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| Africa Horn |
| Europe attempting to promote peaceful solution in Somalia |
| 2006-12-29 |
| Aethiopia's already come up with a solution. Go back to solving Darfar. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 Caroline Glick on Europe's role: Last June an al-Qaida aligned jihadist movement called the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) took control of Mogadishu and so consolidated its control over most of Somalia. The ICU moved swiftly to institute Sharia law, and so transformed Somalia into a Taliban-like state. The legitimate Somali government, the Transitional Federal Government - a secular regime run by various warlords and tribal chiefs - was isolated in the provincial capital of Baidoa. The ICU is strongly supported by Eritrea. And although it fights neither Americans nor Jews, it is also sponsored by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen and Libya. In November, the ICU declared jihad against Ethiopia and announced its intention to conquer large chunks of Ethiopian and Kenyan territory. According to the US, the ICU was also planning to assassinate Ethiopian and Kenyan political leaders, and carry out terror attacks in Ethiopia. Surrounded by Sudan and Eritrea to its west and north and the ICU to its east, the government in Addis Ababa decided to help the TFG overthrow the ICU and reinstate its authority. In just four days, it succeeded, as Thursday morning TFG and Ethiopian forces took control of Mogadishu, while ICU forces were on the run. Unfortunately, in today's world, apparently nothing breeds condemnation and hatred more than military victories against jihadists. The Organization of the Islamic Conference has called daily for an Ethiopian pullout from Somalia. So too, the Arab League demands that Ethiopia retreat. With their people on the ground retreating with the ICU, as has been their consistent policy towards Israel, so in Somalia the Arabs and Muslims wish to win at the negotiating table what they cannot achieve on the battlefield. In this pursuit, they enjoy support from a familiar quarter. Five days before Ethiopia invaded Somalia, the EU attempted to mediate the conflict in a manner that would prolong and legitimize the ICU's control of Somalia. On December 20, EU mediator Louis Michel shuttled between Baidoa and Mogadishu. Later that day he triumphantly announced, "There is a strong, good will by both parties to resolve this conflict with political dialogue." When word of the Ethiopian invasion got out, Michel - like his associates in the EU Secretariat - moved immediately to condemn Ethiopia. Sunday he said, "I condemn in the strongest terms the escalation of the conflict in Somalia into an all-out war and appeal for all Somali sides to cease immediately all hostilities. I express my deepest concern on the reported involvement of foreign forces in Somalia and urge all external players to refrain immediately from intervening militarily in Somali affairs and provoke further violence." Last week, as he engaged in his shuttle diplomacy, Michel pointedly did not take a public stand regarding the ICU's declaration of jihad against Ethiopia or its announcement that it would target any UN-peacekeepers that entered the country. Israelis routinely assume that Europe's pro-jihadist policy towards the Palestinians is a result of anti-Semitism or anger over Israel's military victory in 1967. But the EU's treatment of Ethiopia and the TFG indicates that Brussels' hostility towards the Jewish state is part of a much further-reaching policy. Europe's pro-jihad position toward the war in Somalia indicates that its support for jihad is over-arching rather than limited to specific battlegrounds. So what we learn from the Qatar conference and the war in Somalia is that a tripartite alliance of Iran, the Arab world and Europe upholds the cause of jihad not merely against Israel and the US, but globally. It is clear that the Iranians are the most dangerous part of the three-headed jihadist Hydra. Like the Arab despots, the Europeans are provoked by cynicism. While the Arab dictatorships embrace jihad to safeguard their regimes, the Europeans support the jihadists in the hope that their support will deflect jihadist violence away from them. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-12-29 15:29 |
| #8 Yeah, so how's that Airbus thingy working out, you losers? |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2006-12-29 12:53 |
| #7 Peaceful adj. i.e. favoring the "Religion of Peace". New European Dictionary (1973). |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-12-29 11:14 |
| #6 No, that's America's job. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-12-29 09:11 |
| #5 Then why not just take in the Somali refugees? Heh. |
| Posted by: Procopius2K 2006-12-29 09:09 |
| #4 That should be EU attempting to steal credit. EU != Europe. |
| Posted by: Zarquon Pebbles in Blairistan 2006-12-29 08:47 |
| #3 Hello? Yes? You're breaking up. Yes. Call back in...oooooooooooh...about a week. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-29 08:38 |
| #2 Yup, jump in and steal all the credit you can, even though you did absolutely squat. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-12-29 06:30 |
| #1 ...now that it's over. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2006-12-29 01:46 |