Climate of War grows in Somalia/Ethiopian Area of Africa

Politics International Politics
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EDIT:
Titlt of thread has been changed from original -“Islamist Somalia Declare Jihad on Christian Ethiopia” to reflect the evolving issues pertaining to the the Somalian/Ethiopian area.

Now that Somalia’s political vacuum has been filled with fleeing radical Islamists, they are commencing their spread by declaring Jihad on Christian Ethiopia.
And so it begins…

[quote]Ethiopia faces Somali ‘jihad’
28.10.2006. 14:01:50

Somalia’s powerful Islamist movement has stepped up recruitment for a “jihad” or holy war against Ethiopia, as thousands in the capital protested against the alleged presence in Somalia of troops from the neighbouring state.

More than 6,000 people in Mogadishu cheered and railed against mainly Christian Ethiopia, which has denied numerous reports that it is sending thousands of troops to defend Somalia’s weak government from attacks by the Islamist.

“We are telling you that from today, we are attacking the Ethiopian forces wherever they are inside Somalia and jihad has begun,” Islamist leader Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told the excited crowd.

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“I’m calling on everybody that has a gun in his house to take it up and participate in the fight against the Ethiopian invaders,” he said.

“Every one of us must swear not to abstain from this call to jihad and the first man to swear is me,” said Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the executive arm of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

Sheik Ahmed was once considered a moderate in the movement, which seised Mogadishu from warlords in June after months of fierce fighting and have now expanded their territory to include most of southern and central Somalia.

The response to his call, which came after the Islamists’ supreme leader declared a start to the long-threatened holy war against Ethiopia on Monday, was generally enthusiastic, with many young men vowing to fight to the death.

“We are ready; my family of eight is ready; we are all ready to wage jihad to defeat our beloved religion against the invaders,” said Ulusow Abdalla, one teenage participant at the rally in southern Mogadishu’s Tarbuunka district.

Another teenager, Said Mucaawiya Hashim Abdalla said he would join the ranks of the Islamists whose forces are close to the seat of the transitional government in Baidoa, where defences have been erected.

“If you die, you will be given very important gifts by Allah, and if you return alive, you will live honourably,” he said. “That is why jihad is very important.”

Islamist officials said earlier this week an estimated 3,000 people had enlisted for the holy war since Monday.

“We have opened seven posts here in Mogadishu for volunteers who are ready to go to jihad,” Ahmed Abdulahi, a senior Islamist official, told the crowd.

“I’m telling you that every Somali individual is wanted to come to those centres for recruitment; then we can start defeating our long-standing enemies and the enemies of Allah,” he said. “The enemy of Allah has come nearer and is intending to attack.”

Ethiopia has confirmed it has sent military trainers and advisers to Somalia to help the government but has rejected reports of thousands of uniformed soldiers on Somali territory.

On Tuesday, the Islamists claimed to have captured an Ethiopian officer in clashes that killed at least 51 people north of the southern port of Kismayo, but Addis Ababa has not responded to the allegations.

Ethiopia has vowed to protect itself and the Somali government from the “jihadists,” whom, together with the transitional government, it accuses of links with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

The Islamists deny this, insisting their sole aim is to restore stability in Somalia.

The rising tensions between the Islamists and the government and worsening security in south and central Somalia have forced tens of thousands to flee into neighbouring Kenya and added to concerns of widespread conflict.

Somalia has been without a functioning central administration since 1991 and the government, formed in neighbouring Kenya in 2004, has been wracked by infighting and its inability to assert control over much of the country.
www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/reg … 5&region=5[/quote]

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[quote=“TainanCowboy”]Now that Somalia’s political vacuum has been filled with fleeing radical Islamists, they are commencing their spread by declaring Jihad on Christian Ethiopia.
And so it begins…[/quote]

Fleeing from where? It seems like it’s the “government” that’s been doing the fleeing, in spite of backing in arms and money from the US.

And, yes, Somalia has long had territorial claims against Ethiopia. The Islamists have said they will pursue those claims, as previous Somali regimes have, while the “government” has offered to give them up in exchange for Ethiopian backing.

The jihad is about driving Ethiopian troops out of Somalia, where they are intervening in a Somalian civil war.

(And the jihadis will probably get flattened.)

[quote]Somalia has always maintained that Ethiopia occupies a part of its territory - the Ogaden region - ceded by British colonialists to Ethiopia.

