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| Africa Horn |
| Mogadishu besieged |
| 2006-12-27 |
| Ethiopian-backed troops advanced on the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, but a Somali government envoy said they would not attack the Islamist stronghold. Ambassador Abdikarin Farah said the joint force of Ethiopian soldiers and government fighters would besiege Mogadishu until the Islamists laid down their arms. "We are not going to fight for Mogadishu to avoid civilian casualties. Our troops will surround Mogadishu until they surrender," Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa. Earlier, pro-government forces seized Jowhar, a key southern town from their Islamist rivals in the closest battle yet to the religious movement's base. Many residents left their houses to cheer the victors, backed by Ethiopian tanks, who pursued the Islamists as sporadic gunfire echoed in the air. Farah said pro-government troops then took Balad, just 30 km (18 miles) north of Mogadishu on the road from Jowhar. The rapid offensive came hours after Ethiopia, defending the Somali interim government, said it was halfway to crushing the Islamists, heightening fears its next step would be to use air strikes and ground troops to seize the capital. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #42 Wowsers! Thanx tw & RC. I'll try it out at a restaurant and, if my plumbing can still handle it, lol, I'll give making it myself a shot. It really is excellent stuff. Unique, too, for all you weirdness junkies, lol. Again, Thx! |
| Posted by: .com 2006-12-27 22:41 |
| #41 Here ya go, .com: http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/africa/ethiopian/ |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-12-27 21:19 |
| #40 lol thoth... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-27 18:25 |
| #39 What do you call an Ethiopian taking a dump? Show off. /Okay, that was uncalled for. //Go Ethiopia! |
| Posted by: Thoth 2006-12-27 18:01 |
| #38 "It does sound like Mog ain't gonna be looted." I've been to the Mog. An H-bomb on the place would do about $200 worth of damage. Three drunken Ethiope soldiers could carry off all the valuables in the city in about 5 minutes. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2006-12-27 16:54 |
| #37 .com. I b'lieve the base for her special red sauce is called harissa. I used to have a recipe lying about waiting to be tried, but I'm sure you can buy it in bottles like Tabasco. ... I looked, and Amazon.com sells it. There are recipes on the web just waiting to be googled, too, but I don't know how devoted you are to the culinary side of the pursuit. ;-) Good luck! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-12-27 16:36 |
| #36 It does sound like Mog ain't gonna be looted. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2006-12-27 15:45 |
| #35 Oh, and for those complaining about the less-than-ideal aspects of the Ethiopian government, just remember one thing : they have been fighting a defensive war against Jihad for 1400 years now. That tends to make the leadership in the country a lot less tolerant of anything they view as interference in the running of the country, by anyone in the country. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-12-27 15:38 |
| #34 There are 3 major reasons for the Ethiopians to initiate a siege of Mogadishu, rather than storming the city : 1) Right now, they enjoy a distinct media advantage based on their control of the media. A storming would immediately start the media vultures circling and screaming. 2) The TFG is the official recognized government of Somalia and is supporting the Ethiopians - causing the city to fall without leveling it is good politics with that ally. 3) The Ethiopians are mainly concerned with breaking the back of the ICU, so getting the civilian population to turn on the ICU to end a siege is a means to an end. A fourth reason that goes undiscussed is that the Ethiopians are militarily concerned with demolishing the Eritreans sent to fight for the ICU. The Ethiopians REALLY want to exterminate the Eritreans, and give pause to that government's movements around their shared border. One last point is that Mogadishu has been so striped of anything of value in the past 15 years, it is one of the least capable cities in the world to resist a siege. Most major cities in the world have a good portion of their electricity produced on site, have access to well water, and functional sewers, along with food stores in the city proper. Mogadishu has none of those to speak of. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-12-27 15:35 |
| #33 We have enough real enemies in the world. There is no need to dig ourselves a bigger hole by working to undermine the friendly governments that may be dictatorial, but are just sitting around minding their own business - Well shit. ZF is in his brilliant and I agree with him mode. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2006-12-27 15:07 |
| #32 Wait for the ICU to initiate the "Human Shields For Escape" plan. Would not want to bet on the longevitiy of the H.S. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2006-12-27 14:55 |
