Ethiopia declares war on Somali militia

[oberliner]

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopia sent fighter jets into Somalia and bombed several towns Sunday in a dramatic attack on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, and Ethiopia's prime minister said his country had been "forced to enter a war."

It was the first time Ethiopia acknowledged its troops were fighting in support of Somalia's U.N.-backed interim government even though witnesses had been reporting their presence for weeks in an escalating battle that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa region.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi went on television to announce that his country was at war with the Islamic movement that wants to rule neighboring Somalia by the Quran.

"Our defense force has been forced to enter a war to defend (against) the attacks from extremists and anti-Ethiopian forces and to protect the sovereignty of the land," Meles said a few hours after his military attacked the Islamic militia with fighter jets and artillery.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_re_af/somalia

[TomInTib]

1. S**t, meet fan...

The Ethiopians can no longer hide behind their bullshit denials of troop involvement.

This is, rightfully, going to be seen as another Christian versus Muslim fight. And the Ethiopians will be seen as tools of the American/Israeli cabal.

There will be Hell to pay on this one.

Just wait and see.

[GregD]

2. Tom, I've not followed this.

Can you sum up recent events if you are familliar with the situation?

[maddezmom]

3. here's a recent article that gives some background info

~snip~
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, leader of the UIC, which controls the capital, Mogadishu, as well as most of southern and central Somalia, urged all Somalis to fight alongside his troops "against Ethiopia". Military experts believe at least 8,000 Ethiopian troops are in Somalia supporting the weak interim government based in Baidoa, some 130 miles west of Mogadishu. Ethiopia claims to have sent just a few hundred "military trainers" into Somalia.

Senior American officials based in the region say they have told Ethiopia to "stay out" of Somalia but analysts and European diplomats believe the US has given Ethiopia tacit approval for its invasion.

The US has become increasingly headstrong in its assertion that the UIC must be stopped from gaining control of Somalia. The US pushed a resolution through the UN Security Council earlier this month that allowed for foreign troops to enter Somalia to prop up the government. The UIC had been opposed to foreign intervention and European diplomats had urged caution.

The US assistant secretary of state, Jendayi Frazer, asserted last week that the Courts are now "controlled by al-Qa'ida cell individuals". Ms Frazer claimed: "The top layer of the Court are extremists. They are terrorists." But that is not a view shared by the majority of diplomats based in the region. It is understood very few US diplomats with knowledge of the Horn of Africa share Ms Frazer's assessment.

Matt Brydon, an independent Horn of Africa analyst who has travelled extensively throughout Somalia, said Ms Frazer's comments were a "gross exaggeration" that were unlikely to be backed by intelligence reports. He said the US has "elevated an obscure regional problem into a global issue and potentially attracted a broad range of anti-American and anti-Western interests to the side of the Courts".

more:http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2094672.ece

[LynnTheDem]

11. "US has given Ethiopia tacit approval for its invasion"

Not a first time; ask Saddam.

Same ol same ol, over & over again.

And yet Americans wonder why we're so hated around the world.

It's our government's "foreign policy", stupid.

[maddezmom]

12. look what John Bolton did

US Ambassador John Bolton persuaded the UN Security Council earlier this month to adopt a resolution allowing weapons to be shipped to the transitional authorities in Somalia. An international monitoring group warned that the UN action could cause the Islamists to launch pre-emptive strikes against the federal forces, which are confined to the town of Baidoa.

The Bush administration has simultaneously been portraying the Union of Islamic Courts as a terrorist organisation with links to Osama bin Laden.

“The Council of Islamic Courts is now controlled by East Africa/al Qaeda cell individuals,” US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer told reporters last week. “The top layer of the courts are extremists to the core. And they are in control and that is a problem.”

