AU: Ethiopia participation in Southern Somalia is Justified

[Somali_Friend]

Ethiopia action in Somalia backed

Islamic courts fighter at Mogadishu airport

The Islamic militia wants foreign fighters to join a "holy war"

The African Union says Ethiopia has the right to intervene militarily in Somalia as it feels threatened by an Islamic militia operating there.

 

An official also admitted the African Union had failed to "react properly and adequately" to the Somali situation.

 

Ethiopian jets bombed two airports in Somalia on Monday in support of the transitional government's battle against the Union of Islamic Courts.

 

Ethiopia's prime minister has said his country is "at war" with the Islamists.

 

Fighting had flared last week between the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which holds most of central and southern Somalia, and Somali government forces, based around the southern town of Baidoa.

 

Ethiopia admitted for the first time on Sunday its troops were fighting in the country.

 

The UN estimates at least 8,000 Ethiopian troops may be supporting the transitional government.

 

Stabilisation force

 

Patrick Mazimhaka, the deputy chairman of the AU's Commission, told the BBC the African Union would not criticise Ethiopia as it had "given us ample warning that it feels threatened by the UIC".

 

He added: "It is up to every country to judge the measure of the threat to its own sovereignty."

 

Mr Mazimhaka said the international community had a responsibility to support the transitional government.

 

 

Map

We will overcome the Ethiopian troops in our land. Our forces are alert and ready [to] defend our country

Abdirahman Janaqow

Islamic Courts spokesman

 

Ethiopia's Somali test

Q&A: Islamist advance

Send us your comments

 

The African Union would meet in two days to discuss the situation, he said.

 

"The African Union must plan to get a force to intercede and stabilise the situation," Mr Mazimhaka said.

 

On Monday, Ethiopian jets bombed the international airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and another at Balidogle, in the south of the country.

 

Two senior leaders of the UIC, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, landed at Mogadishu shortly after the air strike, a clear sign that the attack there did not disable the runway.

 

The Ethiopian government said it hit the two airports to stop "unauthorised flights", the AFP news agency reported.

 

A spokesman for the UIC, Abdirahman Janaqow, told the Associated Press the Islamists would stand firm against Ethiopia.

 

"We will overcome the Ethiopian troops in our land. Our forces are alert and ready to defend our country," he said.

 

The Islamist group has appealed for foreign fighters to join its troops in a "holy war" against Ethiopia.

 

Somali and Ethiopian troops also captured a checkpoint outside the flashpoint town of Beledweyne.

 

UIC forces then left the town, the scene of sustained fighting on Sunday.

 

There were also reports of heavy fighting at the central flashpoint of Burhakaba, close to Baidoa.

 

Red Cross plea

 

Ethiopia began attacking the UIC across a 400km (250 mile) front line along the border on Sunday.

 

PM Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia was forced to defend its sovereignty against "terrorists" and anti-Ethiopians.

 

Children fleeing fighting in Somalia

Aid agencies say all sides must protect civilians

 

"We are not trying to set up a government for Somalia, nor do we have an intention to meddle in Somalia internal affairs. We have only been forced by the circumstances," Mr Meles said.

 

"We want to end this war urgently and we hope that Ethiopian people stand by the defence forces."

 

The Red Cross has urged all parties to protect civilians from harm.

 

Thousands of Somalis have fled the escalating violence, and the Red Cross says the fighting is straining an already weak support system in the country.

 

Red Cross official Pedram Yazdi told the BBC that the organisation was treating 445 people injured during the fighting, including combatants and civilians.

 

Aircraft are taking some two tonnes of supplies into Somalia from Kenya each day in an effort to keep hospitals adequately supplied, he said.

[Taliban]

Ethiopian offensive in Somalia could mirror Iraq war

 

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Ethiopia's attacks against Islamic forces in Somalia may have delivered a short-term military victory, but analysts warned that a longer offensive could present the U.S. ally with some of the same challenges facing American forces in Iraq.

 

Airstrikes against the Somali capital Mogadishu and other towns on Sunday and Monday demonstrated Ethiopia's military superiority over the Islamic forces that seized most of southern Somalia during the summer.

 

But Ethiopia would be hard-pressed to dispatch enough troops to capture and occupy Islamic-held areas of Somalia.

 

"I don't understand what Ethiopia's objective is," said David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and now political science professor at George Washington University. "I can't imagine their objective is to occupy and hold Somalia. It was a very limited victory."

 

Most experts agree that Ethiopia's battle-tested army, numbering as many as 150,000 fighters, could easily beat Somalia's rag-tag Islamic troops, which are believed to total under 10,000. But Islamists say they would compensate for their lack of numbers and sophisticated weaponry by pursing an unconventional war, including suicide attacks and other insurgency-style tactics that U.S. and allied troops face in Iraq.

 

"The Ethiopians could get bogged down into a hopeless, long-term guerrilla campaign with enormous supply lines," Shinn said. "I don't see how they `defeat' the Islamists in the long run."

