U.S. Involvement in Somalia: "Black Hawk Down" All Over Again?

Great... This is just what we needed. About a week ago, the U.S. navy launched air raids into villages outside Mogadishu, killing innocents and "terrorists" (who aren't so because most of them if not all of them have yet to commit a single act of terrorism).

According to Al Jazeera,

The US military has launched air raids against fighters in Somalia, saying they are suspected members of al-Qaeda. Abdirahman Dinari, a Somalia government spokesman, confirmed the offensive on Tuesday. A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least one AC-130 gunship was used in the attack. Dinari told AFP: "We know that a US gunship raided targets of al-Qaeda in southern Somalia sometime yesterday afternoon. "The target was a small village called Badel where the terrorists were hiding. And the gunship did hit on the exact target."

Notice the key word here: "saying". Of course, "saying" could mean hiding the alterior motives of the U.S. Navy in the region, all in the name of "democracy" and "freedom". What pisses me off further is that the Somali government has proved that it is indeed a puppet government by agreeing to such an airstrike on Somalis, either innocent or guilty; you might argue that it already did prove that a day earlier by ruling out negotiations with the UIC. Just what we needed for "progress"; heck, it's indicative that the government will become tyrannical. What's next? The Saudi government agreeing to a U.S. military occupation of Mecca? (Ok, maybe not this far, but the governments of the Middle East have been so compliant with neoconservative demands so far). But there's more.

Dinari said there were casualities from the raids. "Absolutely, a lot of people were killed. So many dead people were lying in the area, but we do not know who is who, but the raid was a success," Dinari said.

Of course it was a success, you prick: it killed people without discrimination. What did you expect?

Ali Jama, the information minister, said the attacks hit more than one target. "The information we have is that a few other places were hit near the Kenyan borders during the US raids," he said. "Many people were killed and I think the terrorists were eliminated."

The problem is that such thinking has lead to the deaths of many many people, whether in Iraq, Somalia, Palestine, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, etc., or wherever else there is conflict involving the deaths of many innocents.

For once, the Arab League came to its senses and condemned the strike which has killed too many people, and expressed their hopes that Somalia would not decay to Iraq's situation. And only days later did the U.S. plan to "visit" the strike site... which is most likely going to be a cover-up, pretty much like the so-called "faulty intel" cover-up used by the U.S. leaders to influentially peddle their supporters into supporting the ongoing aggression against Iraq. Then, you've got the U.S.-backed Ethiopian army claiming that this is not going to be a repeat of Iraq. Well, thing is, until now, it is a repeat of Iraq because we have a foreign army occupying Somalia.

The people of Mogadishu are living in constant fear, so says the BBC. Reports indicate that businesses aren't being as successful and people are not able to satisfy their needs and demands. While the Ethiopian and American governments are pursuing their own interests in the country, they are also hindering the country's progress, leaving Somalis without a government. It's clear to anyone that the situation has worsened: Somalis are living again in a state of anarchy and disorder. You might find this strange coming from a radical libertarian, just a step shy from anarchism, but I do believe that there should be some order. While it might seem that a transition from anarchism to at least a limited government might be easy, it actually isn't because the people of Somalia must be accustomed to and taught the principles of such a state so they may rule their country efficiently. However, we still have the condemnable U.S. involvement in the region, and this doesn't look good for the people of Somalia who yearned for order and stability.

On the bright side, we can see how clear the motives of the U.S. military are, and the cover-up is already stinking. According to The Independent, U.S. officials admitted that they have missed their precise set of targets, killing instead a group of nomads. However, remember that the intel on this one was supposedly "credible". If that alone wasn't enough to expose the alterior motives of the U.S. government in Somalia, The Independent's Richard Dowden, who is also the director of the Royal African Society, has an even more shocking revelation. He was being pushed around by U.S. Navy SEALs... that is, until

the Americans made their biggest mistake: "Whites over here. Somalis over there." The Somalis were ordered to lie down to be searched, while non-Somalis were searched standing up. "Treat us like human beings," shouted one Somali, "We are human beings." The Americans did not listen. From that moment I knew Somalia would defeat them. It is the only time I have ever been assaulted in Africa.

It's points like this that I don't blame anti-Americans for being anti-American, except in cases where people are anti-American for the sake of being anti-American (i.e. racist). He relates to us his biggest fear: that the U.S. Navy will repeat 1992 again:

Almost a year later, I was back in Mogadishu after 18 US special forces were killed when they tried to capture General Aideed - the Blackhawk Down incident. More than 1,000 Somalis were killed that night. I went to the site of the helicopter and watched kids swinging and bouncing on the broken blades. A crowd gathered and my translator suggested we move. I asked why. "The crowd, they think you are American," came the reply. I said: "And what if I was American?" He smiled: "They would kill you."

Shocking, to say the least. But it comes to show that the U.S. government as it is now, and as it was ever since the Cold War, has, is and probably will be by far the biggest threat to world peace and stability. And if the sea and air weren't enough, the U.S. Navy is probably going to creep up to Mogadishu by foot, not by propellers or ramjets... if the worse comes to worst, that is.

R.T. Naylor's spiel on this issue isn't too comforting either. Stepping in the way of U.S. Interventionism, let alone the invading force of a neighboring country like Ethiopia, is itself a risk that only a suicidal person would take. I guess that's why there are a lot of suicide bombers in the MidEast and Sri Lanka, not to defend their actions when it comes to attacking civilians. But many people out there would rather die on their feet than live on their knees. The Somali people could do that, and that alone might mean the deaths of many innocent Somalis. I would agree that in this case the blood of tyrants has to be shed in order to keep liberty and equity alive. The sad thing is that this has become too political of an issue, and many people are sufferring just for the sake of bickering parties who have no legitimate or real authority over a country that itself is decaying into war. The U.S. and Ethiopia should pull out and the Somali government should re-establish talks not only with the UIC, but with the warlords, so they may drop the AK-47 and rule their nation by law, not anarchy.

Salaam, from
Saracen