| #31 For some reason, I picture this kind of scene. :D Siege Giant Cross |
| Posted by: Anon4021 2006-12-27 14:20 |
| #30 anon4921 said: Did they carry the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them? Because that would rule! The inside skinny is that the Israelis now have the ark. Supposedly now under wraps in the same warehouse where the blocks and furniture for the End-time temple are being kept. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-12-27 14:07 |
| #29 The chicken version is Doro Wat, Lamb is Sega Wat... she musta made it with beef just for me, lol. If you like HOT, try this at an authentic restaurant and tell 'em to make it like Momma used to make it, lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-12-27 13:57 |
| #28 Did they carry the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them? Because that would rule! |
| Posted by: Anon4021 2006-12-27 13:55 |
| #27 We'll help them and work with them, and when the work is done we'll expect them to clean up their act some. lol Steve you are ever the optimist but ima rootin for them like everyone else. From the Land of |
| Posted by: RD 2006-12-27 13:47 |
| #26 I like their food - a LOT. There's this beef dish, hotter 'n the Sun, that my Ethiopian "housekeeper" in Saudi usedta make: has a thick rich red (from the cayenne) sauce and whole boiled eggs in it. Eat over rice, sweat like a dog, then die happy. That stuff could take chrome off yer bumper. If anyone knows the name of the dish, plz post. They gots some restaurants here in Sin City and I'd love the memory trip, lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-12-27 13:39 |
| #25 Well, the Ethiopians that run my local 7/11 seem very happy lately ... even giving a jovial "Hello!" when I walk in the store when they had been somewhat stoic in the past. They even wished me a Merry Christmas! Besides, they have pretty funky music and a culture with pretty funky music can't be all bad. Oh wait, these were the Ethiopians than LEFT Ethiopia, nevermind. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2006-12-27 13:34 |
| #24 JTF-HOA has spent a great deal of time working in Ethiopia, building schools, digging wells, training police, etc. If anyone believes that our assistance stops at civil affairs, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Almost unnoticed, JTF-HOA is doing some amazing things in Kenya, Yemen and elsewhere in the Horn. And they're working with the French to do it. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-12-27 13:27 |
| #23 Again, I'm pleased as punch that the Ethiops are whacking the Islamic Courts. Let's just keep in mind that the Ethiopian government is a dictatorial regime. We'll help them and work with them, and when the work is done we'll expect them to clean up their act some. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-27 13:20 |
| #22 CF: Kind of a 'enemy of my enemy' thing eh? It's more than that. The Soviet Union was our enemy, even before WWII. Its mission was to spread international communism by guile and by force. And yet we allied with them during WWII - an actual enemy. Ethiopia might not be the best-run country in the world, but its government is not our enemy. There are some who say that we should only deal with governments that meet our standards for political freedom. Then why are we dealing with China? I think we need to get off our high horse and start dealing with the world as it is rather than the world as we would like it to be. There are those, like James Baker, who believe realism has to do with giving our enemies everything they want. I think realism has more to do with working with non-hostile governments to undermine the hostiles arrayed against us. We have enough real enemies in the world. There is no need to dig ourselves a bigger hole by working to undermine the friendly governments that may be dictatorial, but are just sitting around minding their own business - they might just be replaced by hostile ones, as has happened in South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-12-27 13:14 |
| #21 Kind of a 'enemy of my enemy' thing eh? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-12-27 13:00 |
| #20 SW: Let's not get too carried away by our new 'allies'. First, they're doing this for them, not for us. Our interests are similar here, that's all. Second, the Ethiopian government is an odious regime that routinely imprisons people for their politics. They've also been engaged in some 'ethnic cleansing' elsewhere in the country. And their leaders, to a man, are thieves. These aren't nice guys. I'm pleased as punch that they're whacking the Islamists, but that's all. Not getting carried away at all. The Soviets carried out mass executions and used famines as a means of political control, killing millions. Then they made a deal with the Nazis - to divide Poland up - that enabled Germany to attack Western Europe without having to watch its back. And yet when WWII broke out, we cheered every time the Soviets thumped the Nazis. And we sent huge amounts of aid to the Soviets - aid that Khrushchev acknowledged kept the Soviet war effort alive when the Soviets were reeling from the initial Nazi onslaught. Let us acknowledge that we should not only cheer the Ethiopians on, we should send them whatever they need to exterminate the Islamic Courts. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-12-27 12:44 |
