entirely. The whole reason the ICU was able to get as far as Baidoa was that they had support among the population.

They may have initially had some support, but I bet that strick Sharia law wore thin, and not just because it forbade all drugs.

It would be pleasing to think that the Ethiopian army could do Christ's dirty work for us;

I suspect He will still be returning soon, but to deal with Iran and their 12th Imam, not just because of some Islamists in Somalia.

alas, the same right-wingers who opposed humanitarian intervention

I did not hear the left wing clamoring for war, either to protect Ethiopia, or the Somalia people.