 

The attacks Sunday and Monday marked the first time Ethiopia has publicly acknowledged taking direct military action against Somalia's Islamists.

 

Ethiopian officials said they acted to preempt threats by Islamic forces to launch a "holy war" against them. Ethiopia is also moving to protect Somalia's weak transitionalgovernment, which has been battling with Islamists over who will control the Horn of Africa nation. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991.

 

Anger over the Ethiopian air strikes reverberated Monday through Mogadishu. Local radio stations flooded the airways with nationalist songs, recalling the history of tensions between Ethiopia and Somali, which last went to war in 1977.

 

Angry youths rioted in several Somali cities, urging all adult males to join the Islamic forces. The attacks appeared to be bolstering support for the Islamic forces.

 

"I used to think that the Islamic courts were just another interest group, but now I recognize that they are standing up for the country and religion," said Muse Ali Omar, a banana vendor in Mogadishu. "Ethiopia is my enemy, I will not sell bananas any more. I will take my gun and go for jihad. Otherwise I am sure they will kill me in my banana kiosk if I wait for them here."

 

Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed, a moderate Muslim, said "As long as the West is supporting Ethiopian invasion, it will open the door for Islamic courts."

 

The Ethiopian strikes have helped unify the Islamic Courts Union, an alliance of religious leaders that came together to defeat U.S.-backed warlords earlier this year. In recent months, some cracks were beginning to appear inside the alliance over how rigorously to implement Islamic law.

 

But in recent weeks, U.S. and Ethiopian officials have concluded that extremists have seized control of the courts. They accuse court leaders of having links to terrorist groups, including al-Qaida. Last weekend, one Islamist leader issued an invitation to Muslims worldwide to join the fighting in Somalia. The nation of Eritrea is also believed to have dispatched as many as 2,000 troops to aid the Islamists.

 

U.S. officials on Monday called on Somali groups to end their fighting, but they did not call for an Ethiopian withdrawal.

 

"Ethiopia has genuine security concerns," said one U.S. official, adding that State Department officials have urged the Ethiopian government to use "maximum restraint."

 

The U.S. has worked closely with Ethiopia, including training elements of its military, in its four-year effort to contain the spread of Islamic extremism in the Horn of Africa. They repeatedly have denied using Ethiopia as a proxy against Somali Islamists, and have insisted they argued against an Ethiopian invasion with officials in Addis Ababa.

 

A U.S. military official said the Pentagon, which set up a 1,500-man task force in neighboring Djibouti in 2002 because of concerns al-Qaida-linked groups were seeking refuge in the region, has yet to take any action in response to the Ethiopian offensive.

 

"We're just watching it," the official said.

 

Shinn said international leaders should immediately intervene and push to remove all foreign fighters from Somalia.

 

"A week ago I was still optimistic that we could get this cat back in the box," he said. "Now I'm not clear if that's an option."

 

Los Angeles Times

[Socod_badne]

This AU is the selfsame organisation that allowed marauding Janjaweed to carry out ethnic cleansing of half million black muslims of Darfur. Now, they give carte blanche to another group on a bellicose course. Are they aiming for perfect record or what?

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Socod_badne:

This AU is the selfsame organisation that allowed marauding Janjaweed to carry out ethnic cleansing of half million black muslims of Darfur. Now, they give carte blanche to another group on a bellicose course. Are they aiming for perfect record or what?

Secod_badne,

 

This is the justification for our self defence:

 

Deeply down in that criminal showbiz were also some side kickers, and floor dancers, Sheikh Aweys, an army colonel in the Al-Itihad destroyed late Somali Army, and his top lieutenants in the current top leadership of the ICU, were part of it, were they willfully wanted, and sacrificially desired the dark destruction of Somali people, and their land from bottom to top!

A short time of period the Somali society was completely destroyed, perpetrated by that dark coalition lead, and brained by Mengistu.

At least most of us know who paid in blood for that evil plan of ruining, and killing off the Somalis.

The innocent Somali people were only victims of this Hitler, and Mussolini minded genocidal killings! Mass murderer Hitler

 

Sheikh Aweys become top leader of the Al-Itihad organization in Somalia

 

we’ve just read how the last plan had ended, now let us see how the other plan from Sheikh Aweys, and his lieutenants’ might take to us.

Mass murderer MussoliniThe Al-Itihad group believes that they are making Somalis to be good Muslims.

 

“This is stranger than fiction”

 

Radio Jijiga editorial after the announcement of shiek aweye taking himself the supreme leader of "somalia".

[Socod_badne]

Originally posted by Somali_Friend:

Secod_badne,

 

This is the justification for our self defence:

Justification for your self-defense, not justification for a self-defense.