Professor Lyons takes a different view. “The Islamic Courts movement is very diverse, has many elements in it,” he said in a conference call with reporters on December 15. “The hardline Islamists, whom the Americans often point to, are indeed one element of the Islamic courts, but they’re not the only one.”

http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news2512063.htm

Somalia: Bolton’s Rush Hour Policy

http://www.garoweonline.com/stories/publish/article_6547.shtml

[maddezmom]

4. link updated:Ethiopian jets bomb Mogadishu airport

:(

[maddezmom]

5. Ethiopia jets hit second Somali airfield-Islamists

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25238445.htm

[antiimperialist]

6. Schock and awe Ethiopian style?

if Ethiopia believes they will win with air strikes, they should read the story of the Iraq war.

Somalian militants will start killing every man, woman, baby who is not Islamic. Ethnic cleansing will ensue and we will have us another chaos to deal with.

[Pavulon]

7. Darfur 2

You are correct, they will kill all those who do not follow their brand of religion.

[Lurking Dem]

9. What does religion have to do with Darfur?

[Pavulon]

13. Muslim Africans

killing non muslim africans. Pretty simple

[Lurking Dem]

16. Uh wrong.

Arab Muslims killing African Muslims.

[Pavulon]

17. Sorry, got the ethnicity of the muslims doing the killing wrong

[fujiyama]

23. Some are African Muslims

though many are Christians and Animists.

[Lurking Dem]

31. It is my understanding

that in Darfur, most are Muslim. It has been called the most systematic and planned annihilation of a Muslim population in the 21st century by the Muslims.

It remains an ethnic and not a religious conflict.

[Posteritatis]

10. They aren't exactly claiming they will

Airstrikes aren't the only thing going on there, they just make the headlines because they're more "interesting" to the audience. There's been ground fighting on a 400-kilometer front for a week now; the airstrikes are only a component of it.

[Massacure]

8. Uh, Merry Christmas?

[NickB79]

22. The oldest Christian nation on Earth celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace

By declaring war on it's neighbor.

[DerBeppo]

25. They didn't

They declared war on a group who have illegally usurped control from the legitimate SECULAR government of the country. Why so many here are supporting yet another militant fundamental Islamic group's attempt to seize a country and its people is confounding.

[NickB79]

29. I'm not supporting either side

I stated the facts of the matter: Ethiopia declared war on Somalia, which is not in dispute. I said nothing about supporting a fundamentalist Islamic group; that was what you added on your own. Any war is horrible, and this one will likely be quite bloody and brutal.

[rollin74]

30. Ethiopia is acting in support of the Somali government

the Somali gov't is under attack from rebel islamic militia.
Ethiopia is providing help to the internationally recognized goverment of Somalia.
Ethiopia did NOT declare war on Somalia. Somali troops and the Ethiopians are fighting side by side.

[High Plains]

14. What BS from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopians are acting as a US proxy and attacking a neighboring country. And they're claiming self-defense? Gee, where have we heard that before?

[Splotnik]

15. My take

Ethiopia rocks!

[INDIA]

18. Okayyyyyy.......n/t

[tabasco]

19. My take:

CHICKENHAWK !!

www.goarmy.com

bwaaak bwaaaak !!

[superconnected]

20. Go Ethiopia!

I know the muslims I know personally, in Redmond WA are fine, but I'm not cool at all with the exteme muslims forcing people to live under the sharia law interpretation of the quran.

Now let's hope a christian taliban Doesn't come out of this and instead it ends up doing what it should, ending the sharia extremismt movement.

[rollin74]

21. I agree

SICC are a bunch of extremist nuts. I would much rather Ethiopia prevail in this conflict.

[krispos42]

24. I live with a Muslim Somali and work with an Orthodox Ethiopian

And I'm in Minnesota, the land of blond Scandanavians and 'heating season'. Go figure.

I think there are three seasons in Minnesota: heating, mosquito, and hunting. <rimshot>

I'm sure I'll hear both sides of the story.

[DerBeppo]

26. Yeah

I'd be interested in the argument in favor of deposing a legitimately elected secular government and replacing it with a theocratic junta.

[mainegreen]

27. What a suprise. This is what, the 10th-20th war between those two in the last 500 years?

IMHO this is about clans and not about religion.

[earlybelle]

28. "war on Somalia military?" Oh, if they happen to kill innocent civilians it will be ok?