Sign in
  • Home
  • Perspectives
  • Articles
  • Columns
  • Platform
  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Give
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Contribute
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
45.4 F
Los Angeles
Sunday, February 17, 2019
  • Sign in / Join
  • Contact MMN
  • en English
    af Afrikaanssq Albanianam Amharicar Arabichy Armenianaz Azerbaijanieu Basquebe Belarusianbn Bengalibs Bosnianbg Bulgarianca Catalanceb Cebuanony Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)co Corsicanhr Croatiancs Czechda Danishnl Dutchen Englisheo Esperantoet Estoniantl Filipinofi Finnishfr Frenchfy Frisiangl Galicianka Georgiande Germanel Greekgu Gujaratiht Haitian Creoleha Hausahaw Hawaiianiw Hebrewhi Hindihmn Hmonghu Hungarianis Icelandicig Igboid Indonesianga Irishit Italianja Japanesejw Javanesekn Kannadakk Kazakhkm Khmerko Koreanku Kurdish (Kurmanji)ky Kyrgyzlo Laola Latinlv Latvianlt Lithuanianlb Luxembourgishmk Macedonianmg Malagasyms Malayml Malayalammt Maltesemi Maorimr Marathimn Mongolianmy Myanmar (Burmese)ne Nepalino Norwegianps Pashtofa Persianpl Polishpt Portuguesepa Punjabiro Romanianru Russiansm Samoangd Scottish Gaelicsr Serbianst Sesothosn Shonasd Sindhisi Sinhalask Slovaksl Slovenianso Somalies Spanishsu Sudanesesw Swahilisv Swedishtg Tajikta Tamilte Teluguth Thaitr Turkishuk Ukrainianur Urduuz Uzbekvi Vietnamesecy Welshxh Xhosayi Yiddishyo Yorubazu Zulu
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Media Monitors Network (MMN) Media Monitors Network (MMN)
Media Monitors Network (MMN) Media Monitors Network (MMN)
  • Home
  • Perspectives
    • Myanmar/Burma Little hope for Rohingya IDPs
      Perspectives

      The Myth of ‘Bengali Migration’ to Arakan

      Faisal Mosque - Pakistan
      Perspectives

      Pakistan: How to Change Political Culture of Corruption and Rebuild the…

      Disappearing Palestine
      Perspectives

      In Hebron, Israel removes the last restraint on its settlers’ reign…

      No to Sexism Racism Homophobia Xenophobia
      Perspectives

      Racism in our time: Can it be defeated?

      Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome
      Perspectives

      Clover Sellout to Apartheid Israel Faces Resistance

  • Articles
    • Man studying religious book
      Articles

      Ishmael and Isaac: An Essay on the Divergent Moral Economies of…

      Mahmoud Abbas
      Articles

      May Your Home Be Destroyed

      Netanyahu Lighting Hanukah Candles with His Wife and Sons
      Articles

      Bibi’s Son or: Three Men in a Car

      The Map of Greater Israel
      Articles

      The Man Who Jumped

      West Bank - Palestine
      Articles

      Cry, Beloved Country

  • Columns
    • United States Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
      Columns

      Game Over!

      Bernie Sanders
      Columns

      Bernie 2020 Campaign Has Corporate Democrats Running Scared

      Pope Francis
      Columns

      Why the Events Surrounding Pope Francis’ UAE Visit Were So Important

      Democrats
      Columns

      As the 2020 Presidential Contest Begins, Democrats Need to Refocus

      Disappearing Palestine
      Columns

      Michelle Alexander Has Opened a Door, We Must Work to Keep…

  • Platform
    • Hanukkah Lights
      Platform

      Hanukkah is not hypocrisy

      The Washington Post
      Platform

      “Preemptive war could risk millions of casualties. But….”

      Platform

      When they shout: "We strongly condemn…"

      68
      Platform

      Why Iran won’t attack Israel

      Platform

      Is One Iraqi’s Self-Hatred Newsworthy?

  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Give
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Contribute
Home Perspectives Somali Islamic groups likely to face US military attack
  • Perspectives

Somali Islamic groups likely to face US military attack

By
M. A. Shaikh
-
January 14, 2002
Share
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Linkedin
ReddIt
Email
Print
Tumblr
Telegram
StumbleUpon
VK
Digg
LINE
Viber

    The persistent speculation of the last month about whether Somalia will be the next battleground in the US’s “war on terrorism” is practically over. Senior US government officials assert that Washington is indeed interested in Somalia, and US special forces and diplomats have already arrived there. These Americans have signed cooperation agreements with local warlords and the country’s transitional government. The Somali government has set up an ‘anti-terrorist’ organisation, duly inspected by an American diplomat, and has arrested five “foreign terrorists” – four Iraqi Kurds and a Palestinian – apparently in an attempt to avert the US’s attack.