Ethiopia disagrees and the failure of the Organisation of African Union (now the AU) to resolve the dispute led Somalia to declare war on Ethiopia in 1964. It also sponsored an Ethiopian rebel movement against the then-government of Emperor Haile Selassie.

But it is the 1977 Ethiopia-Somalia war that lingers more prominently in the minds of the people of the Horn of Africa.

The conflict was not only bloody but also costly to both nations and it did not in any way alter the situation in Somalia’s favour.

It is also worth noting that as Somalia slipped into anarchy, the neighbours were sponsoring each other’s rebel movements.

Threat

No-one understands better than the current Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi what a threat an unfriendly Somalia poses to Ethiopia.

He knows Somalia very well, as he lived in Mogadishu when he was a liberation leader in the 1980s.

He came to power toppling Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, the same year the Somali government collapsed.

With his ascent to power came the search for a favourable regime in Somalia.

Somalia’s interim government, led by long-time Ethiopian ally Abdullahi Yusuf, has offered Ethiopia this hope.

Thus any other power threatening to overthrow Mr Yusuf’s administration will be viewed as an aggressor against Ethiopia that must be fought at whatever costs.[/quote]

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5201470.stm

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[quote=“TainanCowboy”]Now that Somalia’s political vacuum has been filled with fleeing radical Islamists, they are commencing their spread by declaring Jihad on Christian Ethiopia.
And so it begins…[/quote]
:doh:

  1. It began a while ago.
  2. Like it or not, the Islamists taking over was the beginning of the end.
  3. Ethiopia not been an entirely benign force in the region, but it’s attention was focused on Eritrea.
  4. Somalia and Ethiopia have long harbored one another’s rebels and fostered division across the border.
  5. Religious identity is an issue; it’s far from the only one. Try to see some of the rest of the picture.
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Interesting take on the article by the both of you, Thanks.
I’m still not certain what either of your views/opinions are on the establishment of a sharia law radical Muslim nation in the remains of the Somalian society.
And particularly, as this was the main substance of the article, their declaration of jihad against their mainly Christian neighboring country…Ethiopia.

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I’m not a fan of sharia law, but political order is a fundamental good. In the very short time that the Islamists were in nominal control of the capital they seemed to doing a far better job than might be expected given the rule of fundamentalists elsewhere. The provisional gov’t was a joke: ineffective, divided, a recipe for further strife.

Well, it’s been said that all that guns can do has been accomplished in Mogadishu. Somolia needs peace. It looked like it was about get some. Now, it won’t.

Whether the Islamists started this with their declaration (which I doubt), are rallying support (which they already seemed to have) or are merely formalizing undeclared hostilities matters little to me. There’s been no peace in Somolia for a long, long time, and too little peace in the region.

Ethiopia’s Christian status matters not at all to me; its Christian and military gov’ts have begun (or done little to avoid) wars civil, regional, and secessionist. Those wars have been, in part, responsible for Ethiopia’s infamous famines, which claimed how many millions of lives?

Within the region, there are many reasons for unrest. One of the reasons is religion; there are many others. Attributing this conflict to the Islamists alone is a mistake. A mistake that might prejudice external powers against the one power capable of imposing peace, a peace that–from a too brief first impression–may have been acceptable to all those who’d have to live with & under it.

I hope this better explains my views on this one.

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I’m opposed to any kind of fundamentalist Islamic government anywhere, and this one seems to be gearing up as one of the worst- they’re already beating women for not covering up, they banned people from watching soccer and killed a 13-year-old boy for violating the ban.

They’re also becoming a haven for terrorists- it’s a pretty bad outcome all around, but given the previous situation of total chaos and lawlessness, it’s understandable why many Somalis have accepted them. It’s a close prallel to Afghanistan, where the Taliban was originally greeted with relief after the devastation of the warlord period (which is when most of the destruction in Kabul actually happened- under both Russian and Taliban occupation Kabul was under a united government and was spared from fighting.)

As for jihad against Christian Ethiopia, as Jaboney points out, the two countries have been finding over colonial-era boundaries since Somalia gained independence, under a variety of governments and ideologies, from absolute monarchies to Marxist dictatorships to, now, Islamic Fundamentalism. I don’t see this as the New Crusades.

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I completely agree and that is why I found Hitler and Mussolini so good because they made the trains run on time and we know how important that was.

Also, Stalin and his policies effectively kept stability in Central Asia and Eastern Europe so never mind the human cost of tens of millions dead with freedom denied to them.

Also, we are seeing a lot more crime in China since Mao’s day but nevermind about the 60 million to 100 million dead there.

