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Ethiopia hints at Somali pullout
Ethiopia is prepared to withdraw troops from Somalia even if the government is not stable, Ethiopia's PM says.
I don't regard that as a bad thing, assuming they're willing to come back if needed.
Not that anybody ever listens to me, since I'm just an old crank, but I'd suggest a policy of "thump and leave" as the standard for future operations of this type.
When some bad guy organization like the Powerful Islamic Courts takes power in this or that failed state, send in an army to beat the crap out of them and hand over power to someone more palatable. Then leave. When the Powerful Islamic Courts comes skulking back in and overthrows the more palatable bunch of crooks, send in the same or a similar army to beat the crap out of them and hand over power to another bunch that's more compatible. After no more than a half dozen iterations of the comedy the locals will get the idea that the Powerful Islamic Courts or whomever isn't going to be allowed by the civilized world to take power and oppress people. Maybe they'll start keeping the bad guys out themselves, or the Powerful Islamic Courts will decide that they were actually fighting for individual liberty all along.
As a side benefit, the Powerful Islamic Courts will be busy bumping off the more rapacious of the more palatable crooks, so that by the time they get the idea to go try their act somewhere else or reform the remaining lot will be more amenable to guidance from the civilized world.
It's a law of nature that gangs of Islamic hard boyz are better at setting up quagmires than they are at actually fielding competent armies. They get whupped each and every time they run into a remotely disciplined force. Their intent is always to make the festivities more like a one-on-one contest, where discipline and teamwork give way to individual prowess, thereby upping the odds of winning the encounter to 50-50 rather than the more usual 50-1. |
Posted by: Fred 2008-08-29 |
