Well i woke up this morning and heard that the United States military is now officially fighting in Somalia so i thought it was time for a little diary on the issue.
I’ve seen a lot of misinformation and/or missing information about what’s going on with regard to Somalia so it’s time to fill the gap.
About a year ago, when I was blogging full time (and for those interested, I will let you know when i can return to doing that), I was in communication with an Italian journalist about Somalia. The reason why this is important will be revealed in a minute but the fact remains that Somalia was once an Italian colony, a lot of Somalis speak Italian and there have been more Italians “on the ground” in Somalia than Americans over the past years, including during the “Black Hawk Down” era.
The mainstream story you’re probably hearing goes like this:
Ethiopia, the good and neighborly country to Somalia’s west, is concerned about the rise of the evil and hideous Islamic terrorists in Somalia and so a couple of weeks ago invaded the country. This was done in support of the “transitional government” of Somalia and to help that government only. The Islamic terrorists are on the run.
And now this week, first the United States Navy “bravely offered” to use its ships to help patrol the shore to “prevent Islamic forces from escaping”. And now within the last 24 hours, American warplanes are bombing Somalia and have “most likely” hit and killed Al-Qaeda leaders or senior figures. And for good measure, I’m now seeing reports that the scoundrels from the 1998 American Embassy bombings are possibly either hiding in Somalia or else have been killed already by America.
Ok there’s plenty missing and it would help to see a map of Somalia. First off, the BBC has its usual good coverage of the events, including some video you can see online. They also have an excellent timeline of the conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia which is also worth reading.
The first thing you need to realize is every time the journalists say “Somalia” they are not actually referring to the entire country. It is confusing because the map of “Somalia” acts like it is one unified country whereas it is not and has not been for a long time.
Roughly speaking, the top part that runs west to east is “Somaliland”. It is not recognized as an independent country by anyone but it functions exactly like one – it has its own government, passports, money, stamps, border controls, etc. It isn’t a paradise or anything but it is a stable, mostly peaceful area and has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on now.
Just below Somaliland and roughly overlapping that region is “Puntland”. Like Somaliland, it is more or less an independent, functioning country with its own government, laws, etc. It is a bit less stable and peaceful than Somaliland but is more or less uninvolved with what’s going on now.
Where the label “Somalia” is on the map and below, and most definitely including Mogadishu, is what the journalists are referring to as “Somalia” in the news reports. This is the part of the country that has been like a “wild west” for 15 years, run by various warlords and factions etc. When you think of Somalia and clans and gun markets and child soldiers and “Black Hawk Down”, that’s the southern portion you are thinking of.
Although it isn’t labeled on the map, there is a slice of Ethiopian territory bordering on what is officially Somalia that is called the “Ogaden” region. Just about all Somalis, from all the regions, are Muslim. The eastern part of Kenya, seen on the map as well as portions farther to the south, are also Muslim. And the eastern parts of Ethiopia are also inhabited by a lot of Muslim peoples.
This is important because the ruling factions of both Ethiopia and Kenya are Christian and of a different cultural construction.
Back in the 1970’s, the president of Somalia was a Marxist and used Soviet weaponry and backing to try and seize this Ogaden region from Ethiopia but failed. This was the second war between the “states” of Ethiopia and Somalia over this region and led to a lot of bad blood between them which carries forward to this day.
Fast forward to the early 1990’s and the United Nations, with the help of the United States (but not only) tried to stabilize the southern section of Somalia in order to provide humanitarian aid. This failed and once again I remind everyone that more non-American UN troops (especially Pakistanis) died during the operation than did Americans. But after Black Hawk Hown etc., the outside world more or less pulled out.
In 2000, the neighbors of Somalia met and decided to “proclaim” a transitional government for “all” of Somalia, but in reality just the southern, “ungoverned” portion. These neighbors most definitely included Kenya and Ethiopia, who have plenty to lose with an uncontrolled Somalia.
By the way, as the Bush administration got underway, they never opposed the transitional government in Somalia but they never really supported it either and more or less left it to “fend for itself”.
For four years this “government” did absolutely nothing and had to meet in Kenya because it couldn’t protect itself inside Somalia. One of the reasons the government did nothing was because it was formed out of quotas of the different tribes and clans and therefore the different factions had nothing to gain with working with the other factions.
Finally in 2004, the “government” moved itself to a town called Baidoa in the south. All it ever really “governed” was that town of Baidoa and it had absolutely no authority over Mogadishu (the former capital of the entire country) or either Somaliland or Puntland.
Now, the thing to understand here is the “president” of this “government is a man named Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. He is the FORMER president of Puntland and therefore his clan allegiances and other ties are to Puntland and NOT the southern section of Somalia. What is absolutely critical to understand about Mr. Ahmed is that he has been allied with Ethiopia ever since the 1970’s when the Somali government fought a war over the Ogaden region. During that time, Ahmed was a member of a guerilla (aka terrorist) group that was backed and armed by Ethiopia to fight the Somali government.