Also, I have to agree with the Taliban thing. I mean they really did bring stability to Afghanistan. That is why since they left, 4 million Afghan refugees have returned but look at all the trouble and instability they are bringing with them!

Finally, given that no one really wants to do anything about Somalia and IF Bush and his team decide to take military action against the Islamicist government, we can all KNOW right here and now that OIL is about to be discovered somewhere in that benighted nation, I guess the best thing is to have an Islamicist government that beheads women, does not allow them to work, stones people, etc. because I mean really, what more can we expect of these people. AND we must have stability. That is a political good.

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This situation has been continuing to build. The legitimate transitional government of Somalia, as much as it has one, is joining with Ethiopian forces to attempt to retake a small town which is now surrounded by the Islamist military. Its getting worse and Ethiopia is stepping up its actions in the area.

[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061203.wsomali1203/BNStory/International/home]Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, fears the emergence of a neighbouring Islamic state and has acknowledged sending military advisers to help the Somali government.

A confidential UN report recently obtained by The Associated Press said there were up to 8,000 Ethiopian troops in the country supporting the government. Last week, Ethiopia’s parliament authorized military action if attacked by the Islamic movement, which has declared holy war on Ethiopia over its troop incursions.

The UN report said Ethiopia’s regional rival, Eritrea, had 2,000 troops in the country.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another. The transitional government was formed with the help of the UN two years ago, but has struggled to assert its authority.

The U.S. circulated a draft UN resolution late Friday that would authorize the deployment of a regional military force to protect the fragile government. The troops would likely come from a seven-nation East African group, but would not include Somalia’s neighbours, like Ethiopia.[/url]

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So what’s the best way to eliminate religious hatred and intolerance? Most likely it’s the new American way, videlicet, the application of equal and opposite religious hatred and intolerance.

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Hey spook, America has freedom of religion, “a civil right guaranteed by the 1st amendment to the US constitution”.

Why don’t you ask the Muslims if they’ll embrace that in their countries too.

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Eliminate religion? :idunno:

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Yes, religion is evil and must be stamped out. THAT is the problem facing the world. Much better to have rational communist/socialist/existentialist/nihilist/materialist (take your pick) views as these have clearly been far superior.

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And the fighting grows in Somalia. Here we see pictures of the “freedom fighter” of the “Islamic Courts Union (UIC)”…hmmm…nothing too ‘religious’ about that name, eh?
(Burkha Babes & Kalashnikovs…Woot!)



KISMAYO - - SOMALIA epa00880713 Veiled Somali women hold Kalashnikov guns during a demonstration held by the Islamic Courts Union (UIC) in the port town of Kismayo, in southern Somalia, Friday 08 December 2006. During the demonstration the Islamist vowed to protect the country from foreign fighters after after the UN approved a peace force. The UN resolution backs the sending of an 8,000strong African force to support Somalias weak government and also called for the easing of an arms ban to let the interim government rearm. EPA/IBRAHIM ELMI EPA / STR / IBRAHIM ELMI
Shouldn’t these children be in school?..rhetorical Q of course.

KISMAYO - - SOMALIA epa00880715 Tears run down the face of Mohamed Abdi, 14, as he cries during a demonstration held by the Islamic Courts Union (UIC) in the port town of Kismayo, in southern Somalia, Friday 08 December 2006. During the demonstration the Islamist vowed to protect the country from foreign fighters after after the UN approved a peace force. The UN resolution backs the sending of an 8,000strong African force to support Somalias weak and also called for the easing of an arms ban to let the interim government rearm. EPA/IBRAHIM ELMI EPA / STR / IBRAHIM ELMI

MOGADISHU - MOGADISHU - SOMALIA epa00881107 Somali students who joined the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in the last 20 days parade during a demonstration called by the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in Mogadishu on Friday 8 December, 2006. During the demonstration the Islamist vowed to protect the country from foreign fighters after after the UN approved a peace force. The UN resolution backs the sending of an 8,000strong African force to support Somalias weak government and also called for the easing of an arms ban to let the interim government rearm. EPA/IBRAHIM ELMI EPA/ABUKAR ALBADRI EPA / STR / ABUKAR ALBADRI

The fighting continues just days after the UN approved plans to send “peacekeepers” to Somalia - a move the Islamists reject.

They are not impressed.

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hoo hum… :wanker:

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Hezzies on the scene in Mogadishu.

