US 'war on terror' backfiring, says think-tank

[Jacaylbaro]

Written by guardian.co.uk,

Apr 23, 2008 at 07:45 PM

 

 

The US "war on terror" has backfired, strengthening extremists in Afghanistan and Somalia and turning them into legitimate political actors in the eyes of their local populations, a thinktank said today.

 

The Senlis Council, which has strongly criticised US policy in Afghanistan in the past, is particularly scathing of the Bush administration's "abject policy failures" in Somalia.

 

It said air strikes, support for Ethiopian troops that attacked Somalia last year and the ill-timed designation of a radical Islamist group, al-Shabab, as a terrorist group had been successfully exploited by the insurgency to boost recruitment.

 

"The lack of strategic acumen present in the 'war on terror' in Somalia and Afghanistan is in fact enabling the spread of the insurgencies present throughout both countries," said Norine MacDonald QC, the council president.

 

"The US is the common denominator in both countries – instead of containing the extremist elements in Somalia and Afghanistan, US policies have facilitated the expansion of territory that al-Shabab and the Taliban have psychological control over."

 

Aid groups say Somalia, wracked by anarchy and violence for decades, is suffering its worst humanitarian crisis since 1993.

 

Militias linked to the former Islamic Courts authority, which controlled Mogadishu in the latter half of 2006, are waging a guerrilla war against the occupying Ethiopian troops and the weak central government. With a small African Union peacekeeping force reduced to the role of bystander, several thousand civilians have been killed in the crossfire since early 2007.

 

The UN, which considers a wider peacekeeping mission too dangerous, says 700,000 people fled Mogadishu last year. A 10-mile stretch of road outside the city now hosts more than 200,000 people, humanitarian groups say - perhaps the biggest concentration of displaced people anywhere in the world. According to Phillippe Lazzarini, the UN head of humanitarian affairs for Somalia, 2.5 million people are in need of food or other aid.

 

Against this grim backdrop, the Senlis Council, in its 79-page report, directly accused the US of undermining reconciliation efforts by backing the hardline president, Abdullahi Yusuf, instead of the more moderate prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein.

 

According to the security thinktank, the US government in February disrupted negotiations with opposition parties - including hardline Islamists - by exerting pressure on the prime minister to exclude certain groups and individuals from a reconciliation process, particularly those on a US list of designated terror suspects.

 

The council urged Bush to end all bombing operations in Somalia, back a phased withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who are shoring up Yusuf, and create a UN stabilisation force to neutralise the power of Yusuf's transitional federal government.

 

"President Bush has the perfect opportunity to adorn the twilight of his final term in office with a success story in his self-proclaimed war on terror – a fast track 'surge for peace' to end the current Somali crisis," the council said.

 

Yusuf personally heard calls to lead a reconciliation effort during a visit to the US. Norm Coleman, a rightwing Republican senator, yesterday urged the Somali leader to reach out to "all stakeholders not associated with terrorism".

 

"The president said he took my words very seriously, and would maintain his commitment to reconciliation," said Coleman, who represents Minnesota, a northern state where more than 10,000 Somalis have settled.

 

Last month, the Bush administration granted Somalis living in the US under temporary protected status an extra 18 months as conditions in Somalia remained "dire".

 

As for Afghanistan, the Senlis Council said the resurgent Taliban provided a bleak example of how the US-led war on terror had failed there as well.

 

It said: "The Taliban and al-Shabab are successfully exploiting policy mistakes such as aerial bombings, ongoing poverty, and aggressive foreign military presence to the extent that they are increasingly viewed by local populations as representatives of their legitimate political grievances."

[Jacaylbaro]

London, 23 April (AKI) - (By Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The current US-led war on terror has boosted insurgencies in Somalia and Afghanistan, according to a prominent global think-tank.

 

The Senlis Council says the US has helped to create a political situation in which extremists such as the Somali insurgent group, Al-Shabab, and the Taliban in Afghanistan have become legitimate political players.

 

The council revealed its findings in a report entitled, Chronic Failures of the War on Terror: From Afghanistan to Somalia, published in London on Wednesday.

 

In its report, the think-tank accused the Bush administration of several policy failures in Somalia, such as aerial bombings, supporting Ethiopian troops in the country and the ill-timed designation of Al-Shabab as a terrorist organisation.

 

It said these policies had been successfully exploited by the Somali insurgency to boost its support and recruitment bases.

 

“The lack of strategic acumen present in the 'War on Terror' in Somalia and Afghanistan is in fact enabling the spread of the insurgencies present throughout both countries,” said Norine MacDonald, president and lead field researcher of The Senlis Council.

 

"The United States is the common denominator in both countries - instead of containing the extremist elements in Somalia and Afghanistan, US policies have facilitated the expansion of territory that Al-Shabab and the Taliban have psychological control over."

 

"The international community is complicit in Somalia’s troubles, standing idly by as the United States continues with its failed and inflammatory policies,” added Paul Burton, director of policy analysis at The Senlis Council.

 

A critical element of such a fast track solution would be the delivery of immediate humanitarian aid to Somalia, which is suffering from its worst humanitarian crisis since 1993.

 

A brutal guerrilla war, three years of drought, and restricted aid access has once again created an emergency situation in the country.

 

According to Phillippe Lazzarini, the United Nations’ head of humanitarian affairs for Somalia, 2.5 million people are in need of food or other assistance.

 

“The international community has to find a way to provide immediate humanitarian assistance,” said MacDonald.

 

"Not only would this alleviate the suffering, it would starve the militant groups of potential recruits."

 

In its recommendations, The Senlis Council called on President Bush to end bombing operations in Somalia and to back a phased withdrawal of Ethiopian troops with the creation of a UN stabilisation force.

 

It said such a move would neutralise the power of transitional federal government president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who is named as contributor to the increasingly violent situation in Somalia.

 

"President Yusuf has contributed to the escalation of the violent conflict in Somalia and has constantly undermined any attempts at reconciliation, instead opting to use his presidency to advance the interests of his own clan at the expense of his country” said MacDonald.

 

“The United States must end its backing for president Yusuf and instead give unconditional support to prime minister Nur Hassan Hussein and the UN’s special representative to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah. Their efforts to bring peace and stability to Somalia provide a small beacon of light in an otherwise dark landscape.”

 

The report also emphasised the need for official recognition Somaliland.

 

“Official recognition for Somaliland would send a clear message to all Somalis that peaceful transitions from stability are possible without the need to use overpowering military force, and will be rewarded” said MacDonald.

 

“Up to now, Somaliland has toiled in relative anonymity without any recognition of its extraordinary success in creating the conditions for a viable, stand-alone state, and resisting the spread of extremism found in Somalia.

 

The Senlis Council is an international policy think-tank with offices in Kabul, London, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris.

 

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[Jacaylbaro]

The report also emphasised the need for official recognition Somaliland.

 

“Official recognition for Somaliland would send a clear message to all Somalis that peaceful transitions from stability are possible without the need to use overpowering military force, and will be rewarded” said MacDonald.

 

“Up to now, Somaliland has toiled in relative anonymity without any recognition of its extraordinary success in creating the conditions for a viable, stand-alone state, and resisting the spread of extremism found in Somalia.