Friday, September 05, 2008

Backlash awaits US in Somalia

Sept.5, 2008



Backlash awaits US in Somalia


A report recently released by a a major US human rights group should serve as an eye-opener to the world on how the situation has worsened in Somalia as a result of US counterterrorism policies and support for the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government.
"US counterterrorism policies have not only compromised other international agendas in Somalia, they have generated a high level of anti-Americanism and are contributing to radicalisation of the population," says the report, entitled "Somalia: A Country in Peril, a Foreign Policy Nightmare."
The report calls for a thorough reassessment of US policy, including its support for the Transitional Federal Government and the obsession with its "war on terrorism" in Somalia.
Effectively, as it has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq, the misguided US approach — defence and intelligence operations — designed to make the US "more secure from the threat of terrorism may be increasing the threat of jihadist attacks on American interests," the report says.
In fact, the situation on the ground is far worse than it was 17 years ago, when Mohammed Siad Barre was ousted from power. Some one million have been diplaced when US-backed Ethiopian and Somalia government forces swept the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) out Mogadishu and other major cities and towns. Some 3.5 million Somalis will be dependent on humanitarian aid by the end of this year.
"The situation in Somalia today exceeds the worst-case scenarios conjured up by regional analysts when they first contemplated the possible impact of an Ethiopian military occupation," according to the report. "Over the past 18 months, Somalia has descended into terrible levels of displacement and humanitarian need, armed conflict and assassinations, political meltdown, radicalisation and virulent anti-Americanism."
The US emphasis on fighting the Islamist forces of Somalia — who are in fact seen as the best group that would stabilise the country — by supporting the
the Ethiopian offensive launched in December to protect the Transitional Federal Government has been destructive if the objective was to strengthen the "moderates" in the country. Washington's move to include the Islamist Shabaab on its list of designated terrorist groups last March not only isolated opposition moderates from their own coalition but also prompted the Shabaab intensify their militancy.
US intelligence agencies are also "running" armed militiamen nominally affiliated with the transitional government. These militiamen are answerable mainly to their US operators who could care less about their behaviour on the ground, which include murder, rape and looting, as long as they serve the purpose of fighting the Islamists and tracking suspected miltiants.
As the report highlights, the US bears a major responsibility for the worsening chaos in Somalia. Its obsession with its self-styled war on terror is producing results that are not only wrecking Somalia but also strengthening the militant threat against its own security interests in that part of Africa.