[quote]Somalia: Hezbollah militants operate in Mogadishu, govt. official says
Wed. December 13, 2006 08:26 am., Mohamed Abdi Farah

b[/b] The Transitional Federal Government based in Baidoa city, southwest of Somalia has on Wednesday accused the Islamic Courts Union of bringing members of Hezbollah Islamist group in the country but the ICU officials denied the allegation.

Salad Ali Jelle, the deputy minister of defense in the transitional federal government, told the local media overnight that Islamic Courts had clamored for foreign fighters including militants belonging to the Islamist group of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“For the past weeks, militants from Lebanon, Afghanistan and other countries in middle East have been arriving in the capital to join the ICU to fight against the legitimate government in Baidoa,” Mr. Jelle said. “We are full aware of that Islamists were receiving both soldiers and weapons from Eritrea,”

However, the Islamic Courts authorities in the capital dismissed the allegation from the TFG as untrue and baseless.

“we are absolutely denying that we are harboring foreign militants in the capital and we see the government accusation as a policy to demonize the image of Islamic Courts Union which was founded to restore law and order in the country,” Sheik Yusuf Mohamed Said Inda-Ade, the chief security of ICU said referring to Jele’s remarks as provocative step.

Sheik Inda-Ade said the Islamic Courts know the government in Baidoa as puppet of Ethiopia and has nothing to do with the country’s future because he said they failed to restore peace in Somalia since its creation two years ago.

The counter accusations from Somalia officials could undermine the peace efforts by the Arab League, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) between the transitional federal government and Council of Islamic Courts.
somalinet.com/news/world/Somalia/5731[/quote]

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More news of the same…Somalia is collapsing into a civil war that looks to quickly end as an established al quieda and terrorist haven. Not that it hasn’t been that way for quite a while.

Somalia on brink of religious war as PM flees country
[i]"SOMALIA yesterday appeared on the brink of a war that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa in a religious conflict between Christians and Muslims.

Troops of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC), which controls Mogadishu and the south of the country, were said to be encircling the last stronghold of the weak, but internationally recognised, government and its Ethiopian allies at Baidoa.

The Somali prime minister, who has flown out of Baidoa, said that “war may become inevitable”. Witnesses said both sides were digging trenches near a frontline town.

Foreign fighters, thought to be from countries such as Eritrea, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Chechnya, were reported to be arriving in Mogadishu in large numbers to join the Islamic militias’ preparations for fighting."[/i]
(background excerpt)
[i]"A COUNTRY IN CHAOS

ISLAMIC COURTS: Somalia has not had a proper government for 15 years. Instead, warlords have been fighting for control of territory. The Union of Islamic Courts, which now controls most of southern Somalia and the capital, Mogadishu, was formed from local Islamic courts and became the country’s strongest fighting force. The US says it is linked to terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, but it denies it.

TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT: In January 2004 warlords and politicians signed a deal to set up a new parliament. After its inauguration in Kenya, politicians elected Abdullahi Yusuf as president by a large majority. Mr Yusuf, isolated in the tiny town of Baidoa, has called for African Union peacekeepers to help disarm the militias. Ethiopian troops have moved in to help defend the parliament’s members."[/i]

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Wow! Muslims bad, Christians good. Thanks for the reminder. :America:

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Doesn’t all your spinning make you dizzy? It certainly appears that way.
Last time I checked Somalia was around 90+% moslem and has been for a long long time. Of course their is a lot of animists and “others” included in that count.

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[quote=“TainanCowboy”]Hezzies on the scene in Mogadishu.

[quote]Somalia: Hezbollah militants operate in Mogadishu, govt. official says
Wed. December 13, 2006 08:26 am., Mohamed Abdi Farah

b[/b] The Transitional Federal Government based in Baidoa city, southwest of Somalia has on Wednesday accused the Islamic Courts Union of bringing members of Hezbollah Islamist group in the country but the ICU officials denied the allegation.

Salad Ali Jelle, the deputy minister of defense in the transitional federal government, told the local media overnight that Islamic Courts had clamored for foreign fighters including militants belonging to the Islamist group of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

[/quote][/quote]

Hezbollah? Doesn’t make sense-why would extremist Sunni Fundamentalists already getting aid and fighters from Salafist groups bring in Shi’ites supported by Iran?

Methinks the Deputy Minister is just throwing names in to try and scare up support, unnecessarily I think- the al Qaeda supporters heading into Somalia are scary enough.

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I’m getting the overwhelming urge to jump on my horse and ride to Somalia to smite the bej—s out of some Turbanites.