… and about time, too.
Islamists in Somalia have for some time been plotting to wipe out Ethiopia, inviting fellow jihadists to Somalia to help wage war against Ethiopia. All because of the support Ethiopia has been giving to the interim government of Somalia, much to the displeasure of the islamist forces.
Apart from anything else, there is a personal angle for me. In my youth, I spent many a happy moment in Ethiopia. After all the dear people of that precious land have been through in the past 20 years, I would hate to see them destabilised in this way.
Ethiopia had no option but to attack the islamist targets. Their sovereignty is at stake, and they must do what they can to defend it. The islamist militants are no match for Ethiopia, and President Zenawi has reportedly declared that he could wipe them out in ‘one or two weeks’.
I wish the army and people of Ethiopia the best of luck as they fight the islamist threat. If they manage to succeed in this, they would have accomplished for themselves the very thing that Western powers have signally failed to do in their own backyards.
December 26th, 2006 at 9:08 am
I do not like unnecessary conflict. But following the continual calls coming from southern Somalia for jihad, the doublespeak of the Islamists of calling for peace while seizing ever more territory and the stated UIC aim of creating a ‘Greater Somalia’ which includes Ethiopian and Kenyan land, I support the Ethiopian action.
I feel for the innocent Somalis caught up in this war. It seems peace continues to elude them and the former warlords of Mogadishu have been replaced with religious Islamic fundamentalist warlords determined to force people to live their lives in a certain way.
Surely it is only a matter of time before Bremner, Bird and Fortune devote an edition of their polemic to Somalia. I can visualise it now, out of context analysis of how Ethiopian action has nothing to do with responding to a threat on their doorstep and how the unseen hand of America is behind everything.
December 26th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
According to the International Herald Tribune they’re doing quite well - though there appear to be fears that the Islamists might resort to a guerrilla war.
December 27th, 2006 at 2:46 pm
I was going to comment until I saw Tony’s above and in case you don’t know him, he’s an expert on the region. I read both your post and Tony’s comment with great interest.
December 27th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
Hi James
as it happens, I know Tony reasonably well, and am an ardent admirer of his essays on conflict in that region.
Like him I await the skewed analysis by Bremner, Bird and Fortune. Can’t be much longer now.