    Washington’s interest in Somalia is based on the assumption that, as a ‘failed state’ without infrastructure, central government and national institutions, it is being used as a base by terrorist groups with ties to Usama bin Ladin’s al-Qaeda network, and by anti-US ‘Islamic fundamentalists’ who would be happy to give refuge to al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters fleeing Afghanistan and Pakistan. With its 2,000-mile coastline and links with Arab countries, Somalia is also said to be ideal territory for the movement of guns and money to these groups and others. Some have even speculated that Bin Ladin himself will head for Somalia or Yemen if he is not already there.

    President George W. Bush said on December 11 that countries supporting or hosting terrorist groups would be devastated, giving the military campaign in Afghanistan as an example of the punishment awaiting them. Without naming states, he said that such countries would be regarded as hostile and could not escape the “patient justice” of the US. “They are being watched and will be held to account,” he said, adding that the war in Afghanistan had provided “the first glimpse” of the military devastation that the US will inflict on countries that fail to destroy “terrorist groups” within their borders. But although Bush did not mention Somalia by name, he has despatched US warships to patrol the Somali coast, and in October declared al-Ittihad al-Islami a terrorist group. In November he froze the assets of al-Barakat, Somalia’s largest commercial company, arguing that its operations had earned “millions of dollars for al-Qaeda murderers”.

    Other senior American officials, however, have been more direct than Bush, referring to Somalia by name, although they seem reluctant to commit Washington to military intervention. Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, said that “Somalia was clearly a country along with six [or] eight others, that have been involved in terrorism over some period of time,” adding however that he had “nothing to announce with respect to Somalia”. The six countries to which he referred include Iraq, Malaysia, Sudan, Yemen and the Philippines. The Philippines’ government is fighting a Muslim insurgency in Mindanao: the reason for its inclusion in this list, although most of the country is non-Muslim.

    The latest official to weigh in with a statement on the issue is secretary of state Colin Powell, who said on December 22 that Washington was taking a particular interest in Somalia because some of Bin Ladin’s followers were taking advantage of the absence of central government to hide there. “It [Somalia] makes itself ripe for misuse by those who would take that chaos and thrive on the chaos,” he said. “That is why we are really looking at Somalia, not to go after Somalia as a nation or a government, but to be specially sensitive to the fact that Somalia could be a place where people suddenly find haven.” General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said the same day that there is “strong indication of some ties in Somalia to al-Qaeda.” But he refused to confirm whether it would be a target for strikes: “I’m not saying it is and I’m not saying it isn’t. We are doing the kind of planning required but I’m not going into that.”

    The US and British governments have already secured the Kenyan government’s consent for their forces to use Kenya as a base for actions against Somalia. The Times (London) has reported that the deal was agreed between Geoff Hoon, the British defence secretary, and president Arap Moi of Kenya during recent talks in Nairobi. Hoon’s visit to Kenya came barely a week after a similar visit by Walter Kansteiner, the US assistant secretary for Africa. US forces are already patrolling the sky above and coast off Somalia, while allied warships in the Arabian Sea stop and search ships and boats bound for Somalia.

    More menacingly, a group of military officers have visited Somalia for talks with warlords and clan-leaders to identify anti-US Islamic groups and terrorist targets. Five officers visited the town of Baidoa, 160 miles southwest of Mogadishu, for talks with leaders of the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA), a faction allied with Ethiopia against al-Ittihad al-Islami and the transitional government in Mogadishu. The move is menacing because the RRA is a tool in Ethiopia’s foreign policy strategy of keeping Somalia – with which it has an intractable border dispute – weak and divided. Moreover, relying on information supplied by warlords is dangerous; they are notorious for trying to incriminate other warlords opposed to them, especially in Somalia, where the population is divided along clan-lines. Ethiopia is also keen to fight Somali Islamic groups, not only for religious reasons but also because of their opposition to its longstanding occupation of Somali territories.

    Keeping Somalia free from Islamic activism is linked to American foreign policy in the Horn of Africa as well as East Africa. In recent years Washington has organised Christian-dominated regimes in the region to side with Southern Christian warlords against the Sudanese government. The religious aspect of this policy has become more pronounced under Bush, who is close to US Church groups. But most American politicians appear to believe that the “war on terrorism” is really an anti-Islamic campaign, Republicans and Democrats alike. Susan E. Rice, US assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 1997 to 2001, seems to believe that there is a connection between Islam and the growth of “anti-US terrorism”.

    Writing in the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune, in an article entitled “Africa is breeding future Bin Ladens”, she argued: “America needs to change the conditions around the world that breed terrorism. Islam is a fast-growing religion in Africa. That in itself is not a concern; but the fact that some of Islam’s most radical and anti-American adherents are increasingly active from South Africa to Sudan, from Nigeria to Algeria, should be of great concern.” Ms Price did not explicitly call for military campaigns, but she did reveal a strong conviction that “radical Islam” is synonymous with “anti-Americanism”.

    The more belligerent Bush administration will not be content with the economic and political methods Ms Price advocates. The help that Bush has promised the states fighting terrorism is the military and financial means to wage war, but not to develop societies. His planned intervention in Somalia is such that it can only lead to further civil strife and clan-polarisation, and to religious confrontation.

