Ethiopia Out of Neocon Crosshairs

Why, you ask? Well, considering that their government has been helping the states defeat the UIC in neighboring Somalia by invading the nation and making way for U.S. Navy Seals to enter and make an even bigger mess... of course, that's after they helped the corrupt transitional government, again backed by the U.S.

A "diplomat" by the name of Nurudin Farah was in Somalia during the time of this unrest, and he watched the chaos unfold right before his very eyes. However, he paints a different picture that many people are used to seeing in neocon PR. According to the New York Times (thanks, Mr. Abu Khalil),

Over Christmas, Ethiopia, perhaps intending to provide a gift for the festive season to its American ally, invaded Mogadishu and expelled the Islamists. With thousands of Ethiopian troops in the country — and only a few African Union troops from elsewhere — savage battles took place in Mogadishu between the transitional government army (backed by Ethiopia) and the Islamists, supported by clan-based militiamen. Hundreds of people were killed. Now that there has been a lull in the fighting, it is regrettable that President Yusuf has both claimed victory and sworn not to engage in dialogue with the Islamists. I wonder if his refusal to negotiate from a point of strength will come back to haunt him.

I'm pretty sure that if the Ethiopian troops didn't come in, none of this would have happened. The Transitional Government, as weak as it was, had the full backing of the Ethiopian Army, and defeated the UIC. The UIC, however, wasn't as extremist as it was painted before. Why is that? That's because it represents the moderate majority of Somalian Muslims, confirmed by Mr. Farah:

Somalis are not religious extremists. But Islam has a revered place in their hearts and minds. The religion has cultural importance — Arabs opened up Somalia for their faith and their commerce around the ninth century; Mogadishu was a cosmopolitan city, where anyone from the Islamic world felt welcome.

Islam also has political importance. With the collapse of the Ottomans, the last Islamic empire, the Europeans — meeting in Berlin in the late 1800s — worked out a system by which portions of Somalia went to Italy, Britain and France. Because Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia, pleaded with his fellow Christians, claiming that his country was a Christian island in an Islamic ocean, Ethiopia was, in time, given a share in the land grab, the Somali-speaking Ogaden. This territory has remained the bane of Somalia’s blighted dealings with Ethiopia.

Political Islam wasn't part of the Transitional Government, under which anarchy prevailed, but it was only part of the UIC, who wished to establish the version of Sharia without coercion. Unfortunately, PR made it seem so, and fear of a "growing Islamic ocean" around Ethiopia lead to their eventual rising up to arms and enlisting the U.S. government for help.

Another point of interest is that the African Union didn't do much to quell this violence, possibly in fear of a U.S. reprisal should their interests be opposed. Locally, it is possible that U.S. Navy Seals overpower any of the forces present in Somalia.

Ethiopia also gained the favor of the U.S. government, as they reap the aid much needed by enlisting in the so-called "War on Terror" in their bid for land against the UIC, and hiring influential "lobbyists" who would preserve American interests in Ethiopia (Center for Public Integrity). Aid increased from $928,000 to $16.8 M, U.S. dollars, of course. However, with such strong military aid, the country is bereft of human rights. Ethiopia is a country with a bad human rights record, and among their violations include, but are not limited to, political arrests, oppression of women, exploitation of children, religious persecution, and more. This is brought to light in an HRW report on Ethiopia (albeit old, it contains information relevant to the article from The Center for Public Integrity. The same can be said for most countries that continuously receive U.S. aid, such as Egypt. But remember that the Ethiopian government is serving the interests of the neocon administration, so we can't really say that this is not a no-brainer.

Honestly, all intervention must stop, and the Transitional Government and the UIC should commence talks as soon as possible to end this situation. It is sad to see another nation with a low GDP and designated as one of the poorest of Third-World Countries being exploited by other nations. I'm pretty sure that this might change for the better should a Democrat or 3rd Party be elected to power save for these neocon bastards who have been responsible for the mess that we are in today.

Salaam, from Saracen