Posted by
L Gravel on Monday, December 25, 2006 11:56:10 PM
According to
FoxNews/AP, Ethiopia has decided to intervene in Somalia:
Monday's attack by Ethiopian fighter
jets [on Mogadishu International Airport] was the first direct attack
on the city, which serves as the headquarters of an Islamic movement
attempting to wrest power from Somalia's internationally recognized
government. Airstrikes also hit Baledogle Airport outside Mogadishu.
Somalia has not had an effective government since warlords overthrew
longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, pushing the country into
anarchy. Two years ago, the United Nations helped set up a central
government for the arid, impoverished nation on the Horn of Africa.
But the government has not been able to extend its influence outside
the city of Baidoa, where it is headquartered, about 140 miles
northeast of Mogadishu. The country was largely under the control of
warlords until this past summer, when the Islamic militia movement
pushed them aside.
The Islamic group's often severe interpretation of Islam is
reminiscent, to some, of Afghanistan's Taliban regime — ousted by a
U.S.-led campaign in 2001 for harboring Osama bin Laden. The U.S.
government says four al-Qaida leaders, believed to be behind the 1998
bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, are now leaders in
the Islamic militia.
It appears Ethiopia has joined the coalition of the willing against
Islamic Fascism. This is great news. Now if only we can get
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to climb on board...