| #19 Rob, sieges are an integral part of warfare. Yeah, I know. And they tend to be rough on the civilian population. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-12-27 12:26 |
| #18 I suspect that the CIA is traveling to the surounding towns with sacks of cash, getting the tribes to change sides. To paraphrase Osama bin Laden: "everyone likes a strong horse, but they like a rich horse more" Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-12-27 12:07 |
| #17 It's a quagmire. What's the exit strategy ? Who speaks for the baby ducks ? |
| Posted by: Osama Obama 2006-12-27 12:07 |
| #16 They are a bad, bad, bad people and are icky. Done. Now, let's send them some money, rations, bandages and spare parts. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2006-12-27 12:01 |
| #15 ok - I'm with Ptah..."assorted condition" airdropped Jihadis...perhaps tie a live one to every dead one as "Allah's Parachute™"? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-27 12:00 |
| #14 Frank, I'd not mind it if they air dropped LIVE Jihadis into the city. The end result between our plans would be the same, in that the droppees would be unable to get back up, but mine has the advantage of being more satisfying. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-12-27 11:46 |
| #13 The tactics being employed by the bad Ethiopies are prolly, um, not pretty. We will be doing the same, someday, in our way. Or disappear. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-12-27 11:45 |
| #12 be a nice siege if they air-dropped dead jihadis into the City...think it might excite the populace? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-12-27 11:37 |
| #11 I agree Steve but it is just nice to see some islamists get their asses kicked but good. Heck maybe they can reform the Ethiopians after we help them build a new port for their new navy in Somalia? |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-12-27 11:23 |
| #10 Rob, sieges are an integral part of warfare. If one can make locals switching allegiances just by standing by and because they run of essentials, it means expending little resources to achieve the desired end than going for street battles. The PC speak is just for media. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-12-27 11:13 |
| #9 Let's not get too carried away by our new 'allies'. First, they're doing this for them, not for us. Our interests are similar here, that's all. Second, the Ethiopian government is an odious regime that routinely imprisons people for their politics. They've also been engaged in some 'ethnic cleansing' elsewhere in the country. And their leaders, to a man, are thieves. These aren't nice guys. I'm pleased as punch that they're whacking the Islamists, but that's all. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-27 11:11 |
| #8 "We are not going to fight for Mogadishu to avoid civilian casualties. Our troops will surround Mogadishu until they surrender," Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa. Ambassador Farah: Excuse me sir, if you've a moment. After Mogadishu, what plans do you and your generals have? By the way, do you like KBR chow? Have you ever considered a middle-eastern deployment? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-12-27 11:10 |
| #7 Found some more info on Ethiopia's Military. Not top notch but better and bigger than most African countries. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-12-27 11:10 |
| #6 halfway to crushing the Islamists I like their vocabulary/ROE, too. ;-) |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-12-27 11:07 |
| #5 I think I smell some new basing agreements. I was so clueless about this war I wasn't sure if this was bad or good until this morning. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-12-27 11:05 |
| #4 "We are not going to fight for Mogadishu to avoid civilian casualties. Our troops will surround Mogadishu until they surrender," Farah told reporters in Addis Ababa. Because sieges are SO much easier on civilians. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-12-27 11:05 |
| #3 If we ask nicely the Ethiopian army could may reconquer the suburbs of Paris. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2006-12-27 10:11 |
| #2 I severly under estimated Ethiopia. I am extremley impressed and glad to see a capable new ally added to the fold. I had expected we would have to run air cover ala Afghanistan to make such a run. This is very good news indeed. Reginal powers on our side willing able to fight thier front is extremeley valuable allies. I would even venture more so than some EU ally thats support ends at moral support or deployments with ROE that make them useless. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-12-27 09:51 |
| #1 Nuke the site from orbit. It is the only way to be sure. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-12-27 09:32 |
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