Somalia has not been a unified country since 1991 when the dictator was overthrown. The 1990s were a time of battling warlords in the south and political seperation in the north. The 2000s have seen an attempted rebooting of the country and a Jihad. The situation is grim and can possibly turn into Taliban Afghanistan bad.
The geopolitical situation is like so:
North
- Puntland is trying to reboot the federal republic. It has done a good job at securing the peace in its zone but has been unable to export the idea of a unified, peaceful Somalia.
- Somaliland has long been part of Somalia in name only. While Somalia had been a Italian-colony, Somaliland was owned by the British. Somaliland continues the British-style of governance by combining local tribal councils with western-style parliamentary government. Somaliland could care less about Somalia as they seek their full independence.
South
- Islamic Courts Union is straight-up bad news. Imagine if the Taliban were in Africa. These guys have executed people for watching the World Cup on television! These people have used Islam as a weapon and are sweeping the south after capturing Mogadishu. They are currently focused fighting the loose alliance of warlords, the official Somali-government in exile, and Ethiopia.
- Everyone else is composed of the Somalia government in exile with some presence in Southwestern Somalia, warlords, the rapidly collapsing Jubaland. These are being by Ethiopia who has declared its opposition to the Islamic Courts Union.
3 comments:
First of all, the transition government in Somalia is not recognized by most people in Somalia. It was a government that was created, not elected by outside parties. Somalians did not have a say in it, so how can it be their governemnt. Secondly, Im not so sure if the ICU is bad for Somalia. If you read into the history of Somalia since the early 90s, one will see that the country was ruled by warlords. We all remember "Black Hawk Down." We wanted to get rid of a warlord in Somalia similar to what the ICU has been doing. Yes, we might not agree that the ICUs laws are perfect and equal, but they are definetely much better than the way Somalia was governed prior to them taking power. They have not executed anyone for watching football on tv as this blog states, they have only threatened to do so. Even if they do, look at all the good things they have done. Warlords are not running loose in the country killing people indiscriminantly for control of resources. There is stability in the country after a long long time. People can walk out on the streets without having to worry about being robbed or even shot. Many, infact the majority of people in Somalia now feel that they are better off (read the news) then they were before the ICU took over. Yes the ICU may sympathize with Al Qaeda but that is none of our business. Most people in the Muslim world may sympathize with Al Qaeda. This is the political atmosphere right now. So your statement that ICU is bad news for Somalia is a mere personal opinion and not fact . The majority of Somalians will completely disagree with you and thats the real news that people should pay attention to and not what some of us might think. When will we get it in our heads that a Western style democracy will not work for everyone. In fact many countries do not want that. I think the U.S. should learn to be a good global citizen by building bridges and glueing gaps with the rest of the world rather than be the big bad bully that everyone else seems to see us as except us. Open thy eyes and thou shall see the truth.
"They have not executed anyone for watching football on tv as this blog states"
Yes, they have. http://inbrief.threatswatch.org/2006/09/islamic-courts-union-consolida/
The ICU are warlords, just with a new bent.
"majority of people in Somalia now feel that they are better off (read the news)"
Really? Is that in all of Somalia or just ICU land? What about Somililand? Are they pro-ICU? Do you have any sources you can cite besides "the news"?
The Nazis, Communists, and Taliban all brought peace to their countries. The fact is the ICU is just like the above groups, its expansionist and will kill anything in its way (it already as declared Jihad against Ethopia!)
"Yes the ICU may sympathize with Al Qaeda but that is none of our business."
So did the Taliban and we didn't care. The fact is the United States is engaged in a war against Islamic Fascism (http://catholicgauze.blogspot.com/2006/08/getting-to-know-enemy-islamist-fascism.html). Any threat must be dealt with right away before it can strike us.
When good men do nothing, evil triumphs.
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