 

I feel justified in taking self-defensive measures against my neighbour's dog. I'm frightened out of my pajamas everytime I'm an earshot of it. But I failed to make any headway with getting the law to justify me taking defensive measures. I'm repeatedly told my fears are irrational and unjustified. The dog is French Poodle and can not possibly threaten my life despite terribly frightening me everytime I see the damned thing. So being man of civilised disposition, law abiding and reason, I find other ways to alloy my fears.

 

Short of Ethiopia presenting concrete, tangible evidence in support of it's invasion, it's actions are nothing but naked aggression.

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Socod_badne:

The dog is French Poodle and can not possibly threaten my life despite terribly frightening me everytime I see the damned thing. So being man of civilised disposition, law abiding and reason, I find other ways to alloy my fears.

A dog that is prepared to chase you to your living room (IndaCadde to Addis Ababa) is not a joke. N.B. I am not calling anyone a dog, i am just using your example.

In most civilized societies dogs are not to be public nuisance by making noise in the middle of the night, barking on children and passers by.

The dog also is checked for something else and put down....

 

The dog who is out of control of his owner is a stray dog and will be taken to animal care centers in the town i live.

 

How about that.

[Socod_badne]

Originally posted by Somali_Friend:

The dog who is out of control of his owner is a stray dog and will be taken to animal care centers in the town i live.

Plainly, you're too dense to get the subtle point behind my analogy. What is true for you is not what's true in reality. Ethiopia can feel threatened by ICU Islamists all it wants but without showing the world (including people like me) the reasons for it's concerns and why it should intervene but without evidence or acceptable reasons for intervention put forth by Ethiopia, we only have evidence for Ethiopia feeling, unreasonably, threatened.

 

We're not re-inventing the wheel here. There's established legal framework governing independent nation's right to self-defense. Ethiopia seems to be acting outside of established conventions.

[N.O.R.F]

We're not re-inventing the wheel here. There's established legal framework governing independent nation's right to self-defense. Ethiopia seems to be acting outside of established conventions.

Socodow, the guy is blind to the facts. He tries to use 'policitcal processes' and quotes from so called shiekhs to defend Ethiopia's actions but is not inclined to consider your above statement as a counter argument against Ethiopian aggression.

[Somali_Friend]

This thread should answer your questions why we are pleading with TFG to control Somalia and make it safe for the somali people first and safe for the whole neighborhood. We don't only plead, but we are willing to contribute our share in the attainment of peaceful neighborhood.

 

http://www.somaliaonline.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=007908#000000

[N.O.R.F]

SF, you are running away from question posed to you which you cant answer. Give and go back to a xabashi forum!

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Northerner:

SF, you are running away from question posed to you which you cant answer. Give and go back to a xabashi forum!

You are repeating this in every thread, is there anything wrong with you today? I understand the anguish. I was old enough in 1991 to see it in ethiopia almost the exact same thing thats happening in Somalia south was going in Addis ababa.

 

Let me summarize for you:

 

We ethiopians are convinced, beyond any shadow of doubt that the Aweye/IndaCadde called Jihad is not legitimate.

We are also sure that these peasons that called the Jihad and declared to march on Addis Ababa are not eligible to call Jihad (non-emergency).

None of the process or procedure of calling Jihad was followed by the imposters in Mugadishu.

 

You can take that as conclusion. Let me also make it clear to you that the government of ethiopia being secular is not fighting for Jihad against the imposters.

Even if we had a non-secular government and Islamic state, it will have to wait for the people of Somalia who are geographically nearer to the imposters and also are moslem population.

 

When Aweye/IndaCadde called Jihad on us, they were on the offensive. They captured Kismayo long after they declared Jihad, so don't tell me there was an emergency and the ethiopian moslem had to drop everything and go to help them.

[N.O.R.F]

We ethiopians are convinced, beyond any shadow of doubt that the Aweye/IndaCadde called Jihad is not legitimate.

We are also sure that these peasons that called the Jihad and declared to march on Addis Ababa are not eligible to call Jihad (non-emergency).

None of the process or procedure of calling Jihad was followed by the imposters in Mugadishu.

I have challenged you many times to prove your above ascertians. You have failed.

[N.O.R.F]

ps quoting a few so called shiekhs here and there does not prove anything!

[Somali_Friend]

Originally posted by Northerner:

ps quoting a few so called shiekhs here and there does not prove anything!

Someone who accepts terrorist and women and children murderer Aweye and IndaCadde as shiek calls ethiopian shieks so called. lol

[mantra]

SF you're justifying your aggression on the basis that Indha Cadde said "jihad"?

I would think that perhaps before a country sends its troops running helter skelter into their graves it would come up with a story, no matter how far fetched to back their actions..

Meles and Yusuf couldn't think of anything other than "jihad"?

 

The only other thing that infuriates me besides the existence of Ethiopians is the word terrorist, it's so overused it's lost its true meaning...now anyone who dares defend themselves is a terrorist, Im honestly quite sick of that word, the only time I feel its use to be justified is when one is talking about your allies in the TGF.