    But this will not dissuade him if the intervention preserves the myth of a just war against global terrorism, and of Washington’s right to intervene where and whenever it pleases. Bush’s role in all this has already boosted American public support for him, and may secure his election for a second term.

    Like other Americans, Bush may also be seeking to avenge the humiliation of US marines (serving as UN peacekeepers) in 1993 at the hands of General Aideed, the Somali warlord whom they went into Somalia to try to capture. Aideed not only escaped but 18 marines were killed and 75 were wounded. Dead American soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, a spectacle that was captured by television-cameras and shown in the US and elsewhere.

    US and other Western troops serving with the UN were guilty of many human rights abuses, and became notorious for their racist, arrogant and overbearing behaviour. Over a thousand Somalis were killed by UN troops during the operation.

    Then, Bill Clinton withdrew the entire American peacekeeping force, in what was seen as a major and humiliating climbdown by the US. Republican Bush might be tempted to try to show that he is made of sterner stuff.

    Back to Top 

    Like this ? Vote for it to win in MMN Contest

    Did you like this article?

       

    Awesome, share it:

    Share Tweet Google Plus LinkedIn

    Thanks!

    Thanks for getting in touch with us.

    Click here (New window) to subscribe to our Newsletter

    • TAGS
    • about
    • above
    • account
    • actions
    • activism
    • adding
    • administration
    • advantage
    • advocates
    • affairs
    • Afghanistan
    • Africa
    • african
    • after
    • against
    • agreements
    • Algeria
    • alike
    • along
    • already
    • America
    • American
    • americanism
    • americans
    • announce
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Google+
    Pinterest
    WhatsApp
    Linkedin
    ReddIt
    Email
    Print
    Tumblr
    Telegram
    StumbleUpon
    VK
    Digg
    LINE
    Viber
      Previous articleBJPs Cynical Exploitation of Indian People Sentiments
      Next articleWhy The West Craves Materialism and Why The East Sticks To Religion
      M. A. Shaikh

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Myanmar/Burma Little hope for Rohingya IDPs
      Perspectives

      The Myth of ‘Bengali Migration’ to Arakan

      Faisal Mosque - Pakistan
      Perspectives

      Pakistan: How to Change Political Culture of Corruption and Rebuild the Future?

      Disappearing Palestine
      Perspectives

      In Hebron, Israel removes the last restraint on its settlers’ reign of terror

      MMN @ Google Play Store MMN @ Amazon Appstore

      MMN @ TwitterMMN @ FacebookMMN Feed

      Newsletter

      LATEST

      United States Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

      Game Over!

      James Zogby - February 16, 2019
      Myanmar/Burma Little hope for Rohingya IDPs

      The Myth of ‘Bengali Migration’ to Arakan

      February 16, 2019
      Faisal Mosque - Pakistan

      Pakistan: How to Change Political Culture of Corruption and Rebuild the Future?

      February 15, 2019

      MOST POPULAR

      New fault lines: Washington deploys ‘soft power’

      November 21, 2005

      We Need the ’70’s Version of John Kerry in NYC This...

      August 28, 2004

      A Call To The People Of The Book: "Let us join...

      October 1, 2005

      Partitioning: The Way Out of Iraq

      October 13, 2006
      Load more

      EDITOR PICKS

      United States Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

      Game Over!

      February 16, 2019
      Myanmar/Burma Little hope for Rohingya IDPs

      The Myth of ‘Bengali Migration’ to Arakan

      February 16, 2019
      Faisal Mosque - Pakistan

      Pakistan: How to Change Political Culture of Corruption and Rebuild the...

      February 15, 2019

      POPULAR POSTS

      167

      The Origin of Freemasonry: The Crusaders & Templars

      April 23, 2003

      Sharon to Peres: We Control America

      November 20, 2001
      29

      Afghanistan, the Taliban and the United States

      May 2, 2001

      POPULAR CATEGORY

      • Perspectives13431
      • Columns1130
      • Articles859
      • Platform37
      • Poetry12
      • Literature6
      Media Monitors Network (MMN)
      ABOUT US
      Media Monitors Network (MMN) is a non-profit, non-partial and non-political platform for those serious Media Contributors and Observers who crave to know and like to help to prevail the whole truth about current affairs, any disputed issue or any controversial issue by their voluntarily contributions with logic, reason and rationality.
      Contact us: [email protected]
      FOLLOW US
      • About MMN
      • Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Contact
      © Copyright © 2000 - MMN International Inc. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
      ResponsiveVoice-NonCommercial licensed under 95x15
      MORE STORIES

      Afghanistan: A New Policy needed to look beyond Karzai and Abdullah...

      October 25, 2009

      What is Beyond the Bush speech?

      June 28, 2002
      Edit with Live CSS
      Save
      Write CSS OR LESS and hit save. CTRL + SPACE for auto-complete.