Therefore the majority of Somalis in the southern section, who have absolutely no love for Ethiopia, have been (rightly) calling the Ahmed government puppets of Ethiopia.
While the Ahmed government was “ruling” over the town of Baidoa, there was a move afoot inside the rest of southern Somalia to consolidate power. Remember that most Somalis are already Muslim. What happened was that, during the 15 years or so of no government, the local people needed ways of settling disputes without resorting to violence. Although it seems incredulous to some, it is actually a confirmation of various sociological principles stating that people will self-organize even without outside pressure to do so.
What ended up happening was that local clerics set up courts based on a combination of Somali traditions and Islamic jurisprudence to settle disputes. So if your neighbor stole your car, you could take him to court and hopefully get a fair settlement.
Over time, these courts became unified and more respected as “lawgivers” and the various clerics and “officials” of the court became a de facto sort of government. Starting around the end of 2005 they became known as the “Islamic Courts Union” and are the single most organized political unit in southern Somalia.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. I don’t know exactly when it started but around the time the Ahmed “government” moved to Baidoa, the United States started getting really interested in Somalia. A shadowy mercenary group whose name I will not list here for Google purposes somehow signed a contract with this “government” to provide security for it. This got shot down when the BBC and a few other media agencies noted that the “government” has absolutely no money (can’t collect taxes) so it could not pay American mercenary companies and therefore questions were asked as to who WAS going to be paying for it.
Meanwhile the U.S. Navy started patrolling outside and inside Somali territorial waters. Marines landed onshore in Puntland on at least one occasion to “catch terrorists”. Various Somali boats were seized and then flown to Kenya to be tried in a “court of law” for being terrorists. In other words, since the Ahmed “government” had no navy, the American taxpayer provided one for it. As far as I can tell from media reports, not a single person captured or killed by the Navy or Marines in Somalia since 2004 have been anything worse than an “ordinary” criminal – no terrorists at all.
The United States then started flying in “retired” American generals and other spooks to Mogadishu to meet with the various warlords in Mogadishu who were opposed to the Islamic Courts Union. I forget the official name but the Americans gave them an absolutely hilarious title like “Alliance for Anti-Terrorism and Freedom” or something Soviet-esque like that. Guns poured in and the Americans ordered the warlords to break up the Islamic Courts Union.
I should add here that a couple of these warlords now getting guns and money from American taxpayers were among the principle “enemies” during the “Black Hawk Down” days and they, or their militias, have almost certainly killed American troops before. But I think we’re all used to the saying the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
These warlords were never pro-American or really anti-Islamic Courts Union. They are more like mafia chiefs than “warlords” as their main interest is business. Although people think of Somalia as a wasteland, in reality business is booming and there’s lots of commerce. Even Coca-Cola has a plant just outside of Mogadishu.
Well all throughout early 2006, the Islamic Courts Union consolidated and ended up utterly smashing the “Alliance for Freedom” and for the first time in 15 years, the capital of Mogadishu was government by a single entity.
Needless to say, this made the Ethiopian dictatorship extremely nervous. They started pouring in thousands of “advisors” which the ICU accurately said were standard troops, not advisors. After the ICU consolidated their hold on Mogadishu and the big ports in the south, they started moving towards Baidoa by the end of 2006.
By October 2006, the Ethiopian government was officially “at war” with the ICU and there were a number of skirmishes in various border areas. Finally on December 24, Ethiopia launches a full-scale invasion and using advanced weaponry, including helicopter gunships and other things the ICU has never had, have pushed out the ICU from Mogadishu and scattered their forces. And now of course the U.S. is dropping bombs and patrolling the coast.
What’s bitterly ironic (and typical for the Bush administration) is that the ICU really was not a bad government for southern Somalia. They’re hardly the Taliban and while they were organized along Islamic religious lines, the Somali culture is far more tolerant and open than say, the Pashtun in Afghanistan. To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, the press is much freer and it is far less dangerous to be a journalist in Somalia than it is in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, America’s “super buddy” and recipient of all kinds of arms sales, is one of the worst dictatorships on Earth and the ruling coalition is one of the most repressive governments. Ethiopia is essentially a military dictatorship with a large and active army that regularly suppresses all dissent and has jailed, tortured and killed tens of thousands of dissenters and ethnic and religious minorities.
Djibouti, where the American planes and ships are stationed, is a tiny country to the north of Somalia which is essentially just a city (also conveniently named Djibouti). It is the home to a gigantic base and port for American and French troops and the American taxpayers have spent millions of dollars upgrading the facilities there so that it is a permanent home to American troops and sailors.
In an interesting side note, the much maligned Dubai Ports company was the contractor for the Djibouti port that the American military is now using in its actions in Somalia.
And that’s what’s going on in a nutshell. The Bush administration is using its fear of the ICU to back its hideous ally (Ethiopia) launch an illegal invasion of a neighboring, sovereign country and is now actively participating in the war. And now more innocent women, children and other human beings will die while this regional power struggle takes place.
And now you know…
Peace
